Well the 2010 Winter Games are over and they have been a success. The fitting finale was definitely the ice hockey final where Canada defeated the USA in an overtime thriller. But rather than gleefully looking back I would like to focus on the future and I think the Winter Olympics have shown the way for the Summer Olympics to expand, especially in relation to events.
The other day I watched with glee as a skier went round a fixed course and then had to stop and shoot a rifle with extreme accuracy. Fantastic. An event which tests the fitness ability of the athlete and then, in the same event, a completely different skill. The event was called the biathlon and is something I believe the Summer Games should look at developing.
People would argue that we already have the Decathlon or the Heptathlon and that these events test athletes in a range of disciplines. Rubbish. What I would like to see is completely different events joined together to test fine motor skills and endurance at the same time. What about this for an example? We could take the 5000m running race and bring in 4 stops within the race. At the first stop could be knitting, next up Mavis Beacon typing, the third stop would be peeling a potato and then finally changing a car tyre. Winner would be the first man home. Let’s see how good the Kenyans are now!!!
I put this idea forward to a mate of mine at work and he wasn’t impressed. The reason being he had had a similar thought, although he was much better. He shared my thoughts on the decathlon and believed what was needed was an event called the centathlon at the next Summer Games. Based loosely on the idea behind the biathlon, the event would require every person to complete every Olympic event – from Archery to yachting and everything in between. To me this would be the ultimate sporting test. You might be the world Champion in 800m, but how good are you at horse riding or yachting. Dedicated your life to swimming may be helpful but you would have to start training for rhythmic gymnastics if you want to compete in the centathlon.
My hope is that the success of the Winter Games serves as a catalyst for the next Summer Olympics to be held in London. Most importantly I hope we see a New Zealand athlete, compete in and be victorious in the centathlon.
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