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What 'sports' should be dropped for the 2028 Olympics?

Sue said:
And I was watching water polo yesterday and that was very dull so we could easily lose that.
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They should replace it with underwater rugby (yes it's a real thing) because I've been wanting to do that for ages but it's not popular enough to have more than a few UK teams in places like London atm.
 
Fez909 said:
Anything that's judged, rather than measured.
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Thinking about this a bit more, I'd also make another blanket ban on team sports.

To me, the Olympics is about individual excellence. It doesn't seem right that someone like the Argentinian goalkeeper Oscar Ustari can win a gold just because he happens to play in the same team as Messi, Angel Di Maria, Zabaleta, Mascherano, etc.

He's had only 336 professional appearances in his entire career, and only played with the full International squad twice. Contrast with Jordan Pickford who has had over 400 appearances and he's 8 years younger than Ustari. They're both still playing.

I'm not trying to say Ustari is a bad player. tbh, I don't know anything about him, and didn't know who he was until I looked up some stats for this post, which considering he plays the most popular sport in the world, and won a gold medal doing it, I think says a lot.

He's [probably] not a brilliant goalkeeper, nevermind a brilliant footballer. He's been signed by mediocre teams, such as Sunderland and Getafe, and didn't even get a game for Sunderland. At the time, Pickford also couldn't get a game for Sunderland and was loaned out.

Compare Ustari with someone like Zlatan Ibrahimović. He was not the best footballer in the world, but he was individually brilliant, and to me, is much more in line with what I think being an Olympian should be. Playing for Sweden, there was never much chance of them winning a gold, just because the rest of the team were not that good. It didn't matter how good he was, he could, and would, miss out on a medal due to other people who were supposed to help him, not being good enough.

Even worse than all of this, IMO, is that if you have played in the World Cup, and you're from a European national, you're not allowed to compete in the Olympics for football. So, some of the world's best players are by default excluded, so what are you celebrating?
 
Get rid of the horse stuff, keep all the events Ireland won (maybe not boxing) and also more of the table tennis, surfing, breaking, judo, athletics, skateboarding, BMX.
 
Santino said:
Conversely, come up with -athlons for all numbers that aren't currently being used, up to 10.
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Heard a good one the other day. The combined Marathon/long jump. Run 26 miles then have to do a long jump as soon as you finish! 😂
 
Santino said:
E.g. a tetrathlon for teams, where a 15 person squad has to play football, hockey, netball and cricket.
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I love this idea. Means people have to have a much more flexible skill set. Though cricket, and I say this as a fan, has no place at the Olympics.
 
Fez909 said:
Thinking about this a bit more, I'd also make another blanket ban on team sports.

To me, the Olympics is about individual excellence. It doesn't seem right that someone like the Argentinian goalkeeper Oscar Ustari can win a gold just because he happens to play in the same team as Messi, Angel Di Maria, Zabaleta, Mascherano, etc.

He's had only 336 professional appearances in his entire career, and only played with the full International squad twice. Contrast with Jordan Pickford who has had over 400 appearances and he's 8 years younger than Ustari. They're both still playing.

I'm not trying to say Ustari is a bad player. tbh, I don't know anything about him, and didn't know who he was until I looked up some stats for this post, which considering he plays the most popular sport in the world, and won a gold medal doing it, I think says a lot.

He's [probably] not a brilliant goalkeeper, nevermind a brilliant footballer. He's been signed by mediocre teams, such as Sunderland and Getafe, and didn't even get a game for Sunderland. At the time, Pickford also couldn't get a game for Sunderland and was loaned out.

Compare Ustari with someone like Zlatan Ibrahimović. He was not the best footballer in the world, but he was individually brilliant, and to me, is much more in line with what I think being an Olympian should be. Playing for Sweden, there was never much chance of them winning a gold, just because the rest of the team were not that good. It didn't matter how good he was, he could, and would, miss out on a medal due to other people who were supposed to help him, not being good enough.

Even worse than all of this, IMO, is that if you have played in the World Cup, and you're from a European national, you're not allowed to compete in the Olympics for football. So, some of the world's best players are by default excluded, so what are you celebrating?
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Like I said before, for a variety of reasons the men's football is an unsatisfactory competition. However, using it as a justification for a blanket ban on all team events is taking it too far. Most team events at the Olympics do include the best players and are very popular. Also, in any team there will be some players that are better than others, whether that's in the Olympics or any other competition, but they still make a contribution (which might be more than seems obvious to the casual observer) and are often vital.
 
Fez909 said:
Thinking about this a bit more, I'd also make another blanket ban on team sports.

To me, the Olympics is about individual excellence. It doesn't seem right that someone like the Argentinian goalkeeper Oscar Ustari can win a gold just because he happens to play in the same team as Messi, Angel Di Maria, Zabaleta, Mascherano, etc.

He's had only 336 professional appearances in his entire career, and only played with the full International squad twice. Contrast with Jordan Pickford who has had over 400 appearances and he's 8 years younger than Ustari. They're both still playing.

I'm not trying to say Ustari is a bad player. tbh, I don't know anything about him, and didn't know who he was until I looked up some stats for this post, which considering he plays the most popular sport in the world, and won a gold medal doing it, I think says a lot.

He's [probably] not a brilliant goalkeeper, nevermind a brilliant footballer. He's been signed by mediocre teams, such as Sunderland and Getafe, and didn't even get a game for Sunderland. At the time, Pickford also couldn't get a game for Sunderland and was loaned out.

Compare Ustari with someone like Zlatan Ibrahimović. He was not the best footballer in the world, but he was individually brilliant, and to me, is much more in line with what I think being an Olympian should be. Playing for Sweden, there was never much chance of them winning a gold, just because the rest of the team were not that good. It didn't matter how good he was, he could, and would, miss out on a medal due to other people who were supposed to help him, not being good enough.

Even worse than all of this, IMO, is that if you have played in the World Cup, and you're from a European national, you're not allowed to compete in the Olympics for football. So, some of the world's best players are by default excluded, so what are you celebrating?
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To quote your example about the Argentina goalkeeper, it really is no different outside the Olympics. French keeper, Areola, has only been capped 5 times for his country yet has a World Cup winners medal and World Cup runner up medal, thanks to being in the squad as France's third choice keeper for donkeys years.
 
Horse racing and dressage etc. I think probably there's a way to do it so it's not cruel but the people involved clearly haven't managed it.
 
Boo Radley75 said:
To quote your example about the Argentina goalkeeper, it really is no different outside the Olympics. French keeper, Areola, has only been capped 5 times for his country yet has a World Cup winners medal and World Cup runner up medal, thanks to being in the squad as France's third choice keeper for donkeys years.
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That's true, but it doesn't change my point. I don't care that people who were the best player won a World Cup - it's a team sport, and in my mind is not about any one individual.

But the Olympics was not conceived to find the best team. It was about the best runner, or discus thrower, or whatever. So, by widening it to teams, it takes away from what I perceive as the original spirit of the games.
 
It's really interesting reading everyone's reasonings for eliminating different sports. Obviously underpinning all of it is the question of just what (or who) the Olympics are supposed to be for.

While I totally get it, and lord knows I've had similar thoughts at various points, "I'm not interested in / don't understand this sport" doesn't feel a particularly solid rationale (though I appreciate in many cases it might also not be particularly serious...).

One thing I've found interesting about the whole 'the Olympics aren't the pinnacle of the sport' discussions is that it's felt a lot of the athletes taking part maybe don't see it as the pinnacle, but do see the value.

It's a unique situation, being part of a celebration of sport in general, not just their sport, in isolation. I also got the feeling that many athletes saw it as a way of them contributing to their nations overall Olympic performance; "we can help get our country another medal" sort of thing.
 
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Fez909 said:
He's [probably] not a brilliant goalkeeper, nevermind a brilliant footballer. He's been signed by mediocre teams, such as Sunderland and Getafe, and didn't even get a game for Sunderland. At the time, Pickford also couldn't get a game for Sunderland and was loaned out.
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I hadn’t realised Olympic soccer worked just like playground soccer..you pick a squad and then put the shit guy you didn’t want in goal. 🥅
 
planetgeli said:
Breakdancing. It wasn't cool, it was a sterilized version of what break is. If you want some sort of 'street' competition to replace it, let's make graffiti
a sport.

BMX was great. In fact the final of the freestyle (?) was probably the best watch of the whole Olympics.

Agree with everything in the OP. Sailing definitely. The Kite thing was best, you could see how insanely fast they were moving, but needed closer finishes.

Basketball, pointless. Actually, too many points. the 3 person one was extra shite too. Get rid.

What is the point of judo? (At least with taekwondo it was easy to understand the point was to kick the other person in the head).

Weightlifting has never done anything for me.

Have I wiped everything out yet?
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I saw the end of the women’s basket ball. It seems like a game where you could condense it down in time and get it over and done with rather the interminable backwards and forwards and huge scores 15 minutes do or die
 
maomao said:
They could do a tournament that was penalties only, with medals for best goalie and best ball kicker.
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They had that bizarre mini basket ball on a half court so they could have 'goal and in' tennis ball football and single wicket cricket.
 
Get rid of horses
Get rid of anything artistic/dancing
Team games don’t seem that important in comparison to other world events, World Cup etc
Any sport which has such a high financial input only posh fuckers do it.


Take it back to the fastest/longest heritage

Grease everyone up and do it naked
 
Walking. Football, tennis and golf have massive events all by themselves with huge prize money so take them out.Cut the swimming and shooting events down.

Why the hell anyone ever considered breakdancing as an Olympic sport I will never know.
 
maomao said:
Just get rid of walking, it's stupid and doesn't follow its own rules. And the posho horse stuff obviously.
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Walking's the best event in there. It's fucking hilarious. No, can't lose that.

Also worth pointing out that Charlotte Dujardin (the dressage rider filmed using the lunge whip on the horse's legs) isn't actually posh, despite that name. She's a state school dropout from Enfield who just loved horses and was quite good at it. And far crueller things get done to young gymnasts.

Breakdancing has to go. Apparently most of the top guys/girls in the world shunned it anyway. Football should also go and also the incredibly boring sailing events.
 
bellaozzydog said:
I saw the end of the women’s basket ball. It seems like a game where you could condense it down in time and get it over and done with rather the interminable backwards and forwards and huge scores 15 minutes do or die
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Watched a game of women's basketball a couple of years ago, it was so exciting - because of shorter limbs there was more action and movement in the court.


Much rather follow it than the men's game.
 
New sports inspired by the ancient Greeks:

Solve a maze and then kill a minotaur at the centre of it.

Ship of Theseus: sail a boat round a harbour, replacing every part of the boat without sinking or capsizing.

Sheep-stealing
 
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