Turned On Telly

[lankeela]

and watching some lads playing down the local park then realised it was actually skateboarding at the Olympics - how is that even possible?

[bobbinwales]

Is it any less sport than say clay pigeon shooting or white water rafting or hammer throwing or that horse dancing???

[Mozz71]

Why not? It's a test of skill like any other sport. It's far less silly than something like rhythmic gymnastics or synchronised swimming.

[Mozz71]

Lol Bob's post wasn't there when I posted my very similar one.

Bob- you leave the dancing horses alone!

[andy-hughes]

bob - // Is it any less sport than say clay pigeon shooting or white water rafting or hammer throwing or that horse dancing??? //

I can see what lankeela means.

The other sports you refer to are long recognised sports that do require training with either equipment, or an animal, usually training in specific places with specific skills to be gained.

Skateboarding has grown out of street play, anyone can do it anywhere with minimum outlay, so it seems to look out of place alongside more traditional Olympic events.

I'm not suggesting it should not be included - merely that it sits a little oddly in an event like the Olymics.

[calmck]

GB doing well in the "horse dancing" granddaughter in summer camp here with trainer for portugeuse junior team, jumping not dancing but learning basics of this too

[chelle7272]

Many other sports that you might debate as well, as long as it's competitive and involves a level of skill why not?
Having said that i was a bit irked that skateboarding made it in this year and squash didn't!

[Mozz71]

Wasn't there talk of sports like darts and snooker being considered?

[Bazile]

I can't understand why squash is not in , yet tennis is - very odd

[barry1010]

Chess used to in the Olympics during the 1920s

[lankeela]

Why do the commentators assume everyone knows the rules and just waffle on about stuff most of us have never heard of? Especially as it is apparently a new Olympic sport they could at least explain what is going on.

[ichkeria]

Just as well you missed the surfing then :-)

[Mozz71]

I think they might've before the actual coverage started. I believe they've got BMX racing on later too.

[Mamyalynne]

Town Planning (yes really) was another one that got away ;-)

https://talksport.com/sport/olympic-games/913117/olympic-sports-usain-bolt-simone-biles/

[Ken4155]

Some of the moves those young 'uns get up to on their skateboards must take hours of training to get right. I'm only surprised they're not all competing in plaster casts.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/sport-olympics/tokyo-olympics-new-sports-2021-explainer-b945605.html

[Mozz71]

Mamya, I'd be all over horsey long jump. Sounds like a brilliant idea to me.

[lankeela]

I watched snowboarding at the last Winter Olympics and they explained all the moves and scoring - within a few minutes you could follow what was going on. But its the same when Wimbledon is on - most of us would know what forty love means but they never explain what is happening or points needed when they get tie breaks or when they talk about match points - they assume because they are experts everyone else must be.

[Mamyalynne]

A guide here...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2021/07/25/skateboarding-tokyo-2020-2021-olympics-new-rules-watch-sky-brown/

I imagine as people are tuning in at all different times they'd have to use valuable airtime to recap the rules or constantly talk over the action.

[andy-hughes]

lankeela - // ... they assume because they are experts everyone else must be. //

I think it's a difficult balancing act - to commentate at a level where the average viewer can understand what's happening, but also not be explaining the rules all the time and annoying people who do understand them.

I think it's a reasonable assumption that people who watch a particular sport and enjoy it, will either know the rules, or find out about them in order to understand what's going on.

Sports like American Football certainly need some grasp of the rules since the commentators all seem to assume that everyone watching has a complete grasp of what appear to be arcane and deeply strange rules for playing the game.

Tennis for example, you need to know that the scoring is based on the clock - 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes shortened to forty because it takes less time to say it, and so on.

I am not a massive sports fan, but on occasions I watch, and can usually pick up enough to know the basics by simply paying attention.

[Canary42]

///The other sports you refer to are long recognised sports that do require training with either equipment, or an animal, usually training in specific places with specific skills to be gained.

Skateboarding has grown out of street play, anyone can do it anywhere with minimum outlay, so it seems to look out of place alongside more traditional Olympic events. ///

What a load of inaccurate nonsense. Perhaps they should include scraping the barrel - you would excel at that.

[barry1010]

I've been thinking about this. Why is running a sport? If you have two legs, a healthy heart and lungs you can run. Even two year olds can do it.
I've seen people with one leg run. So if the majority can do it, what's special about it?
I can run but I could never skateboard - no sense of balance and nowhere near brave enough