What's Your Opinion on Downhill in the Olympics?

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Downhill
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thedeathstar 1/18/2016 9:18am
1/18/2016 9:18am
MPH24 wrote:
This is a mixed bag. I think the biggest plus here would be that the national cycling organizations would dedicate more $ to national series and...
This is a mixed bag. I think the biggest plus here would be that the national cycling organizations would dedicate more $ to national series and what not for DH which would be great, especially in the US.

The downside, as others have mentioned, would be that its one shitty track choice away from making DH look really lame and that may be too much of a risk to take.
Your friends won't think you're as extreme as you make them think you are? What are downsides to DH looking really lame?
AGR97
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AGR97 1/18/2016 9:24am
1/18/2016 9:24am
thedeathstar wrote:
Your friends won't think you're as extreme as you make them think you are? What are downsides to DH looking really lame?
If the course is lame then the number of people spectating will be low, which means people would not be inspired to participate in the sport. If DH did go into the Olympics the tracks would have to be epic and the whole event would have to kick ass, just look at the sad story of slopestyle in the X games for how quickly "lameness" is cut from the agenda.
sasky115
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sasky115 1/18/2016 9:40am
1/18/2016 9:40am
DH (and most other sports) already looks pretty lame on tv compared to reality, also many people already don't consider DH real biking because 'you're only riding down' and a lame track looking even more lame on tv would only make it worse.
AGR97
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AGR97 1/18/2016 9:44am
1/18/2016 9:44am
sasky115 wrote:
DH (and most other sports) already looks pretty lame on tv compared to reality, also many people already don't consider DH real biking because 'you're only...
DH (and most other sports) already looks pretty lame on tv compared to reality, also many people already don't consider DH real biking because 'you're only riding down' and a lame track looking even more lame on tv would only make it worse.
Having only seen World cup tracks on my laptop, (shout out to red bull tv for coverage) I'd argue the good tracks do look gnarly on TV. If I as a rider think the tracks look hard imagine what someone who doesn't ride will think of them. All this despite the fact that the tracks don't look as good as in real life
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boogenman 1/18/2016 10:02am
1/18/2016 10:02am
If the tracks are held to specific standards I think it would a acceptable to have DH become a Olympic sport. The hard part would be creating the specific definition to those standards so the tracks don't end up being like A-line.
sasky115
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sasky115 1/18/2016 10:08am
1/18/2016 10:08am
Yes they do look gnarly but they have to be reaaaaaly gnarly in real life which as already mentioned here probably wouldn't happen in the Olympics. You can show some non-riders a DH video that isn't Rapmage and some even dare to say they'd ride it. Then they see a DH track in real life and they're like nope, without me :p
pancakeflatted 1/18/2016 3:15pm
1/18/2016 3:15pm
sasky115 wrote:
DH (and most other sports) already looks pretty lame on tv compared to reality, also many people already don't consider DH real biking because 'you're only...
DH (and most other sports) already looks pretty lame on tv compared to reality, also many people already don't consider DH real biking because 'you're only riding down' and a lame track looking even more lame on tv would only make it worse.
AGR97 wrote:
Having only seen World cup tracks on my laptop, (shout out to red bull tv for coverage) I'd argue the good tracks do look gnarly on...
Having only seen World cup tracks on my laptop, (shout out to red bull tv for coverage) I'd argue the good tracks do look gnarly on TV. If I as a rider think the tracks look hard imagine what someone who doesn't ride will think of them. All this despite the fact that the tracks don't look as good as in real life
WC dh tracks are freaking mental. For your average mountain biker...they're incredibly steep and basically impossible to ride. The jumps massive. tee vee doesn't even come close to doing them justice.
Nozes 1/18/2016 4:46pm
1/18/2016 4:46pm
Let's stop for a moment to see what happened to Cross Country racing with it's introduction in the Olympics:

- Shortened races (1h30 max) because tv broadcasting time
- Artificial tracks because public acess and tv
- Tech areas where riders can have mechanical assistance

What we do have now maybe it's a more appelative for spectator sport,but sure doesn't represent the type of riding people do. And I think it should.
thedeathstar 1/19/2016 10:42am
1/19/2016 10:42am Edited Date/Time 1/19/2016 10:46am
thedeathstar wrote:
Your friends won't think you're as extreme as you make them think you are? What are downsides to DH looking really lame?
AGR97 wrote:
If the course is lame then the number of people spectating will be low, which means people would not be inspired to participate in the sport...
If the course is lame then the number of people spectating will be low, which means people would not be inspired to participate in the sport. If DH did go into the Olympics the tracks would have to be epic and the whole event would have to kick ass, just look at the sad story of slopestyle in the X games for how quickly "lameness" is cut from the agenda.
As opposed to the number of people who are inspired to participate after not seeing it in the Olympics? The funny thing is there's the other half of the people here responding "more for me", so your situation might just work alright for them.

I guess there's the point that it might increase the push for safer/flowier dh trails, but I would argue that's already happening, and it's more likely that the Olympics would revive the desire for rougher trails (or not, but it's more likely that liability issues would be the anchor there). Leogang is the pariah of all dh courses on the world cup, but I would probably be pissing myself if I had to race down it, and I don't think anyone with little to no exposure to the sport would find anything to criticize there. What is possibly everyone's lowest standard shouldn't be too much to live up to.

I have two objections to your slopestyle example. First, it wasn't lameness of the course. That course was huge ( maybe too big), but it became a spectacle for all the wrong reasons because of the weather. Second, I don't know if we can really say that the format change wasn't the main cause.
AGR97
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AGR97 1/19/2016 11:57am
1/19/2016 11:57am
thedeathstar wrote:
As opposed to the number of people who are inspired to participate after not seeing it in the Olympics? The funny thing is there's the other...
As opposed to the number of people who are inspired to participate after not seeing it in the Olympics? The funny thing is there's the other half of the people here responding "more for me", so your situation might just work alright for them.

I guess there's the point that it might increase the push for safer/flowier dh trails, but I would argue that's already happening, and it's more likely that the Olympics would revive the desire for rougher trails (or not, but it's more likely that liability issues would be the anchor there). Leogang is the pariah of all dh courses on the world cup, but I would probably be pissing myself if I had to race down it, and I don't think anyone with little to no exposure to the sport would find anything to criticize there. What is possibly everyone's lowest standard shouldn't be too much to live up to.

I have two objections to your slopestyle example. First, it wasn't lameness of the course. That course was huge ( maybe too big), but it became a spectacle for all the wrong reasons because of the weather. Second, I don't know if we can really say that the format change wasn't the main cause.
I don't think anyone starts a sport for the single reason it isn't in the Olympics, but I do like the idea of rougher trails becoming more common again but that's another issue for another day.

And about the slopestyle I'm sorry it sounded like I thought it was lame which is totally not the case, I really can appreciate the risks those guys take. I meant more the fact that because the event didn't run smoothly, thanks to the weather, it was pretty much dropped from the schedule after one event. My point here is just that spectator's opinions and event organisation have a large input on what stays in, something DH in the Olympics would have to bear in mind
motostylemtb 1/26/2016 6:06pm
1/26/2016 6:06pm
Downhill in the olympics will never happen it is too materialistic of a sport, the olympics is in a way similar to Europe, it is not about the struggles of technology but rather the ancient sports that thoughout history man has competed in, the sacred natural sports requiring mainly the body, such as swimming etc, an ancient practice.

The olympic comittee addressed the issue of the olympics appealing to a more youth focused audience and it ended up being bmx racing that got the cake.

Now in all honesty out of all the extreme biking events BMX racing and XC riding are the sports most aligned with the original form of the olympics being about endurance and the struggle of the body, combine this with a sport that is "extreme" and appeals to a "youth orientated" croud (skate park bmx influenced) and you get bmx racing, in my oppinion it is actually the perfect choice, regardless of the fact we ride mountain bikes.

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