The Winter Olympics are Infinitely More Dangerous than the Summer Olympics
Disclaimer: This is more of a comedic article—not entirely serious here.
From watching this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, I have come to a very interesting conclusion so far. As I watch the Winter Olympics for the first time as an adult (I did not watch in 2018), I have realized that the Winter Olympics are incredibly dangerous. When I watched the games as a kid, I simply thought that the snowboarding, figure skating, etc. was extremely cool and fun to watch! But, as I grow older, I think about the potential injuries and hardships on the aging human body.
With sports like snowboarding, skiing, and skating, I can’t help but think of the injuries. As someone who works in a field where I analyze injuries in an insurance context, I am constantly thinking about safety and how injuries can be prevented. I also happen to be very conscious of my own body and how it has changed as I’ve gotten older (unfortunately, I have begun to feel the first pops and cracks in my knees within the past few weeks). Due to this increased awareness, I cannot help but think about the potential risks at the Winter Olympics.
Here are a few scary ideas that run through my head when watching different Winter games:
Skiing
Admittedly, I have never been skiing, but who hasn’t heard of someone having a skiing accident? I imagine these athletes going downhill at 60–90 mph are incredibly coordinated—I mean, who can do that? That must be terrifying! I can only imagine what would happen if someone were to lose balance and wipe out, especially at that speed—broken bones, back injuries, head injuries, etc. And, I can’t even imagine the degeneration on the knees during the moguls.
Thankfully, for those who are a bit more risk-adverse, cross-country skiing seems to be a bit more safe. Maybe when I go skiing for the first time ever next month, I will take a few pointers from the cross-country athletes.
Snowboarding
The other night, I watched the women’s slope style snowboarding while safely wrapped up in a blanket on my couch. First of all, I just want to say that these athletes are amazing (shout out to Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Julia Marino!). I would be shaking in my boots at the height of that mountain, and my eventual plummet into the unknown. When I was watching the snowboarding event, I was amazed at these huge wipeouts, and then the athletes’ resilience as they got right back up and continued boarding. I mean, these women were tumbling over and over again downhill, and then started back up again. It was inspiring. But, as someone with a bad back, it couldn’t be me.
And, same with skiing, imagine the knee and lower body strength required to even ride a snowboard properly—the impact on the knees when landing from a high jump is something I could not fathom.
Skating
Both figure skating and speed skating scare me for two different reasons. With figure skating, I am thinking about the ankles. Growing up in the Midwest, I have been ice skating a million times with friends growing up. After skating for a few hours, however, I always noticed how painful my ankles felt afterwards. It could be that I was using cheap rental stakes during these outings, but I don’t think I could walk properly if that was my life’s work—like many of these skaters. I applaud them for this. With the figure skaters, specifically, I always cringe when someone does not make a landing and falls down. First, I always am worried about sprained ankles. Secondly, falling onto your backside or your hip onto solid ice (while not wearing coats and sweatpants) cannot be pleasant.
As for speed skating (and hockey, as well), I worry that someone is going to fall and in the middle of the game, someone else’s skate could accidentally run over their fingers. This does not happen very often with professionals, of course, but I worry.
Skeleton/Luge/Bobsled
These are all a “no” from me. No explanation needed here. They call it “Skeleton” for a reason, right?
On a more serious note, let’s take a moment to congratulate these amazing athletes from all across the globe! Even with all of these potential dangers ahead at the Winter Olympics, they are able to showcase their extreme talents and their skills to all of us watching from home. And, they somehow make it look easy. It makes me appreciate the Winter Olympics even more.
Thank you for reading! What do you think is the most dangerous Winter Olympic sport?
