Someone enlighten me as to why people in motorsports are considered athletes.

Excluding motorcycles of course.

This does not make any sense to me, we might as well call an 8 hour checkers match an athletic event.

 

Uh , F1 drivers have to deal with up to 5G's under braking and cornering multiple times per lap for 60 laps

 

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/understanding_the_sport/5298.html

 

So the companies choose fit people who can handle the g's

You can be trained to with stand some g's, just as you can be trained to fire a big gun. Does not mean your an athlete.

 

not to mention being light/fit is a requirement, every lb (or KG for you guys) counts in that sport.

 

Have a look through the F1 driver's line up and pick out the porker non-athletes for me

I'll wait here

 

Now some stupid type of racing like NASCAR... those guys are not athletes at all.

 

lulz

nice

 

Spend a couple hours dealing with high G forces and continuous control inputs on a vehicle traveling at 200MPH and see what you think about it then. I've never done it, but I know if I ever try, I'm gonna eat my Wheaties before I strap into the car. On a day when I've not had enough rest, or enough of the right food, or am poorly hydrated, I think there is a good chance I'd get myself hurt. I consider myself to be above average in the fitness department. Someone who is a couch potato and is having their best day physically is probably equivalent to me when I am having a bad day.

50 year old guy with a beer belly driving a midget racer around the track for 10 minutes is a bit different than trying to race NASCAR. Endurance is a factor.

 

So I guess I retract the statement for f1.....and (probably) le mans, but its still intact for nascar

Not that I really agree with golf begin a sport....but you can fine tune the body to do the said activity, which will get better.


The thing with racing...you can fine tune your body all you want but that is not producing the actual performance, the car is.

Get the best driver in the world and stick him ina shitty car and he will undoubtedly loose.

take the best golfer in the world and give him a shitty pair of clubs and he still stand a chance.

 

ath·lete
/ˈaTHlēt/
Noun
A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.
Synonyms
sportsman

 

So are you saying in order to be a genuine athlete, you have to do something that employs abilities and strengths that cannot be trained?


Yes, natural ability plays into how successful a person is, or may become at a given sport, but it isn't everything.

I don't really want to get into the define athlete debate, but that's really where this is headed

 

gah....shoulda typed faster...

 

I don't understand how you can say CC Sabathia is an athlete and then not include drivers?

 

You know what a physical activity is? Something that uses more energy that resting.

You know what the true definition of resting is? Laying down supine in a dim room, eyes shut not moving.


Walking is a physical activity by definition, if you want to play the definition game

 

Captain Cheeseburger!

 

Baseball is one of those boarder line "athletes". But seeing how they can train their bodies to directly better the sport, they are more of an athlete than drivers. There are countless players with out the gut

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0F440kkFC8
Tell me more about how nascar drivers aren't athletes?

 

Why are motorcyclists exempt from this?