The way I see it, we are lucky to get any course ride footage at all. Don't forget someone bothered to film it then upload it, they didn't have to. Yeah it wasn't amazing, but something is better than nothing. Maybe he should have just cut the talking and put some music over the top.
from what I've heard, the argument is that the track can change far too much from the beginning of the race to the end of the race. the IOC wants things that will be consistant for all competitors
I like the talking and the description as hes going down. Sometimes these POV course runs are hard to really pick up what the course is like in a given spot. If the goal is (which I assume it is) is to give a preview of the course, I think the description as hes going down is helpful.
@pipemonkey. Thats nonsense, look at the Downhill in Skiing at the winter Olympics, if you are not out of the gates in the first 30 skiers you don't have a hope in hell. Track conditions go to hell after that and there is still upwards of 90 skiers to come.
I think you will eventually see it in the games but i t may not be for awhile. Right now, most of the racers are from Europe. Outside of Australia, new Zealand, South Africa and USA and Canada(not even that many on the world cup stage from the last two) there is not enough Global competition. Untill we see more Asian, South American and even North American participation at the World Cup level it wont be added. The Mens comp is pretty global right now and could probably make the games but the Womens competition will really have to make some strides before it makes it to the games. Not enough competitors outside of Europe.
Scissors- its a misconception that you need a certain number of people competing for it to be considered for the Olympics. The main thing is the competition structure. A good example of this is when ski slopestyle was recently added and while it was in the process of doing so, there were a few people with insight to the process describing the competition structure of the sport and what was needed for it to even be considered by the IOC. I'm sure the number of racers matter to some degree but as of now, its def. not the number of participants that's keeping DH out of the Olympics.
It is number of participating nations, not riders and the level of competition. Look at baseball and softball, they got tossed from the games because out side of a couple Asian nations and North and central america there was not enough competition and the level of play was not up to par.
I would liken it to Womens Hockey in the Olympics, if some other nations other then USA and Canada do not start winning consistently, it will run the risk of being taken out of the olympics. Your right its not the number of people competitors, its the quality of competition. And right now in womens, i dont think its there yet. There is a handful out Elite women and then everyone else.
@Turningisfun It wouldnt ruin it, its one race every 4 years. And it would be a massive aid to a country like canada to have it in the games. A lot of funding for athletes is based on how they do in a World Championships or Olympics. World Cups don't have any say in the matter. It would also increase the level of Grassroots racing in the country. I cant speak to the effect it would have in other countries
No, its not the quality of competition either when in regards of having a sport considered for the Olympics. It quite literally is the structure of the competitions and having the right set of them at certain levels. The IOC panels determine how "mature" a sport is by the organization of it, not by who wins a number of what. The bottom line is that they want sports that are going to be around for a long time and not like how the X-Games does things. There's plenty of sports in the Olympics where certain nations are always expected to win, such as China and the U.S. in gymnastics for example, but that doesn't endanger a sport from being removed.
Just played 1st vid on iPhone. Just me or does the dude sound like R2D2? Only bit I heard was him saying he wasn't allowed to hit the concrete drop off Decent enough footage tho
Whos the rider in the orange shorts and hawaii shirt sliding down the track? Who ever it is, they seem to be more jolly then l would expect from a WC racer
Yes, that was awful, couldn't watch it for more than 1 minute. The guy commenting was ok, but the quality is hideous and changing camera angles looks bad.
Haha yeah i'll let you know if I find that.. Unfortunately this rider (Jack Reading) flatted in the first 15 seconds of his qualifying run, and was unable to qualify
I dont like how so many of the world cup courses are just on open grassy slopes. For most, mountain biking is about being in the woods. It would be awesome to see world cup courses start to include more technical rocky sections in the woods on actual trails, rather than just down cut grass sections. Track looks ok though.
that's just what a lot of alpine riding is, open grassy stuff. Don't get me wrong though, it's rough/rocky as hell in places, and a lot steeper than it looks! Besides, plenty of the tracks have been wooded - val di sole, windham, mont st anne, the bottom of fort bill, but it's harder to cover because the trees get in the way, funnily enough!
Sorry but since when does being in the woods constitute whether you're mountain biking or not? Gee well I guess all those guys riding in tree-less terrain aren't really mountain biking. I also love your other assumptions that WC courses mainly been down "cut grass sections" and haven't included many "technical rocky sections" until only recently... hilarious.
Decent enough footage tho
