If you could create new Olympic Events...

[NearPup 3,617]

So, taking this thread somewhat seriously:

• Alpine Skiing: a team speed event. Something a bit like the luge relay, where once a team member reaches the finish line their teamare gets released from the start gate.
• Biathlon: make the current sprint purely a qualification race for the pursuit and a super sprint. Keep pursuit the same, and have the top 30 in the sprint race in a shorten mass start with four shooting legs.
• Bobsleigh: a team event (one monobob, one two-man, one two-woman, one four-man)
• Cross Country Skiing: an uphill event. Just literally climbing the alpine skiing downhill course.
• Luge: women’s doubles (obligatory because it doesn’t exist yet)
• Freestyle Skiing: a team dual moguls event. Eight teams of 3 (with a sub), knockout format, each match consists of 3 dual moguls run (one per athlete).
• Freestyle Skiing: a rail jam type event.
• Freestyle Skiing: a men’s and a women’s team ski cross event (none of that mixed snowboardcross bs)
• Skeleton: team event (two man, two woman)
• Snowbording: a Super-G
• Snowboarding: a rail jam event

Now, the semi-serious IOC approved mixed events:

• Mixed Cross Country relay
• Mixed Cross Country team sprint
• Mixed Nordic Combined relay
• Mixed Nordic Combined team sprint
• Mixed Freestyle Skiing Moguls (same bullshit format as the mixed aerials team event)
• For both freestyle skiing and snowboarding: Mixed big air team event, mixed half-pipe team event and mixed slopestyle team event (2 men and 2 women get 2 runs each, best run from each athlete count, 8 teams start, 5 make it to the finals, unlimited subs between qualifications and the finals, so you get to give eight gold medals if you use all your subs  ). I just made up *six* mixed team events that are better than the mixed aerials team event in one go. Call me, Bach.
• The above mixed team events for the rail jam, too.
• A mixed team relay in *long track* speed skating, because at this point why not?
• You know what else you can do in a mixed format? A mixed team sprint and a mixed team pursuit in speed skating.
• Mixed 3x3 ice hockey.

Edited August 7, 2018 by NearPup

[Olympian1010 8,274]

I think it would be interesting to see a flat-slope (piste) trick event in freestyle Skiing or snowboarding

[Olympian1010 8,274]

Here’s my opinion of how how we should determine what sports/events should be Olympic.

 

1) It’s an historic event that’s been around for a 75+ years (to justify staying in). (To he added) the sport must have been around for at least 50 years or have a ultra popular world tour.

2) It makes a great spectator sport (either in person, or on TV (there should be a balance among the program)

3) The sport meets the IOC participation requirements and goes over them too

4) the event/sport is marketable to audience who’s never seen it

5) the sport should not be ultra expensive.

6) international governance of the sport is at an acceptable standard

 

Criteria for adding a sport:

1) All the above

2) completely unique from the other sports on the program

3) a good loyal fanbase, or popular amongst younger generations.

4) for a one-off addition: must be popular in the host country

[JoshMartini007 2,811]

3 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

Here’s my opinion of how how we should determine what sports/events should be Olympic.

 

1) It’s an historic event that’s been around for a 75+ years (to justify staying in). (To he added) the sport must have been around for at least 50 years or have a ultra popular world tour.

2) It makes a great spectator sport (either in person, or on TV (there should be a balance among the program)

3) The sport meets the IOC participation requirements and goes over them too

4) the event/sport is marketable to audience who’s never seen it

5) the sport should not be ultra expensive.

6) international governance of the sport is at an acceptable standard

 

Criteria for adding a sport:

1) All the above

2) completely unique from the other sports on the program

3) a good loyal fanbase, or popular amongst younger generations.

4) for a one-off addition: must be popular in the host country

 

I don't think history should play a bit part on whether or not an event should be part of the Olympics. Just because it was popular a long time ago does not justify it's inclusion if very few nations participate in it now.

 

The largest factor should be the nation participation rate at World and Continental Champions and other major events. The Olympic schedule would be quite different if the IOC was remotely strict with their criteria.

[Olympian1010 8,274]

Just now, JoshMartini007 said:

 

I don't think history should play a bit part on whether or not an event should be part of the Olympics. Just because it was popular a long time ago does not justify it's inclusion if very few nations participate in it now.

 

The largest factor should be the nation participation rate at World and Continental Champions and other major events. The Olympic schedule would be quite different if the IOC was remotely strict with their criteria.

For historical point I was more taking about protecting Events that have been around forever like the 50m pistol event. It was popular amongst the shooting community, but taken for way less popular events. (They should have just added women’s 50m pistol for record).

 

Right, that should be AN important factor, but the as a student of communication, history, marketing, and politics; I have a pretty good understanding of how get people what they want. It’s also about making sure the Olympics stay relevant. It’s about attracting new fans, keeping loyal fans, and bringing back old fans. I’m just saying that there’s better alternatives to the current system. I can a hate a sport, Field Hockey for instance, but still understand why it should be in the Olympics and not let my personal bias get in the way. I might want to replace said sport or event, but I also have to understand and be able to live with the foreseen and unforeseen consequences. As content creator, I know there’s a thin you walk between an amazing product that people you, and a complete crap project that no one will even take a look at. In the end, the Olympics will always be the Olympics to me. Plus, there’s an abundance of other multi-sports games to love. I loved the Pacific Games, but think they could be organized better. I disliked this year’s Pan American Games, but completely understand why many of you have loved them. I would want to foster a love of the event from the loyal fanbase, and really put time and effort into making both the host country and fans happy. It’s not impossible. It just takes effort that some people don’t want to put in. I wholeheartedly believe I could take over the IOC Presidency and do a better job than Bach, but that is my opinion. I could make my case, but it wouldn’t matter because I am not the president of the IOC. He runs the show, so he gets to control audience. Here are few of my biggest grievances with multi-sports games currently:

 

1) Many of failed to embrace the age of connection. This is a place where the IOC, or at least the OBS, have excelled. They managed during Rio and Pyeongchang to stream every event from every sport. They are maximizing their coverage, and I think they are most likely seeing positive returns. For instance, Artistic Gymnastics is seen as universally popular, but full coverage of that sport only (like at the Pan American Games, Asian Games, Mediterranean, CAC Games, etc.) doesn’t do any favors for a Sailing, Shooting, Archery, Cycling, Climbing fan like myself. So when the IOC, IWGA, or EOC manage to stream every event (and making them accessible for the global audience) they are maximizing their global audience, which should help keep international sports thriving. There’s also something to be said about making full event replays available. I never watched a single event at the 2015 European Games live, but I came across some events right before Rio and I couldn’t stop watching. I feel in love with games because I could watch what I wanted when I wanted to. That type of global reach and permanent mark could increase fandom tenfold. So I would recommend finding creative ways to stream every event, having amazing/catchy theme songs, having awesome stylized graphics, and making sure the streams are available worldwide and forever.

2) I touched on graphics design and cultural appearance right at the end of my first point. If I, as a fan, can become immersed for two weeks in a countries culture; it makes me more likely to pay attention to the games. Opening Ceremonies are hugely important because they can present a positive image, even if fake, of the host country. Baku 2015’s ceremony made me want to visit Azerbaijan for month to take the markets, the history, the architecture, etc. I love feeling like the event is a celebration of life. I makes the whole occasion more joyous. Now, to talk about graphics. On screen graphics from streams so show off a unique, cultural, or artistic look for the games. It should be fresh and something never before seen, or a call back to a much loved design (like Mexico City 1968 for example). Fans show love looking at the graphics. They should feel excited when hearing the theme song, or watching the Broadcast Intro. The more cultural and organizing committee can sell, the more longevity the event will have. You can also overcome a design mistake by hitting my other points well, but it would be difficult.

3) Good Governance At Every Level. I cannot stress this enough. No one wants to watch an event that obviously favors one team, or one athlete, and one region (unless it’s a regional games, than duh). No one wants to watch people give endless praise to the Olympic Fencing Champion from 1976. Governance is just as key to the success of a multi-sports games, just as much as marketing, accessibility, equality, and fun factor. Good Governance helps insure that  the other criteria on my list are meet. It also helps keep a positive image of your event in the worldwide media, which can have an influence on whether or not people care. 

4) Protecting Heritage. Culture runs on memories and traditions. It’s important to protect historic events because they help connect the past and present. A 60 year old might not love watching Parkour or Breaking, but they might live for Tandem Track Cycling. It’s a that balance between old and new that’s oh so important. Events with history make great stories. Newer, more thrilling events help create new ones. It’s all about balance, and not forgetting where you came from. There’s some good lessons the IOC could learn from reading historical texts about past IOC’s. We can adapt to a new future, but we can’t get anywhere without learning from the past. It’s also worth noting that we can learn form historical mistakes to better protect the future of multi-sports events.

5) Equality. The current IOC is all about this point, and they get a lot of distasteful talk from it. Look, women and men are both of the same species, they are scientific differences, but they are both capable of doing similar activities. I think the current IOC is correct to add more and more women’s and mixed events, but they’ve gone about it the wrong way. To grow women’s sport, you have to make people fall in love with it. Women’s soccer would be nothing without determined athletes and organizers. The organizers of the US Women’s World Cup (year slips my mind, sorry) made my country fall in love with women’s soccer. Male soccer is still more popular professionally, but internationally, which is the biggest factor for multi-sports games, the interest is similar between men’s and women’s teams. It’s also a human rights issue, but that argument is never accepted so I’m not even going to bother. I’ll leave you with this; What does a women boxer get out of only watching male boxers in the Olympics. You have just lost potentially 50% of potential worldwide viewership for that sport alone.

 

Sports are amazing. They do amazing things for humanity. Sometimes the people who run them, just need help getting to the right direction. I think all sorts should be given an equal opportunity to “strut their stuff” in the Olympics. I’d love to see Korfball, Floorball, Oreinteering, Water Ski, or Sumo in the Olympics one day. It just takes time to change. Plus, their should be a cycle. Sport fall out of favor it happens. We take them out of the games, but we give them every resource possible in hopes that they might return one day. 

 

[heywoodu 16,146]

6 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

2) It makes a great spectator sport (either in person, or on TV (there should be a balance among the program)

4) the event/sport is marketable to audience who’s never seen it

5) the sport should not be ultra expensive.

Sorry, but that's goodbye to half the Olympics.

 

Especially with number 4, you're only gonna get sports that fit the short attention span format of today.

[phelps 8,404]

2 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

For historical point I was more taking about protecting Events that have been around forever like the 50m pistol event. It was popular amongst the shooting community, but taken for way less popular events. (They should have just added women’s 50m pistol for record).

 

Right, that should be AN important factor, but the as a student of communication, history, marketing, and politics; I have a pretty good understanding of how get people what they want. It’s also about making sure the Olympics stay relevant. It’s about attracting new fans, keeping loyal fans, and bringing back old fans. I’m just saying that there’s better alternatives to the current system. I can a hate a sport, Field Hockey for instance, but still understand why it should be in the Olympics and not let my personal bias get in the way. I might want to replace said sport or event, but I also have to understand and be able to live with the foreseen and unforeseen consequences. As content creator, I know there’s a thin you walk between an amazing product that people you, and a complete crap project that no one will even take a look at. In the end, the Olympics will always be the Olympics to me. Plus, there’s an abundance of other multi-sports games to love. I loved the Pacific Games, but think they could be organized better. I disliked this year’s Pan American Games, but completely understand why many of you have loved them. I would want to foster a love of the event from the loyal fanbase, and really put time and effort into making both the host country and fans happy. It’s not impossible. It just takes effort that some people don’t want to put in. I wholeheartedly believe I could take over the IOC Presidency and do a better job than Bach, but that is my opinion. I could make my case, but it wouldn’t matter because I am not the president of the IOC. He runs the show, so he gets to control audience. Here are few of my biggest grievances with multi-sports games currently:

 

1) Many of failed to embrace the age of connection. This is a place where the IOC, or at least the OBS, have excelled. They managed during Rio and Pyeongchang to stream every event from every sport. They are maximizing their coverage, and I think they are most likely seeing positive returns. For instance, Artistic Gymnastics is seen as universally popular, but full coverage of that sport only (like at the Pan American Games, Asian Games, Mediterranean, CAC Games, etc.) doesn’t do any favors for a Sailing, Shooting, Archery, Cycling, Climbing fan like myself. So when the IOC, IWGA, or EOC manage to stream every event (and making them accessible for the global audience) they are maximizing their global audience, which should help keep international sports thriving. There’s also something to be said about making full event replays available. I never watched a single event at the 2015 European Games live, but I came across some events right before Rio and I couldn’t stop watching. I feel in love with games because I could watch what I wanted when I wanted to. That type of global reach and permanent mark could increase fandom tenfold. So I would recommend finding creative ways to stream every event, having amazing/catchy theme songs, having awesome stylized graphics, and making sure the streams are available worldwide and forever.

2) I touched on graphics design and cultural appearance right at the end of my first point. If I, as a fan, can become immersed for two weeks in a countries culture; it makes me more likely to pay attention to the games. Opening Ceremonies are hugely important because they can present a positive image, even if fake, of the host country. Baku 2015’s ceremony made me want to visit Azerbaijan for month to take the markets, the history, the architecture, etc. I love feeling like the event is a celebration of life. I makes the whole occasion more joyous. Now, to talk about graphics. On screen graphics from streams so show off a unique, cultural, or artistic look for the games. It should be fresh and something never before seen, or a call back to a much loved design (like Mexico City 1968 for example). Fans show love looking at the graphics. They should feel excited when hearing the theme song, or watching the Broadcast Intro. The more cultural and organizing committee can sell, the more longevity the event will have. You can also overcome a design mistake by hitting my other points well, but it would be difficult.

3) Good Governance At Every Level. I cannot stress this enough. No one wants to watch an event that obviously favors one team, or one athlete, and one region (unless it’s a regional games, than duh). No one wants to watch people give endless praise to the Olympic Fencing Champion from 1976. Governance is just as key to the success of a multi-sports games, just as much as marketing, accessibility, equality, and fun factor. Good Governance helps insure that  the other criteria on my list are meet. It also helps keep a positive image of your event in the worldwide media, which can have an influence on whether or not people care. 

4) Protecting Heritage. Culture runs on memories and traditions. It’s important to protect historic events because they help connect the past and present. A 60 year old might not love watching Parkour or Breaking, but they might live for Tandem Track Cycling. It’s a that balance between old and new that’s oh so important. Events with history make great stories. Newer, more thrilling events help create new ones. It’s all about balance, and not forgetting where you came from. There’s some good lessons the IOC could learn from reading historical texts about past IOC’s. We can adapt to a new future, but we can’t get anywhere without learning from the past. It’s also worth noting that we can learn form historical mistakes to better protect the future of multi-sports events.

5) Equality. The current IOC is all about this point, and they get a lot of distasteful talk from it. Look, women and men are both of the same species, they are scientific differences, but they are both capable of doing similar activities. I think the current IOC is correct to add more and more women’s and mixed events, but they’ve gone about it the wrong way. To grow women’s sport, you have to make people fall in love with it. Women’s soccer would be nothing without determined athletes and organizers. The organizers of the US Women’s World Cup (year slips my mind, sorry) made my country fall in love with women’s soccer. Male soccer is still more popular professionally, but internationally, which is the biggest factor for multi-sports games, the interest is similar between men’s and women’s teams. It’s also a human rights issue, but that argument is never accepted so I’m not even going to bother. I’ll leave you with this; What does a women boxer get out of only watching male boxers in the Olympics. You have just lost potentially 50% of potential worldwide viewership for that sport alone.

 

Sports are amazing. They do amazing things for humanity. Sometimes the people who run them, just need help getting to the right direction. I think all sorts should be given an equal opportunity to “strut their stuff” in the Olympics. I’d love to see Korfball, Floorball, Oreinteering, Water Ski, or Sumo in the Olympics one day. It just takes time to change. Plus, their should be a cycle. Sport fall out of favor it happens. We take them out of the games, but we give them every resource possible in hopes that they might return one day. 

 

 

point #4

 

one of the main factors that lead to world disasters is that people never learn from the mistakes of the past...if only they could give a bit of attention to what happened before them, maybe they would learn how to keep far away from the usual repeated errors...

 

point #5

 

I agree on principles, but not at all in how they're put in practice...

not to be forgotten, in many cultures promiscuity is not allowed (I'm not only referring to the well known Religious factors and to the Countries following them strictly)...

so, the mixed events are really discriminatory for part of the audience and part of the competitors themselves...

and the only way to respect that, is to have equal men and women's events, but please, keep the mixed events in the bag...

Edited August 11, 2019 by phelps

[heywoodu 16,146]

3 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

 

5) Equality. The current IOC is all about this point, and they get a lot of distasteful talk from it. Look, women and men are both of the same species, they are scientific differences, but they are both capable of doing similar activities. I think the current IOC is correct to add more and more women’s and mixed events, but they’ve gone about it the wrong way. To grow women’s sport, you have to make people fall in love with it. Women’s soccer would be nothing without determined athletes and organizers. The organizers of the US Women’s World Cup (year slips my mind, sorry) made my country fall in love with women’s soccer. Male soccer is still more popular professionally, but internationally, which is the biggest factor for multi-sports games, the interest is similar between men’s and women’s teams. It’s also a human rights issue, but that argument is never accepted so I’m not even going to bother. I’ll leave you with this; What does a women boxer get out of only watching male boxers in the Olympics. You have just lost potentially 50% of potential worldwide viewership for that sport alone.

 

Wait, what. 

[Olympian1010 8,274]

6 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Wait, what. 

When referring to US, which I was using as a what happens scenario when the first 3 points go well.

[Olympian1010 8,274]

7 hours ago, phelps said:

 

point #4

 

one of the main factors that lead to world disasters is that people never learn from the mistakes of the past...if only they could give a bit of attention to what happened before them, maybe they would learn how to keep far away from the usual repeated errors...

 

point #5

 

I agree on principles, but not at all in how they're put in practice...

not to be forgotten, in many cultures promiscuity is not allowed (I'm not only referring to the well known Religious factors and to the Countries following them strictly)...

so, the mixed events are really discriminatory for part of the audience and part of the competitors themselves...

and the only way to respect that, is to have equal men and women's events, but please, keep the mixed events in the bag...

Some of Mixed Events makes sense though.

Mixed Recurve makes perfect sense to me. No, quota increase and another medal opportunity for archers. Plus, it has a easy to understand and easy to watch format. 

Mixed Relays. Yes, I know they’re hated, but they are also brilliant. They’re are easy to watch and can be fun when a team comes from out of no where to win a medal.