It should be carried out in classic cars. And they could even join the real Olympics at a later stage.
It is as if everything happens more slowly at the Winter Olympics. Just like the traffic these days, where snow has fallen in some places. And I love snow. Also on the roads. It’s fun, it’s beautiful, it’s slow.
Slow – should that be a quality nowadays? Yes, I think so. There are so many other things which happen fast. Without really getting anywhere anyway. Perhaps the human brain can not even perceive it. Formula One, for example. It’s fast, of course – but it’s rather hard to grasp all the nuances. Today, that is – even Formula 1 was slower in the old days, mainly because the grip was not as good. That’s why the cars would slide more and you could better appreciate the speed.
A bit like curling, then. A fantastically slow sport. Incredibly TV-suitable. Which is important today. Slow, as mentioned – but with its own elegance. Its own rhythm. It’s actually quite beautiful. Unfortunately its sounds awful, and it’s too monotonous.
Just as incredibly many sports are at the Winter Olympics. As far as I remember, at least – because I didn’t actually watch any of it this year. Not a single skating princess. The Winter Olympics has lost me.
Which is really a pity for both of us, so I would like to suggest a sport that the committee should consider taking on for the next Winter Olympics: Rally!
You could argue that this exact sport could equally be a part of the summer Olympics, but actually it would not be the same: Then it would be too fast. If nothing else, I will maintain that for political reasons. In fact, I would like to have rally in the summer too, but we need to get the ball rolling first – and as this will be enough for four years let’s postpone the Summer Olympics-rallying until the next time. I also think that the snow-rally fits much better for the Winter Olympics, which – as far as I remember – is very much carried out on snow and ice.
With rally cars on snow, spectators can truly enjoy what’s happening – at a pace we can all keep up with. You can see how the drivers battle the natural forces. Gravity, friction, momentum and so forth. You can watch and maybe even grasp their technique. You can hear their modulation of the accelerator. Beautiful music as it bounces off the mountainside. Or bouncing back from the gym walls if it is to be done indoors, and why shouldn’t it. In any event – a skilled driver in control of a racing car on snow, is possibly one of the most elegant dances you can find anywhere.
What matters to me is that it is carried out in rear-wheel drive cars. It is simply the most correct thing to do: It looks the best and again it does not happen too fast, so all spectators can keep up. Off the record, it might even give us Scandinavians a bigger chance of winning medals?
Some will argue that the rear wheel drive will rule out many modern cars. To that I can only reply “exactly”. I imagine that the mentioned Olympics can be settled solely by using the Opel Kadett GT/E, Ford Escort and Fiat 131. This will keep costs down and add a wonderful nostalgic factor, which I equally feel the winter Olympics are missing: Is there, for example, a class for wooden skis? I was shocked to find that they did not shoot with real rifles anymore. If the nationality aspect is to be emphasized, one could work a little with the idea that nations should drive in a car manufactured in their home country.
Yes, I actually think I’m on to something here that could lift the next Winter Olympics several levels. Of course there is politics going on here as well, but luckily us Danes have our Crown Prince Frederik infiltrating the committee. He can support the idea and work to get snowerallies into the next Winter Olympics.
And if not that, then perhaps snow rallying could at least replace New Year’s Ski Jump, which we’re always stuck with every single 1st of January. Well, I would actually claim that if it were possible to settle the Winter Olympics by running historic rally cars, it could also replace the New Year’s Concert. There you go, Crown Prince Fredrik – the idea is at your disposal and for your free use.
