Most amazing Olympic Sports?

[Arch]

I've been watching the various round ups of the Olympics, since although I don't have much interest in any particular sport, I quite like seeing all the various events and maybe learning a bit about them. I've realised that there are some I admire much more than others. Running, swimming, cycling, rowing, somehow, those I don't find so impressive. Well, ok, yes, impressive, but all those things, I can do, and although obviously, I can't do them a millionth as well, I can imagine it's just a case of running or swimming or pedalling or whatever, a bit faster and a bit further than I can.

The thing that utterly amazes me I realise today, is the high jump. To be able to jump over something higher than your own head, with no physical aid, bar a run up. I just can't begin to understand how you do that!

So what impresses you most?

 

[Tim Bennet.]

The Team Pursuit: I love the poetry of the one who swings up the banking and comes back down exactly at the back. Like all things practiced to perfection, it looks so effortless and graceful.

In contrast, watching the sailing is dire. (Despite having been my main sport for a large part of my life and the basis of my business!)

 

[sheddy]

Ladies Beach Volleyball
Gymnastics in general

 

[Dayvo]

The Team Pursuit: I love the poetry of the one who swings up the banking and comes back down exactly at the back. Like all things practiced to perfection, it looks so effortless and graceful.

In contrast, watching the sailing is dire. (Despite having been my main sport for a large part of my life and the basis of my business!)

Seconded!

And also seconded about the sailing. My brother told me how utterly boring the gold medal event was due to a lack of wind. He said it was akin to watching a young kid nervously sitting in a boat for the first time in a duck pond!

 

[domtyler]

Well if anyone would like to come and spend some time near the Olympic hub in 2012 I will be renting out my own 3 bed house with views over nearby parkland, for only £1000 per night. Drop me a PM if you are interested Arch, or anyone else.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I used to do gymanastics as a kid, but the sheer power of men's gymnastics at the moment is amazing - I don't think I ever could have imagined doing the kinds of things on the floor routines that they are these days...

 

[Noodley]

all those things, I can do....I can imagine it's just a case of running or swimming or pedalling or whatever, a bit faster and a bit further than I can.

The thing that utterly amazes me I realise today, is the high jump.

Can't you jump?

It's only a bit higher than you can if you apply the same logic...

 

[Kirstie]

The triple jump. How is that possible without your knees exploding?
And the men's rings in the artistic gymnastics. Talk about busting a gut. It's just incredible.

 

[marinyork]

The pole vault. Running like a sprinter with a massive pole bending the thing, getting massive recoil and somehow sliding over the bar.

 

[ChrisKH]

Hammer. One would think that it is a function of strength but it is mostly about technique. I once watched a 13 stone hammer thrower throw a senior hammer (15 year old) over the 90 metre mark, beating a very experienced 18 stone (approx.) thrower by less than one metre (89 metres best throw). These guys were awesome and were throwing it so far that the judges didn't have a tape long enough to measure the distance. Admittedly this is schoolboys hammer throwing but it was national level stuff. Not surprisingly the lighter thrower was the son of the English schools national hammer coach, but his advantage in terms of technique and training was obvious. I could only sit and watch these two guys fight it out. My throws were paltry in comparison.

At international and Olympic level you need to have the size and the technique; it's actually very difficult to control a hammer and get four turns in the circle. The female competition is of particular interest as this is a relatively new event. Sadly, you rarely see either televised.

 

[Melvil]

The triple jump. How is that possible without your knees exploding?
And the men's rings in the artistic gymnastics. Talk about busting a gut. It's just incredible.

I tried a wee triple jump on the beach the other week and seriously pulled a muscle in my neck - I never expected that!

Triple jump (and long jump) put a severe stress on your knees and your shins especially. There have been cases of people breaking their leg on take-off (e.g. http://sportzfun.com/photos/albums/track-field/long_jumper_break.jpg - don't look at this if you are at all squeamish) and then having a second or so to ponder upon how much more painful it will be when their leg hits the sandpit at 20mph...

 

[Kirstie]

I'll just add that pole vaulting is the daftest sport ever. Who thought of it?

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'll just add that pole vaulting is the daftest sport ever. Who thought of it?

Doesn't it derive from ancient times as a method used for crossing small streams/flooded ditches? A yearly competition crossing a river by vaulting with a pole is still held somewhere in the British isles IIRC.

 

[Arch]

Can't you jump?

It's only a bit higher than you can if you apply the same logic...

Ok, I can jump, but the gulf between the inch or so I could manage, and 'taller than my head' seems so big!

Some of the gymnastics is also pretty stunning, watching them spring across the mat etc.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Gymnastics isn't a sport. It's a sort of Eurovision Song Contest for fit people.