27% of Brits think they could qualify for the LA Olympics in 2028

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richmac 14 Aug 3:41pm, 14 Aug 2024 28,926 posts	0 richmac I'd probably disagree on the 'vast majority' there.
larkim 14 Aug 3:44pm, 14 Aug 2024 25,344 posts	0 larkim What I find fascinating about human performance is that whilst the vast, vast majority of us would be utterly unable to achieve Olympian levels of performance, at the cream of the crop there is often 1 or 2 people who are almost disproportionately better than even the rest of the very best. The Phelps, or the Bolts, or the Ledecky's of this world who, on their good days, have a significant gap to absolutely everyone else. I guess they are just the examples of the rare thing of people who have found the one thing that they absolutely excel at; it's entirely possible that there are 100s of other humans in the world at that time that could have been just as good as them, but circumstances has meant that they've "found" that sport / discipline.
Velociraptor 14 Aug 3:45pm, 14 Aug 2024 70,378 posts	0 Velociraptor I wonder if the 27% includes all of the one in eight men who reckoned in another survey that they could beat Serena Williams in a tennis match. (Back in my teens when I first learned to stay upright on skis I wrote chunks of a novel about a fantasy alter ego who was plucked from the nursery slopes to become a great British hope in the Winter Olympics. She died trying.)
Mazlin 14 Aug 3:50pm, 14 Aug 2024 12,562 posts	0 Mazlin I wonder if it also includes the apparently surprisingly high proportion of people who think they’d be able to safely land a jet aircraft, given the opportunity.
Ocelot Spleens 14 Aug 4:01pm, 14 Aug 2024 39,472 posts	0 Ocelot Spleens 169 people representing the UK at Paris were at Tokyo, a bit over half the total in Paris, so the majority who were at Tokyo had a good they would be at Paris...it's the first timers that are different
MudMeanderer 14 Aug 4:33pm, 14 Aug 2024 2,628 posts	0 MudMeanderer The one highly outside possibility I could imagine for myself would be coxswain. I'm pretty much at the minimum allowed weight, and can't imagine there are too many people that tiny, which gives me an advantage. Not sure I'd be any good at the actual role though!
Velociraptor 14 Aug 4:39pm, 14 Aug 2024 70,385 posts	0 Velociraptor I didn't realise there was a minimum weight for coxswains. Just been Googling. I'd be OK on that parameter provided I wasn't also trying to optimise my chances in the marathon.
Derby Tup 14 Aug 4:46pm, 14 Aug 2024 67,473 posts	0 Derby Tup My old boss said sales is like sex and driving: everyone thinks they can do it well, but it’s just not the case. I’ll start adding Olympic level sport to the list
Bowman 🇸🇪 14 Aug 4:50pm, 14 Aug 2024 3,886 posts	0 Bowman 🇸🇪 Derby Tup wrote:My old boss said sales is like sex and driving: everyone thinks they can do it well, but it’s just not the case. I’ll start adding Olympic level sport to the list 😂
Mushroom 14 Aug 4:59pm, 14 Aug 2024 3,312 posts	0 Mushroom There was an article a few years ago about the costs of being an elite sportsperson in various sports. The horsey ones were obviously expensive with all the food and vet costs. Shooting may appear to be more accessible for those of us who aren't blessed with fast-twitch muscles or where our height to weight ratios have taken more of a landscape rather than portrait outlook. However, shooting was also one of the most inaccessible sports - moneywise. You have to pay for all the ammunition and we're not talking half a dozen rounds. It's hundreds, thousands, every week. On top of that, in order to gain qualification to elite events, you have to fly the world to enter ranking events. I'll have to rethink which sports to focus on..