Physical exertion required by different disciplines

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

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Watching the cycling road races it made me think. The men have to ride 150 miles and the women 84 miles I think. That's a LOT of hard physical grind to get a medal. Then you have many other sports which don't require a fraction of that stamina and fitness. And of course there are sports which require a lot of exertion but again not as much as the cycling, or even the marathon. I realise these people choose their discipline because that's what they enjoy and that's what they're good at. But it almost seems unfair that some sportsman/sportswomen have to work so much harder than others just to get the same medals. What are your thoughts on this?
 
It's just the nature of the sport obviously and is totally irrelevant. I doubt the archers for example burn even 500 calories in an entire day of constant competition but there's no point in comparing that to swimming or running.

What does some unfair/skewed is that there's only 3 medals for a 150-strong group of cyclists, yet the same amount for 8 swimmers. I know there's qualifications etc as well but the same can be said of cycling in terms of the selection process and qualification criteria.

Getting bronze in a swimming event for example is almost close to 50/50 (3 get medals, only 5 don't), yet getting bronze in the road cycling is actually a massive achievement.
 
Considering how hard swimming can be, water polo sounds like a seriously cv discipline... Up to 5km swum per game!
 
Russinating said:
It's just the nature of the sport obviously and is totally irrelevant. I doubt the archers for example burn even 500 calories in an entire day of constant competition but there's no point in comparing that to swimming or running.

What does some unfair/skewed is that there's only 3 medals for a 150-strong group of cyclists, yet the same amount for 8 swimmers. I know there's qualifications etc as well but the same can be said of cycling in terms of the selection process and qualification criteria.

Getting bronze in a swimming event for example is almost close to 50/50 (3 get medals, only 5 don't), yet getting bronze in the road cycling is actually a massive achievement.
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You're forgetting that in events like swimming, there are all the heats before the final.
For example, in the men's 100m, there 8 heats with 60 competitors and then there will be semi-finals and finals. Also many of the swimmers will be competing in more than one event.

edit:
oops! You did mention the qualifications etc.
But that's still a 1 in 60 chance of a Gold medal for that competition.
 
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Can I just clarify that by physical exertion I mean doing a marathon either on bike or foot is far more exhausting than even swimming heats isn't it? Imagine keeping going for 25 plus miles on foot or 150 miles on bike with no breaks. Enough to make someone physically ill. Swimming heats are tough, sure, but they don't last as long before they get a break.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;22449669 said:
In cycling the exertion is shared though. Most of the effort expended is in overcoming wind resistance so if you hide in the pack or take your turns you conserve a massive amount.
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Even so, they're still pedalling almost non stop for massive distances. What about the marathon then, or some of the very long distance track runs? What about ben ainslie in his boat, constantly having to lean both sides of the boat for miles?
 
[DOD]Asprilla;22449669 said:
In cycling the exertion is shared though. Most of the effort expended is in overcoming wind resistance so if you hide in the pack or take your turns you conserve a massive amount.
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For a cyclist or runner most of the race will be like a training run, it's only towards the end that the competitor will exert more effort.

For a sprint swimmer or runner, all their training is for the race when they exert all their effort.
 
Sport is more than just pure physical exertion though. If it was, we might as well just sack off all athletics except for the marathon.

So what if archery doesn't use up much energy? The people competing in it are the best in the world, and that's what the medals are there to recognise, not who puts in the most effort.
 
Different people have different strengths and people choose events based on their strengths.

If you're good at long distance running but not particularly quick over a short distance, you're hardly going to sit and moan that Usain Bolt only has to exert himself for 10 seconds but you're going for an hour :p
 
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