Is the Olympics Really All That??

[LuckyJack]

With the Olympics just over two years away and the top sailers all getting ready for the big qualification events that 2011 will bring, I would be interested to know what people think about the Olympics as a whole.
I was reading an article about the recent Finn Gold Cup won by Ed Wright (GBR) with Giles Scott (GBR) picking up bronze, infact it quoted 3 of the top 5 in the world ar Brits (I am guessing Ainsle is the third Brit). In the Laser we have Paul Goodison who won in Beijing and is top five and Nick Thompson who won silver at the Laser worlds.

I apologise for the British slant on this but I am sure the USA, Australie et al have roughly the same scenario.

Only one of these from the respective class can sail at the Olympics therefore does this not dilute the competition a bit?
Take the Finn for example, GBR can only send one of Wright/Ainsle/Scott that means that potentialy only 3 of the top five will be competing
(I have just found the recent rankings for the Finn and Ainsle doesn't feature in the top 25 however you can assume this is because he hasn't been racing many events in the last year or so)

Should the Olympics be held is such high regard as they are, eventhough the top sailers may not be there?

Not quite sure how athletics works but I am sure I have seen more than one competitor from each country on the in the 100m (obviusly there is room for more competitors as most will be going home after about 10 seconds)

Am interested to see what other people think?

 

[Sean]

The Olympics is considered the pinnacle of sporting achievement with all the prestige that carries with it.

For some sports that may well be the case as more than just one of a nations top ranked athlete in some sports may get to compete at the games since selection is based primarily on world ranking and qualifiers at the actual event. Look at the 100 meter race, multiple entries in the finals from the same nation who are there because they made it through all qualifying rounds, for eg USA taking gold and bronze in the last race. That is a true test since all the best competitors got to compete.

The laser worlds could be considered to be our "Olympics" in some respect since all the worlds best laser sailors can compete but it doesn't have the cachet that the Olympics carries.

There isn't the money or the time at the Olympics I imagine to have 150 or even 100 laser sailors go thru a process of qualifying and semis etc to finally reach the last 40 to go into the finals, although it would be far fairer and make for some great racing.

It is a shame that some really good sailors miss out on Olympic selection when far inferior sailors get to compete instead. We have had a few guys where I sail that attended some Olympics who to be honest couldn't beat some of our Grand masters, they are no pushovers of course, being excellent sailors. You would expect though, that someone who was going to the Olympics would be in a class of their own and not be midfleet at some local club...I am reminded of Eric "The Eel" Moussambani.

It would be fairer if the selection criteria was based purely on ISAF world ranking. Top 40 to go or alternatively the top 80, hot swapping the 40 available boats till the final 40 competitors are reached and then sail a small series of final races.

Yes, some nations may not get to go to the Olympics but if that is the concern we could support developing nations in other ways to get them higher up the ranking.

Being less diplomatic, it is a bit of a farce really when you have countries like UK, Aus, Can, NZ, and the USA sending one sailor where at a minimum the top 2 should be able to attend.

It is not the ultimate test of sailing if many of the worlds best laser sailors are not even able to compete.