Figure skating is not a sport. Nor is snowboard halfpipe. NASCAR? Out. These activities can not, and should not, be classified as sports. They are something else entirely. We will get to that later.
First, let's look at what the criteria are for something to be declared a 'sport.' The first, and most important criteria is that the activity must rely on the athletic actions of the participants. It must involve some elements of quickness, speed, strength, stamina, or coordination.
This criteria rules out NASCAR or any racing that motorized vehicles. Racing is more than anything else an engineering contest. When Dale Jr. or Helio Catroneves or Lewis Hamilton wins a race, it is most often because they had the best car, and not because they were stronger, quicker, or more coordinated than the other drivers.
This criteria does not rule out a sport such as golf, which can be participated in by fat men (or women) smoking cigarettes and eating jelly doughnuts at the same time. While that is counterintuitive to the meaning of the term 'athletic,' golf still requires superior hand-eye coordination, and the athletic skill to make the same movement over and over in exactly the same way. Golf is in.
The second criteria that defines a sport is that the result must be obtained through the use of objective criteria. Whoever runs the distance the fastest, whoever scores the most points, whoever jumps the highest or farthest, wins. Simple as that.
This criteria rules out figure skating, gymnastics, ski-jumping, any number of X-games, and anything where a judge is the most important factor. I am not denying the athletic ability of those who compete in these events in any way, but activities where judges determine the outcome should not be called sports.
Of course, you might say, what about boxing? Excellent question. In boxing, the outcome can be determined by objective criteria - knockout. Not only that, but the judges are supposed to judge based on objective criteria - who lands the most punches. Nevertheless, given the scandals which have routinely rocked the sport, I concede that is the hardest to classify properly.
But referees make subjective calls in every game that help contribute to the outcome, and therefore every game's outcome is at least somewhat dependent on subjective criteria. True, but there is a qualitative difference in enforcing the rules of an activity and judging the quality of the effort. Not perfect, no, but it's the fairest spot to draw the line.
Is the system perfect? No. Again, the people who compete in judged events are often incredibly athletic, and the physical feats that they perform are sometimes breathtaking. But the same could be said for circus performers, and we don't call the trapeze a sport.
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3 months ago
Good article!
3 months ago
Sarah! I'm surprised: where is your defense of F1 and other racers, especially since it's so obvious that the mentioned physical criteria for sport DO apply on drivers of whatever motorized sport attribute :-)
3 months ago
Well, I like to watch sport and the more sports the better. Next to the physical demands, the element of competition makes for a sport too. And even the sports which involve judges still fall under that category. For me ice-skating is a sport and ski-jumping too. And if you want to denominate a difference with other sports, than call them judge-sports. That is so much fairer, in my opinion, than excluding these sports from the world of sport.
F1-drivers or motor-drivers DO need a lot of stamina, eye-hand-coordination, strength, all-over physical fitness, plus the talent of the driver make a lot of difference: even a mediocre driver won't win in the best car, let alone those who lack talent and fitness to a large degree.
3 months ago
Boxing is mot a sport. It is a Judged competition. Totally arbitrary unless it ends in a knockout.
3 months ago
good article, but i disagree with the racing side of it. strength and stamina are a must for f1 drivers. they need to have 100kg of force in their legs to brake LIGHTLY. their necks must withstand up to five times their body weight. they must be able to last up to two hours in searing heat.
they are more athletic than most. Boxers take a pounding. I know that, but pro boxers sometimes box twice in a year. wtf!?!? twice? f1 drivers get the aforementioned punsihment up to 150 times a year.
figure skating aint a sport. that's just art, not sport.
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