The Olympics have begun and, over the next two weeks, sports that reside in obscure corners of the sporting universe will receive attention that are not present in the other 206 weeks (over a 4-year period).
In the past few months, there have been many calls (mainly by Chinese and IOC officials) to keep the Games apolitical. I guess the Olympics put the world's focus towards the host city/country, and hosting the Games gives critics of the host city/country an opportunity to highlight everything that is wrong with the place (in Beijing's case, air pollution, freedom to report corrupt officials, Tibet, and June 4, 1989/Tiananmen Square are among the most prominent issues raised). While calls to keep politics out of the Olympics sound like a great ideal, the Olympics is highly political — lobbying by sporting federations (so that the sport becomes an Olympic event) are highly common. As the Olympics cannot expand indefinitely, a sport likely has to be dropped from the Games in order to add another sport. To me, the Olympic scheedule is way too crowded as it is and the number of Olympic sports has to be reduced (28 at the present). This led me to examine the list of Olympic sports and check whether I would keep each one.
The following shows which of the current Olympic sports will remain in the Games and which ones will be cut if I were in charge of such decisions (no way it will happen), plus some (rather weak) explanations behind my decision. (Warning: I may go on a power trip when explaining my decision and some of my explanations may be inconsistent.)
Aquatics: In The events, inclduing swimming, diving, and water polo, are competitive and contenders originate from countries on different continients. This is also one of the biggest-drawing sport of the Games, so I have to keep it.
Archery: Out This sport, to me, is a relic of the past. However, it will not disappear from the Games altogether (see pentathlon).
Badminton: In I was leaning towards removing the sport from the Games as the podium is dominated by countries in east Asia. It gives a reprieve mainly because there are a few European cotenders (mainly from Denmark).
Baseball: Out It will not be an Olympic event in 2012. I will drop in nevertheless, as the last thing the Games needs is a large-scale steroid scandal. (I know that professional players in North America are now being tested, but the perception that many players are "juiced" remains.)
Basketball: In The rest of the world has caught up with the US (for the men at least), which makes for a compelling tournament. The Games also attract more attention than the actual world championship tournament of the sport.
Boxing: In Boxing used to be widely followed, but it seems that it is no longer the case (the fall of Mike Tyson, a former Olympian, may have a lot to do with it). The Games gives the sport some "positive" exposure, so I will keep the sport in the Games.
Canoe/Kayak: In Perhaps I am biased towards water sports, but I can't think of a compelling reason to drop the sport.
Cycling: In While outdoor events require quite a lot of patience to follow, it is great to follow on TV. The indoor events are quite exhilarating, with frequent lead changes, and scramble towards the finish line. As one of the most exciting events of the Games (to me), the sport deserves to remain an Olympic sport.
Equstrian: Out To me, ballet isn't an Olympic sport, even when a competitor's dancing partner is a horse (the dressage event is sometimes called ballet on horseback). Horses will remain in the Games, though (see pentaphlon).
Fencing: Out The sport is a little too one-dimensional — step up and strike, step back to avoid the opponent's strike, repeat.
Field Hockey: In .
Gymnastics: In In my ideal Olympics, sports where judges are involved would be excluded. I will make an exception here, as the points awarded based on the diffculty of a routine, giving the divers an incentive to attempt more difficult routines.
Handball: In Fast paced, high scoring, games can sure attract viewers of the video game generation.
Judo: Out When it comes to martial arts, the criteria used for choosing which one to include in the Games are a mystery and federations of martial arts excluded from the Games will constantly looby for inclusion if one is in. So it may be better to include none.
Modern Pentathlon: In This event invovles fencing, shooting, swimming, show jumping, and cross country running. (Hopefully this will placate those who love the sports that I intend to drop).
Rowing: In A similar explanation to that I made for canoe/kayak events can be made here.
Sailing: In The constant change of conditions during the course of a competition convinced me to keep the sport.
Shooting: Out To me, guns and the Olympic "ideal" don't mix well. (You can accuse me of being a being a hypocrite for keeping the penathlon and dropping archery and shooting).
Soccer: Out Football (soccer) already has widely-followed tournaments for youths of different age groups (under 17's, under 20's). If an under-23 tournament outside the Olympics is created, I am sure the interest in it will not diminish.
Softball: In I thought of removing the sport, due to the dominance of the US team. It gets a stay of execution mainly because it shouldn't .
Table Tennis: Out Until countries stop importing Chinese players to represent them in the Games, this sport doesn't belong in the Games.
Taekwondo: Out See the point I made on my choice to drop judo. The same applies here.
Tennis: Out There are already four major tournaments (the Grand Slams) per year for this sport. One may say that winning Olympic gold is different, but this alone is not enough for me.
Track and Field/Athletics: In The variety of events within the sport is sufficient to for it to remain in the Games, not to mention its popularity.
Triathlon: In I have long admired the stamina, toughness, and versatility these athletes exhibit. These athletes deserve the spotlight that the Olympics provide.
Volleyball: In The sport is one of the Game's biggest draws, with teams from all corners of the world contending for gold. So it deserves to stay. As for beach volleyball, it attracts a key demograhpic for sponsors.
Weightlighting: Out To me, this is one of the sports most suspectible to doping — mainly use of drugs enhancing muscle growth. In trying to keep the Games as clean as possible, weightlifting is out.
Wrestling: Out The IOC is trying to attract younger viewers (the average age of the viewers is now 40). Unfortunately for the sport, this style of wrestling is not the one the youth enjoy.
It seems that, if I had my way, the scale of the Olympic Games will be drastically cut. Perhaps it is for the best, since the multitude of events nowadays make it difficult for even the most-avid followers of the Games to keep track of the events. (There is, of course, no way the IOC would drop this many sports from the Games.)