The Olympics

[Puzzled]

If angling was to get recognised as an Olympic event, you could almost hear the darts players sharpening their 'arrers in readiness. Then maybe the Crown Green Bowling clubs would be clamouring for recognition. And would the French push for Boules to be on the agenda?

 

Where would it all end - dominoes?

 

Just a thought

[ColinW]

There are already too many silly non-sports in the Olympics. Synchronised swimming was the one that broke the camel's back for me along with snowboarding in the winter games. What next, flower arranging and break dancing?

Sadly, the events which I'd scrap are now probably the only ones Britain has any medal hopes in!

My Olympics would be

100m, marathon, long jump, high jump, javelin, weightlifting, 100m freestyle swim, 10m diving and

 

er

 

er

 

well nothing else, maybe some sort of fighting event.

Over in a day and budget about twenty quid.

[Andy Macfarlane]

What about he BMX racing that starts on the 20th? I can see the extreme sports 'You Dude' thing winding people up in the same way that snowboarding does but it is athletic and we have a girl who's quite handy at it.

[bingo]

It's not something I'd like to see. Firstly, it is boring to watch. And I'll normally watch ANY angling related programme. As others have said, it's too much down to the luck of the draw. I don't see it as a sport anyway.

 

People mock darts but I think it is fantastically skillful. A real test of skill and nerve. There can be so much drama. Granted you don't need to be athletic but I saw one of the target shooting competitions and they were allowed to rest their gun when firing! They weren't even holding it! And some wear jeans too.

 

The Olympics should be the pinnacle of each sport so Tennis and football should be out. They should cut down on half the swimming medals. Far too many of them up for grabs. The cycling should be just in the velodrome. The sailing is awful to watch.

 

I like a lot of the random sports that don't normally get coverage (fencing, archery, judo etc) I'm really enjoying but it could be vastly improved and streamlined.

 

There's even talk of golf..........

[Dick Dastardly]

I really dont know! After reading tjhrough this thread Ive found that some people have very different veiws to me about angling and skill! even as what angling actually is!

 

I could agree on the tournement casting being the closest to the "normally" held interpretation.But if the Olympics is really a competition to show the best in a sport then maybe why not fishing? Match angling is definately not down to luck (as could possibly be argued specimen hunting as well) as long as the result is based over a series of matchs/period of time.But how would we want to see this done as an Olympic event? To actuallydeviate from the allready accepted formats of matchs (regardless of them being coarse,sea or game) and create an event that found the best all round angler we would in effect have to create a whole new sport!

 

No maybe its best to leave angling out and just use the existing International scene as the bench mark? But maybe we should ask the likes of Bob Nudd if he would have liked one of his World Gold medals to have been an Olympic gold instead?

[fishfinder]

Every time I hear this argument it makes me laugh. I have been fishing now for 36 years and love my "sport", but how can anyone seriously expect fishing to be included in the olympics? Even classing angling as a sport is stretching it!

 

I know not all olympic events require a high degree of fitness (e.g. shooting), but can you imagine Will raison with his beer gut hanging out, rod in hand at Bejing? I suppose holding a 16m pole could be classed as an endurance event...

 

Whatever next? darts?

[kleinboet]

Bingo - "As others have said, it's too much down to the luck of the draw". I don't see it as a sport anyway."

If you think angling "is down to the luck of the draw" then you haven't been pleasure fishing. There is no "luck of the draw" - it is up to you whether the swim you choose is going to produce fish or not. A thing called "watercraft"which can only be learned by learning to put yourself in the fishes place and deciding where THEY will be!

Edited August 16, 2008 by kleinboet

[Emma two]

". I don't see it as a sport anyway."

 

This illustrates how dynamic the English languge is, so changable. Up until relatively recently an Enlish dictionary would describe 'Sportsman' as, one who hunts, shoots or fishes'. No mention in the definition of footballers, runners, jumpers, spear chuckers, boxers, judokas etc, as these activities were 'games' (hence Olympic games) and not sports.

[dapper64]

Strange this, in the past there have been numerous calls for angling to be an Olympic sport, especially considering some of the less than popular sports that are included. Have to say that I have no feeling either way, although I like the idea of angling being accepted as a 'sport'. It would indicate a level of credibility that might be useful to angling though. Stuff the rowing course full of identical sized fish, sorted!

peter why are your posts wider than any body elses,I have to scroll across to read them or is it just me?

[The Flying Tench]

The key thing is that, for 2012, our only chance is by cramming the olympics with as many SITTING DOWN SPORTS as possible. These are the only things we are normally any good at - cycling, rowing, sailing, etc. And angling is a SITTING DOWN SPORT! That's why we do so well at it.

 

And yes, of course the solution has to be to fill the rowing lake with identically sized fish, as someone has suggested!