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Olympic Event You Like the Least

Plutonius

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2003
9,789
10,439
New Hampshire, USA
Everyone has events they like and dislike in the Olympics. Which event do you like the least ?

In my case, they just showed synchronized swimming and it is definitely my least favorite.
 
I think for once we agree on something. :D
And generally everything with horses comes quite close though. Always felt bad for them watching it as a kid.

edit: I should add that I stopped watching/caring about the Olympics roughly a decade ago.
 
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As a former competitive swimmer of many years, the 1500m freestyle (or any long distance running event) is usually pretty boring. Individual diving also has never interested me, the synchronized pairs are far more interesting.
 
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Now imagine if there was an Olympic sport of purposefully drowning each other. That would be entertaining. I always found diving to be incredibly interesting.
 
There's so many sports that are Olympic sports that I really scratch my head at:
Synchronized swimming, hand ball, badminton, canoeing, and yet the IOC dropped wrestling from the 2020 summer games. they later reinstated it but the point remains, they're adding on all sorts of sports that seem a bit curious, yet drop a sport that was in the original games some 3,000 years ago
 
D.T. said:
Wrong Olympics ... but still ...

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To my surprise, I found that I rather like curling; it is perfectly ludicrous, and the competitors at least look like the sort of people who seem as though they might spend some time in the pub, engaged in normal activities such as lifting a beer glass to their mouth.

And, as for distance running, I have also rather liked that - it requires the cultivation of stamina, strategy, patience, endurance, - qualities that I always rather liked.

As with many others who have already posted, I cannot abide synchronised swimming. Not that keen on gymnastics either - the toll it takes on underdeveloped young bodies (especially those of female athletes) is horrifying.

Swimming bores me to tears. As does boxing.

The 100 metres - all that posturing and power - always struck me as an event with a stunning amount of hype for something that lasted less than ten seconds. (And that was in the days when I watched it - although even then, I used to fall asleep).

twietee said:
I think for once we agree on something. :D
And generally everything with horses comes quite close though. Always felt bad for them watching it as a kid.

edit: I should add that I stopped watching/caring about the Olympics roughly a decade ago.
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Not for the first time, I find myself in complete agreement with you.

And, in common with you, I also stopped watching or caring about the Olympics around - actually, well over - a decade ago.
 
Least favorite would be synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics.

Love curling, especially the pants worn by the Norwegian men's team. My family got to try curling during the last winter olympics. A local club had an intro class. We all had a lot of fun.

Curling.jpg
 
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Agreed, never really watched it so always expected it to be the laughing stock everbody makes it out to be but once I did see 30mins or so of it I thought curling quite relaxing to watch. And well, a bit ridiculous of course - but in a sympathetic way.
 
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Interesting that the more artistic/creative events are the ones that are being disliked more (based on the replies so far).
 
twietee said:
Agreed, never really watched it so always expected it to be the laughing stock everbody makes it out to be but once I did see 30mins or so of it I thought curling quite relaxing to watch. And well, a bit ridiculous of course - but in a sympathetic way.
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Actually, I love the fact that curling is, as you so aptly observe, both 'relaxing' (it is), and 'ridiculous' (which it is also). Each of these features add to its curious attraction.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Actually, I love the fact that curling is, as you so aptly observe, both 'relaxing' (it is), and 'ridiculous' (which it is also). Each of these features add to its curious attraction.
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That's why I love having it on in the background while the winter Olympics are on. Curling to me is the same (as someone who went to school in upstate New York) as being a Bills fan, its all about the good time and no one takes it too seriously.
 
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C DM said:
Interesting that the more artistic/creative events are the ones that are being disliked more (based on the replies so far).
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Fair point. When synchronized swimming was mentioned I initially thought it meant synchronized base jumping - that's probably my no1 (although I wouldn't watch swimming either): takes mere seconds to be over, they look all the same to me, uninitiated as I am, and I can't even tell what the pundits talk about half of the time - let alone the ratings. I believe everything that involves a jury (goes for icing as well) is mostly not that interesting to me since it seems so darn itterative to me. Helps also a lot if you did the stuff you see at Olympia yourself once before too.
 
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ucfgrad93 said:
Least favorite would be synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics.
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I actually like rhythmic gymnastics, but not the ones involving the ball. The ribbon and hoops routines are displays of artistic acrobatics. Unlike traditional gymnastics the focus on power, rhythmic gymnastics is all about grace.

Hands down, my least favorite are the equestrian events. Rider skill does play a small part, but the winner is invariably has the best horse.:rolleyes: What chaps my hide is the horse don't get the medals.:mad::mad::mad:
 
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I've turned into an Olympic-sized nocturnal couch potato over the past fortnight. I think I've glimpsed everything the Games has to offer. So on a sport-by-sport basis...

Aquatics
Diving finals are good. Swimming is excellent; never paid that much attention before, but I think the resurgence of British swimmers, the enthusiasm of the BBC's swimming presenters, and the fact that swimmers are more familiar to me now – lots of them return for three or more Games, rather than burning like a school-age comet before having to get a real job – made it much more pleasurable. The exception is open water swimming, which is slow motion underwater wrestling. Synchronised swimming, and 'artistic' sports in general, isn't for me; I find it difficult to look beyond the clown make-up and sequins. Water polo is one of the least televisual sports going.

Archery
Hell no.

Athletics
Well duh. The Bolt obsession is irritating, though. While he's a very personable chap, the media fawning and interminable delays post-race so he can prance around the stadium is very dull. My fave events are 200m up to 1500m and the various jumps. Haven't been as gripped by track and field as usual, which I think is down to some weird scheduling (ie a few finals being broadcast in the morning session) and an three quarters empty stadium. UK coverage is spoilt by horrible race commentary and even more horrible post-race trackside interviews.

Badminton
Great sport to play, not so great to watch. I think there's something slightly 'off' with the camera angles used, too, which makes it more uninvolving than usual.

Basketball
Watched around half an hour of the USA/AUS group match because I was strangely drawn towards Andrew Bogut's cynicism. To me he looked like a complete thug, and I was amazed to discover he was once a highly regarded NBA player. That was my basketball needs served until 2020. Don't think I've watched an entire game game in my life. Too much scoring, too many shoe squeaks.

Boxing
Iv'e always found boxing much more interesting on the radio, and Steve Bunce on BBC Radio 5 has played a blinder. On the few occasions I've tuned in on TV, it's been disappointing. The most exciting thing that happens is a bad judges' decision. I'm no student of the fistic arts but to my mind there's no ebb and flow possible over the course of nine minutes: in a pro fight someone can start slowly and still win on points or stop a tiring opponent. Amateur boxing seems very 'one note'.

Canoeing
Both slalom and sprint are very watchable.

Cycling
BMX is a complete lottery, but great fun. Not sure I recall seeing mountain biking before. I'm British and therefore acknowledge that track cycling is the sport of kings. Great TV sport too: HD could have been designed for super slo-mos of finishes. Olympic road racing isn't my thing - I think it only works with proper professional teams - but was highly memorable for all the wrong reasons, although the TV coverage was poor (as it was in London). Time trials are a very meh when it becomes apparent that the winning time has been set relatively early in the event.

Equestrian
I might watch the jumping but it's not a patch on the old Horse of the Year show. And dressage is just all sorts of wrong as an Olympic event.

Fencing
See 'Archery'.

Field Hockey
Or 'hockey', as it's called in the developed world. Fantastic game, particularly when played by lovely ladies with skorts skimming their toned thighs. My only problem with hockey is the emergence of the blue pitch.

Football
Have seen the tail-end of a couple of the women's knock-out matches, and hence a couple of penalty shoot-outs. I enjoy football less and less (thanks for that, Arsene) and I've never considered it a proper Olympic sport. This is either because of the U23 format, or because GB historically don't enter a team.

Golf
See 'Fencing'. Absolutely ridiculous game to suddenly include in the Olympic programme.

Gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics seems to drag on forever and I can only take in small doses. They're all astonishing athletes but I'm very rarely 'moved' by it. Rhythmic gymnastics? See 'Golf'. Trampolining? Not for me.

Handball
A strange, continental sport that leaves me cold.

Judo
Usually a good opportunity to nip to the kitchen to make tea and toast.

Modern Pentathlon
I don't think I've ever seen anything televised other than the end of the cross country , but it's basically posh people doing five events to a mediocre standard. No.

Rowing
As a Brit I'm supposed to love this, but it's not brilliant television until the last thirty seconds and, if GB are in with a shout, the public school jingoism of the commentators is slightly nauseating.

Rugby Sevens
Rugby is the one sport I've ever played to a decent level. Being a fat boy I'd always looked down my nose at sevens, and I've got bad childhood memories of being dragged to sevens tournament and being forced to watch hour after hour of powderpuff tackling and unearned tries. But this Olympic tournament was an eye-opener. The best teams, both men's and women's, were astonishing in their athleticism, brutality, and organisation. I wasn't remotely enthusiastic about the sport's inclusion in the Olympics, but it was an absolute hit with me.

Sailing
Sailing is not exactly made for television.

Shooting
See 'Fencing'.

Table Tennis
See 'Badminton', only exacerbated by its micro scale. I can't believe people go to watch table tennis matches. Unless you're in the umpire's chair it must be impossible to follow.

Taekwondo
The Olympic/WTF sparring is an awful, awful form of the sport. It reduces it to one long Karate Kid crane kick. I can't bring myself to watch it.

Tennis
This is the first time I've bothered watching much Olympic tennis, and I was rewarded with some very good stuff. Del Potro's matches against Nadal and Murray would both have graced a Grand Slam tournament, and the women's final was the most gripping women's match I've seen for years. The players all seem more enthusiastic about Olympic tennis that I am - probably because it's been there all their lives, whereas I remember the early years when half the players weren't there and the other half didn't want to be there. Good tournament, but another sport rather undermined by some awful camera angles.

Triathlon
Superb athletes. Completely fails to float my boat.

Volleyball
Real volleyball can at times be awesome, attritional stuff. Beach volleyball? See 'Shooting'.

Weightlifting
Despite knowing absolutely nothing about weightlifting I've always enjoyed watching it at the Olympics. Particularly the little guys.

Wrestling
See 'Triathlon'.
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mojolicious said:
Equestrian
I might watch the jumping...
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...and I'm glad I did. Gold for 58 year old Nick Skelton in the six-way jump-off. There's hope for me yet.
 
mojolicious said:
Gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics seems to drag on forever and I can only take in small doses. They're all astonishing athletes but I'm very rarely 'moved' by it.
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Really? I love watching the pommel horse (my favorite Olympic event). It's like watching someone break dance 3 feet off the ground.;):D The floor routine (men and women) are fun to watch as well. I find the bars, rings and vaulting boring.
 
mojolicious said:
Athletics
Well duh. The Bolt obsession is irritating, though. While he's a very personable chap, the media fawning and interminable delays post-race so he can prance around the stadium is very dull. My fave events are 200m up to 1500m and the various jumps. Haven't been as gripped by track and field as usual, which I think is down to some weird scheduling (ie a few finals being broadcast in the morning session) and an three quarters empty stadium. UK coverage is spoilt by horrible race commentary and even more horrible post-race trackside interviews.
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I quite liked the morning finals. They produced two world records (and a very near miss of a third), and the weather conditions were often better. The empty seats were likely to be a problem either way. The evening scheduling was about an hour too late and there was an insufficient gap between the 100m semi and final.
 
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