After the ice skating fiasco, my doubts about ‘judged’ events is starting to arise again. It seems to me that events that are reliant on someone rating your performance is ripe for corruption, incompetance and stagnation. There was a thread below where many argued that bodybuilding should not be in the olympics because it is not a sport but more like a pagent. I agree with that, but how is a rhythmic gymnastics any more of a sport than the fitness america pagent? I read where ice skating judges from the eastern bloc countries look at the participant’s attitude, their music selection and their customes as part of the judging. How is that different from a bodybuilding show? I realize that ice skaters do "athletic things, but their scores are subjective rather than objective which infers a “pagent”. I realize that boxing is judged too, but I also think it is a farce too (both on amateur and professional levels). The point should be to incapacitate the other boxer, not just to box in a way to impress the judges. So my question to you all, “Are judged events really sports or fancy pagents”?
Yeah, because the athletes have to exert themselves physically to do the required stuff & to do something nobody else can do. It takes a lot of training & practice to be able to do the stuff some athletes do. (especially olympic lifting & powerlifting but I know that’s not what you meant)
Not to take away from the athletes, because the things they pull off is mind boggling, but figure skating is ice dancing, and we all the purpose of dancing is not sport, its foreplay! I would be up for the luge though, is there a sport where you move less? You can train in bed. It would suck to get a rip in your suit though, you would end up with a 200mph icy enema!
It depends on the sport. Rythmic gymnastics is a sport and a skill… sure it’s not exactly the most interesting thing to watch, but I’d imagine it’s pretty hard to throw something in the air, do a flip and then stick your arm out and have it land. I can’t even juggle!!! laugh You’d have to kill a lot of skiing events, because snow boarding, ski jumping and moguls are all judged. Any sport that is not completely time based has the potential to be corrupted… I think the better idea is to have very strict judging criteria, and some qualifications… such as ‘I took off .2 points for the crappy landing on that jump, but I gave them .3 for the awesome throw.’ Sure, the results wouldn’t come out as fast, but the judges should have to qualify their decisions. BTW, a few years ago, the gold medalist woman fell twice and the silver medal winner skated clean - no one championed her cause. And honestly, I think the judges were influenced by the ‘we’re so awesome’ party that the Canadians had after their skate.
I have a huge problem with putting the results in someone else’s hands. We have to do that in our cheerleading competition and you know some people are influenced one way or another. And its tough because the judges might be looking for some things and you not know it. Like they may put cleanliness over everything and not take difficulty into account as much. Other judges may prioritize difficulty with cleanliness being second.
I gotta disagree with the boxing reference. At least in the amateur ranks, the judges are there to interpret scoring punches, not to judge “which is the better boxer.” The scores are the objective measure of who wins the bout. However, I do agree with the concept of judged events being too subjective for meaningful international competition. In the realm of figure skating, I’d like to see the compulsory figures reintroduced (any one remember Scott Hamilton’s perfect score in the compulsories at the Olympics?). At least that part of the competition is rather objective.
A fighter can at any time keep a fight from going to the judges with one punch, kick, pin, submission. This is not true in other sports that use judges. If you let it go to the judges then its your own fault for not getting the job done.
not always so wiht boxing. You have the classic Roy Jones Jr in 88 Seoul Olympics where he whooped the koreans ass every round, but couldnt get a KO. Ive watched to footage it was an ass whooping in the end yet the corrupt judges voted for the korean guy.
Like I said if you let it go to the judges then its your own damn fault. Roy Jones was trying to score points which is what you do in amatuer boxing. if he had gone for a knockout he probably would have gotten it because he has plenty of power.
A friend and I were discussing what characteristics qualify an activity as a sport, and I think he came up with the perfect definition. It is an acitivity that involves athletic skills in which the competitors must directly and physically react to one another’s movements or actions. Anything else, say track and field, ice skating, what have you, would be considered athletic competitions in which skills and performances are measured against one another. Using this criteria we decided that boxing and tennis are two of the purest forms of sport. Any other ideas?
lest we not forget that it is the “Olympic Games” not “Olympic Sports”, so an arguement could be made to have yahtzee, parcheesie or nintendo added next time around. :o) kevo
Even pure speed events are judged. Apolo Anton Ohno won the short track 1500 last night on a decision because he got cut off by the Korean skater (whose name I can’t spell) on the last turn. The Korean crossed the line first but the judges disqualified him.
The basic problem with the judging in figure skating is not in the judging for technical aspects, but in the judging for presentation. That’s where the trouble really is. Other sports that are judged don’t usually take into consideration musicality, grace, expression, etc. (I’m really not sure about gymnastics). Even in diving, snowboarding, ski jumping–they look at technique, height, execution only and judge that. Taking presentation out of figure skating would probably make it less appealing to watch, but more fair to judge, and more in line with what we all consider sport and athleticism. Otherwise we should include ballet, ballroom dancing, etc. into the Olympics too! The kind of feats ballet dancers execute are not unlike those of figure skaters–except that they don’t wear skates.