I think it would depend on the scoring system - Edit 1
Before modification by LadyLorraine at 27/02/2010 11:05:54 PM
For example, the equestrian events. The Show jumping and Cross Country phases of the eventing easily fall under Cannoli's definition (penalties for clear tangible events like fallen rails, fallen fences and time penalties. Not much different than Track and Field events).
But Dressage is a bit tricky. It's a "performance", but the score for each movement tends to only vary between judges by a point. Judges are rigorously trained on objective analysis of each movement and what each score defines. At an Olympic level, the scores between each judge (I believe there's about 4) will only vary by a few percentiles (if that). But still, depending on one's definition of sport, it would not be considered one.
But mere objectivity can't define a game as a sport, can it? After all, under such a definition, most board games and puzzles would classify as a sport.
But Dressage is a bit tricky. It's a "performance", but the score for each movement tends to only vary between judges by a point. Judges are rigorously trained on objective analysis of each movement and what each score defines. At an Olympic level, the scores between each judge (I believe there's about 4) will only vary by a few percentiles (if that). But still, depending on one's definition of sport, it would not be considered one.
But mere objectivity can't define a game as a sport, can it? After all, under such a definition, most board games and puzzles would classify as a sport.