The thing that gets me is the difference between "I can win Olympic gold" which is what 10 seconds? And "I'm competitive at the school sports day event" which is ~15 seconds?
For me that's right up there with the difference between the fastest anyone's ever run a mile and the pace per mile of someone running an Olympic marathon. Both seem really weird in a way I can't put my finger on.
I believe many people have jokingly proposed that every Olympic event contain one random/normal person to give some sense of perspective of the real skill and performance of the Olympians.
I saw a swimming contest where all the swimmer except one were normal peple (who swim regularly, the ones on the fast lane at your local pool) and an olympic swimmer.
They jumped except for the swimmer who just got on the starting pole, adjusted his glasses, smiled around, stretched and finally started. He expectedly won.
He was not showing off, it was to show the difference between active people and top class pros.
I was a competitive swimmer in high school, and I note that the Olympic lap times are about on a par with mine.
Except that they're in a 50 meter pool, and I was in a 25 meter pool.
At one point I could run marathons in 3 hours, 50% longer than the winners. Now I'm old, and I'm trying to get back to running them merely 100% longer. That is unlikely.
It's great when people don't hold back, we have a local case of farmer next door hits 24 x 24 inch targets at 5,000 yards while his spotter hits soda cans at 1,200 yards.
Bit daunting for the rest of us, but a good source of advice and tips.
The thing that gets me is the difference between "I can win Olympic gold" which is what 10 seconds? And "I'm competitive at the school sports day event" which is ~15 seconds?
For me that's right up there with the difference between the fastest anyone's ever run a mile and the pace per mile of someone running an Olympic marathon. Both seem really weird in a way I can't put my finger on.
I believe many people have jokingly proposed that every Olympic event contain one random/normal person to give some sense of perspective of the real skill and performance of the Olympians.
I saw a swimming contest where all the swimmer except one were normal peple (who swim regularly, the ones on the fast lane at your local pool) and an olympic swimmer.
They jumped except for the swimmer who just got on the starting pole, adjusted his glasses, smiled around, stretched and finally started. He expectedly won.
He was not showing off, it was to show the difference between active people and top class pros.
I was a competitive swimmer in high school, and I note that the Olympic lap times are about on a par with mine.
Except that they're in a 50 meter pool, and I was in a 25 meter pool.
At one point I could run marathons in 3 hours, 50% longer than the winners. Now I'm old, and I'm trying to get back to running them merely 100% longer. That is unlikely.
I used to think that, and then I realized that if you stuck a random person in the synchronized swimming event, they would just straight up die.
Didn't they try that with the breakdancing competition in 2024? /s
I'd like to play a football match with Messi, if my kids shared a class with his.
I don't think it was intentional, being kottke.org, but it's a terrific click bait headline.
A great short video — though I was hoping she was running against the kids.
It's great when people don't hold back, we have a local case of farmer next door hits 24 x 24 inch targets at 5,000 yards while his spotter hits soda cans at 1,200 yards.
Bit daunting for the rest of us, but a good source of advice and tips.