![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
sport/not a sport
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
musesfool made the point i was going to make about how to determine if something is a sport or not, so i don't have to do it myself (short version: objective scoring. the end.), but as a public service, i have helpfully divided all current olympic events into a handy checklist of what, according to that definition (which is of course absolutely correct) is and is not a sport. this list does not include events like golf (sport) and ballroom dancing (not a sport, despite calling itself DanceSport) and water skiing (not a sport) and rodeo (sport), because these are not and don't look likely to be olympic medal events. short discussion at the end about poker.
olympic events that are, in fact, sports
summerAquatics:
swimming
water poloArchery Athletics:
all track, field, and road events, including race-walkingBadminton Baseball Basketball Boxing Canoe/kayak Cycling Equestrian:
jumpingFencing Soccer Handball Field hockey Judo Modern pentathlon (shoot, fence, jump on horseback, run, swim) olympic events that are, sadly, not sports
summerAquatics:
diving (solo and synchronized)
synchronized swimmingEquestrian:
dressage
eventing*Gymnastics:
artistic (i.e. "real" gymnastics)
rhythmic
trampoline
winterSkating:
figure skating and ice dancingSkiing:
freestyle aerials
freestyle moguls
nordic combined (race and jump)**
ski jumping**
snowboard half-pipeRowing Sailing Shooting Softball Table tennis Tae kwon do Tennis Triathlon (swim, cycle, run) Volleyball:
beach and indoorWeightlifting Wrestling
winterBiathlon (ski, shoot) Bobsleigh:
bobsled and skeletonCurling Hockey Luge Skating:
speed skating and short-trackSkiing:
all alpine events (downhill, various slaloms, combined)
all cross-country events
freestyle moguls
nordic combined (race and jump)
ski jumping
snowboard slalom
*eventing is in the not-a-sport column because it has a dressage component. if the cross-country course were an event by itself, i'd put it over on the left.
**ski jumping is mainly scored on distance, but there are judges who give them (or, i suppose, more like take away) points for style, as well. damn shame, really.
if these things qualify, why not poker?
well -- because poker doesn't involve any athleticism of any kind, for a start. i suppose it could be argued that the equestrian events don't require the humans to exhibit any particular athleticism (but i bet the horses are happier when they do), and archery and shooting are more about skill than anything else. so on that basis, should poker get in because there is skill involved as well as luck? frankly, if an event is going to be admitted that involves literally sitting on your ass until you win, it should be chess. and if a card game is going to get in, it should probably be duplicate bridge.
no subject
http://slate.msn.com/id/2103903
no subject
Ah, 'fraid I have to disagree with you here, Fox. Riding most definitely takes athleticism: most notably, balance and strength. An hour on horseback after a few weeks off is enough to verify that. Especially as it pertains to eventing (the outside course/cross-country component) and stadium jumping. *flashes back to a stubborn quarter horse/Thoroughbred cross who delighted in trying to decide when it was time to jump. (ie: all the time, any fence he could find, and damn the rider who tried to tell him otherwise)*
no subject
no subject
no subject