# Worst Olympic Events **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 30, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447 "2008-04-30T07:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/101 "2008-05-05T14:36:13Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] I’ll have a go at this. Sprints show who the fastest human is in terms of pure speed. That seems to be more in-line with the idea of the Olympics than almost anything else. [/QUOTE] Pretty much what he said. Endurance races are cool. Sprints are cool. Medium distance races are cool, no matter what the discipline. To say that only one of them is worthy of a medal seems the antithesis of the Olympics. Sprinting is a very basic measure of human athleticism. The 100 Meter race is probably the most popular of all Track and Field events and for good reason. Everyone can relate to it, and everyone instinctively understands the concept of sprint speed. It’s over in 10 seconds (and the 50 meter freestyle is over in 20 seconds) but the training and effort are equal to the marathon. ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/102 "2012-08-01T19:01:33Z")
The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius meaning, of course, Faster, Higher, Stronger. If an event doesn’t include at least one of these elements, it should get booted. That would be all of the summer shooting sports, archery, diving, equestrian and curling… basically anything that doesn’t require some degree of genuine physical exertion. Plus, I agree we dump any sport where judges and “artistic merit” decide the winner. I say we grandfather in gymnastics and figure skating (because they’re wildly popular, have the highest degree of melodrama and go back to the roots of the modern Olympics), but everything else goes. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/103 "2012-08-01T19:08:41Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > The sport I can’t stand is race walking. Wow, that is a super useful athletic ability. If there is a bear chasing would you walk like some doofus making sure both your feet are always touching or would you be sprinting like a motherfuck as though your life depended on it? And where do you practice without getting your ass kicked? Years ago I read about a kindergarten teacher who was a race walker. She practiced during lunchtime, and her class would race walk with her. That’s right, it was FOLLOW THE LEADER 2.0! ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/104 "2012-08-01T19:08:44Z")
Just realized I resurrected a zombie. Pertinent again, though. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/105 "2012-08-01T19:15:45Z")
There’s a Cracked article on the main page right now that would be pertinent to the discussion. Unfortunately I can’t access Cracked at work. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/106 "2012-08-01T19:16:13Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius meaning, of course, Faster, Higher, Stronger. If an event doesn’t include at least one of these elements, it should get booted. That would be all of the summer shooting sports, archery, diving, equestrian and curling… basically anything that doesn’t require some degree of genuine physical exertion. > > Plus, I agree we dump any sport where judges and “artistic merit” decide the winner. I say we grandfather in gymnastics and figure skating (because they’re wildly popular, have the highest degree of melodrama and go back to the roots of the modern Olympics), but everything else goes. Diving very much requires stronger and faster. Think back 50 years. Where a 10m diver may only do two twists and 1 1/2 somersaults, the modern diver must be much stronger and faster in the same vertical distance to do 4 twists and 3 somersaults. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447/107 "2012-08-01T19:17:41Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > There’s a Cracked article on the main page right now that would be pertinent to the discussion. Unfortunately I can’t access Cracked at work. [Seven Easiest Events?](http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-easiest-olympic-events-to-win-medal-in/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-olympic-events/447447.md?page=5)