There’s a gold medal right there if I ever saw one. (And shame on TCM for sticking in a promotion before Donald’s big finish.)
But seriously folks: is the Olympics about sports and athletic competition, or has become just a long TV variety show? The institution of “breaking” as an Olympic event is an ominous slippery slope that was already too slippery. The fact that an activity—like dancing—takes athletic ability still doesn’t mean it’s a competitive sport.
I became convinced that the dancing in the Olympics was one more reason I eschew the whole mess after reading a lament from a New York Times sports columnist titled, “Female Gymnasts Have to Dance. What if the Sport Actually Valued It?” I have a better idea: what if the Olympics just cut dancing the hell out the games entirely?
Why are female gymnasts required to dance and male gymnasts are not? Rhetorical question: it’s because the little pixies are so darned cute! Since when is cuteness a competitive sport, however? The female gymnasts even have choreographers: Simone Biles’ is a former professional ballet dancer. Then isn’t it the choreographer whose skills are on display when Biles is prancing rather than vaulting? If they are giving out medals for dance, why not choreography? I bet Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett and Gower Champion would have loved to have a gold medal up on the mantle with their Tonys and Oscars. (Gene Kelly and O’Connor worked out the famous routine above from “Singing in the Rain.”
What is at stake is integrity, something that started seeping out of the Olympics long ago with biased judges, steroids, and the NBA sending its professional goons to slaughter the field in basketball. Drawing a bright line between actual sports and “things people like to watch on TV” would be good place to start making the Olympics Olympian again. Right now, baseball isn’t an Olympic sport, but “breaking” is.
How much do you want to bet that cheerleading is next?
Ethics Alarms 
Two thoughts:
I don’t like anything with a subjective measure. You know who wins the race, the basketball game and the shot put. If a judge has to score something, it is fundamentally corruptible.
that eliminates breaking, but it also eliminates diving. But, while it eliminates diving, it would not eliminate most other swimming events.
but, it would eliminate all (?) gymnastic events. That’s kind of an absurd result. Gymnastics has to be an Olympic sport. Hell, which other events actually are derived from the Greek Language. And, by the way, the athleticism of gymnastics is undeniable.
unfortunately, that means that synchronized diving and, later, break dancing are down the slippery slope created by the inclusion of a subjective element to judging an event.
second thought: Mrs. Gory wondered why men’s gymnastics has more events than women’s gymnastics. (Women have the balance beam, while men have the parallel bars and the rings. Maybe the dance routine (rhythmic gymnastics? Or athletic? I forget) is meant to even out the events between men and women.
-Jut
Arggh. I was going to mention how I hate the subjective scoring events—they are like dog shows. I forgot. Yes, gymnastics would go, and so would a lot of winter Olympics stuff that’s insanely popular. No reason exceptions couldn’t be made for the exiting events, that require it, especially since they have a long history. But capping them is possible, reasonable and desirable.
I joke that it isn’t a sport if it isn’t measured (time or points) or has a defense. So, for these subjective ‘sports’, why don’t we add a defense?
or
We could return the Olympics to its roots as demonstration of martial ability. We could get rid of bicycle riding and introduce tank maneuvers. We could get rid of shotput (old military) and replace it with grenade throwing. Who doesn’t want to watch the simulated air-to-air combat? Too bad, so sad curling.
The Olympics are a side show for people who don’t really follow the respective sports. Scrap the Olympics and let the respective sports continue to have their annual championships. The NBA, as well as track and field can have their annual world championships without ab bunch of old guys from Switzerland pocketing gobs of money.
And by the way, I saw last night that the members of the two-man men’s beach volleyball (beach volleyball?} team from Qatar, which is heading to the finals, are from Gambia and Senegal, respectively, and are as Arab looking as George Clooney. Evidently each country can make up its own eligibility requirements!