The Olympics

[Valka D'Ur]

swimming would theoretically be the exact same event with or without the swimsuit.

That would make for some x-rated coverage. They do underwater shots with the cameras, after all.

Swimsuits don't cause you can swim naked just fine.

You could, but one reason for the skin-tight covering, including the head, is to minimize the amount of drag and resistance the athlete has (whether competing in the open air or underwater). They don't want anything impeding this, and since certain anatomical parts don't lie flat on the human body unless said human is lying on their back, having them swim naked would be detrimental to their time (when you get into thousandths of seconds, that's why they want every speed advantage possible).

I've been watching random olympic events since the 90s if not the 80s. Pole vault, ice hockey, volleyball, figure skating, curling, ping pong, cycling, etc. I oppose the IOC and their corrupt ways but I do enjoy watching athletes square off against each other, especially if it's the top athletes from around the planet

I fully agree that the IOC has been corrupt for a very long time. I'm glad that you've watched a wide variety of events.

I've got no patience with curling. It's huge in some parts of Canada, and the elite tournaments are very popular. I just don't understand the appeal, though. It must be one of those things that you have to be part of it or know someone involved for it to be interesting.

Kinda like pony chucks, except in curling, no animals are harmed.

It would not be the same televised sport

Definitely NSFW.

Funnily enough the ballroom dancing governing body the WDSF is the one that had itself declared also the governing body for breaking so they could get access to the Olympics that way, after ballroom kept getting rejected.

They identified breaking as something decentralised and basically ungoverned (local scenes ran themselves, event organisers largely set the conditions unilaterally), and something with the youth orientation the IOC would be amenable to including, and just took over. Breaking was basically there because ballroom wasn't wanted.

Ballroom dancing is seen as some sort of snobby elite thing. And I suppose it is, when you get to the elite levels. For ordinary people, though, some of those dances are just what people were expected to know, to be considered "socially normal". We had dance lessons in my high school gym classes, when the girls' class and boys' class were merged for a few days and the gym teachers tried to teach us to dance.

About all I remember from back then was how to do the hustle (hey, it was the '70s; of course they taught us disco). I also remember some square dances from our dance classes in elementary. And of course I learned some medieval dances in the SCA.

Waltzing, though? It's beyond me. The Butterfly is about all I learned of the social dances my grandmother wanted me to learn.


Breakdancing, though, is something that isn't seen as some snobby thing. So it's more accessible to both competitors and viewers.

 

[lymond]

Actually, the swimsuits make the swimmers a bit more aerodynamic in the water.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Actually, the swimsuits make the swimmers a bit more aerodynamic in the water.

That's basically what I was saying.

 

[r16]

quite political , no need to read if New Turkey bores you .

Spoiler :

turns the leading archer's father was a previous chief of the archery federation during the A-K-P era . Such stuff automatically adds some stigma in a mirror image of A-K-P claims that everybody is a traitor . So , like ı DO have to retract positive coverage or whatever ... As , it is only natural that people are talking . Stuff like claims that there wasn't a female team of 3 in the way there was a man's team . Because the only competitor taken there is a young girl of 17 that covers her head ... Not claiming this was why she was in the Olympics , she went there as the European champion of 2024 ; she has talent . It would be better for the country if the 2020 contestant was not claiming she was mobbed and legally hindered from taking part . In a decree that Olympic team would be made from the 5 top athletes with the most points at the time . 5 people the 2020 contestant claims she could outshoot if there wasn't a new rule that banned archers older than 21 to compete for Olympics . New Turkey should be able to win something straight , without a single spot of doubt ... The head covered girl winning the top points in a team with 2 uncovered would be great , right ?

friendly reminder to the leading archer . Be smart , don't ever mention Atatürk as an inspiration ever again .

 

[amadeus]

The whole thing to me is a big shakedown. If they didn’t have those 5 O’s they’d be indicted.

 

[warpus]

I have exciting news about pretty much every other Olympic sport!

Yes, but I would have similar comments about every single event added that wasn't a sport, popular or not. Ballroom dancing was one year, I believe, and I had the exact same opposition to it as breakdancing.

Besides, you can't tell me that the hammer throw brings in the masses. Not every event at the olympics needs to be popular, and many aren't.

In the end I would love to hear what other dances should be added as events next, from those who support breakdancing being in the olympics and seem so passionate about it. How many different dancing categories do you want? 15? 20? 30? Which ones make the cut? How do you determine that? This is a genuine question. Surely breakdancing shouldn't be the only one?

If dancing in general is supposed to be a sport-like athletic activity, then it is.. or it isn't. And if it is, then many dances belong in the mix, not just one. After all, we do not have only one swimming event at the olympics.. not just one cycling event.. not just one archery event.. not just one event on skiis.. not just one event on skates.. If dancing is a sport-like athletic olympic activity, then let's embrace it as such! My position is that it just isn't.

And I mean, I won't sit there and rally against breakdancing in 4 years time. I might make some posts about it, but I won't make any signs or sign any petitions. This is not some cause I've taken up and am passionate about, it's an opinion I'm voicing on a forum where such things belong. In 4 years time I'll probably sit down and watch breakdancing at the olympics here and there, as it can be somewhat entertaining to watch. I just don't think it belongs at the olympics.

That would make for some x-rated coverage. They do underwater shots with the cameras, after all.

I don't really think that athletes should be nude at the olympics, but if they were IMO it wouldn't be X-rated. If there was sexual activity then yes. But a nude human body by itself wouldn't warrant an X-rated label

You could, but one reason for the skin-tight covering, including the head, is to minimize the amount of drag and resistance the athlete has (whether competing in the open air or underwater). They don't want anything impeding this, and since certain anatomical parts don't lie flat on the human body unless said human is lying on their back, having them swim naked would be detrimental to their time (when you get into thousandths of seconds, that's why they want every speed advantage possible).

Hey, that's actually a very good point. I have to concede this point and admit that a swimsuit in some events is indeed what I have been calling a "tool".

Is drag a consideration in breakdancing though? Do the athletes require their outfits, or else breakdancing wouldn't work? Asking these questions with obvious answers to drive that part of my point home.

I've got no patience with curling. It's huge in some parts of Canada, and the elite tournaments are very popular. I just don't understand the appeal, though. It must be one of those things that you have to be part of it or know someone involved for it to be interesting.

I used to think curling is boring and not worth watching, but then one day decided to give it a shot... and.. yeah, I have no ties to the sport at all, nobody in my circle of family or friends is involved in the sport, etc. But I found it interesting to watch! Some of the shots the athletes make, the precision of it all.. it kept me glued to the screen to some degree. I was fascinated by how much finesse they were able to get in some of their shots, and the strategy involved in where the pucks ended up, and what sorts of shots they were trying to make. It also helped that Canada seemed to be good at the sport and was very competitive. Plus throw in the fact that the winter olympics don't really have that many interesting events to watch to begin with, compared to the summer olympics at least. Curling quickly became an event I'd put on every once in a while.

Breakdancing, though, is something that isn't seen as some snobby thing. So it's more accessible to both competitors and viewers.

If it gets more younger people watching the olympics and getting interested in it all, I completely understand why they added it as an event. I just don't think it belongs there, the same way I don't think the waltz, the tango, or samba belong there either. These are dances better suited to some sort of a dancing competition where different dancing events are represented.

And like I said, if we are embracing dancing as an athletic olympic sport-like set of activities. What other dances are proponents of breakdancing supporting to be added next? How many will we have when it's all said and done? 10? 15? 20? More? Which ones? How do you decide which ones?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Is drag a consideration in breakdancing though?

Costume-wise? Maybe, if anyone has or wants to do it.

As for the physics of it, I wouldn't know. Breakdancing isn't something I've ever tried, and it's something I've never watched, as it usually involves the type of music that I consider to be noise.

I do remember an episode of the old Fame TV series that involved breakdancing. I don't remember what music they used.

If it gets more younger people watching the olympics and getting interested in it all, I completely understand why they added it as an event. I just don't think it belongs there, the same way I don't think the waltz, the tango, or samba belong there either. These are dances better suited to some sort of a dancing competition where different dancing events are represented.

The waltz, the samba, and the tango have been part of the Winter Olympics for decades, in the short program for ice dancing. This part of ice dancing means that every season there are a couple of assigned dance types that all of them have to do. So yeah, they have to know everything from traditionally stuffy dances to modern dances. They don't get to cut loose until the long program ("original dance"). And at the time I started watching figure skating, they had compulsories, just like the singles and pairs skaters (the equivalent to the aforementioned scales I compared it to in music exams).

I've seen some incredible waltzes and tangos in the Olympics. Tango is an extremely technical dance, with moves that have to be perfect or the whole thing looks sloppy. Playing a tango on the organ is also an involved kind of playing that's a bit harder than a lot of others. "La Cumparsita" was part of my repertoire for quite a long time - it requires both feet playing the pedals, plus the right foot controlling the expression pedal. It's the song I used to test the organ my grandmother was going to get for me, in the music store. Next thing I knew, a small crowd had collected (this was in a mall). So I always enjoyed it a bit more when, in the Olympics, the ice dancers skated to "La Cumparsita".

And like I said, if we are embracing dancing as an athletic olympic sport-like set of activities. What other dances are proponents of breakdancing supporting to be added next? How many will we have when it's all said and done? 10? 15? 20? More? Which ones? How do you decide which ones?

The other dances that breakdancing fans would want are likely different from the ones that non-breakdancing fans would want. I loved Bourne & Kraatz doing 'Riverdance'. Many years ago there was a Canadian men's singles skater named Michael Slipchuk who sometimes incorporated a bit of sailor's hornpipe into his routines.

Can you imagine the precision required for Ukrainian dancing on ice? I suppose it's already been done. Usually what I can imagine, someone's already done (though that seems to apply more to fanfiction than figure skating).

I myself am into folk music and folk dance. There are some types of these that would be great for an ice show with more people. It's a bit harder to have just two people doing country line dancing or some of the medieval-era dances, because they're designed for at least 4 couples, if not 8. Or there are others that work as long as you have an even number of men and women.

 

[warpus]

I see ice dancing as different from non-ice dancing in that it requires skates - a tool. I was mainly talking about traditional dancing on a non-slippery surface in my last post

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'm talking about translating traditional non-ice dance to the ice. There's a video somewhere about how Bourne & Kraatz learned Riverdance and trained for it. Of course they had to learn the actual dance, including how to do tap. But they had other training regimens as well. Ice dancers often train in many types and styles of dance, from ballet to modern, plus running, cycling, weights, exercises that increase their flexibility - because they need all of this for ice dance (or other kinds of figure skating). You're not going to be able to do a several minutes'-long program if you don't have the endurance to do it, plus the ability to lift your partner, plus the flexibility to do the required elements that must be both technical and graceful at the same time. Gymnastics comes into it as well, as flying cartwheels are part of some routines.

French champion Surya Bonaly was a gymnast before she got into figure skating, and she's credited with being the first woman to do a backflip on skates in amateur competition. Mind you, she wasn't given credit for it because it's an illegal move in the amateur ranks. It's legal in professional competition and ice shows.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Okay, different types of dance plus figure skating. Here's an excerpt from "The Planets", performed by Paul and Isabelle Duchesnay and Brian Orser. Note the ballet moves on and off the ice. This performance had me mesmerized the first time I saw it. It still gives me chills.