Underrated Olympic Sports You Wish You Knew About

As the Olympics have wound down to the last races and competitions, let us reflect on not only the medal count but where every medal was acquired within it. Surely when you think of the Olympics you think of gymnastics, track and field or the swimming relays. here are more unsung heroes contributing to the successes of the medal earnings besides the dynamic athletes in these sports. The Olympics allows us to be impressed not just by the normal sports we are acclimated to seeing throughout our day-to-day lives, but the rather odd yet exciting ones as well. 

MEN’S 20KM RACE

I know when I think of the Olympics I think of racing. Therefore, the first of our Olympic fascinations starts with the Men’s 20KM race. This of course is referring to a  racewalking competition. Racewalking is not as thrilling as other track and field events due to its’ pace, but it requires much more attrition than the shorter distances. It also boggles the mind thinking about the amount of distance covered in such a quick time. This year, Italy’s Massimo Stano won the race at 1:29:12. All I’m saying is, I think this guy can beat the New York Belt Parkway traffic on a Monday morning.

DRESSAGE

Theoretically, if you’ve ever seen a dog show, imagine that but with horses on a legitimate Olympic stage. Dressage is a unique discipline for riding a horse. In a dressage test horses and riders are judged on how well they can perform a series of prescribed movements. Horses and riders complete a series of moves that are built on technical training, rhythm and communication between horse and rider. In the individual dressage competition, known as “Grand Prix” freestyle, riders can create their routines and set them to the music of their choice. Germany took home the gold in the team category. My only question is how on earth do horses from all across the country get to Tokyo? 

KARATE “KATA” 

In Japanese, “Kata” means form. So in this Olympic sport, it isn’t necessarily Karate. The competition is between participants in “performing” Karate. Participants can choose to perform any of the World Karate Federation-approved 102 Karate katas and a panel of seven judges will use a point system to evaluate the performances. Participants will be judged on seven technical points—stances, techniques, transitional movements, timing, correct breathing, focus and conformance—and along with these athletic points—strength, speed and balance. Ryo Kiyuna of Japan claimed gold in this event for the 2020 Olympics.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SPORTS CLIMBING

Another quirky Olympic sport has to be climbing. It sounds exactly how it’s portrayed. Sport climbing takes the challenge of scaling steep ascents to a whole new level. All the while, the only piece of equipment allowed and necessary is a safety rope. Using a range of hand and footholds of different shapes and sizes, climbers put their skills and strength into practice on a vertical wall. The wall may feature varying angles of either positive (known in climbing as a slab) or negative (steep, overhanging) sections. This year, gold medalists were Slovenia’s Janja Garnbreg for the women’s section and Spain’s Alberto Ginés López for the men’s. The next time you are screaming at your kid from jumping off the rock climbing wall at the park, stop yourself and acknowledge the very thought of your child’s potential at being an Olympian. 

SKATEBOARDING

Lastly, this event demonstrates acrobatic and skillful moves that none other than Tony Hawk has performed and even created. It is most similar to snowboarding in terms of competitive formatting. There are two distinct disciplines: street and park, both of them judged by a panel, each with their qualified athletes. The street discipline is a playground of stairs, rails and short ramps to simulate a schoolyard or an office park. The four best scores will be added together. A perfect score would be 40. Park is meant to evoke an empty swimming pool. It is a deep and unsymmetrical bowl of steep drops and contours. Athletes will navigate it in a single nonstop stretch for 45 seconds, or until they fall and during, performing impressive moves that add to their point total. Once again, we have yet another sporting event that might indicate the potentiality of your child being an Olympian.