Aren't the Olympics 'ist' to a degree? I get the impression that they started as a 'jolly good jape' and expanded from there, but still MY impression that there's a pseudo class divide caused by money. The winter Olympics more so than the summer. Working class kids on ski slopes?
Where's my perceived divides - basically any sport that you can play on a piece of ground with little or no cost. So athletics - track and field. Then anything indoors - gymnastics (I would include boxing). Then indoor with specific equipment/kit - martial arts type thing, racket sports. Then anything outdoor with specific courts/kit/environment - tennis, boats, horses. The winter Olympics tends to all fit in this higher category as without access to the environment, it makes competing vastly more difficult.
How many events still have a military - officer training - type bent to them?
I like sport - and I think it's good that sport is funded and in this age of 'computerised sport', real sport is kept in front of kids. But I'm not sure that the funding doesn't end up going to people who again already have money to a degree.
Be interesting to know the demographic of the athletes and how that fits into my mental divides.
It's odd that we went from not having competitive sport in schools - as having 'winners' and 'losers' was seen as a no-no - to funding Olympic athletes. Something doesn't seem quite coordinated there.
With the advent of dry ski sloped and ski domes, many kids from working class backgrounds do get on the slopes without the costs associated with travelling to the Alps or similar locations. That's probably particularly true of snowboarding which is basically an extension of skate boarding, and skateboard parks are now everywhere.
Have there ever been any Winter Olympic athletes who only trained on artificial surfaces? We have an artificial slope near us (Knockhatch - other slopes are available), and I haven't been out there since my kids were a lot younger, but I would not have thought that was anything more than a taster.
As far as I know, you still have to pay to use the artificial ski slopes and the ice rinks. For example at the halifax ski centre, £85 for a children's beginner course 6 hours in total. That's out of reach for many kids around here. It'd feed a family for a week or more.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@steveTu I don't claim to be an expert on the training regimes of the snowboarders. I do know that Kirsty Muir attends a comprehensive school in Scotland, so not exactly a silver spoon upbringing. Many parents make massive personal sacrifices if they see a child with talent.
I haven't said anybody has been entirely on artificial slopes, but interviews with many Brit skiers and snowboarders in recent years have shown they go started on artificial surfaces.
Ironically, most of the ski and snowboard events in China have taken place on artificial surfaces because there was not enough real snow for the competitions.
IMHO it's a damning indictment of modern day Britain that sports , arts and many other areas have to rely on hand out from the proceeds of gambling to have any chance of survival
I have discovered that I've been pronouncing amelanchier incorrectly. I prefer my version. It doesn't sound like a wrongun: "Keep away from that geezer. He's a bit of an amelanchier."
I hope no one doubts that gambling addiction is a terrible thing, but millions of people spend a pound or two a week on the lottery, which they enjoy harmlessly and which benefits the arts, sport and other good causes.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
I hope no one doubts that gambling addiction is a terrible thing, but millions of people spend a pound or two a week on the lottery, which they enjoy harmlessly and which benefits the arts, sport and other good causes.
Indeed they do, but many spend more on the lottery than they can actually afford.
That is a whole different problem @Hostafan1. If there wasn't a lottery they'd gamble on something else.
I do think the Lottery has been ill conceived and should be doing far more for local communities who have lost youth clubs, OAP clubs, mums and babies groups, well managed parks and safe play areas thanks to council funding cuts. It's amazing how much difference a sense of belonging and sharing can make to state of mind.
It seems to me that much of Olympic sport funding these days is about technology and they got that very badly wrong with the skeleton teams. Better to have spent all that money on better facilities in the community and to give more people a chance to enjoy and even do well at more reachable, shareable sports and art.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
I prefer my version. It doesn't sound like a wrongun: "Keep away from that geezer. He's a bit of an amelanchier."
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I do think the Lottery has been ill conceived and should be doing far more for local communities who have lost youth clubs, OAP clubs, mums and babies groups, well managed parks and safe play areas thanks to council funding cuts. It's amazing how much difference a sense of belonging and sharing can make to state of mind.
It seems to me that much of Olympic sport funding these days is about technology and they got that very badly wrong with the skeleton teams. Better to have spent all that money on better facilities in the community and to give more people a chance to enjoy and even do well at more reachable, shareable sports and art.