The Olympics of 2008 have commenced. What would an Olympics in the Trekverse be like? Which species would excel at what? What would be 24th century controversies? What would be the popular sports?
Sports would be different of course. In Henry VIII's time, Tennis was quite popular, but dangerous. If we look at a sport like Gymnastics and see the changes over the last 100 years..you get the idea.
Who would excel at what?
Vulcans: Anything they set their minds to. They would be boring and consistent. Their most inspirational athletes would probably dazzle with a technical precision that couldn't be denied. Think of a Nadia Comaneci that would be able to stay consistent for years. The Vulcans would probably excel at Gymnastics, Figure Skating(if school figures were brought back), or just about anything. They'd be like the former Soviet Union in the Olympics without the bad stuff(doping, cheating, etc).
Humans: They wouldn't have the edge in any one sport, but, would find ways to improve in each sport. In Star Trek it was implied that Humans abilities to adapt were their greatest strengths. In physical and mental abilities they were dead average. So being able to inch up would help them. They'd probably excel at Swimming, Parisees Squares, and a sport like Baseball( a trained team not the pick up DS9 team).
Klingons: This is tough. I'm sure there would be an Olympic Batleth Event. I can't think of what they would do best. The Klingons would think a sport like Gymnastics would be a means to an end of improving combat excellence, the Track and Field events too. It's hard to imagine their society devoting resources to these endeavors as an end in itself.
Cardassians: Certain events in Gymnastics. The guys would rock the Rings, Parallel Bars, High Bar, and Pommel Horse with that presumed upper body strength. The gals on the Uneven Bars and Floor Exercise. In DS9 , Garak had mentioned that Cardassia had a long standing Dance tradition.
Romulans: I'd like to say they're uber competitive Vulcans but from what I've seen on ST, their physical abilities seem to be, on a parity with Humans. If they decided to compete in the Olympics; they would devote resources to the Olympic Prestige events.
Controversies:
Should a joined Trill be allowed to compete in the Olympics? We don't know how plain Emony did by herself. Does a Symbiont add too much of an edge?
20th/21st century doping and age falsification would be easily detected. What about genetic resequencing? Julian Bashir's parents had it done so their son could have a high powered career. What about a parent who wants their kid to have the right stuff to win an Olympic Gold Medal?
Subjectivity: In sports like Diving, Figure Skating and Gymnastics; there will probably be a means of objectively quantifying a score for the athletic elements. However, a sentient judge would be wanted for the "artistic" element. Can anyone hear, "A 1.00 from the Romulan judge! Poor little Mary Lou her dreams for a Latinum Medal are spaced! I know she made the poor judge listen to Yakety Sax for Floor Exercise, but this was really uncalled for!"
Sports would be different of course. In Henry VIII's time, Tennis was quite popular, but dangerous. If we look at a sport like Gymnastics and see the changes over the last 100 years..you get the idea.
Who would excel at what?
Vulcans: Anything they set their minds to. They would be boring and consistent. Their most inspirational athletes would probably dazzle with a technical precision that couldn't be denied. Think of a Nadia Comaneci that would be able to stay consistent for years. The Vulcans would probably excel at Gymnastics, Figure Skating(if school figures were brought back), or just about anything. They'd be like the former Soviet Union in the Olympics without the bad stuff(doping, cheating, etc).
Humans: They wouldn't have the edge in any one sport, but, would find ways to improve in each sport. In Star Trek it was implied that Humans abilities to adapt were their greatest strengths. In physical and mental abilities they were dead average. So being able to inch up would help them. They'd probably excel at Swimming, Parisees Squares, and a sport like Baseball( a trained team not the pick up DS9 team).
Klingons: This is tough. I'm sure there would be an Olympic Batleth Event. I can't think of what they would do best. The Klingons would think a sport like Gymnastics would be a means to an end of improving combat excellence, the Track and Field events too. It's hard to imagine their society devoting resources to these endeavors as an end in itself.
Cardassians: Certain events in Gymnastics. The guys would rock the Rings, Parallel Bars, High Bar, and Pommel Horse with that presumed upper body strength. The gals on the Uneven Bars and Floor Exercise. In DS9 , Garak had mentioned that Cardassia had a long standing Dance tradition.
Romulans: I'd like to say they're uber competitive Vulcans but from what I've seen on ST, their physical abilities seem to be, on a parity with Humans. If they decided to compete in the Olympics; they would devote resources to the Olympic Prestige events.
Controversies:
Should a joined Trill be allowed to compete in the Olympics? We don't know how plain Emony did by herself. Does a Symbiont add too much of an edge?
20th/21st century doping and age falsification would be easily detected. What about genetic resequencing? Julian Bashir's parents had it done so their son could have a high powered career. What about a parent who wants their kid to have the right stuff to win an Olympic Gold Medal?
Subjectivity: In sports like Diving, Figure Skating and Gymnastics; there will probably be a means of objectively quantifying a score for the athletic elements. However, a sentient judge would be wanted for the "artistic" element. Can anyone hear, "A 1.00 from the Romulan judge! Poor little Mary Lou her dreams for a Latinum Medal are spaced! I know she made the poor judge listen to Yakety Sax for Floor Exercise, but this was really uncalled for!"
