Olympics Spoilers and chat.

[derrick]

Whay are we hearing more about Simone bloody Biles than our own medal winning athletes.

Didn't manage to catch any of the sailing.

The sailing is on YouTube, been really good.

 

[derrick]

BMX and skate boarding, a breath of fresh air, lots of skills, really made it for me this year, Gymnastics, sailing, trampolining and cycling have also been watched, The rest is not for me.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Awful really that a decade of training and dedication towards an Olympic medal could come down to how a horse feels in that 20 minutes. You think they'd give them a second go with a different horse if it was clear it was because Champion wasn't feeling up to it.

It is a ridiculous practice. It is no longer a skill and talent competition. It is game of chance. She was leading and this horse had a bad day. All the years of training down the drain. No issues if its her horse and she had trained with it for sometime.

The riders and horses train exclusively together as a ‘team’. It’s not as simple as getting on (or even training) another one just in case. Having a bad day is part of every sport so where do you draw the line?

 

[Mike_P]

The riders and horses train exclusively together as a ‘team’. It’s not as simple as getting on (or even training) another one just in case. Having a bad day is part of every sport so where do you draw the line?

Not in the modern pentathlon, the horses are all local to the event and the rider meets their horse 20 minutes before their ride.

 

[Arrowfoot]

The riders and horses train exclusively together as a ‘team’. It’s not as simple as getting on (or even training) another one just in case. Having a bad day is part of every sport so where do you draw the line?
[/QUOTE
Not in the modern pentathlon. Random assignment of horses, 20 minute familiarisation. Horses you have never worked with.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Not in the modern pentathlon, the horses are all local to the event and the rider meets their horse 20 minutes before their ride.

Ah, my mistake. Seems a bit bonkers in that case.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Ah, my mistake. Seems a bit bonkers in that case.

Well modern pentathlon is bonkers. Have you ever come across it outside the Olympics? I don't think I have (maybe just I wasn't paying attention).

You regularly hear of world championships, and general news of most sports. They have their own identity and existence. But not modern pentathlon, which seems to be entirely an Olympic contrivance that pops up every four years. Not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, just odd.

I suppose representatives of more widely established sports that don't have Olympic representation may disagree.

 

[AuroraSaab]

It just seems such a random series of events to put together, as though somebody thought what should a rich young man be good at? The official photo shoot looked entertaining.

I think it's probably the horse thing that makes the event seem odd.

 

[IaninSheffield]

It might seem random or bonkers, but

The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the ancient Olympics; as the original events were patterned on the skills needed by an ideal Greek soldier of the era, the modern pentathlon is similarly patterned on events representing the skills needed by cavalry behind enemy lines.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_pentathlon
Not necessarily so much what a rich young man might be good at, but more what a (probably rich) young cavalryman ought to be good at. I especially admire those who excel in multidisciplinary events, but Modern Pentathlon is far from accessible for athletes/sportspeople in many countries. What might be a more equitable set of five events, but drawing on a wider set of skills than hept/decathlon. Running and swimming might serve as the foundation, but then how could it move beyond just being similar to the triathlon?

 

[Mike_P]

Digging around wiki there is an annual global modern pentathlon competition since 1949 which has been held in the UK in 1958 (Aldershot) London (1973 and 2009), Sheffield (1994) and Millfield Somerset (2001). This years was held in Egypt on 8-14 July

 

[PaulB]

One of our South African colleagues has been tweeting us and boasting about the Springboks beating the British Lions (I don't know what sport - korfball or something else that no-one's interested in) like that makes them our superiors! However, he lives in Bolton so I pointed out that in Bolton there is a house (population, 3) where they can boast the 2 Olympic Gold medals and 2 Olympic Silver medals won in Tokyo versus South Africa (population 58 million) who brang home 2 Olympic Gold and 1 Olympic Silver medals. Puts it into perspective a bit.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Seems Modern Pentathlon was invented by Baron de Coubertin and was a favourite of his, and has survived as a tradition for this reason - despite not being a particularly relevant sport outside the Olympics. But they have monkeyed around with the format a lot in recent times.

An interesting-ish article that I found;
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...athlon-choong-french-tokyo-2020-b1897407.html

Riding an unfamiliar horse was central to the idea - because that's what a 19th century cavalry officer might be expected to do.

What might be a more equitable set of five events, but drawing on a wider set of skills than hept/decathlon.

Let's see... Skateboarding (agility, balance), weightlifting (strength), 10k run (endurance), table tennis (reactions) ... make it a team of two so the final event is a Madison.

 

[nickyboy]

Seems Modern Pentathlon was invented by Baron de Coubertin and was a favourite of his, and has survived as a tradition for this reason - despite not being a particularly relevant sport outside the Olympics. But they have monkeyed around with the format a lot in recent times.

An interesting-ish article that I found;
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...athlon-choong-french-tokyo-2020-b1897407.html


Let's see... Skateboarding (agility, balance), weightlifting (strength), 10k run (endurance), table tennis (reactions) ... make it a team of two so the final event is a Madison.

I understand the Modern Pentathlon will be a sprint type event in the next Olympics

Anyway, canoe slalom. Love it. It's one of those sports where I look at it and say to myself "this doesn't look too difficult, I reckon I'd be good at that". Unlike gymnastic rings for example.....

 

[AuroraSaab]

Yeah, the Modern Pentathlon does feel like what a day training with the Royal Hussars in 1850 would have looked like. It's like the Victorian version of Who Dares Wins.

One of our South African colleagues has been tweeting us and boasting about the Springboks beating the British Lions (I don't know what sport - korfball or something else that no-one's interested in) like that makes them our superiors! However, he lives in Bolton so I pointed out that in Bolton there is a house (population, 3) where they can boast the 2 Olympic Gold medals and 2 Olympic Silver medals won in Tokyo versus South Africa (population 58 million) who brang home 2 Olympic Gold and 1 Olympic Silver medals. Puts it into perspective a bit.

Bolton as in Bolton, Lancashire? And if Yorkshire was a country it would have been 12th in the medal table in London 2012. Just saying

 

[matticus]

I think it's probably the horse thing that makes the event seem odd.

Not the woman swimming around with a gun??