JimCook
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Messages
- 792
- Reaction score
- 5
Sure, the luge, skeleton, and bobsled races are fast. Sure, there are loud outfits and crazy crashes/stunts in downhill skiing. But none of those sports rank for me as my favorite Olympic events.
Today is a 'curling' day for the Olympians competing up in Vancouver, British Columbia. I believe that curling is an unsung sport that takes a massive amount of strength, coordination, and control. What seems to be something very slow and 'easy' to the lay person is actually a42-pound granite block being gracefully set onto the ice at a certain angle and speed while the wielder performs a forward lunge in painfully slow form and balancing while sliding across the ice during this process. Perhaps it's just a throwback to my appreciation for strongman style activities (gotta love the Scotts), but curling rocks. It's like a Liliputian sneaking onto a giant shuffleboard game and deciding to play. Curling is an old sport and its origins date back to the 1500s.
Another of my favorite winter Olympic events is the biathlon. For most people, the idea of cross-country skiing and then firing a rifle at a series of targets is pretty boring. However, a little appreciation of the art of sniping and body control takes this to a whole new level. If you haven't fired a rifle at a target that required aiming (the smallest and final targets to hit in the biathlon are just over an inch big -half-dollar sized), then take appreciation in the fact that people have been disqualified for blood doping in target shooting competitions in past Olympics. Why use performance enhancing biological/drug techniques in something as simple as the 25m target pistol competition, something that most people don't even know is a summer Olympic sport? Because the beat of a person's heart rate causes a slight pulse in the body and controlling that pulse by lowering the heart rate helps increase accuracy. Ask the South Korean that tested positive and was disqualified in the Beijing Olympics, by the way.
In the biathlon, competitors need to cross-country ski with a rifle strapped to their back to a particular target range. If you've ever gone cross-country skiing, you'll know that this raises the heart rate just like any other challenging cardio activity. Then, being careful not to disrupt the sighting mechanisms on the rifle, five shots will need to be fired at a target 50m away with penalties for any missed shots. The targets get smaller each time around. Depending on the type of biathlon, the penalty could be an extra cross-country skiing lap or time penalties. Time penalties? Yes - the entire event is timed. So competitors need to match racing speed and endurance with the focus and body control of target shooting. And it's one of the oldest sports dating back to 2,000 B.C. when hunters needed tochaseprey and then shoot accurately.
- Jim
Today is a 'curling' day for the Olympians competing up in Vancouver, British Columbia. I believe that curling is an unsung sport that takes a massive amount of strength, coordination, and control. What seems to be something very slow and 'easy' to the lay person is actually a42-pound granite block being gracefully set onto the ice at a certain angle and speed while the wielder performs a forward lunge in painfully slow form and balancing while sliding across the ice during this process. Perhaps it's just a throwback to my appreciation for strongman style activities (gotta love the Scotts), but curling rocks. It's like a Liliputian sneaking onto a giant shuffleboard game and deciding to play. Curling is an old sport and its origins date back to the 1500s.
Another of my favorite winter Olympic events is the biathlon. For most people, the idea of cross-country skiing and then firing a rifle at a series of targets is pretty boring. However, a little appreciation of the art of sniping and body control takes this to a whole new level. If you haven't fired a rifle at a target that required aiming (the smallest and final targets to hit in the biathlon are just over an inch big -half-dollar sized), then take appreciation in the fact that people have been disqualified for blood doping in target shooting competitions in past Olympics. Why use performance enhancing biological/drug techniques in something as simple as the 25m target pistol competition, something that most people don't even know is a summer Olympic sport? Because the beat of a person's heart rate causes a slight pulse in the body and controlling that pulse by lowering the heart rate helps increase accuracy. Ask the South Korean that tested positive and was disqualified in the Beijing Olympics, by the way.
In the biathlon, competitors need to cross-country ski with a rifle strapped to their back to a particular target range. If you've ever gone cross-country skiing, you'll know that this raises the heart rate just like any other challenging cardio activity. Then, being careful not to disrupt the sighting mechanisms on the rifle, five shots will need to be fired at a target 50m away with penalties for any missed shots. The targets get smaller each time around. Depending on the type of biathlon, the penalty could be an extra cross-country skiing lap or time penalties. Time penalties? Yes - the entire event is timed. So competitors need to match racing speed and endurance with the focus and body control of target shooting. And it's one of the oldest sports dating back to 2,000 B.C. when hunters needed tochaseprey and then shoot accurately.
- Jim
