So, while Paris is still fresh on our minds, what are your main thoughts about the olympic sports program ?
I'll start :
That's my biggest takeaway : I've missed so, so, much of the good stuff. There are too many events cramped in a 17 days period, specially during the first week. IMO, we are either moving to a three weeks period to help spreading the sports, or we should move back to a ~300 events olympics like in the 2000's
They definitely should drop the 4*400 mixed relay while it was a nice event by itself, if some of the best athletes don't compete, scrap it.
Race walking could (should ?) be dropped tomorrow and be replaced by cross country running and not many will miss it
While I always have been a massive "cut the swimming events by half" enthusiast, I've been pleasantly surprised by the variety of podiums between the 100/200m distances (And yes, ofc, Léon Marchand helps me having another view on the matter ). I'd still cut a couple of the relays at least.
Diving is relaxing, but it's a really a small sport. Not sure we really need to double up chinese golds with all 4 synchro events though. High diving must be considered at some point.
Open Water swimming need more events, I'd like to move the 1500m to open water and probably add a relay
I've been surprised by the pentathlon event. The huge crowd and the setting helped a lot to vindicate the sport. Unfortunately, I think dropping the equestrian will hurt the sport a lot. As it stand, the sport does kind of make sense (it helps if you're a french aristocrat from the 19th century, but still). With obstacle running coming up, I have a feeling we will see a random collection of five sports with no coherence at all. Equestrian might have been the last saving grace of the sport.
Like OW swimming, I don't like sports (and venues) to be limited to two events. It seems a bit of waste. For instance, I'd like MTB cycling to add a relay (why not already, really ?) and downhill to be considered. Same with Golf where a team event is badly needed.
The Versailles cross-country venue was amazing ! I'd love for the cross country to have its standalone event on top of the evening stuff.
We need the three events in sports climbing ASAP. A mixed team combined event could work also.
Boxing needs to stay.
I'd prefer to have a male and a female double and a mixed team event in table tennis that what we have now. Same in tennis, if the players were up for it, i'd like a mixed team event to remplace the mixed double.
Kayak "Jeux Sans Frontières" events were ok I guess. I think 6 slalom and 10 sprint events is a nice balance for the sport, not sure, if these cross things are the way to go.
I'd prefer rowing to keep its "basketball for short people" events than the beach stuff they are planing for LA
Why Trampoline and not Trumbling, really ?
I kind of like to see more 'open' events, as in open to both women and men and let the best win regardless of sex. For instance, I'd gladly switch the mixed team event in archery for an open individual event with every archers (male and female) competing against each others.
Leaving aside the breaking stuff (which was not that terrible really), I have the feeling the "X" stuff is making is way into the olympics (or it might be the other way, not sure)
We should have an small optional list of sports (not quite the additional sports program we have now) for sports that make sense in some context, but doesn't in others. Sports that can live beeing olympic or not without much fuss. Here, I'm thinking mainly about baseball, cricket and surfing. While Surfing in Tahiti made sense, like it will in Los Angeles and Australia, will it for India 2036 or Germany 2040 ?
I'd bring back the demonstration sports of the old days for stuff like Lacrosse or Pétanque
If Taekwondo is in, Karate should be in also. And squash too. These two are my two borderline olympic sports that should be in. In any case, these two sports can't have their olympic status to be challenged every four years, too much depends on it. And so, to answer my first point : we definitely need a three weeks period.