Which sports/events do you think should be dropped/included?

I think the fuss about the bikes is overblown. They're all stiff, and the aerodynamic advantage is primarily derived from perfecting the riders position down to the last fraction of mm. It's down to the rider to adopt and hold the aerodynamic position correctly. Sure they need the custom fit bike geometry to do it, but all nations and teams can do this and have access to custom fir carbon frames.

This seems like a good time to mention Graham Obree - he made his own bike using traditional materials and perfected the riding position, then set some world records.
 
Drop football

Bring in DH mountain biking and 4x (if you can have BMX in the olympics then why not 4x? Although with UCI removing it from the world champs it's probably not likely).
 
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quoted from the Olympic football thread (this thread seems the better place to respond)
SlugForAButt said:
More importantly, what the *NO DISGUISED SWEAR WORDS* are TEAM GAMES like footie, basketball, baseball (now defunct), beach volleyball and hockey doing in the bloody olympics at all?
The Olympics have turned into a bloody parody of popular culture, feeling they need to include team games and the like.
Surely the Olympics is about fastest/strongest rather than a team plan? I'm a footie freak myself but I hate the footie being part of the Olympics and I'm glad to see "us" out of it.
Olympics is about PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT surely? And before someone spouts crap about rowing or relays having more than one person... think about it!
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Some of those events are great though, and sporting achievement can be about the team. The Hockey can be fantastic, you don't really get to see it on TV much outside of the Olympics, and actually it's a good example of all these sports that most of us wouldn't follow regularly but we can enjoy them enormously during the Olympics.

The is some truth in the Olympics trying to appeal broadly, Beach Volleyball seems like a concession to marketing the games as something 'sexy' (I think traditional Volleyball is actually better.)
 
Amp34 said:
Like track cycling (£20k bikes), rowing (£20k boats), Sailing (several £k)? There are plenty of events that technically cost a fortune to enter, should we get rid of them too?
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You don't need a £20k bike to start cycling, it's also relatively cheep to join a rowing/sailing club. To become good at riding and compete in events you really need your own horse. Buying the horse is only the start of the expense. Stable fees are astronomical, as are vet fees and competition fees. Then you need some way of transporting the horse to events. Most of this is beyond the reach of your average person like no other Olympic sport.
 
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Pigeon_Killer said:
Jesus, Equestrian is dominating the coverage today. Is it really that popular or is it only because Zara's competing? :confused:
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It's hugely popular, one of our biggest sports.

And lol :rolleyes: to the persons ho said its only for the rich. It does cost, but it's not only for the rich. Plent of normal people own and compete with horses. They just make sacrifices and don't spend thousands on pcs.

Not sure I would want to drop any, loads should be added, it's just can you have many more sports, or is there a logistical/cost upper limit.
 
I'd drop football, both volleyballs, in fact anything with a group stage.

And considering how fast the swimmers go, underwater, before they start their stroke proper, I'd introduce "Man From Atlantis" as an Olympic event. Just make them surface a set number of times per length. :D
 
NinetyOne said:
Mountain biking events. I'd also love skiing/snowboarding to be incorporated somehow too.
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Mountain biking is already in.

I'm not convinced on squash, it isn't a great spectator sport. I have never seen a televised game of squash in my life. Apparently it used to be on TV in he 80's 90'd but was dropped.

I think darts would be a good addition.
 
PhilthyPhil said:
This is not actually true anymore. There is a new rule that the equipment has to be made publicly available. You can therefore buy exactly the same bike that is used in the Olympics. However they are very expensive and built to order. Have a look here http://www.uksport.gov.uk/pages/cycling/ There are no prices listed but I think it would be about £20k for a complete bike.
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I know (think I mentioned it in a post), however the technology has only just been shown off at the Olympics and I'm guessing the bike has only just been released with it. Can't really use a bike at the olympics that you haven't received yet.

Don't take my word for it, it was explicitly stated by one of the coaches in the coverage that they kept a lot of tech back so it couldn't be copied or banned by the IOC.
 
Stretch said:
You don't need a £20k bike to start cycling, it's also relatively cheep to join a rowing/sailing club. To become good at riding and compete in events you really need your own horse. Buying the horse is only the start of the expense. Stable fees are astronomical, as are vet fees and competition fees. Then you need some way of transporting the horse to events. Most of this is beyond the reach of your average person like no other Olympic sport.
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All can be had rather cheaply if you look around. That was my point... You can join pony clubs when you are younger, you can share a horse (pay money to the owner to ride it - a family member does this and I'm pretty certain she spends less on him a week than many people do on alcohol...). To get to an event in rowing or sailing you may very well need to tow your boat to the event as well. Trailers are expensive.

Horse riding is not as expensive as a lot of people seem to think. To get to the top of a sport that needs equipment is usually fairly expensive, no matter what (even something like sailing which has classes of dinghy that are rather cheap!). EDIT: As AH mentions, you could get all your transport needs (horse box and replace your car with a small 4x4) for less than many peoples computers cost on this forum...
 
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I always have thought Fell Racing should be an olympic event not sure how you would get this to fit in London. No reason why it couldn't be held in Wales, Scotland, Lake District or hosted somewhere in the host country.

Drop Football. Waste of time, and its good to get rid of it in the off season.
 
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