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.
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.
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!
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.