Which Olympic sports have you tried or would like to

[MaryClare]

I have a tradition whereby following each Olympics, I try out a new sport. It started back during Sydney when I was 10 and I saw the 10m diving for the first time. And I thought it looked so much fun and so much easier than gymnastics (at the time I was training both RG and artistic). Yes I thought, this is the going to be the sport for me.
So I went for a try out at the pool. I was on one of the lower platforms and it was going well. Then I began to get a little bored, as I realised that most of the time I was climbing steps. So I decided that diving was in fact, not the sport for me. To this day I don’t understand why in training, divers don’t rope or pole climb to the platform. It would be great conditioning.

I continued this tradition
2004: pole vault
2008: judo
2012: rowing
2016: dressage
2021: weight lifting

Which I think have been good choices if you’re cool with being launched into the air, an ear for music, good core and upper body strength, used to hitting the mat and comfortable being yelled at by a short person.
Anyway, which sport am I going to try in 2024? (34 years old, recent double knee replacement)

 

[makam]

I've taken a lesson in curling. It was fun but the rink was too far from where I live for me to join. And you can't fake curling ice like that plastic figure skating stuff.

Clearly, synchronized swimming is calling you since it would be easy on the knees. Otherwise, water polo.

 

[cftmoonlight79]

Did gymnastics, diving as a kid. I practice some Olympic lifts as an adult because it's my favorite type of workouts. I'd like to try being a backstroke or the kayak and canoe stuff. I enjoy kayaking recreationally.

 

[QuietColours]

Synchro was my first thought, or just regular swimming.

 

[Passion]

Apparently hip and knee injuries are common in artistic swimming from people kicking each other under the water.

'This is crazy if you think about it, no?' Inside the world of artistic swimming

Athleticism, sportsmanship, and a fishtail full twist: How is it that artistic swimming (once known as synchronized swimming) remains a mystery to many?

www.latimes.com

 

[Hatsumomo]

I did gymnastics for 12 years so that one's covered. I would love to try diving, but there's no place near me with a 10m platform. Watching swimming has me wanting to get into the pool, so I'll probably do that.

 

[MaryClare]

I did quite a bit of artistic swimming. Artistic swimming coaches circle like vultures around chronically injured rhythmic gymnasts. It was a joke that if someone got injured you buy them a hair dryer

 

[MaryClare]

Did gymnastics, diving as a kid. I practice some Olympic lifts as an adult because it's my favorite type of workouts. I'd like to try being a backstroke or the kayak and canoe stuff. I enjoy kayaking recreationally.

Canoe slalom looks like a lot of fun, but very specialised in the facilities required. And I don’t know how to canoe, but it looks boring to learn

 

[cftmoonlight79]

Yes definitely the slalom. Gotta kick my kayaking up a notch!

 

[Sasha]

I've always wanted to try luge or bobsled.

 

[Seyonne]

I have a ping pong table in my basement. So, that.

 

[rlayt]

In my lifetime I’ve tried canoes, kayaks, rock climbing, skiing, mountaineering, biking, swimming, running. Entered a few 10ks in my youth. I think I’m done in my 60’s.

 

[QuietColours]

I'm signed up for a 5k in September, so that's something, I guess. I'd love to get into kayaking. Or just get back in the gym.

 

[RedBirdie]

Kayak death run, or whatever it's called. When they run 3 and 4 wide.

Bonus for me, I'm spitting distance to the US Whitewater Center. I could totally do that.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

My gym has a “Sports Performance” class that does a ton of sprinting drills that are so much fun. I want to get into it more even though I have zero fast twitch muscles.

 

[Hatsumomo]

There are a bunch of regional parks near me plus the Potomac so kayaking also might be a possibility.

 

[Big_rock_show]

I did gymnastics growing up and coaching in my early adult years,
But the Olympic Games have inspired me to try curling and snowboarding. I found that my gymnastics skills helped me be a pretty good snowboarder, but I hated it. It’s just not that fun.

 

[Caledi]

My dad and brothers were heavily into track and field, and my mom and sister are volleyball and beach volleyball players (I somehow came out way shorter which is why I was a gymnast!) so I've dabbled in those. As a young kid I did most track events as well as race walk, long jump, and javelin, and after watching the Tokyo Olympics I got back into running recreationally. (By the way I recently found a ribbon from a meet where I placed in the 400m in the under 5 year old division.. I can't imagine how boring it would be to watch a bunch of 3-4 year olds running the 400!)

 

[brg09]

I watched the Olympics in Atlanta as an eleven year old and was enamored with the gymnastics--but seeing as how I was already eleven I figured it was hopeless.

I swam competitively for about 5 years. I was decent but also way too short to ever be competitive enough for a D1 school or national team.

I took a springboard diving class in college--first I told my friends as a joke but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. Our coach for the class was Mary Ellen Clark, who won a bronze medal in 1996. It was amazing to meet someone from those games in the flesh, after being obsessed with them that summer. She's really funny and easy-going, also. I still have a handwritten "certificate of completion" from that class somewhere.

I might actually try shooting next. It's the ideal sport. No sweating, I can practice in the woods behind my house, and even use it in a life or death situation.

 

[RedBirdie]

There are a bunch of regional parks near me plus the Potomac so kayaking also might be a possibility.

Lol, I only laugh because my sea kayaking self made the mistake of kayaking Little Falls (because I'm not stupid enough to kayak Great Falls) once. I stock to the calm water of the lower tidal Potomac after that.