It is a Summer Sunday and the Summer Olympics are in full swing….let’s talk about that?

But first I would like to ask….who the Hell is on the selection committee for an inclusion?

To me it looks like a 15 year old….we have trampoline gymnastic, skateboarding and wind surfing….and now break dancing…..an yet a sport played in 90+ countries that has been around since the dinosaur (if you believe we co-existed), lacrosse, is not in the Olympics…..at this rate it is only a matter of time before adult wiffel ball, kick ball and Frisbee tossing will be a recognized sport for the Olympics.

Sorry had to rant a bit.

I admit it I like the Summer Olympics because I can watch international handball and rugby sevens….after those two it is so much noise in the background.

One question….why is break dancing an Olympic sport?  (sorry to be redundant)

I thought I would take a look at the sports over the years that have been eliminated from the Olympics for whatever reason…..that’s right….a little history….

We look at sports like chariot racing, balloon racing, dueling, etc….

When the first modern Olympics kicked off in Athens in 1896, it wasn’t clear they’d last. After a so-so debut, the Olympic Games continued in 1900 and 1904, but not as a main attraction. Both were part of the world’s fairs in Paris and St. Louis, respectively.

“This is difficult for us to sort of conceive in the modern age,” says Craig Greenham, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Windsor in Ontario, but the 1900 and 1904 Olympics were “second fiddle to the world’s fairs.”

In fact, some people who attended the world’s fairs ended up signing up for and competing in the Olympic Games while they were there, Greenham says.

The Olympic Games in the early 20th century were still trying to find their footing, and some of their events might seem a bit unusual to today’s sports fans.

Here are some of the quirkier discontinued Olympic competitions, as well as a couple of ancient games that never crossed over to the modern Olympics.

https://www.history.com/news/olympic-events-discontinued

 I think the likes of dressage and horse jumping should have been eliminating after the birth of the auto…..but I guess we must let the wealthy have their day and not feel left out.

Then news from the Olympics.

A bit of a scandal in 2024 that you probably have not heard much about….a child rapist competes….

From our Orange friends from the Low Lands…..

Beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde will compete in the Paris Olympics, but he won’t be staying in the athletes village, and he won’t be talking to reporters, as per the Dutch Olympic Committee. That’s because the 29-year-old competitor from the Netherlands served time in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl in 2014, reports the Athletic.

• The crime: In 2016, van de Velde confessed to flying to the UK to meet and rape the child he’d been talking to online for several months. He was busted after he told the girl to get the morning-after pill and the clinic she tried to acquire it from notified authorities due to her age. Van de Velde was sentenced to four years; he served 13 months after being transferred back to the Netherlands. He’s registered as a sex offender in the UK.
• Aftermath: A year after his release, van de Velde said in an interview that he’d still been “figuring things out” when the assault took place (he was 19 at the time). “I was sort of lost and now I have so much more life experience,” he said. He went on to continue playing volleyball internationally, and married in 2022. He and his wife, German volleyball player Kim van de Velde, have a 2-year-old son.
• Van de Velde now: “I cannot reverse it, so I will have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life,” he said last month, per the AP.
• Dutch Olympic Committee: The group says that van de Velde has gone through an “extensive rehabilitation program” and that it’s confident he won’t be a repeat offender, per the Athletic. “He is proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return,” says Michel Everaert, general director of the Dutch Volleyball Federation.
• IOC probe? The Guardian reports that the group is now facing calls for an investigation, with the head of Rape Crisis England & Wales calling van de Velde’s inclusion “irresponsible.” “If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all athletes signing a declaration promising to be a role model, that is just shocking,” says Ciara Bergman. A petition with more than 80,000 signatures is circulating, calling on the IOC to not allow sex offenders to compete.

My problem is the term ‘rehabilitation’….sorry but I do not believe that at all….that perverted desire does not just go away…..

Any thoughts?

A small update….the LA28 Olympics will have new sports for competition….cricket (seriously?), squash (does anyone still play?), flag football (why?) and finally lacrosse (about damn time).

Enjoy whatever activity you pursue on this Sunday…..and as usual…..Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”