The Olympics has just ended, with the U.S. winning more gold metals than any other country. Not far behind were China and Japan. We witnessed incredible feats of strength, agility, and advocacy for mental health.
Surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing and karate were added to the Olympics for the first time this year. These four additions showed the incredible athleticism that people from all over the world can poses. But what are we missing?
There are plenty of other sports out there that we haven't included. Let's see what the people are clamoring to see on the international Olympic stage for 2024.
Redditor BMD04 wanted to know:
"What sport should be in the Olympics but isn't?"
Check out some of these genius suggestions.
Archery, but add a little... spice.
"Archery with moving targets is something I'd like to see return."
"It's not livin' if you're a moving target."
"Archery on horseback."
"I love archery at the Olympics, but would like to see the events expanded more. Other bow styles (compound, barebow, longbow/traditional) as well as like you said horseback archery."
Bring back an ancient favorite.
"Old Greek naked hand to hand combat."
"Pankration!"
- Vanatru
"Will there ever be a Pankrationist as legendary as Arrhichion, who in 564 BC managed to defeat an opponent after pulling a move that resulted in his own death?"
Maybe that's why we don't do this sport anymore.
Dreaming of this Paralympic challenge.
"I had a weird dream that one of the events was people in wheelchairs going down a steep ramp, and hitting an angled jump that made them barrel roll. They had to dunk a basketball while mid roll. I'm not sure how the scoring works, but that one."
- sosogos
"Sounds like a wheely ballsy sport with a steep learning curve."
"Happy Wheels."
"I had a weird dream where blind people threw a rugby ball into an open fridge, and scored based on how much groceries came flying out."
"It took place on a pier and all the spectators [wore] black and white and dressed from the 30s. Weird stuff."
"There was some little shops and stuff, slap in the middle was an open fridge. I was competing against the blind guy and he was kicking my a**."
An elementary school classic.
"Dodgeball."
"On the final day of the Olympics, anyone who has won a medal has to compete. More medals, bigger team."
"Nah, only gold medal winners."
"And it's a free for all, no country alliances."
"All to determine the ultimate Olympic champion."
Probably one of the more dangerous suggestions.
"They should totally bring back tug of war!"
"There is a massive tournament in Thailand where people have lost limbs if their team loses the rope - good international coverage."
- BMD04
"I vaguely recall seeing an explanation that the energy in the rope is absurdly high. Not something to play without constraints."
This person found a website that really takes a look at the science behind tug-of-war.
"'If we figured out how to manufacture large ropes out of graphene ribbons, which have tensile strengths over 10 times higher than existing materials, we could theoretically support a tug-of-war between teams of up to 100,000 players each. Such a rope would be over 200 miles long, and could stretch from New York to Washington."'
"Yeah but you'd have to dig a tunnel due to the Earth's curvature."
"And that's why we need to get started on this sooner rather than later."
We have got to give our teachers more credit.
"Listening to a child in the 4-7 age range tell a story. Whoever goes the longest without waving their hand to speed up the story wins the gold."
"As a teacher I appreciate this."
- BMD04
"As a teacher I hate this."
Better than Soccer.
"It's more suited for the Olympics than the football itself and much more entertaining for casual audiences."
- thehdv7
"True! I would be in favor for changing football to futsal in a heartbeat. We already have the world cup so Olympics feel a bit meh for me."
Why hasn't this been added?
"Squash - without a doubt."
- "An extremely popular worldwide sport."
- "Popular with both men and women."
- "The top 50 players for both men and women come from almost every region in the world - definitely Egypt-heavy but top players come from Peru, Colombia, France, England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, the US, and multiple other countries."
- "Fast-paced and easy to televise. Okay - trading 20 rails in a row might not be that interesting to the new viewer but how exciting is a 1500M swim or a 2-person row."
- "Skill and experience can match up well with youth and energy; so an "older" squash player could still beat a younger inexperienced one."
"I consistently played squash for about 2 years 1-2 times a week from a complete beginner level. The guy I played was a decent player and after those 2 years we were fairly consistent in him or myself winning equally. I got a chance to play a friend of my sisters who taught squash, I knew I still weren't that great, but to get better you've got to play higher-skilled people. He owned me badly. He put me anywhere on the court he wanted. It was an amazing experience, seeing the levels in the game."- grayz81"
I think you find that with all sports. You get to a level where you think "yeh I'm pretty good at this", until you meet someone who really is good."- user deleted
It seems it's a long process to get a sport into the Olympic arena. It involves a lot of paperwork, recognition, and approval from the International Olympic Committee, the International Sports Federation, and the Olympic Charter.
If you want to see a sport added to the next Olympic games in Paris, you'd better start applying!
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