Medal imbalance in the Olympics

[KennyEBHS]

I've been watching the swimming waiting for August 5 for the wrestling to start. And one thing that has always bothered me is how swimmers can win multiple medals, but sports like wrestling only have one winner. So my proposal is as follows:

1. Wrestling medals are awarded for the best double leg, the best leg-lace, the best gut-wrench, the best feet-to-back, the best pin, etc.

2. The match tournament would be best overall.

Thoughts?

[MPhillips]

2 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

1. Wrestling medals are awarded for the best double leg, the best leg-lace, the best gut-wrench, the best feet-to-back, the best pin, etc.

No way to score those to determine a, "best." It would have to be quickest...

[Wrestleknownothing]

43 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

I've been watching the swimming waiting for August 5 for the wrestling to start. And one thing that has always bothered me is how swimmers can win multiple medals, but sports like wrestling only have one winner. So my proposal is as follows:

1. Wrestling medals are awarded for the best double leg, the best leg-lace, the best gut-wrench, the best feet-to-back, the best pin, etc.

2. The match tournament would be best overall.

Thoughts?

It helps that swimming is the highest form of sport.

[ionel]

1 hour ago, KennyEBHS said:

I've been watching the swimming waiting for August 5 for the wrestling to start. And one thing that has always bothered me is how swimmers can win multiple medals, but sports like wrestling only have one winner. So my proposal is as follows:

1. Wrestling medals are awarded for the best double leg, the best leg-lace, the best gut-wrench, the best feet-to-back, the best pin, etc.

2. The match tournament would be best overall.

Thoughts?

Add artistic and synchronized wrestling.  Wkn will approve.   

[boconnell]

1 hour ago, KennyEBHS said:

I've been watching the swimming waiting for August 5 for the wrestling to start. And one thing that has always bothered me is how swimmers can win multiple medals, but sports like wrestling only have one winner. So my proposal is as follows:

1. Wrestling medals are awarded for the best double leg, the best leg-lace, the best gut-wrench, the best feet-to-back, the best pin, etc.

2. The match tournament would be best overall.

Thoughts?

This is a great way to take the worst part of another sport and bring it into wrestling.

[npope]

Can't wrestlers win two medals? One in free-style and the other in Greco? It used to be that way unless the rules have changed. I know that two isn't four (for example) that might be possible in swimming or possibly track & field, but since we are nitpicking about the number of medals... Just sayin'

[Fadzaev2]

1 hour ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

It helps that swimming is the highest form of sport.

 I think you are prejudiced based on your background.    Wrestling was one of the oldest sports in the world and a key part of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, where it was first contested in 708 BCE   

All the more reason to bring back 10 weight classes!!!!

[Fadzaev2]

51 minutes ago, ionel said:

Add artistic and synchronized wrestling.  Wkn will approve.   

Don't forget open water swimming.

[Wrestleknownothing]

2 hours ago, Fadzaev2 said:

 I think you are prejudiced based on your background.    Wrestling was one of the oldest sports in the world and a key part of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, where it was first contested in 708 BCE   

All the more reason to bring back 10 weight classes!!!!

I checked with all my swimming friends and they confirmed I am not prejudiced.

[Hammerlock3]

 

5 hours ago, KennyEBHS said:

I've been watching the swimming waiting for August 5 for the wrestling to start. And one thing that has always bothered me is how swimmers can win multiple medals, but sports like wrestling only have one winner. So my proposal is as follows:

1. Wrestling medals are awarded for the best double leg, the best leg-lace, the best gut-wrench, the best feet-to-back, the best pin, etc.

2. The match tournament would be best overall.

Thoughts?

this is a joke right?

[Lipdrag]

Water Polo - the merging of wrestling and swimming and hockey.  

[Le duke]

Water Polo - the merging of wrestling and swimming and hockey.  

And boxing, without the no-shots-below-the-belt rule.

They don’t go for the head much but below water those people are criminals.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[1032004]

I don’t mind the different events for swimming, track, etc.  I can’t tell if the OP’s suggestion is serious but that’s an incredibly dumb idea.  A team medal in addition to individual would also be cool though (even if just based on points from the individual results).

But it doesn’t seem fair that multiple athletes from the same country can qualify in those sports but not wrestling.  I imagine there are less transfers in track and swimming?  I know there is the pole vaulter dude competing for Sweden, but seems like there were multiple reasons for that, and I believe he actually trains there.

[Wrestleknownothing]

39 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

I don’t mind the different events for swimming, track, etc.  I can’t tell if the OP’s suggestion is serious but that’s an incredibly dumb idea.  A team medal in addition to individual would also be cool though (even if just based on points from the individual results).

But it doesn’t seem fair that multiple athletes from the same country can qualify in those sports but not wrestling.  I imagine there are less transfers in track and swimming?  I know there is the pole vaulter dude competing for Sweden, but seems like there were multiple reasons for that, and I believe he actually trains there.

It is often the other way around for swimming. A lot of foreign nationals come to the US for training. France's Leon Marchand, who broke Phelps' last remaining record, went to school at ASU and was coached by Phelps' former coach, Bob Bowman.

[Alces Alces Gigas]

There are 6 combat sports in the Olympics     nothing stopping athletes from.entering them all.

[jackwebster]

15 hours ago, Fadzaev2 said:

 I think you are prejudiced based on your background.    Wrestling was one of the oldest sports in the world and a key part of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, where it was first contested in 708 BCE   

All the more reason to bring back 10 weight classes!!!!

WKN likes the superlatives. It might be more of a usage tic than any cut-n-dry judgement.

[1032004]

2 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

It is often the other way around for swimming. A lot of foreign nationals come to the US for training. France's Leon Marchand, who broke Phelps' last remaining record, went to school at ASU and was coached by Phelps' former coach, Bob Bowman.

Is that really the other way around from wrestling (with “foreigners” training in America and Dagestan), other than that that guy is actually from France (but we do also have guys like Bekzod and Chamizo that were actually from other countries and trained here).

Are foreign swimmers transferring to the US because it’s easier to make the team?  I guess that has happened with men’s soccer though right?

[BarSeries]

I wished the Olympics would get rid of all the team sports that don't have an individual medal component.........baseball, basketball, soccer, field hockey, rugby, volleyball, etc. Maybe then there would be enough room for all wrestling weight classes??

[Wrestleknownothing]

22 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

Is that really the other way around from wrestling (with “foreigners” training in America and Dagestan), other than that that guy is actually from France (but we do also have guys like Bekzod and Chamizo that were actually from other countries and trained here).

Are foreign swimmers transferring to the US because it’s easier to make the team?  I guess that has happened with men’s soccer though right?

I meant there are not a lot of US born swimmers that swim for other nations. Rather there are foreign nationals who swim for their home country but train in the US. That is especially true as some of the beat coaches in swimming are college coaches.

Also, when it is a timed event where you have to beat the entire field it is less beneficial to go elsewhere. There is no such thing as getting a lucky draw ala Coon or Rivera.

[Wrestleknownothing]

3 minutes ago, BarSeries said:

I wished the Olympics would get rid of all the team sports that don't have an individual medal component.........baseball, basketball, soccer, field hockey, rugby, volleyball, etc. Maybe then there would be enough room for all wrestling weight classes??

Baseball is very much an odd fit. In the MLB they play a series because the pitcher is so important that you need to see all pitchers to know which team is better. Without that it is such a weird fit.

[1032004]

14 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

I meant there are not a lot of US born swimmers that swim for other nations. Rather there are foreign nationals who swim for their home country but train in the US. That is especially true as some of the beat coaches in swimming are college coaches.

Also, when it is a timed event where you have to beat the entire field it is less beneficial to go elsewhere. There is no such thing as getting a lucky draw ala Coon or Rivera.

Maybe I’m nitpicking but part of my point is I’m not sure why you’re saying “rather.”  Foreigners (including actual foreigners) training in the US for wrestling isn’t uncommon.

So it seems like the swimming model confirms that if the qualification process for wrestling allowed multiple entries from the same country we wouldn’t see nearly as many guys transferring out.

[Wrestleknownothing]

6 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

Maybe I’m nitpicking but part of my point is I’m not sure why you’re saying “rather.”  Foreigners (including actual foreigners) training in the US for wrestling isn’t uncommon.

So it seems like the swimming model confirms that if the qualification process for wrestling allowed multiple entries from the same country we wouldn’t see nearly as many guys transferring out.

I think it is a matter of degrees rather than one sport only does one thing and the other only does a different thing. But the key difference between the sports that will always drive more wrestles to compete for other countries is that in wrestling you do not need to beat everyone, just the ones in front of you. That makes being there more valuable. You might get that lucky draw. That doesn't work in swimming. 

The way UWW handles seeding also encourages wrestlers to compete for other countries. By only seeding some wrestlers and having the seeds be akin to participation awards, it increases the chances for a lucky draw. Sebastian Rivera at last year's worlds is exhibit A.

[Voice of the Quakers]

3 hours ago, 1032004 said:

Maybe I’m nitpicking but part of my point is I’m not sure why you’re saying “rather.”  Foreigners (including actual foreigners) training in the US for wrestling isn’t uncommon.

So it seems like the swimming model confirms that if the qualification process for wrestling allowed multiple entries from the same country we wouldn’t see nearly as many guys transferring out.

I think we are going to see more transfers moving forward. The entrant cap (852 total swimmers) essentially requires all swimmers to have an "A" standard to qualify for entry. You're no longer going to see countries be able to send good (by international standards) and not great swimmers to the games.

Of note, Kaii Winkler, a Florida native and the top recruit in the HS class of 2024, just changed his athletic nationality rom the US to Germany after he finished 8th in the 100 Fly in the US Olympic Trials so he could compete in this year's games. (He is a dual citizen.) His best days are ahead of him, and he would've had a great chance to make the US team in 2028. But, he's made the unfortunately smart decision that it will be a lot easier to qualify out of Germany than the US moving forward. And, unlike with wrestling, once you compete for one country as a senior athlete it is almost impossible to compete for another. 

[1032004]

1 minute ago, Voice of the Quakers said:

I think we are going to see more transfers moving forward. The entrant cap (852 total swimmers) essentially requires all swimmers to have an "A" standard to qualify for entry. You're no longer going to see countries be able to send good (by international standards) and not great swimmers to the games.

Of note, Kaii Winkler, a Florida native and the top recruit in the HS class of 2024, just changed his athletic nationality rom the US to Germany after he finished 8th in the 100 Fly in the US Olympic Trials so he could compete in this year's games. (He is a dual citizen.) His best days are ahead of him, and he would've had a great chance to make the US team in 2028. But, he's made the unfortunately smart decision that it will be a lot easier to qualify out of Germany than the US moving forward. And, unlike with wrestling, once you compete for one country as a senior athlete it is almost impossible to compete for another. 

Did he have to improve on his time from the US trials in order to qualify?

That sounds a little like the Swedish pole vaulter Duplantis (and technically I believe Micic did it pretty early as well?) chose to represent Sweden when he was pretty young 

[maligned]

FYI: Wrestling has the 3rd most medals of any sport, behind only swimming and track. It will continue to be an uphill climb to get more.