Is 5* Eventing the only sport where....

[myheartinahoofbeat]

I have been thinking about this over the weekend but is 5* Eventing the only sport where athletes are competing above Olympic level? I would be interested to know if there are any other sports like this. Normally the Olympics, is the pinnacle of any sport. I know the reason why this is the case but just wondered if it was unique? Can anyone think of an other?

 

[ycbm]

Iron man, extreme distance running, 5 peaks challenge, off the top of my head.

Equestrianism had to drop the level of challenge to get enough countries qualified to continue as an Olympic sport, I think.

 

[smolmaus]

Maybe soccer??? Or rugby? Hard to judge "level" really but the soccer or rugby World Cups do seem to have more prestige attached than the respective olympic events.

 

[RachelFerd]

No - things like ultramarathons are 'harder' than running a marathon, or iron man triathlons are harder than the olympic distance triathlon

 

[Caol Ila]

Iron man, extreme distance running, 5 peaks challenge, off the top of my head.

Equestrianism had to drop the level of challenge to get enough countries qualified to continue as an Olympic sport, I think.

What she said.

I read somewhere that because many 'non-eventing' countries compete in the Olympics, they had to make the course a bit easier than Badminton, Kentucky, etc., or it would be total carnage.

 

[ycbm]

What she said.

I read somewhere that because many 'non-eventing' countries compete in the Olympics, they had to make the course a bit easier than Badminton, Kentucky, etc., or it would be total carnage.

I'm guessing there are harder climbing challenges than the Olympics, too, CI?

 

[ycbm]

The men's football is restricted in its use of superstar players, too, so it will never be as high a standard as the World Cup, UEFA cup or a Premier League game.
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[ycbm]

This is a really fun question to research. It looks like boxing is always a lower standard at the Olympics.

Can Pro Boxers Compete In The Olympics?

www.rookieroad.com

 

[Caol Ila]

I'm guessing there are harder climbing challenges than the Olympics, too, CI?

Climbing is an odd one because the competitions take place indoors, on plastic holds, and most people who climb couldn't care less about them. That said, I think there are World Championships and stuff like that, which will be more prestigious than the Olympics because last summer Olympics were the first time it appeared there.

For outdoors climbers, it's not competitive in the way most sports are, but there's absolutely competition to be the first to do something really hard or novel, whether it's a first ascent of a nails peak or a challenging route on a scary peak, the first climb of some cliff at the hardest of grades, the first free solo of something, the first (insert demographic here) oxygenless ascent of (insert Himalayan peak here), etc. But that doesn't make Olympic sports. Now, everyone run up K2, without oxygen!

 

[SibeliusMB]

The National Hockey League recently electing not to allow its players to participate in the Olympics means that men's ice hockey at the Olympics is not the pinnacle of the sport. NHL might reverse that stance again and allow players to participate in future Olympics, but that will be at the discretion of the League, the owners, and the collective bargaining agreement with the players union.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Boxing. Much lower level and more protection used than in main 'external' boxing shows.
Football

 

[Caol Ila]

Thinking about it, I have hazy memories of an Olympic eventing course in the 1990s -- maybe Atlanta? -- that was more in line with a 5* course (4* in them days), and there were a lot of falls. Afterwards, the powers-that-be in Olympic eventing decided to make the courses easier, which competitors from the usual suspects of eventing nations b*tched and moaned about at the time, saying the Olympics would lose its prestige, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was a bit of a kerfuffle. But I think it was the right call because you get a higher number of inexperienced combinations on an Olympic course than at Burghley or Badminton or Pau.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Really interesting answers, Thank you.

Is boxing limited to Amateurs in the true Olympic spirit because didn't people like Amir Khan and Anthony Joshua turn professional afterwards? ( I'm not into boxing so could be wrong!)

 

[shortstuff99]

Olympics is supposed to be an amateur competition so anyone being paid to compete can't do the Olympics, such as pro boxers, footballers etc.

 

[ycbm]

Olympics is supposed to be an amateur competition so anyone being paid to compete can't do the Olympics, such as pro boxers, footballers etc.

That's not been true for a long time now. I think almost all the sports are open to Pros.
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[ycbm]

Really interesting answers, Thank you.

Is boxing limited to Amateurs in the true Olympic spirit because didn't people like Amir Khan and Anthony Joshua turn professional afterwards? ( I'm not into boxing so could be wrong!)

No, if you read the article I pointed to it explains that Pro boxers won't box in the Olympics because of the risk to their earning ability in a World class fight.
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[SibeliusMB]

Olympics is supposed to be an amateur competition so anyone being paid to compete can't do the Olympics, such as pro boxers, footballers etc.

Yet the majority of those competitors in equestrian events are pros.

 

[LEC]

Rugby - is another as only 7s and they don’t allow truly world class players to go.
I would argue golf and tennis - standard is the same but you don’t get the best players attending often. Tennis has got a little less sniffy about it but lots don’t go
Road Cycling would be another as it’s a strange road race but not comparable with the pinnacle which is Tour de France.
Surfing - doesn’t get the big shots
Basketball - obvs as Americans can only send a team so lots of better players than other nations left at home.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Yet the majority of those competitors in equestrian events are pros.

Perhaps when the Pros compete in any Olympic sport, they dont get paid.

 

[Scoti1420]

Would eventing and the distance events mentioned (Ironman, ultra marathons) be the only types of events where you still have the best in the world - but they compete at a lower level?

For the sports like rugby and football, those best in the world players aren't even competing

 

[Caol Ila]

That's not been true for a long time now. I think almost all the sports are open to Pros.
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Yeah, that went in the 80s and 90s. The president of the IOC from the 1950s to the 70s was unbending on the "amateur rule," in the days when the Olympics were supposed to be about sport, not money. But television changed all that. People realised they could make mega bucks with sponsorship, TV rights, the whole hoopla.

In the 1980s, the IOC started making moves to allow professionals sportspeople because they realised that they could bring in even more viewers (and therefore money) if famous athletes were participating. People will tune in for familiar faces, and obviously, a lot of famous athletes are pros. Bit by bit, they changed the rules, opening it up to pro athletes from an increasing number of sports.

The final nail in the coffin of anything resembling the 'amateur rule' was when the US wanted to send a men's basketball team made up of the best NBA players to Barcelona in 1992. These weren't people getting the odd sponsorship while still working behind a bar. These guys were some of the most highly paid athletes on the planet. But a lot of people watched those games.

That said, the sports' governing body has final say over whether its athletes can compete in the Olympics. The NHL doesn't allow its pro hockey players on the Olympic teams, and wrestling is still very strict about the amateur rule.