The older you get the less impressive you realize competing in the Olympics is

[meanstringbean]

When you’re younger you watch in awe and think “wow, these are the absolute best of the best in the world. Their abilities are amazing”. When you get older you realize that it’s really just a bunch of affluent kids with lucky genetics in hyper niche sports, even more so at the women’s level.



Don’t get me wrong. Competitions like track & field, power lifting, swimming, gymnastics are all pretty accessible to the average person and to rise to that level takes an incredible amount of work.


But when you watch fencing, rowing, archery, sailing, (or even worse in the winter games) bobsledding, luge, skiing/shooting biathlon you realize the only people who compete in this **** were basically born into it. And are the best out of a relatively small group of people. If you’re a woman that group is smaller - how many serious women sailers are there?

Long story short 99% of the world has ran a 100M before. Or kicked a soccer ball. Or shot a basketball. Who the hell has done cross country skiing? Is it really the best of the best?


Anyways, I’ve said my piece

[POTUS45]

I've done cross country skiing. Feels good to be in the 1%.

[Muzzlrpress]

Summer Olympics = poor people sports

Winter Olympics = rich people sports



They still have to be better than all their peers to win gold. Being niche doesn't mean they don't have amazing ability. You can focus on the more accessible sports in the Olympics if you so choose.

That said, Summer > Winter Olympics by FAR

[meanstringbean]

Summer Olympics = poor people sports

Winter Olympics = rich people sports



They still have to be better than all their peers to win gold. Being niche doesn't mean they don't have amazing ability. You can focus on the more accessible sports in the Olympics if you so choose.

That said, Summer > Winter Olympics by FAR

To compete in a winter olympic sport you basically need:

- to be born in a cold climate
- have someone in your family introduce you to the sport. You dont do ski jumps or luge by accident.
- Be near an olympic training facility. Even in Western nations these are rare
- Have the financial support both growing up to focus on it like you would any full time job


That group of people is basically the 1% of the 1% of the 1%. So it's no surprise when you look at the athleticism of a world class fencer, hand baller, sailer, luger, cross country skiier, etc. you can find 10 more all around athletic people at any given day by walking into an LA Fitness (dead fuking srs).

[criminal_manne]

You’re not wrong.

[truesteez]

[RobParks2M]

When you’re younger you watch in awe and think “wow, these are the absolute best of the best in the world. Their abilities are amazing”. When you get older you realize that it’s really just a bunch of affluent kids with lucky genetics in hyper niche sports, even more so at the women’s level.



Don’t get me wrong. Competitions like track & field, power lifting, swimming, gymnastics are all pretty accessible to the average person and to rise to that level takes an incredible amount of work.


But when you watch fencing, rowing, archery, sailing, (or even worse in the winter games) bobsledding, luge, skiing/shooting biathlon you realize the only people who compete in this **** were basically born into it. And are the best out of a relatively small group of people. If you’re a woman that group is smaller - how many serious women sailers are there?

Long story short 99% of the world has ran a 100M before. Or kicked a soccer ball. Or shot a basketball. Who the hell has done cross country skiing? Is it really the best of the best?


Anyways, I’ve said my piece

I can't believe you are out here talking about rich people stuff, but don't even mention the horse related shyt at the olympics. Equestrian shyt is peak rich kids doing rich kid things. Most olympic events even the goofy niche ones are still tough competitions where you have basically lived and breathed your sport for years and years. Equestrian kids are probably the least disciplined and have easiest "training" schedule by far.

[I3igAl]

When you’re younger you watch in awe and think “wow, these are the absolute best of the best in the world. Their abilities are amazing”. When you get older you realize that it’s really just a bunch of affluent kids with lucky genetics in hyper niche sports, even more so at the women’s level.



Don’t get me wrong. Competitions like track & field, power lifting, swimming, gymnastics are all pretty accessible to the average person and to rise to that level takes an incredible amount of work.


But when you watch fencing, rowing, archery, sailing, (or even worse in the winter games) bobsledding, luge, skiing/shooting biathlon you realize the only people who compete in this **** were basically born into it. And are the best out of a relatively small group of people. If you’re a woman that group is smaller - how many serious women sailers are there?

Long story short 99% of the world has ran a 100M before. Or kicked a soccer ball. Or shot a basketball. Who the hell has done cross country skiing? Is it really the best of the best?


Anyways, I’ve said my piece

This reads like a GMmiscer thread.

[meanstringbean]

I can't believe you are out here talking about rich people stuff, but don't even mention the horse related shyt at the olympics. Equestrian shyt is peak rich kids doing rich kid things. Most olympic events even the goofy niche ones are still tough competitions where you have basically lived and breathed your sport for years and years. Equestrian kids are probably the least disciplined and have easiest "training" schedule by far.

lol yea the horse does most of the work. Also was surprised to see canoeing as an Olympic sport lmao

[meanstringbean]

This reads like a GMmiscer thread.

lol if it was GMiscer it would be

'you will be completely forgotten about in a year'

and

'the average person can only name the top Olympians like Phelps and Biles. You can win gold and be completely unknown still. Spend your entire life for nothing'

and

'You cant even make money off your specialty. It's just a nice party conversation piece. If you think about it, no difference in spending your life pursuing Curling compared to video games'

[sword_]

I was telling my GF about how affluent triathlon is. People having the access to practice running, swimming, and cycling consistently. You see that most of the countries that are competing are rich European countries.

I do enjoy wrestling, track, olympic lifting, boxing, judo, tennis. Note I mention a lot of combat sports because of the sheer grit those sports take and you don't need a bunch of equipment to practice a grappling or striking art.

The fact that the Filipina woman recently won a gold for her country is amazing. The chick was making weights with jugs of water and bamboo sticks!

Other sports like you said have a high entry point and are affluent which IMO loses the appeal for me.

[HayZues Christi]

Cross country skiing is actually insanely hard and those athletes are some of the fittest in the world.

VO2 Max by Sport:



"But by far the highest VO2-max numbers come from cross-country skiers, who have tested as high as 96 ml/kg/min. What makes them the fittest athletes? The crosscountry events are some of the longest in the Olympics, up to 50 kilometers (31 miles), and they cover the toughest terrain, including steep climbs."

https://www.norwegianamerican.com/th...ance-athletes/

Not saying that's not impressive, but endurance is only a fraction of what makes up an athlete.

[DimTriad]

Agree for the most part

Cross country skiing is still pretty impressive to me though. As far as the winter Olympic s I think it’s the best test of raw athleticism. They have the highest vo2 maxes of any sport as well.

Also you mean weightlifting, not powerlifting.

Edit: wizarded by some ******* above me

[meanstringbean]

Cross country skiing is actually insanely hard and those athletes are some of the fittest in the world.

VO2 Max by Sport:



"But by far the highest VO2-max numbers come from cross-country skiers, who have tested as high as 96 ml/kg/min. What makes them the fittest athletes? The crosscountry events are some of the longest in the Olympics, up to 50 kilometers (31 miles), and they cover the toughest terrain, including steep climbs."

https://www.norwegianamerican.com/th...ance-athletes/

Intredasting data point. Not too surprising as V02 max is all about endurance for the most part, low bf%, and ability to get most out of your lungs and heart. Tbh surprised college swimming is relatively low - but guessing that has to do with speed needed (aka muscles) for the shorter swims than distance swimming you'd see in an Iron Man or triathlon.

If this is the best would love to see the worst. Probably only proves my point given I have a 55 V02 and dont even train for maximizing it

[meanstringbean]

I was telling my GF about how affluent triathlon is. People having the access to practice running, swimming, and cycling consistently. You see that most of the countries that are competing are rich European countries.

I do enjoy wrestling, track, olympic lifting, boxing, judo, tennis. Note I mention a lot of combat sports because of the sheer grit those sports take and you don't need a bunch of equipment to practice a grappling or striking art.

The fact that the Filipina woman recently won a gold for her country is amazing. The chick was making weights with jugs of water and bamboo sticks!

Other sports like you said have a high entry point and are affluent which IMO loses the appeal for me.

Basically if white people dominate it = affluent sport = really not the best in the world at if it accessible.

Imagine if a fraction of the college basketball talent gave a **** about volleyball. With training and time, no doubt Lebron or someone similar would probably be the best of all time in that sport

[HayZues Christi]

The high entry point of soccer in the USA is why we suck at it.

[mesobuild]

I've worked with some in the actual competitive disciplines. It is not a glamorous life.

They do not make a lot.

Stuff like one-legged alpine ski acrobatics are fairly embarrassing to train in as an adult for the olympics. I would almost be embarrassed to admit to my workplace I made the Olympic speedwalking team.

[sword_]

Basically if white people dominate it = affluent sport = really not the best in the world at if it accessible.

Imagine if a fraction of the college basketball talent gave a **** about volleyball. With training and time, no doubt Lebron or someone similar would probably be the best of all time in that sport

I wasn't really trying to say that but you make a good point... look at what happened to Women's Tennis when it became more accessible to other communities. You have Serena & Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka dominating. If golf didn't have such a high entry point then you'd have more Tiger Woods perhaps.

That's why I geek out on combat sports. You TRULY have the best competing all across the world. Look at the UFC right now - you had the GOAT Lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov with a near perfect record, a kid that was wrestling bears from Dagastan. Other competitors coming from Poland, Ireland, Camaroon, Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Japan, China competing. Not just the US. It doesn't matter if they don't have fancy facilities. They are all given the opportunity to compete.

I'm excited for Olympic Wrestling also.

[Muzzlrpress]

The high entry point of soccer in the USA is why we suck at it.

Literally everywhere else, soccer is one of the most common, lowest entry point sports.

In the US you have to either go to a decent school or be born Hispanic/Latino

[Coachbombay]

Still not sure why anyone knows Michael
Phelps' name.

[HayZues Christi]

I wasn't really trying to say that but you make a good point... look at what happened to Women's Tennis when it became more accessible to other communities. You have Serena & Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka dominating. If golf didn't have such a high entry point then you'd have more Tiger Woods perhaps.

That's why I geek out on combat sports. You TRULY have the best competing all across the world. Look at the UFC right now - you had the GOAT Lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov with a near perfect record, a kid that was wrestling bears from Dagastan. Other competitors coming from Poland, Ireland, Camaroon, Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Japan, China competing. Not just the US. It doesn't matter if they don't have fancy facilities. They are all given the opportunity to compete.

I'm excited for Olympic Wrestling also.

Nowhere near the top athletes compete in combat sports lol. Wrestling teams are made up of guys who couldn't letter in other sports.

Literally everywhere else, soccer is one of the most common, lowest entry point sports.

In the US you have to either go to a decent school or be born Hispanic/Latino

No schools have top soccer teams. It's all club soccer and it's 5-10k a year to play on those teams.

[sword_]

Nowhere near the top athletes compete in combat sports lol. Wrestling teams are made up of guys who couldn't letter in other sports.

No schools have top soccer teams. It's all club soccer and it's 5-10k a year to play on those teams.

Combat sports is a combination of athletics, technique, and well being able to take a punch! I do agree that there are folks that couldn't hack it in other sports. A lot of ex-Rugby, American Football, and Soccer players come over to MMA but you rarely see them at high levels.

Also I didn't realize the high entry point of soccer.

[anonkunbrah]

sports entertainment. thats all it is

[jimbone21]

To compete in a winter olympic sport you basically need:

- to be born in a cold climate

Da Fuq U say?

[_zman]

Agreed, for some of them you clearly have to have money and no job.

I think the ski shooter Amanda English said she'd shoot 1000 rounds in a training day? 8 hours a day? I forget the exact number. Not sure who can afford that. Her rounds are probably all paid for these days.

[CrimsonSteel]

Da Fuq U say?

All-time classic

[robertbaggiojr]

That's why Futbol is the top sport

You need endurance, technique/skill, strength, stamina, coordination, and speed to make it to the top

Plus the whole world plays it, it's not limited to anything

[Sandmang27]

Every sport is like that though to some degree.

How many pro athletes are kids of other pro athletes so they had access to high level training and being able to be noticed because people know your father. On top of that there's the money so you can afford all the expensive sports science rehab and training etc.

Even footy doesn't have "the absolute best" because some kids had to go to work to feed their family or got injured because they didn't know how to recover properly and dropped out.

Now there's different degrees and football (real football) probably has the highest amount of raw skill due to it being so accessible but there are still people in the top leagues that got their because of money and being in the in crowd.

F1 drivers are also top tier rich kids / manlets so most of the world has 0 chance of ever competing in driving to get into F1.

[zknarc]

A lot of these sports are 'niche' on a worldwide level but still insanely competitive with widespread participation in significant regions of the world. Rowing clubs and sailing clubs are all over the place here and the rest of Europe.

I do get your point but I don't think people are seriously cross comparing over the different sports.

[meanstringbean]

A lot of these sports are 'niche' on a worldwide level but still insanely competitive with widespread participation in significant regions of the world. Rowing clubs and sailing clubs are all over the place here and the rest of Europe.

I do get your point but I don't think people are seriously cross comparing over the different sports.

Agree there. I play some niche sports and the skills at a regional level are still impressive, but not like what it takes to win Wimbledon or anything


Fwiw was speaking about mainly competing. Representing your country. Winning gold aka best in the world at whatever activity even if it’s dink stroking is impressive.

But in general:

- niche sport means the best competition isn’t even aware of it. Yes rowing is big, but if it was scaled to basketball then you’d have a completely different landscape

- womens sports don’t attract nearly as many athletes as mens. If you’re a high level woman’s rower or badminton player it’s cool, but tbh not the same “whoa this is a top tier athlete!!!” Amazement you have when younger.