Fencing

Fencing has been contested at every modern Olympic games since 1896.  Women's events were added in 1924.  Today, there are three forms of Olympic fencing:  epee, foil, and saber.  Cutting Edge Fencing Center developed a short class for us to be able to experience all three forms.  But first, we had to don our protective gear, including plastic chest plates.

Also known as Xena bras

After learning to hold the equipment and practicing some basic walking techniques, we began with foil.  The foil is a light thrusting weapon, and your target is limited to the torso.  Double touches are not allowed.  We learned to thrust at each other, and to deflect our opponents' attacks.

Next up was saber, which is a light cutting and thrusting weapon.  The target area is anything above the waist, except the back of the head and hands.  Points can only be scored if you have the right of way:  first one competitor attacks, then the other.  For saber we donned jackets and gloves that would give off an electrical signal if a touch was scored.

Finally, we tried out epee.  Like foil, epee is a thrusting weapon, but it is much heavier, and the target area is the entire body.  There is no right of way in epee.  After being able to score a point in saber with a slashing motion, it was harder to only get points in epee for a thrust.  Cutting Edge set up a little mini-tournament for us, and we all found that we favored different events.  Thanks, Cutting Edge.

Wrestling

Wrestling was introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC, and was a focus of the modern Olympic Games in 1896.  Women's wrestling was added in 2004.  In February 2013, the IOC voted to remove wrestling from the Olympic program, but in September of that year they voted to re-add wrestling.

Men compete in both Greco-Roman wrestling and Freestyle, while women only compete in Freestyle.  The major difference is that Freestyle allows the use of the wrestler's or opponent's legs for defense or offense.  The ultimate goal is to throw and pin your opponent to the mat, resulting in an immediate win.  The US is very successful in Olympic wrestling, as are the former Soviet Union and Japan.

Green B. Trimble Technical High School has both men's and women's wrestling, and the coach and team were generous enough to let us join one of their practices.  We weighed in and did some warm up exercises, and practiced some techniques.  Flexibility is a major component of wrestling, to allow you to escape an opponent's grip, or to grab your opponent.  We were very impressed with the flexibility of the wrestlers.

After learning some techniques, we paired up with each other or with members of the team.  We had a lot of fun throwing and pinning each other.

M has L flipped backwards

L was a huge fan of the leg-lace

R and J wrestling

R doesn't seem to concerned with L's hold on her.

L is about to win the count-out

M working with a Trimble Tech wrestler

Practice lasted a couple hours, and afterwards we re-weighed ourselves.  We all lost a few pounds during the workout.  We also learned a lot about wrestling, and had a great time.  Thank you, Trimble Tech.  Go Bulldogs!

Trampoline

Trampolining was added to the Olympic program in 2000.  Its a sport where gymnasts perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline.  These can include simple jumps in the pike, tuck, or straddle position, or more complex combinations of somersaults and twists.  We were able to meet at Altitude Trampoline Park before it officially opened for the day, so we had all of the trampolines for ourselves, to try our own routines.

R doing a straddle

J doing a star-jump

L did a flip!

M doing a herkie

A tuck for L

Kayak

Kayaking and canoeing have been featured in the Summer Olympics since 1936.  There are two disciplines:  whitewater slalom and a sprint on calm water.  The women's events only use kayaks, with either 1, 2, or 4 kayakers.

There's not a lot of whitewater rapids around north Texas, but we do have a river with calm water, and kayak rentals at the Panther Island Pavilion.  We rented some one person kayaks and two person canoes (the two person kayaks were already rented out).  They did not have 4 person kayaks, so we used a 3 person canoe, to get the feel of having multiple rowers.  We slalomed through some bouys, and completed both the 200m and 500m sprint distances.

R, M, and J do a triple canoe, while K is in her kayak in the background.

R in a single kayak

L and J doing doubles

L and R in a double canoe

Kayaking was tons of fun!

Rugby

In 2016, rugby will return to the Olympics after an absence of nearly a century.  Rugby union has only been featured in four Olympic games, the latest in 1924.  When US team defeated France in Paris angry fans invaded the field and the French team and police had to protect the US team.  This gave rugby a bad reputation, and the IOC cut rugby in favor of focusing on women's and individual sports.

Men's and women's rugby sevens will be played in Rio.  Sevens is a version of union that features only seven people per team, and has a shorter playing time.  Panther City Rugby has a women's team (the Pink Panthers) and they let us come join one of their practices.  They are always looking for "sturdy" women to play with them.

To warm up, we just formed into two teams and tried to get the ball into the end zone by running and passing.  We didn't worry about rules or positions at this time, we were just practicing throwing, catching, and playing in a group.

We then worked on some drills to learn proper rugby techniques.  You can only pass the ball to a teammate behind you on the field, so we lined up and ran across the field to do just that.  Its actually harder than you think to not run in front of the person with the ball.

The Pink Panthers played a two-hand touch game with one of the men's teams on the next practice field, but we didn't participate.  The coach took some time to explain to us more of the rules, and how scrums and rucks work.  We've watched rugby on TV a few times, but we were not familiar with the rules at all.  The things we thought were important turned out to not be important at all, and we had no idea what the real important aspects were.  We had a lot of fun, and would like to go back and maybe join that two-hand touch game.  Its always nice to find something that appreciates sturdy women.

Track Cycling - Keirin, Omnium, Pursuit, Sprint

There are only three Olympic size cycling tracks in the US, and the Superdrome in Frisco conveniently happens to be one of them. After BMX we were feeling more comfortable with our cycling skills, but the velodrome quickly humbled us.  It is intimidating to just look at the steep sides, which are banked 44 degrees in the turns, and 13 degrees in the straights.

Turn 2

You need to take a course before you're allowed to ride on the Superdrome, and Suzie was able to give us a private class. The bicycles are a little different than regular bikes - there are no gears, and no brakes, and the pedals are directly linked to the back wheel, so you constantly have to be pedaling.  Our first lesson was simply getting on the bike and taking off.  Suzie gave us all a push, and we rode around the concrete infield.

K starts off.

J is off to the warm up track.

Then we had to learn how to stop.  You resist the forward pedaling motion with your legs to slow down, slip one foot out of the pedals, and when you think you're going slow enough you put that foot on the ground.  After a few tries we were all able to stop successfully, which means we moved up to the track.  We started out riding around the apron, then gradually moved further and further up the track.  There is a minimum speed limit of 12 mph in order to not fall down in the turns.

The steep turns did not get any less intimidating as we rode on them.  Although we were all doing a fine job riding, we were still a little nervous, and glad we had plenty of room on the track to spread out.  We lined up along the rail to practice race starts, but we gave each other plenty of space.

No crowding

To start, you push off the rail and pedal furiously

The current Olympic lineup for track cycling includes the events of Keirin, Omnium, Pursuit, and Sprint.  We never got comfortable enough to complete an event, but we are very proud of the fact that we rode on the Superdrome.  We took a few tumbles, but no one got hurt.  I think track cycling is the hardest event that we have done so far, mainly because of the fear of the track.

Shooting - Pistol, Rifle, Air Pistol, Air Rifle

In addition to Trap and Skeet, there are four other shooting Olympic events for women: Sport Pistol, Rifle Three Positions, Air Pistol, and Air Rifle.  We met at Winchester Gallery to work our way through these.

Sport pistol, officially known as 25 meter pistol, is an event done one a 25 meter course with a .22 caliber pistol.  All firing must be done with one hand, unsupported.  We didn't have a .22 pistol, so we used a 9 mm, and needed to use both hands to support the recoil.  We also didn't have our target 25 meters away, as this was the first time that some of us had ever fired a pistol.  We all did really well though, hitting our targets most of the time.

In rifle three positions, shots are taken from prone, standing, and kneeling positions.  A .22 caliber rifle is used, over a 50 meter course.  We did have a .22 rifle, but we set our target at 25 meters.  It was a little awkward to get into some of the positions in the range, but we did it.

After using the 9 mm and the .22 rifle, the air pistol and air rifle felt very light.  Both of these events are done on a 10 meter course.  I actually found it harder to aim the air pistol, maybe because I was used to the heavier, more substantial feel of the 9 mm.  Unfortunately, our air rifle wouldn't work, but we got the idea of it.

BMX

There are two types of BMX - racing and freestyle.  BMX racing is a sprint race on a single lap track; BMX freestyle involves jumps and tricks.  In 2008 BMX racing was added to the Olympics for men and women.  We met at Cowtown BMX to give this new sport a try.  No one did any front flips or tail whips or 360s, but we weren't supposed to.  We did ride as fast as we could around the track.

BMX courses typically have a steeply sloped starting gate, and a serpentine dirt track with hills, rollers, and banked turns.  BMX bikes are typically low, with no gears, and you don't sit on the seat while racing.  Cowtown BMX allowed us to use our mountain bikes, but some of the other racers there let us try out their real BMX bikes.  It took us between one and two minutes to complete the lap, and was a great workout.

The ramp was intimidating at first, but we soon became comfortable with it.

M and R going up a hill.

L going into a turn.

L's turn on the rollers.

M got some air with her front wheel.

L has a large lead on J

Big smiles from J

BMX is tons of fun.  Some of us admitted to having missed out all these years, and some of us are definitely planning on going back for more.