Should all of the Winter Olympic activities really be called sports?
By Anthony Giovino
Staff Writer
In truth, the Winter Olympics are, for the most part, called what they truly are: games. The so-called “sports” of these Olympics are no more a sport than cleaning the house, or building structures. And yet, if somebody were to put a timer on those activities and told one person to do it better than the other, they would be called sports too. I have studied each Winter Olympic event, and I am prepared to make and defend the case that these “sports” of the Olympics are nothing more than exactly what they have been classified as: games.
What is a sport?
While the general definition of a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment,” I do not believe this to be an accurate definition. Under these parameters, almost anything is a sport, and I don’t believe that to be fair to what truly are sports. The way that I define a sport is “immense physical and mental exertion which, when coupled with a known scoring system and another team going against you at the same time, results in either a win, loss, or tie for the person or team playing.” This eliminates half of the “sports” of the Winter Olympics.
The events I will be analyzing are Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard, and Speed Skating.
Ice Hockey, Speed Skating, Skiing, Biathlon, and Snowboard are the five I consider to be sports. Of all the “sports,” these five are the events which not only fit my definition of a sport, but also provide a legitimate argument to be a sport. Ice Hockey is very widely recognized as one of the four major American sports, so I don’t believe that specific event is even arguable. Speed Skating is a sport because the athletes are competing against one another at the same time. I firmly believe you can’t expect an event to be considered a sport if the Olympians aren’t even competing against each other simultaneously.
That mentality is also why I consider the other events sports; the athletes are given a fair chance to showcase their skill without the threat that somebody after them will tarnish their ability, as they perform at the same time. The only exception of this rule is the Snowboard. While I do not fully consider all variations of Snowboard to be a sport, it does have certain aspects that help its case.
Bobsleigh, Curling, Figure Skating, Luge, Nordic Combined, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, and Snowboard are eight events that I do not consider to be sports. Personally, I believe Luge and Skeleton to be the same event, just with the person’s body reversed, and neither of them fit my definition. The Bobsleigh is cool, but they go one at a time, and that bothers me. The same problem is with Snowboard. Granted, it is listed as a sport above, but as I said before, there are variations of the event which I do not consider to be a sport, such as the halfpipe. Curling isn’t a sport simply because the athletic ability is limited, and whoever goes last has a major advantage over the rest of the teams. A judge decides who wins when it comes to figure skating, so that’s out.
Ski Jumping is one at a time, which is probably for the best, regarding the safety of the athletes, but it breaks my definition so I have to leave it off. If the Nordic Combined was a race against others, not a clock, and if judges did not make an impact on the scoring system, then it would also be considered a sport. But it’s not. And, finally, I come to Figure Skating. The sole reason this is not a sport is because a judge influences the outcome of the event, due to the scoring system. I believe this to be one of the few non-sports which has a strong argument to be a sport, but it does not fit my definition of a sport.
