how long before we see skydiving events in the olympics?

[agent_lead 0]

this has bothered me since i started following the pro circuit...

why is it that we have never seen any skydiving events in the olympics...or at LEAST the X-games...

i mean...pro swooping...4 way RW/VRW..accuracy...these are very fun things to watch...is it just fun to watch for me because im a skydiver and i know the difficulty/level of compition of most of these things?


i know when i show my whuffo friends swoop compitition vids they cant take their eyes off the screen...


has anyone ever attempted to have these events considered for olympic/xgames? what would that process entail?

does anyone else agree with me on this?

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[marks 0]

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is it just fun to watch for me because im a skydiver and i know the difficulty/level of compition of most of these things?

yes,..

hopefully, we will see it soon. but it takes work, and it IS being worked on.

[jeremy556 0]

I don’t think these things are that impressive to non-skydivers. Without knowing how difficult certain activities like these are it is difficult to appreciate them.

[Lindercles 0]

Skysurfing was part of the X games years ago but they dropped it. Do a search and you'll find several threads about it.

I think a lot of it has to do with accessibility. The X games, and even the Olympics to a certain extent, cater to young people who can watch them and then get excited and run outside and try what they just saw on tv. With skydiving, you can't do that, so there's not as much interest.

Couple that with the fact that your average whuffo watching skydiving on TV has no idea if what they just saw was good or not and that pretty much killed it.

[lisamariewillbe 1]

Dont the olympics drug test ?

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[peckerhead 0]

1988 in Seoul Korea

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Dont the olympics drug test ?

D'oh!!! That could be a problem.

But back on topic, swooping baby ... swooping. It has a chance. I'll likely be retired from competitive swooping by the time it does happen, but there is hope. Swooping is growing in Europe and South America, South Africa and in time the far east. As soon as it becomes more of just an American thing, swooping has a chance at the Olympics.

Also, remember the World Swooping Meet is going down right about now.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[mjosparky 3]

They have been working on it since before I started jumping. Just after the rings were made in Seoul skydiving lost a bid to become an exhibition sport, a step that must be accomplished before becoming a real Olympic sport. We lost out to something like “Flag dancing”.

As Caunck said Swooping has the best chance but I wouldn’t hold my breath. As is often the case, skydivers are their own worst enemy.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[D22369 0]

I don’t think these things are that impressive to non-skydivers. Without knowing how difficult certain activities like these are it is difficult to appreciate them***


oh come on....even to a non jumper I would think it totally blows out say...."curling"..... if that fucked up ......---> I wont even call it a sport...."event" can make it... then fuck it, skydiving is a shoe in....

"eventually.."......lol

hopefully...

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[Stumpy 256]

Never i reckon.

Firstly - there are loads of other way more widely practised sports that aren't in the olympics yet. Most martial arts for example.

Secondly, isn't there some condition that you can't use a motor as part of the sport? I seem to remember there was a thread about this a while ago.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[Stumpy 256]

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...4 way RW

And come to think of it, i don't really agree that this is interesting to watch. Watching someone like fire post a massive score is good, but watching a whole 4-way competition? I like 4-way but i would find that pretty dull even with knowledge of the sport.
VRW - again, probably not spectator worthy

Swooping - maybe
Wingsuit or tracking head to head pylon races - probably
Wingsuit landing competitions - definitely

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[udder 0]

Swooping has a real oppotunity to become a major spectator sport. Like the Red Bull Air Races. Also there are tons of rivers/beaches etc where events could be held. Team swooping looks really impressive to whuffo's,(well to anyone really) and the promise of carnage will also attract spectators.

As an olympic sport... I don't think there is a hope in hell until it at least gains free to air televised coverage.

Also we can't have so many disciplines with so few participants. Skydiving is a very expensive sport to particpate in and by it's nature doesn't lend itself to the amatuer spirit of the games. If someone had enough money and some talent, they stand a good chance of being able to represent their country in skydiving. Hardly an amazing task... At least in comparison to marathon runners or the like.

"In one way or the other, I'm a bad brother. Word to the motherf**ker." Eazy-E

[Andy9o8 0]

Sorry to sound like a wet blanket, but I'm not sure I want it to be an Olympic event. My reasons are purely selfish. All we need is one serious or fatal incident in front of 1 billion spectators to f*** things up for the rest of us.

[snakeeater 0]

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Dont the olympics drug test ?

waaah.. good point. The freestyle snowboarders had the same problem in nagano '98.. but eventually changed their habits (at least for the olympics).

Sure, "going olympic" would have an impact on the sport.. you'll see swoopers dress like cyclists or ski racers

"He tried to kill me! He tried to f***ing kill me!"

[Zenister 0]

pretty much slim to none..

Even swooping, as much as i hate to say it hasnt got alot of chance IMO.
Pretty much every other Olympic/Xgames sport is accessible to minors and 'amateurs', skydiving is not..

as a former X games skysurfer once pointed out to me.. Every kid can grab a $10 skateboard and pretend to be Tony Hawk. You cant do that with a skyboard or a canopy...

and again as others have pointed out.. Olympic sports are considered 'safe' for the most part. If the level of regulation required to become an Olympic sport entered general skydiving, I know a number of people (myself included) who would pretty much give up jumping in the US.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

But what could go wrong with letting kids jump off the roof with garbage bags and bedsheets? Swoop the cothesline and well..get clotheslined... haha

I could see swooping, there's a couple guys at the DZ here into swooping and when you hear those lines whistling, EVERYONE looks, including all the new students. Every single new person is either thinking something is wrong, or that he is going way too fast, yet they're thriled by it.

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[Ron 7]

#1. Do a search...Been talked to death.

I'll give you the cliff notes.

Skydivers think that skydiving is the best thing ever, and that it smokes all other sports/activities.

Non-skydivers think skydiving is stupid, or just a cool stunt.

There are a lot more non jumpers than jumpers...so as a sport, skydiving appeals to only a very few.

Even some skydivers do not understand some skydiving competitions, the average wuffo has no chance.

Skydiving will never be a "popular sport" since:

1. It has no easy access for kids. They can't buy a rig and ride it down the street like with a BMX bike or skateboard...Which is why skysurf was dropped by the "X" games.

2. Skydiving is dangerous...Even if you want to debate that, the average person thinks it is very dangerous, so most people just frankly do not care about it other than a stunt.

3. People cannot relate to it. NASCAR, you can imagine driving one since most people drive. WWE most men have fought, even just for play so they can understand it...Same with boxing. Soccer, football, baseball, basketball...All very easy for kids to do, and most of us have played them. So we can relate to the skills the pros show. People have no clue about skydiving, so they cannot relate.

Try this...Throw a party full of whuffos. Put on the Nationals tape or world meet tape. Most will watch a few mins and then drift away. They do not get it. This is very hard for skydivers to understand...They do not get it, and they do not care to get it.

As for the Olympics...Well curling is in the olympics...So you could argue that none of that matters...

But the nail in the coffin thus far has been that skydiving requires a motor. We need a plane to get to altitude and no other sport in the olymics I can think of NEEDS a motor.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[riggerrob 561]

But the nail in the coffin thus far has been that skydiving requires a motor. We need a plane to get to altitude and no other sport in the olympics I can think of NEEDS a motor.

[nbblood 0]

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But the nail in the coffin thus far has been that skydiving requires a motor. We need a plane to get to altitude and no other sport in the olymics I can think of NEEDS a motor.

Well, maybe no other sport NEEDS one. But I sure didn't see any skiers walking to the top of the slope when I attended the Olympics. Never saw a bobsled being hauled up the mountain on the shoulders of the team either. They USE motors for all kinds of lift assets for events in the Winter Olympics. I do see your point though. One could argue that they don't NEED them.

Anyway, thanks for the cliff notes. I think that pretty much sums it up.

Blues,
Nathan

If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

[Ron 7]

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What about ground-launching from a hill over-looking the swoop course?

That would not be skydving

But blade running would be an option.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[peckerhead 0]

A few years back the best possibility would have been para-ski in the winter olympics. But, with all the new snowboarding events and a few others the WO are saturated.

Para-ski to me would be the best fit. Since it involves skiing non-skydivers who like winter sports could relate. Accuracy is something people on the ground can actually SEE. Also there are other combined events in the WO. ( Biathlon; shooting and cross country skiing, Nordic combined; jumping and skiing etc.) most of the countries that compete in the WO also have Para-ski teams.

As far as the motor thing all chairlifts, gondolas, aerial trams have motors. In some cases helicopters are used to ferry alpine competitors to the top of the mountain.

[Elisha 1]

What is paraskiing?

[MagicGuy 0]

Not totally sure, but I saw an awesome video on SkydivingMovies.com that had guys with skis/snowboards and BASE rigs doing crazy flips off of ridiculously high cliffs and then deploying. Pretty cool stuff. That would be fun to watch in the Olympics!

[peckerhead 0]

It is a combined event. Giant slalom alpine ski racing and parachute accuracy. They combine your ski time with the total distance to the target for an overall score. Typically jumps are hop and pops from a helicopter and landings are performed on a snow covered slope.

[JerryBaumchen 1,074]

Hi agent_lead,

My thoughts: You will never see skydiving in the Olympics in your lifetime.

Their effort is on sports that do not need 'devices' and an airplane definitely qualifies.

There has been a horrendous amount of effort at the international level to get skydiving in the Olympics and it is no closer than it was 25 yrs ago.

Jerry