Sport or Artistic Competition? You be the judge ...

[LoudMusic]

A while back I got into an argument with a couple friends about sports and artistic competitions. One friend and myself together argued that, essentially, if the competition's final outcome is decided by a judge then it is not a sport but rather an artistic competition. If the outcome is derived scientifically then it is a sport.

Examples: A marathon is a sport. Scientifically the first person to cross the line wins. Diving is an artistic competition. The winner is selected by a pannel of judges.

This does not mean that the contestants in artistic competitions are not athletes, nore does it mean that either catagory is better than the other. We just felt that it was necessary to seperate the two.

What, if any, thoughts do you have to share on the topic?

The two friends were actually a couple at the time. The female being a former cheerleader and childhood pageant contestant. The male being a swimmer and all around superb athlete. I myself am a sailor and runner.

 

[gt4]

I completly agree with you on this one. I'd elaborate more but you pretty much nailed it to me.

 

[Morlow]

Totally agree too. If there are judges deciding who wins it's definitely an artistic competition.

 

[(G)]

Agreed. That's the end-all explaination.

 

[eliseracer]

Snowboarding is clearly a sport. People race slalom or whatever (I don't follow alpine snowboarding) and it is measure on time. That, according to your definition, is a sport. Then you take a look at any park at any hill. People are lining up for a nice switch backside rodeo 5, or nailing that backside lip, or calling their dropin for the pipe. Yeah, the competitions are being judged, but there is no saying it isn't a sport. Tell any shred that what they are doing is an "artistic competition" and they'll surely laugh at you and tell you to get out of their way.

By the way, whoever said sports had to be defined by competition format? Competing is a small portion of any activity, and shouldn't be dragged into how 95% of the participants do it.

 

[a6m5]

I think LoudMusic makes a very good point. I'm not 100% sure on the subject, but I do kinda agree with him. Even if the "judged" competition are still sports, they are quite different type of sports for sure.

I also wondered about Motor Sports/Racing. I think they are just racing, not sports. I don't know.

 

[LoudMusic]

Not sure how I got back to this thread, but I see new posts since the last time I visited here. So I feel I need to respond (:

Snowboarding is clearly a sport. People race slalom or whatever (I don't follow alpine snowboarding) and it is measure on time. That, according to your definition, is a sport. Then you take a look at any park at any hill. People are lining up for a nice switch backside rodeo 5, or nailing that backside lip, or calling their dropin for the pipe. Yeah, the competitions are being judged, but there is no saying it isn't a sport. Tell any shred that what they are doing is an "artistic competition" and they'll surely laugh at you and tell you to get out of their way.

By the way, whoever said sports had to be defined by competition format? Competing is a small portion of any activity, and shouldn't be dragged into how 95% of the participants do it.

I would say downhill snowboarding / skiing is definitely a sport with obvious victors. But halfpipe and such are judged. They don't fit in the same group.

And I really don't understand what you're getting at with the second paragraph.

 

[Omnis]

Anything decided by objective fact is sport, whereas, subjective judging is contest.

I mean, look up the definition of contest. It doesn't get much clearer.

 

[Gabkicks]

if the judging is far more subjective than objective... than it could be considered more of an artform that requires a large amount of athleticism...