Winter Olympics as a game of chance

That's true with short track skating a lot of crashes there. Notice that unlike swimming being short is an advantage in the sport, and that why some asian countries like South Korea seem to dominate short track.

Originally posted by cinc310 That's true with short track skating a lot of crashes there. Notice that unlike swimming being short is an advantage in the sport, and that why some asian countries like South Korea seem to dominate short track. Tell me I did not just read that???

Originally posted by ande Things can go wrong in swimming you can blow a turn poorly split a race breathe water / choke get a cramp hit the bottom blow a start blow a finish With the possible exception of breathing a wave these are pretty much things that are under the swimmer's control. I think the issue raised with short track speed skating and snowboard cross is that you are subject to errors on the part of your competitors. Several competitors in snowboard cross were eliminated by another competitor wiping out and taking someone out in the process, similarly in short track. You don't see swimmers getting "boxed" in by members of a competing team either. In swimming you pretty much have your own lane and your competitors are largely limited to psychological influences.

Very good points Lindsey.....Swimmers are not at the mercy of their competitors like they are in short track skating and snowboard cross country (and NASCAR for that matter)....there is a big difference there....when someone said that every sport has elements of luck in them on some level...it depends on whether or not you accept chess as a sport....where's the possible elements of luck in a chess match? Newmastersswimmmer

Originally posted by kristilynn Here is an interesting article that I came across on yahoosports.com sports.yahoo.com/.../news The man who wrote htis article is an idiot. All sport is based on human judgement, we simply don't always see the judging. I'm sure we all know coaches who at one time told some one that they didn't have the talent needed to pursue a particular sport. I pertsonally think that curling is one ofhte two most boring sports ever invented by man. However, it is one of the fastest growing competitions right now.

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com I pertsonally think that curling is one ofhte two most boring sports ever invented by man. However, it is one of the fastest growing competitions right now. So is bowling, but does that make it important? My belief on why these are growing is due to the fact that there is a perception when someone is watching this "sport" on the couch eating chips and drinking beer between a cigarette or two saying "Hey I can do that!" I don't think Joe Six Pack watches Michael Phelps swim a 400IM and say, "Man I am going to join the swimming team!" The argument about judges in every sport is moot. Judges in swimming or other "race" sports aren't there to determine a winnner. They are there to see who is cheating, unless of course Kitajima is swimming.

I strongly disagree with the column about judged events not being "real sports." I took gymnastics when I was much younger, and it is one of the most challenging sports to do. In swimming, you really only have to learn four "skills," plus a few starts and turns, and then perfect them. In gymanstics, as soon as you learn how to do one skill, you have ten more difficult ones to learn. In most judged sports, it's generally not too hard for an educated spectator to tell who did well, and the athletes who performed the best almost always win, even though the judging is slightly biased. Of course, there will always be a little bias in judging, but no sports competition is ever completely fair.

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com Second, Koreans are into short track not because they are little but probably because of some cultural significane of the sport to them. Why through this definititon, would so many Janpanese women run marathons? Not sure I get your point. Are you saying lots of Japanese women do run marathons, or don't? Height doesn't seem to be a requirement to run marathons well. The African distance runners, for example, are typically on the small side. Anyway, it's obviously a combination of things. Koreans excel at the sport because it's popular in Korea and their body types tend to be suited to it.

Originally posted by Sam Perry Tell me I did not just read that??? I agree with that. It's no different than saying height is an advantage in basketball. Some sports do favor shorter competitors. For example 5'6" would be quite tall for a female figure skater.

Originally posted by IndyGal I was watching women's slalom last night and thought that was a classic case of luck factoring into a timed race. If you saw any of it, the fog was pretty heavy, and heavier for the early skiiers than for the skiiers who ran later. Now how much that affected the early runs, I don't know, but surely something like that could make a difference. Skiers are definitely affected by both weather and starting position. I think this is one reason why total points over the World Cup season are more important than individual wins. Someone can "luck into" a race victory, but consistent performance over a season is what makes a great skier. It also makes it hard on the great skiers because they are expected to win medals at big events such as the Olympics when their performance in any one race is much less consistent than in a sport like swimming. So don't be too hard on Bode Miller...