Downhill Skateboarding in the Olympics? Why not?

[wilder]

It's funny to me that a lot of people that I encounter while skating already think that speedboarding and streetluge are in the Olympics. Somehow we're already getting our Olympic coverage lol

However, dh is a boring event to watch, It takes forever to get peeps up and down the hill (though some orgs are better than others) and when the action comes through it's for a very short while and you never recieve word on who won. But hey if they got mother####in waterpolo or curling in the olympics than peeps will watch anything.

thats at a race. were talking televised here. multiple camera angles and whatnot. its the same with any similar sport. boarder cross etc........

and Stinee, your right, i didnt even think of that. maybe thats a reason why slalom would be easier to do.

[S.A.M.]

They should pave runs down ski hills for olympic caliber runs or build some sick parkades.

[Brian Holden]

maybe thats a reason why slalom would be easier to do.

Sliding would be much easier to do, and would be more appealing to the viewers

[jb_]

You decide to compete. You go through the preliminaries and the trials and get a spot on the team.

BUT,

The wheels, trucks, bearings and deck that got you to the show aren't "officially recognized" by some sanctioning commitee. So in order to skate at the Olympics you ride somebody else's board, somebody else's wheels and somebody else's truck.

Just what I thought. If it reaches an Olympic level, what you ride is going to be so improved/modified/tweaked/optimised/over-engineered that it isn't even going to be a longboard anymore.

[longboardorific]

I know this will piss some folks off...but remember what happened to snowboarding once the Olympics got their hands on it.

what happened? I remember more people appreciating the sport and more snowboarders on the mountain

[bucksaw87]

If the issue of an Olympic caliber hill was resolved...I would be in favor of DH and slalom in the Olympics...but I don't think that this is something that is anywhere in the near future.

here we go: most major cities have some sort of multi-level parking garage, right? plan a race route through one of these parking garages...bingo, problem solved

[jb_]

here we go: most major cities have some sort of multi-level parking garage, right? plan a race route through one of these parking garages...bingo, problem solved

I think lack of repeatability is a major problem. An Olympic pool is always 50m, a marathon is always 26 miles, a 500m track race is always 500m etc. So world records are actually meaningful.

Imagine designing a "standard" Olympic parking lot for every city in which the games are held. Or a "standard" hill, with a pre-determined gradient profile

[Parallel Man]

I think lack of repeatability is a major problem. An Olympic pool is always 50m, a marathon is always 26 miles, a 500m track race is always 500m etc. So world records are actually meaningful.

Imagine designing a "standard" Olympic parking lot for every city in which the games are held. Or a "standard" hill, with a pre-determined gradient profile

Then does that mean the Gold Medal in the Downhill from Salt Lake City is not as good as the Gold Medal from Lilliehammer?

There are many Olympic sports that involve unique venues. Giant Slalom, Downhill, Luge, Bobsled and the Bialthlon are some of the Winter ones. Kayaking and the Marathon are summer events that come to mind.

The Marathon? Isn't it always 26.3 miles? Yes, but it's not always flat and the terrain through Beijing is different than the course through Munich or Montreal.

By the way, I still don't think Skateboarding should get itself screwed up by getting involved with The Olympics. I just wanted to refute your point

[jb_]

Then does that mean the Gold Medal in the Downhill from Salt Lake City is not as good as the Gold Medal from Lilliehammer?

There are many Olympic sports that involve unique venues. Giant Slalom, Downhill, Luge, Bobsled and the Bialthlon are some of the Winter ones.

Yep, I had thought of the winter ones. Of course it's impossible to always have snow fall the same way on mountains that are differently-shaped anyway. But nobody cares about the Winter Olympics

Kayaking and the Marathon are summer events that come to mind.

Fair enough

[EBasil]

I think the underlying reason we're just talking in the wind regarding Olympic Skateboarding is that there ARE people that have taken steps to establish themselves as the organization that would represent "American Skateboarding" to the Olympics. Their definition of skateboarding is vert and kickflipping. They have neither interest nor understanding of anything speed-related and are openly hostile to the idea.

So, if skateboarding were to hit the Olympics, we could enjoy the spectacle of some good ramp and vert skating, but it wouldn't be gravity racing. Too bad, in my view: I think slalom, boarder-cross and speedboarding could lend themselves well to summer games with a winter-sports format. The analogy to ski disciplines and venues is really close.

[Parallel Man]

So, if skateboarding were to hit the Olympics, we could enjoy the spectacle of some good ramp and vert skating, but it wouldn't be gravity racing.

The Olympics would just be so wonderful with more subjective prejudiced events. I wonder if the vert skating would have a French judge?

Of course, I'm sure that if there were true gravity speed events, 75% of the winner's performance would be based on style. That way the IOC can maintain it's perogative or only letting those it determines are worthy of Gold bring home the prize.

Yes, it's true: I have no respect for the Olympics.

Is it too obvious or do I need to be even more blunt?

(Where were you in '72 during the basketball finals?)

[mark grimace]

I think the X-games is a more viable idea.

[bucksaw87]

I think the X-games is a more viable idea.

haha...let the x-games work out all the technicalities and get dh to be really popular...then the olympics swoops in, steals all of the x-games hard work, and runs away with it

[Ky Boy]

haha...let the x-games work out all the technicalities and get dh to be really popular...then the olympics swoops in, steals all of the x-games hard work, and runs away with it

Speedboarding, streetluge, gravity bikes, and inline dh have all performed in the X-games at one time. I've personally talked to Reitema (president of IGSA and who ran the luge event in the x-games for a few years) about the subject why luge was dropped and his explaination was that it was too much money to televise and due to some places not having the correct geographic layout.

The x-games are all about arena type events and all about money. They had us once, gave up on us, so now I say screw them and let us make it on our own.

[pete..]

what if longboarding dies out in twenty or thirty years?

longboarding needs some publicity, i'm hoping a major company will realize this and put a race on t.v.

[bucksaw87]

what if longboarding dies out in twenty or thirty years?

longboarding needs some publicity, i'm hoping a major company will realize this and put a race on t.v.

what longboarding needs is some public promotion from the likes of mullen, muska, hawk, margera, song, all them...i mean, skateboarding basically got it's popularity boost from the thps games, and that's where all the big names in skateboarding are popularized...to get to the youth, we gotta have more people like this promoting longboarding as a viable boarding sport. i find it kinda ironic saying that cuz the original idea for skateboarding was to be more like longboarding is.

[wilder]

what longboarding needs is some public promotion from the likes of mullen, muska, hawk, margera, song, all them...i mean, skateboarding basically got it's popularity boost from the thps games, and that's where all the big names in skateboarding are popularized...to get to the youth, we gotta have more people like this promoting longboarding as a viable boarding sport. i find it kinda ironic saying that cuz the original idea for skateboarding was to be more like longboarding is.

this is perhaps the last thing that longboarding needs.

[Justin Metcalf]

I think the underlying reason we're just talking in the wind regarding Olympic Skateboarding is that there ARE people that have taken steps to establish themselves as the organization that would represent "American Skateboarding" to the Olympics. Their definition of skateboarding is vert and kickflipping. They have neither interest nor understanding of anything speed-related and are openly hostile to the idea.

So, if skateboarding were to hit the Olympics, we could enjoy the spectacle of some good ramp and vert skating, but it wouldn't be gravity racing. Too bad, in my view: I think slalom, boarder-cross and speedboarding could lend themselves well to summer games with a winter-sports format. The analogy to ski disciplines and venues is really close.

This is exactly why I feel that gravity sports would be a good addition to the Olympics. Its an untainted sport where the goal is simple and there is little to no attitude or pop culture influence. It would mesh very nicely with the Olympic take on snowboarding and (if good hills were not an issue) would be a wonderful addition to the olympics.

Differences in hills would be no problem at all...no two Marathon courses are the same and downhill races in the winter olympics all use different tracks every year. As long as the hill met the speed and technicality requirments, there is no reason that hills couldn't vary in length, road surface, and speed.

There is no denying the fact that speedboarding would change as an olympic event. Specially made speed suits and helmets would all be used and boards would be built that would make wefunks and maguns look like stocking stuffers. Why is this bad though? The Olympics have always been about taking an event to the next level, the level beyond the reach of the average competitor. The evolution of the sport to Olympic level (IMO) would do little to impact the average speedboarder or even the major world cup events.

As I said earlier, the Olympics still carry some level of prestige and respect and I believe that getting gravity sports recognized at the Olympics could do nothign but benefit DH. Sure there will be corporate sponsors but corporate sponsors for runners don't stop John Smith from getting up at the crack of dawn everyday to run 5 miles because he likes running.

[Justin Metcalf]

here we go: most major cities have some sort of multi-level parking garage, right? plan a race route through one of these parking garages...bingo, problem solved

This would be like short track speed skating...except much more lame.

Garages are fun but why would you want them in the Olympics? No records are broken in parking garages...not to mention they're short (in comparison), dirty, and are a link the the shaddier, less appealing (in the public's eye) side of skating. Not to mention how would you train? Skating garages is frowned on by every city everywhere...

Whew...sorry...

[pete..]

if it made some money for the city they would like it....

selling food, tickets,advertisements,anything.