Downhill Mountainbiking in the Olympics?
Olympic fever has gripped the nation and indeed the Dirt office, we’re loving it. So I thought I’d throw out the question:
“Do you think downhill mountainbike racing should be an Olympic sport?”
Let us know your thoughts and feelings?
An artist’s (bad artist) impression of what it could look like.
Would be good for the sport as theres still a lot of people who have never seen or heard of Downhill
Definately. The atmosphere at a downhill race is nearly identical to downhill skiing so many people could relate to it. Cow bells, horns, fans from many nations all rooting for their countries riders, bring it on.
would be very good if it could work and most DH races do have great atmospheres, an Olympic atmosphere would be epic – look @ World Champs it’s mental but we would need a hill with plenty of open space though in my opinion or how shit would it come across on TV. LET’S BE HONEST THOUGH – IT’S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. Soz.
I don’t think DH is ready for the olympics yet , way to unprofessional.
Look at the last race , wearing sanitary towels as body armor , grow the fuck up people
Weirdly I read this in MBUK this morning and I reckon it should be, its a huge sport and growing all the time, more publicity of the small regional and national events would be cool aswell. Blooming hard to find them sometimes, limited to a few websites…
There would be all sorts of rules and crap though that the Olympics committee would put in like body armour must be worn, no lycra and all that jazz.
There’s the weather problem. If there’s a massive storm halfway through, the first rider might end up riding a completely different course to the last one. Sometimes that’s amazing (e.g. Sam Hill or Danny Hart at Champery), but it’s not exactly a level playing field. I suspect the IOC wouldn’t particularly like that.
Lets just say, if Olympics can have sports like sailing, fencing, shooting ducks(what its called?), why wouldnt DH be in olympics. DH have more active people than all those other sports i mention. Also same amount or more in skill level.
Kevin had nice point about atmosphere aswell.
But how would it work? Where would you be able to have to tracks close enough to the main city?
FECK NO!
You only need to look at the mess the Olympics makes of the XC race to see the Olympics and mountain bikes are not a good mix.
Millions of people around the world tuning in to see… a flat two minute track with clueless presenter spouting the word gnarly every thirty five seconds. No mud, no roots, no trees, they get in the way of the TV coverage.
.
Thank you but no, lets not get into the drugs and politics that will inevitably come along… and the rules to define what a ‘downhill bike’ and a ‘downhill track’ can be. No good for the sport, lets just have more world cups instead.
It would be good for the sport as it would get much more recognized but after seeing the Olympic XC track perhaps it’s good that it isn’t in there. However as long as it’s done right it would be a good thing for the sport. But I wouldn’t hold an Olympic gold in DH as as much of an acheivement as winning the world cup overall.
After watching somebody sat on a dancing horse last night….downhill has got to be a contender, even at the expense of one of the track races or dare I say BMX!
The horse wasn’t even that good, throw in a moonwalk at least!
P.S. RIO! I’ve heard a few world cup racers mention this as one of their favourite venues from a few years back!
YES! You can’t have XC and BMX and no DH. I’m not saying this to sound bias as I like DH and I understand there chalk and cheese but come on sports like water polo being an OLYMPIC sports its just not right, fastest person, highest person, strongest person, most skilled person. To get down a hill with pedal power skilled and fitness is an awesome feat and on that days its anyones race. Ok so you could argue that pretty much every sport should be in the olympics as theres something out there for everyone but DH should get a look in, It’s more popular and exciting to watch than BMX and XC put together.
as far as recognition for the sport goes, yeah it would be great. As others pointed out, it would be like DH skiing. I just think that for one, the IOC would make plenty of new rules which would just change the point to the sport. I personally ride and watch downhill for the unexpected moments which the sport, which it thrives on, I reckon that if the IOC got involved, the sport would change its mentality, not entirely for the better.
there’s an interesting piece on this same topic. I’d be up for running the uplift if it happened…
http://www.chopmtb.com/2012/07/27/should-downhill-mountain-biking-be-in-the-olympics/
At the expense of BMX? Are you insane Dave Lucas? Did you watch yesterdays coverage at all?
It wouldn’t work on so many levels.
It doesn’t need the ‘coverage’ or the ‘exposure’ It’s a beautiful, scraggy grubby ruffian of a problem child of the cycle sport world and we should revel in that, rather that try to go all slick and pro. Wake up people, you aren’t going to make it as paid riders or bloody photographers or any other sort of hanger on to the scene. Just ride and enjoy it for what it is. Are the USA swimming team going to publish a team video after the Olympics showing them letting off fireworks for shits and giggles like Santa Cruz Syndicate do after a world cup round? I think not.
There would be too many hoops to jump through from the Olympic people, too many concessions would have to be made (I bet the BBC wouldn’t get Warner to commentate either).
Kids would see it on TV and think, yeah, I want to try that…..Mum and Dad would see the £4k for a bike, £500 toilet seat for the neck, £200 on race pyjama’s and another £400 for a helmet and have a seizure!
I@m happy enough watching the BMX, it was quality yesterday and looking forward to it today.
downhill in the olympics would be great but I’m not fussed. I’m happy watching the world cup instead.
And as for the comment earlier about sanitary towels for body armour etc.. – that’s why the sport is fun, even the boys at the top of the game don’t take it that seriously. If it was in the olympics it could potentially get very stiff, protentious and dull.
Getting Downhill on the telly for the sake of the riders wanting to make a bit more (or even some) money and selling out to ride through a field so the cameras get a better view is one thing (remember mtb britain?). However, getting DH in the Olympics is a different matter altogether. Grass roots coaching of kids for rider selection, olympic training infrastructure (finally a ski lift at Innerleithen), and best of all Rob Warner swearing on the BBC!
Also would could cause Phil Liggett’s head to explode when he found out it was at the expense of another track discipline…
Will never happen as it is too geographically specific so needs a big hill/mountain and this is restrictive to flat cities.
‘Kids would see it on TV and think, yeah, I want to try that…..Mum and Dad would see the £4k for a bike, £500 toilet seat for the neck, £200 on race pyjama’s and another £400 for a helmet and have a seizure!’
More exposure = More people in to the sport, so would this drive prices up or down?
Pointless, it needs to be held at a ski resort for a start so if that facility doesn’t exist in the host country it’ll be pants. BMX is perfect for the ‘pics, you can build a nice stadium around the track and great for spectators, even canoeing has man made rapids to race on which must seem lame to ‘core paddlers. And even if it’s in the ‘pics doesn’t mean it’ll get much coverage as think of the other sports that are in there that hardly get mentioned. It’s like the graveyard of sporting fads gone by.
I personaly think 4x should be an Olympic sport, its like bmx, DH is too long and it’s agains the clock where 4x is 4 people racing, much more fun and exiting to race/watch/
Yes. The more exposure and support or sport recieves, the more funding and growth will come it’s way. Bring on Olympic Downhill!
If a gravity mountainbike discipline would suite the olympics then it must be 4X. Exciting, easy to understand and you do not need a big slope. DH is racing against the clock, the mainstream crowd wants to see head to head racing, easy to understand and more show..
Nothing against Dh, but 4X is in my opinion a much better option
Yes, it would be a damn sight more exciting that watching lycra clad roadies going round and round in cricles indoors.
It would be awesome, except for the fact that not every country in which the Olympics is held has professional Downhill Trails to ride on and it would take a lot more time and effort than that which is already exerted into making the games such a success in every country they are held in. Screw it put them in!
The added exposure would be great for the discipline and athletes. Besides, its unbalanced to have DH skiing, snowboard slopestyle & halfpipe as winter games but no summer equivalents. Similar bike/skating disciplines are established & operating so those athletes should be entitled to showcase their talents at that tier as well. Would the IOC screw it up somehow? Probably, but the competitors should at least have a chance to perform in the same spotlight.
4X is way too similar to BMX for the mainstream Joost. Plus, it would never get into the Olympics after being effectively kicked out of the World Cup series by the UCI…
Nothing against BMX, used to race myself but when I hit 6 foot at 14 years old I thought I looked daft on a teeny wheeled bike and switched mountain biking. I understand there are only so many ‘cycling disciplines’ made available by the olympic bods so to fit DH in some other cycling event would have to be dropped….maybe the one where they follow Boon round a track for a bit until he runs out of petrol, or the onion…omninum, umnionminom?
Would be great but the massive down side would be seeing the big brands addidas and mc donalds over running the smaller bike orientated company’s.
Dave Lucas
1 hour ago
After watching somebody sat on a dancing horse last night….downhill has got to be a contender, even at the expense of one of the track races or dare I say BMX!
The horse wasn’t even that good, throw in a moonwalk at least!
yeah..and didnt do a wheelie either !
But seriously, if I was in charge I’d do a serious cull of dressage, water polo, sync swimming and other crap and put in DH (most countries have got at least one hald decent mountain/decent), and has anybody watching the town/city events that are held, they are pretty cool, Ive even seen one in a shopping centre/mall.
So yes to Dh and I’d bring in some skateboarding too, half pipes are great to watch and could add half pipe bmx too.
Someone above mentioned weather? That’s a bit stupid… Look at the rowing… The weather changes all the time, depends on what lane your in as well! You may have strong wings for one heat but then the next is calm. No different from DH racing at all.
Atmosphere – Yes it would be fantastic. I’ve seen 2 days of BMX at the Olympic park and let me tell you the atmosphere was incredible!!!
I did love how all the riders have their helmets customised as to not to show any sponsors or anything. It was amusing sat there thinking “now that’s a troy lee and that’s a 661!”
I would like to think in my life time it would definitely become an Olympic sport! Hopefully not too far away!.
Nowt to do with lack of professionalism- it could never be considered ‘fair’ due to how much the track changes between runs. The olympics is all about saying ‘this person IS faster than that person’, ‘this person IS stronger than that person’; not ‘this person won, because there was an exposed root/a hole/shifted dirt/etc etc when that person had their run’
Well, thats what I reckon anyhow. It would be great to give the sport more exposure, I just dont think it can happen without destroying the sport as we know (and love) it
I say yes, and bring back skinsuits!
I think we should maybe consider a new platform, why cant we have a 1 minute gnarly, sketchy, fast, loose 4x dh track?? It seems to tick all the boxes for me.
#4 reply up there says it all.
Please no. Did anyone see how pathetic the BBC made the BMX look?
I could write an essay on the matter, but at the end of the day, it would bring a bit of extra exposure, but it would ruin the sport as it currently is.
Riders wouldn’t compete in WC rounds in the year of the olympics. So once every 4 years, you’d have a shit world cup.
Only the top 2 or 3 British riders would go.
Okay, on the plus, massive sponsors would enter the sport. But they would then dictate how it’s run and how it’s shown.
Keep it out.
Didn’t we have this discussion several years ago and the whole idea of DH got thrown out because it was impossible to get everyone on a level playing field?
I’m not talking about track conditions because let’s face it, sports like sailing and track and field events are similarly affected.
It’s more about the bikes. There’s too much technical variation in DH bikes with suspension design and setups. We could get everyone on the same bike but let’s face it, no sponsors would agree to that.
DH in the Olympics would be ace. I don’t think is getting anywhere near the exposure it deserves. But you can’t just plonk a downhill course any old place. Just cos a country has a mountain doesn’t mean you could stick a downhill track on it, having said that countries do have 7 years or more to sort out issues with a course, yeah fuck it put it in.
No, Dh will not likely make it into the Olympics.
There would need to be a proper venue to hold the event, which would mean limiting the number of possible locations that could hold the Summer Olympics. This is already the case for the Winter Olympics and the need to find proper venues. Quebec city has tried to host the Winter Olympics and were not successful because Mont Ste-Anne was not deemed a large enough mountain to hold the downhill skiing event.
BMX is forging the way for action sports, it has gained a lot of interest these games, so we’re closer than we were 10 years ago. Seems the general public is starting to realise competitors of these sports are legitimate athletes and are also a whole lot gutsier.
26 inch gravity disciplines didn’t take off in the X games, let alone Olympic games. BMX more accessible, and easier to fit in. Where would ‘London’ DH have been? They only put football around UK to sell tickets. Shooting clays as an Olympic sport makes my head spin, but I simply don’t see DH happening. XC would have to be ditched, and we all know – regrettably – that’ll never happen.
It should be an olympic sport for sure!!!
Downhill is a global sport, about every nation of the earth has downhill riders, that’s a very important requirement for being a olympic sport!
Compared to other sports it’s quite cheep to build a track, you just need a hill, some tape and some stands!
It’s a real sport, so it’s about the riders and not that much about the material!
It’s a fast growing sport, the scene is probably already bigger than a lot of olympic sports!
They should kick out some other sports like horse riding and rhythmic gymnastics or what the f*ck that is!
Just a thought if DH did get into the olympics maybe Peaty could start preparing a bid for Sheffield to host the 2028 games, it could be his swansong year before he hangs up his helmet and retires.
I kept getting asked this question at work.. as much as I’d love the sport to get the recognition I don’t think it belongs to the Olympics…. still not sure why sports like BMX is in there. The less informed public seem to ooh and ahh with the thrills and spills of the BMX event more than anything else. Plus not all Olympic cities are going to have a bad ass mountain to come screeching down… anything man made will be plain old silly.
In favor! I think the mentality of downhill riders already is olympic.
No. Just no. The Olympics doesn’t need DH, it would be relegated to another obscure sideshow. They would distort and bastardize something unique and spectacular. Just compare the Olympic XC track to P’Maritzburg or MSA. Pathetic, watered down, embarrassing.
DH is to XC as boxing is to MMA. It’s strength is that it is unique, different, specialist, extreme, technical, complicated. The things that make it difficult for the masses to understand or appreciate are exactly the things that make it so appealing to the people who do appreciate it.
Greg Minnaar making a joke about back protection, whilst embarking on something that could easily break his back is not something joe public could comprehend, but we get it and can laugh about it. Similarly, mainstream tv viewers don’t want to see someone snap another mans arm, but they’ll happily watch two men pound each other into concussive states over 15 rounds. Face it, we are a fringe sport. It’s because DH is different that we love it. Lets not try to make it the same.
I’d love to see DH in. Could really push the sport.
@pumptrack tim, err fort william would be a pretty good bet. Look at the sailing, its being held in weymouth. If not DH, what about Enduro..
@ Leon reference proffesionalism, Kit and Equipment. There would be several years before the first Olympic downhill, I’m sure if given Olympic status UCI would pay more attention to rules governing downhill and it would be sorted.
More to the point is anyone actively trying to get DH into the olympics?
If you look at kitesurfing the IKO (kitesurfing overlords) put together a proposal to get it in and it was decided all the right qualities were there for an Olympic discipline. (Bit of a shame windsurfing was pushed out though.)
For DH could it tick the right boxes? Personally I don’t see why not (especially when compared to Olympic DH skiing – the same arguments about timed runs apply there).
For those of you saying that it will change DH for everyone for the worse, again I don’t see it happening. I don’t go down the local BMX track and think of the olympics. Same as taking the big rig to the woods. It would be one race every 4 years that would just bring it into the lime light for a couple of weeks.
However, back to my original point, I’ve not heard that the UCI are making a proposal, so nothing will happen until then unless we all club together and put together a super cool power point to convince the Olympic Committee…
Yes definitely , and a few more gold medals for team GB
for sure, 100%
Dave Lucas is right. Each sport has a certainly amount of disciplines it can have and cycling have a number that has to include track, road, bmx and xc. Id like to see xc replaced by Dh but the fact is that I think it relies on the UCI view of things and I think they feel XC makes them feel more comfortable as its closer to what they know. Noone in british cycling is gonna give up track or road based on the last few olympics success for GB. Sad fact, Id love to see DH there instead of XC but cant see it happening. Anyway I kinda like it coz it aint mainstream!!
Downhill is a million miles away from being an Olympic sport! Olympians train day in day out for 4 years at a time and only eat/drink what is going to make them faster. Where as many downhill riders can be seen drinking alcohol on a race weekend! The minute skin suits got banned from the world champs was the final nail in the coffin of DH being an Olympic sport. This decision showed that we were more concerned about image than getting our athletes the fastest times possible and pushing the boundaries of our sport.
without question yes!
james, skin suits are banned in BMX, and that made it to the olympics…
@Robbonzo I hope you are joking when you suggest FW as a venue for a London event. Weymouth is one thing, but jeeze… Anyway, A sport needs to be widely practiced to get close to inclusion in the games. Even the most die hard DH rider or fan should be able to see DH is a a minority sport in real world terms. Do I want DH to become an olympic sport? Maybe. Do I think it should be an olympic sport? No.
Not a good idea, keep it out of the main stream. One rider would go down, and there would be calls to ban it. And that ‘underground’ feel is what makes it so good.
Yes it would be interesting to see it on the scale and coverage of the Olympics. Unfortunately it doesn’t Hold a chance at the current state of the discipline. Spectator positions on the side of the track, the track location itself, accessibility and so much more factors go against DH.
It would be great, but logistically would it work? Would every country (that hosts the Olympics) have a DH course that’s good enough for such an event? And if not are they able to build one? Probably not. Unfortunately.
Despite whatever relevant pro’s becoming an Olympic sport would be, DH shouldn’t be an Olympic sport.
Firstly, politics would run rampant, there’d be drug testing in excess, DH bikes would become over standardized, DH tracks would need to become more TV-friendly, and ultimately it’d become so anal-retentive, we’d despize its Olympic focus.
Secondly, what focus would it recieve from a supposedly wider audience? DH would have to re-define itself with another crow. It’d only be enjoyed consumer-wise every 4 years, and lets be honest, just because I enjoy seeing the 100m sprints doesn’t mean I’m going to take it up as a hobby, or as a year-round interest, its only every 4 years…
DH already has world-wide notoriaty, from an enthusiastic fan base that enjoys numerous year-round, year-by-year, televised, forum-based inter-activity, that really would not benefit from Olympic involvement.
If you want to create more exposure, incorporate more WC’s, World Champs is there, give it notoriaty on such shows like the X-Games, where it can attract fans from like minded events like ski-ing, snowboarding, etc…
DH does not need Olympic acclaim, it’s doing well where it is and its still growing.
As long as Sam Hill wins it, I think that Downhill would be a nice thing in the Olympic Games. And no lycra shorts on athelets.
No.
NO.
Nope. Not needed. The sport is too good to contaminate it with Olympic rules and regulations.
I agree with all against it. DH is special. Same as punk music. People who REALLY appreciate it know about it. I wouldn’t want it even more commercialised. It would spoil everything for those who already love it. l
No DH is not made for the Olympics I think, for at least 2 reasons.
1. It would be difficult to get a mountain close to each organizing city. So sometimes (if not most of the times) that could be a pretty lame track. Bad advert for the sport I think!
2. If you look at world cup results you’ll see UK, Can, US, Australian, NZ, South-African and French Riders in the top ten. Why introducing a new sport for 7 countries only? Or maybe I’m wrong, and some unknown riders would manage to get light on them and show what they can do. I’m still skeptical though…
hell yeah!!
I dont think we need them, We’re doing well on our own
I dont want it to turn into Road Biking levels of Professionalism, I like having a laugh at races 
I think it would be good. If there were no rule changes from what it is now, i.e. go as fast as you can between the tape, don’t go out the tape. No-ones not gonna get that.
For people who say places wont have the hills for a decent dh track, just have a look at la bresse. Its not a massive hill, but has been a great race each time the wc has stopped there.
It looks like 2020 is gonna be in either Madrid, Istanbul or Tokyo, so we could have a olympic track at Vigo, or 2 new tracks on the WC callendar which people are allways crying out for.
I reckon it’d be gid
Where ? In an arena ? As much as i am sure some athletes would love to add that medal, I am also sure the committee rules would make the UCI look like , well, easy. And we might loose all the humor associated with DH teams. Not to mention Warner, who probably won’t make the commenter’s booth. Nah. Keep it the way it is. Fast’n'Dirty.
Im sure every one has seen how popular the BMX racing has been at the olympics and BMX has very few out side factors that can affect the rider/ the race, DH has multiply line choice and nemours exterior factor like weather, which leads to a more exciting and entertaing race. The XC see races that they show are not the true mountain biking either, Downhill is the ‘true’ mountain biking as it is riding a bike down a mountain as fast as you can. Silmple
P.s Table tennis is an olympic sport for fuck sake, also they could do a street race in the favelas of rio for the next olympics
no no no no leave it alone.
Just so you know, the location isn’t an issue because the horse stuff was done in hong kong at the beijing olympics which is absolustely miles away. Also, a lot of major cities aren’t by the sea. London was competing with Paris for the olympics which isn’t exactly close to the sea for sailing.
The IOC look for lots of different things when deciding to run a new sport. First and fore most as Olly pointed out earlier it has to be contested on a level playing ground. If it rains the track changes so not fairly contested. Secondly and quite a strong case against DH is location. All countries need to be able to stage the event. They need to either have or build a suitable arena with full facilities. Fine for countries with big hills but I’m sure places like Holland won’t want to build a mountain. It probably never has a chance now the UCI have dropped it but 4X would be a far stronger pitch for a Olympic sport. It can be run pretty much every where and can be contested on a level playing field. Also it is for the none mountain biker a far better spectator sport. It’s a race the person in 1st wins. A final is 2 maybe 3 min not 2hrs long. Look at the success of BMX this year.
I have to agree that Lion comment makes me laugh…but I trully think that there is way much more beyond just the thought of having the DH in the olympics…
There are try outs in every region to get the athletes qualified for the Olimpics, how in the hell is this going to happen in the DH…? I still hoping for the UCI to have a real WORLD SERIES going, all the DH scene is mainly in Europe, so how are we going to even think about Olympics if I bet 95% of the people commenting here does not even know how the DH scene is in China…or South America…or hell, my region, Central America…how is the scene in Russia for example…?
All those details are far from being resolve, and as Lion said, in all honestly, I also felt ashamed on how our profesional riders pretty much muck in the face of a country’s federation (france this opp) wearing sanitary towels as body armor, that is completly unrespectfull.
I do have to agree that this will boost the sport out, but yet again, some companies does not sponsor much on growing regions, this is the result of them not knowing what’s happening there… Until then, I have to say that we are far from it, and I hope it stays that way until we can resolve the real world series…
My opinion: Why do we as dh’ers feel like the olympics finally makes us legitimate? I’m glad we’re unique, and when events like curling and speed-walking make it into the olympics, then there is nothing special about it. I believe that those who are interested, or going to be interested in dh are, by this time, already following it. It’s not really a secret anymore
To me, being in the olympics isn’t special anymore when there’s events like speed-walking, synchronized swimming and curling. It should just be gymnastics and track-and-field events. And pig wrestling
No as there’s allready enough stupid rules, having it in the Olympics will just make it worse. Also as I expect others have allready mentioned not every major city is close enough to a world standard track.
Nope definitely not, horrible commentators who don’t know a damn thing about history of the sport and would proclaim any Olympic champ as the greatest rider there has ever been pissing all over the guys and girls who laid the foundations, just look at the idiotic comments about the BMX and how dangerous it is and that kids should not be encouraged to do it etc.. not to mention the logistics of the whole thing (lift access, big hills, tech courses…)what if Netherlands or Finland hosted the Olympics – flat countries, would it just be left out?? keep it as it is a sport for the true fans. Can you imagine Gary Lineker trying to interview Sam Hill, he’s made an arse of the track cycling and these guys are pretty well known. Horrible, horrible idea
As far as I’m concerned, since there is downhill skiing and snowboarding in the winter there should be downhill mountain biking in the summer. Case closed.
will never happpen, because another sport has to give way, & in cycling, a few track events gave way for BMX, & Phil Ligget hates that. DH is our sport, It does not belong in the Olympics!
Definitely. How is sailing and ping pong in the olympics and dh not?
It seems like a mixed field here and thats giving me an idea, Lets make a 2 wheeled triathlon starts off with a quick 40 second BMX course then a XC race and then to finish off to make the times a bit closer we bring back old school DH tracks which are about 5 to 6 mins with a mix of everything in it overall time wins.
I agree with the comments already stated the big issues are that it would be difficult to create a level playing field and thats what the olympics is all about. Also wouldnt bike design all have to be the same or extremely similar to ensure the athlete made the difference and not the bike. I dont think downhill has any future in the olympics it could however in the x games!
No way.
The Olympics are not interesting for an exciting sport like DH mountain biking. I rather don’t care if old granny knows about DH racing or not. What matters is those that know DH love it and support it. We have new ways of accessing the sport such as the unregulated internet. The free for all brings in new ideas and promotes viewer choice. From what I’ve seem of the X-games, I feel that is a win win for both DH racing, the fans and the organizers (X-games).
I think that Martin Whiteley has a very good opinion about this, already the riders are supported by corporate teams not national cycling bodies. This would be very unfair to them to those teams to still support the riders, but not be allowed their name to be displayed. Also it would make the Olympics the pinnacle of the sport. This would have the effect of watering down the World Cups and World Champs. Especially during an Olympic year. This happened in the BMX. Stromberg only competed in a few super cross events just to save himself for the Olympics.
It happens even worse in other sports like Athletics and Gymnastics. Is anyone even aware of these sports outside of the Olympics.
Not a good idea! The Olympics are great, but at the end of the day the IOC is a corrupt money making organization. The UCI pales in comparison and they are borderline at the moment in regards to DH. Adding the IOC above this would be ruin the cool feeling we get from riding, watching and supporting DH.
It would be unreal to have DH in the olympics… But venues are probably one of the hardest things to come up with for it. How would it work if the Olympics went somewhere where there was no feasible way to create a DH course anywhere near the level necessary for that level of riding.
I’m reading through some of the comments here, and the only intelligent arguments all seem to lean to the NO side. Venues, the relatively few countries that would be involved, and the rules that would come in… It would just make our sport look lame.
I also find it interesting that so many people are slagging off other sports as well. What do you think those sportsmen and women would say about DH?
no, there are DH riders who deserve to win gold as much as any other athlete participating in the olympics, the sport has the capability to determine the olympic ideal of finding the person who has the greatest physical and technical ability in the world, but…one race every four years is not a great way to determine it, the presence of technical failures is strong enough to support this. If you raced against someone like Nico, and won a world cup you’d be stoked, but if you came away with a gold, would you really feel that you were the greatest DH rider, or just the luckiest on the day?
This would be amazing and also Britain would be so strong in this event ! But what needs to happen is to make sure its done properly with a good track. 4x could be great aswell and the atmoshpere would be brilliant. Not sure if the IOC would go for both though.
The only thing that makes me think it should be in the Olympics is the vg artist’s impression (at top of page) of what it would look like. Otherwise I agree with all the “no” arguments.
Watched a bit of the XC , ummm it looked like centre parks or some thing , Imagine how gay the DH track would look , probably some thing like A-line with out the jumps.
With the circus show the BBC made of BMX, no, I personally don’t think DH should be in the Olympics. Look at what happened with the crashes, repeat after repeat… People only watching to see people going down. Sat with people from work, and all they wanted to see was people crash, and asking why they weren’t doing tricks or backflips over the jumps. People were missing the point. Putting DH into such a mainstream place, would ruin what we all enjoy about DH racing, seeing whose the quickest on the day against the clock!
Keep DH weird.
What about enduro? – a mix of all aspects of mountain biking. i can’t see it for the next games as this discipline is in its real early days but in the future i think it would/ could be an excellent alternative to XC. possibly even a xc eliminator/ 4x style all round mountain bike triathlon (not sure that is the right word)?
No thank you. I can’t see it working due to such things as venue, riders sitting out the World Cup races leading up to the Olympics, and all the other reasons mentioned above.
ON the subject of the Olympic BMX, having been there in the crowds watching it, I have to say that the atmosphere was amazing, right up there with the World Champs in Birmingham (an awesome event). The crowd on non-riders loved it. but then it doesn’t take long to have mens and womens semi finals and finals and it’s all head to head. Totally justified it in my mind. I loved every minute. No idea what the BBC coverage was like, but remember it wasn’t for you or I it was for the general public. An awesome day and I’ll not forget it in a long time.
You need real mountains for DH racing. Something currently not required for any other summer olympic sport. You would be asking the olympic committee to completely change the summer games just to add a sport that only a handful of nations would compete in. I thought adding F1 to the games was a stupid idea till I saw this. Now it seems almost sensible.
The women’s mountain bike final in the Olympics shows what a stupid race this is … in the Olympics or anywhere. The German racer in 2nd place falls down, and because the track is so narrow, the American behind her can only wait for her to pick herself up, while the French racer in 1st place extends her lead. In any other (sane) race, the American would have passed the German who clumsily fell. But no, in mountain biking, she had to wait, since the track’s not wide enough for faster bikers to bike faster, and the German just picked up and stayed ahead of the American to win the silver medal. How stupid can you get???
Would DH be better in the winter olympics?
-Guaranteed Mountains and uplifts.
-More of a tradition of ‘extreme’ sports and a more progressive attitude (freestyle events, ski and snowboard cross etc)
Ok, somewhere snow free (or rideable) would have to be found (maybe a covered track?) but compared with getting the UCI to shift a track event maybe not such a big obstacle
nah,don’t think it would work because a lot of the sports in the olympics are in the same place and people would have to travel pretty far away from the centre of it all,BMX is different because you don’t need a hill to make it work.
Obviously. Is it not a sport?
And b.t.dubs, the question was: “should” DH be an Olympic sport, not “can” it be.
Hi all…
I`m from Rio de Janeiro.
If Downhill can be a Olympic sport… I really don`t know.
But….If there is a place to hold an Olympic Downhill Race is in Rio, next Olympic Games in 2016.
We have one of the most best Brazil dh tracks just here in Rio.
A lot of talk here about DH being in the Xgames it has a place surely but for those youngsters on here including myself does anyone not rememer the WINTER XGAMES DH RACE ON SNOW 1999 I think ? Please correct me if im wrong it was great fun Peaty on a Gold GT DHI and everyone running spike tyres the down side im pretty sure it only lasted one xgames never to be seen again
sure!
DH in the Olympics would be amazing, but the issue of weather would cause headaches for the IOC. Also finding a course near the host city could pose issues; that said London 2012 football was held at stadiums up & down the UK.
Another thing to look at is the recent conflict between the IOC & the snowboard TTR Tour. Some riders want to compete in the Olympics, but the IOC won’t allow them to compete in both the TTR Tour & the Olympics. If this rule was applied to DH, we could see races with huge names opting not to compete, just to go for Olympic medals.
DH needs to become more professional first, especially on the grounds of body armour. The World Cup at Val D’Isere showed that there needs to be some serious discussions about what can / can not be worn; don’t forget, not that long ago you could wear Lycra skin suits at World Cups.
TV coverage could also be an issue; who would cover it? Red Bull, with there amazing camera set up? Or the host nations television companies?
If the IOC & UCI worked together, I don’t doubt it’d be amazing. But there’s too many factors that may cause problems for both governing bodies & riders alike.
Venues for tracks and other factors make DH too difficult to put in to the Olympics but another discipline could be considered. But 4x woudnt do it either I think another route needs exploring such as dual salalom or even the speed and style events thave started cropping up with some refinement this would make a great discipline.
just watched some of the xc. Changed my mind, dh shouldn’t be in the olympics. They’d make it shit
I havE to say the xc looked shit yes I love dh n would love to share it wi the world but f&Ck Thers enuf poncy rich boys being over the top competitive as it is.lets keep the sport special n chilled do we really want dh to look shit n commercial like many others sports in the Olympics just to please the masses
Probably be best asking the riders if they would like to represent their countries and their sport on the most global stage possible…
But from a fans point of view, YES. Whether you ride for a laugh or for podiums, you cannot argue against the fact that at the top level, downhill riders are elite athletes, and given the chance, should be allowed to compete as such on the world stage.
Most of the against arguments center around it becoming ‘gay’ like the XC is claimed to be. Most XC races are like that these days anyway, I’m sure they could create a fair representation of a proper downhill track, as you would probably just have to use or modify an existing one anyway. The arguments for ‘no’ on location being an issue, I don’t feel are valid. In Bejing the horse riding was done in Hong Kong!
A few issues like skin suits and armour would need ironing out. In that case it should really just mirror whatever the UCI’s laws would be at the time>
I don’t think it would ruin the sport, just give it loads of credibility.
Old people games no – young people games yes: X-games!!!
DH an olympic sport? No way.
XC even seems lame in the Olympics.
What about ENDURO? a mix of both XC and DH.
DH in Oly’s – NO WAY.
Other bike events are not a good comparison to DH.
BMX especially the course can be made to suit any location or venue and really has no bearing on the outcome, it comes down tot he rider and work they have put in.
DH is very course dependent even country, to find locations that are venue and TV/Spectator friendly would definitely detract from the sport and the results imo.
DH still has a way to go and should concentrate on building a real world cup series every year on every continent and at-least 12 rounds + the World Champs, it does not yet have the credibility of MX or even road cycling to be in the Olympic’s, even XC in the Oly’s needs allot better tracks, the XC this time while good to watch was a big let down on the track, mad made features in between road riding on dirt, not good.
This is the big step that remains for this mode.
Downhill is still little known by the community and this would be an excellent way to raise awareness.
Come on!
i dunno if the olympics is right for downhill, it just doesnt seem right. if it does get in the olympics i hope that the race doesnt take away from the world champs, which i feel it would
i think it will be good. its definitely gonna b better in terms of support from federation and maybe some funding for development. i know for a fact here in Malaysia, the federation dont give a shit if the sport is not an Olympic sport. as such to date here in MALAYSIA, there is no support/ activity/ program in place.
Everything is privately driven here.
Absolutly. Wated the BMX aNd MTB and was rather disappointed. Bmx needs a points event. MTB need more features. Should be to point that they will want a soft tail.
Downhill will get some attention. No avoiding what the sport is.
it would be awesome!
Pump Track racing should be an Olympic sport
it would be amazing, but i think the main issue is not every country has mountains/large hills able to support such an event
This is a stupid question really.
Would be sweet! Only thing is they would have to taylor the olympics location to include it, right!?
My opinion is that this sport shouldn’t be that much exposed, because it wouldn’t be downhill, it’ll be like football, many wrong people will take over, and it’ll lose it’s main charm and beauty, and we don’t have that much mountaints to waste and to be transformed to commercial bike parks
clearly YES
Without a doubt it should be an Olympic sport. People race DH in different countries all over the world. It’s also TV and spectator friendly and it’s a sport that’s easy for the uninitiated to understand. The obvious difficulty is that, aside from DH, no other summer games sport requires a venue with significant elevation.
In Rio 2016, mountain bike could be a way to put the local slums in the games.
I’ve seem many cross country and downhill races happening in the slums (and in the woods around it) and it definitely could – and should – happen.