re: Could you make an Olympic team?

You're correct. There is a reason why some countries send 1 or 2 Olympian total if any.

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We were able to do bullshite MMA fights when we were deployed once every couple of months. So after work we'd hit the gym workout and grapple on the mats a bit. Alot of it is wrestling, and although it's one of the most beast workouts you'll ever get. It's wasn't "hard" if that makes sense.

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Not to discredit your service time at all, but doing bullshite Mma is nowhere near wrestling on an Olympic level

Professional Mma is nowhere near wrestling on an Olympic level.

I've been 15 minutes in the UFC and I dread the days I have to go to the local high school and participate in those practices


ETA, grappling for Mma and wrestling are not the same

I enjoy getting on the mats and grappling. I hate wrestling, which is decidedly different

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ETA, grappling for Mma and wrestling are not the same

I enjoy getting on the mats and grappling. I hate wrestling, which is decidedly different

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I just wrestled in high school for a couple years and unless someone actually experiences a wrestling match, I don't think you can truly appreciate how exhausting it is. I absolutely cannot fathom how much tougher it has to be going against world class athletes. Others have stated there are more strenuous sports. I get marathons/ultramarathons, high level ironman distances, etc...but outside of that, I can't think of any.

There are many Olympians (10% or so, but that is almost a thousand athletes) who are nowhere near world class. To get every country in the world to participate, there are "wild card" spots given to small countries like Monaca, Bermuda, Krbati, island nations in the Pacific, etc.

That's why you see guys running the 100 meters in 13 seconds in the first round qualifiers, a guy from Equatorial Guinea who could barely swim, and a rower from Niger who had never been inside a boat until April 2012.

If anyone with very average athletic ability was lucky enough to be a dual citizen for one of those countries, he could easily make an Olympic team. Then, there are the countries that are a bit more legit but still have much easier qualifying times than the contenders.

I knew a kid in my freshman dorm who was an Olympic alternate in Athens for Chinese Taipei, but he wasn't even one of the best swimmers on a very average Duke team.

It's way harder to find your way to the Olympics through loopholes on a team sport since there are usually only 12-16 countries that qualify, while there are maybe 60 countries in the 100 meters. Although it won't be the top 12 countries, even the worst team will be like top 40 in the world, probably.

So if they are trying to get a solo athlete in from a country that wouldn't legitimately qualify in anything do they just take whoever was closest out of the pool of different athletes? Biggest event? (Probably easier to find a Marathon runner or something like that).