Ok with the Olympics in full swing, lets see how fit some of the boards members are/were. Full list of events here. So which have you tried?

Archery - Rubbish, couldn't get my head round having to aim higher than what I was aiming at (at 11, my grasp of physics and gravity was poor, I tried to fly with bin bags for crying out loud)

Athletics - Did a few field events, long jump and high jump was better. anything that involved running more than 30/40 metre's I tried to avoid.

Badminton - enjoyed it, but was rubbish

Basketball - too small, although I tried to play it at the highest level possible (no pun intended )

Canoing - Did it while in the Scouts (dib dib) and normally tipped it on purpose

Cycling - only cycle for fitness, nothing competitive

Football - Played goalies and loved it, also played full back latter on when I got a bit older and couldn't reach the crossbar

Hockey - Only played it once tbh, and it was part of my P.E. course, was in nets for the pads, didn't concede a goal in my 3 group stages....conceded 5 in the 1/4 finals. DOH!

Swimming - like a brick

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Archery, althetics, badminton, baseball, basketball, canoeing, cricket, croquet, cycling, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey (field), rowing (mens 8), sailing, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, tug of war, and volleyball.

I've mostly tried these things at high school or for fun somewhere else. I competed in rowing at university but just in the novice team. Other than that it was all for fitness or for a laugh or because I had to do it in PE at school :P

I played Table Tennis on holiday once, that truely is a "sport" worthy of being in the Olympics. I walk quite a bit too, and that is a "sport" in the Olympics.

One of the luvvies in the pub last night made a good point: "How does anyone find out they're good at the pole vault?"

Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, BMX racing, Canoeing, Cricket, Cycling, Table tennis, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey (field), Polo, Rowing, Rugby union, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Tug of war, Volleyball, Water motorsports, Water polo, Weightlifting.

Most of which I played in school/college/university. Others are either a hobby or something I did for fun on various holidays. Though I chose to remove Archery as although I have tried it, I don't think shooting at a friends garden fence really counts.

Football, small-bore rifle, 400m track, 800m track, show jumping (), 100m freestyle, judo, boxing, gymnastics (Trampoline, vault), 10m diving, 3m springboard, muff-diving and bog-snorkelling.
Can we add Winter Olympics too?
Downhill, slalom, freestyle snowboard, Biathlon.

Football, clay pigeon shooting (not sure if it's still in the olympics these days though), archery, shotput, discus, javelin, swimming,

Probably a few more, but I can't think of them at the moment.

I have boxed and done several Martial Arts that I think are not included in the olympics as I didn't do Judo. My Dad who was a 5 year british champion in freestyle wrestling got asked to go into the olympics for obviously doing freestyle wrestling but he was about to retire and turned going into the olympics down.

Most of them... Volleyball, basket ball, soccer (football in europe), football (tackle football), badminton, table tennis, tennis, swimming, etc. Quite a bit in fact.

The only one I've done REALLY seriously was Tae Kwon Do but after I got to the black belt it got so repetitive and got anoying so I left... I might start again but this time serious training for more competitions. So far I've only done 1 major competition and 1 friendly competition. Silver at the big tournement and gold at the friendly one (was our club vs another :P)

Tennis..monday at saturday

Perhaps this should be a [public] poll (check-as-many-boxes-as-you-like)?

I've done dozens, but the only ones worth mentioning are gymnastics (3 yrs, 9 hrs/week), and cycling (only about 45 miles at a time).

Quote from thisnameistaken :

One of the luvvies in the pub last night made a good point: "How does anyone find out they're good at the pole vault?"

Same way you find out if you're a good drunk...

Most pole vaulters i know came from a gymnastics background. It's an event which requires good upper body strength and extreme agility and coordination. (and guts, coz it's damn scary when you're hanging upside down clinging onto a bendy plastic pole waiting for it to fling you into the stratosphere).

For some reason i know quite a lot about the pole vault even though i've only done it once in my life.

True story: Many many years ago at a club event (at Carnegie Hall in Leeds funnily enough) our second string vaulter didn't show up. So, me being the only one stupid enough in the team (i.e couldn't think of a decent excuse not to do it) i stepped up to the plate. Even though the event included Keith Stock the UK senior champion and UK record holder and Olympian, Ian Tullet the UK and European junior champion and record holder, and Andrew Wake the Scottish national champion, amazingly i didn't come last (probably for the same reasons i was in the event) I won't embarrass myself by telling you how high i managed to vault. But i can tell you that the winner of the high jump jumped higher than i did with a geet long pole

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On topic, yeah i done loads too, some at national and international level and some just for fun, but that was many many years ago. Nowadays i reckon i could be an Olympic Champion at watching telly.

Quote from mookie427 :

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Either you lie or I feel really sorry for you for never leaving your house.

Most of them, but mostly at school (pole vault for example, or gymnastics), or in a fleeting few minutes to see what happens (diving). I was at the level to represent my county in athletics, and not that far off my country, when I was in my late teens (100m, 200m, 400m and triple/long jump), but alcohol, cars and cigarettes were too appealling!

Quote from thisnameistaken :

One of the luvvies in the pub last night made a good point: "How does anyone find out they're good at the pole vault?"

After a similar alcohol-enhanced philosophical debate that occured years ago I found out that the traditional way is living in a bog. The more glamorous approach is if you had a good voice, a striped shirt and lived in Venice - then it would be a daily exercise getting out of your gondola to the ending notes of La Traviata. Note how both versions include the amusing possibility of a failed attempt ending in a messy splash* - something we are robbed off nowadays in the sporty variation.

* the lack of which, ironically, is likely what attracted female competitors </phallocratic comment of the day>

I like almost all games involving ball (not rugby, that isn't ball and i lack weight for this sport) though i suck in most of it. Played football for 10 years without any success, also tried tennis, basketball or volleyball, surprisingly no success at all. Also i like cycling and 100 meters sprint, once i did 13s and never did it again.

Has anyone here actually been asked to join the GB Team at the olympics?

Oh yeah - the topic.

Archery: liked it quite a bit, but didn't really follow up much in order to be able to tell if I'd be any good at it due to lack of facilities and equipment - only competition bow I've tried belonged to a pal who's pretty damn good at it and sadly it was left-handed and the only range I've seen was the one he built in his back yard.

Football, volleyball, basketball and handball: As you can tell from the grouping, I wasn't drawn in much.

Cycling: Quite fond of it ever since I learned how to balance on two wheels - occasionally entered competitive and non-competetive road cycling events.

Athletics: Ok in endurance running events - not much of a sprinter or jumper.

Boxing: Closest I got to that was kickboxing - had quite some fun in that, bruises and cracked ribs included, I'd gladly get back into it if I could find a trainer I could respect and decent club again.

Diving: I can utilize gravity quite well coming off a rock and not bellyflop but no fancy twirling and a miniature "plip" of a splash from me.

Swimming: I can move at a decent speed and can cover acceptable distances - but definitely not competitive and never in a swimming pool (blergh).

Shooting: I can get ~3 or 4 out of 10 shots in the bullseye (and the rest somewhere on the target) for a static target at 400m with the stock sights of an assault rifle - or at least I could. Oh, I can also blow up a barrel quite well at 150m with an M79 grenade launcher, even with a crosswind going - thank you Scorched Earth. Beats me what they compete with, I doubt they'd use the latter.

Quote from sam93 :

Has anyone here actually been asked to join the GB Team at the olympics?

They wanted me to act as a minder for Kelly Sotherton. Or at least that's what I told the court.

Archery - I only tried the once, I could barely pull the damn string thing back and I missed the target, and took up photography instead.

Athletics - I was in the track and field team at school, doing 800m, 1500m, long jump, triple jump, high jump, discus, and reserve for javelin. I also did cross country for county.

Badminton - I played a lot back at school and college but we didnt have a school team or anything.

Basketball - School Team, but we only ever played 1 match and lost.

Canoing - I canoed the full length of the ardeche river in France!

Cycling - I used to race bicycles, it's now my primary means of transport and is reminding me that with middle age comes a lack of fitness

Football - School team! I played in goal.

Hockey - School team! I scored lots of goals.

Swimming - I was in the house team at school for diving and backstroke, but never made the school team.

Can you tell I did GCSE Sports?

Well, most of those, but haven't really competed in them, except the track'n'field sports, football and some others as youth.

Nowadays I'm really into fencing. Haven't being in competitions yet, but I might give them a shot in few years after I've gained some experience in the art.

kicking people in the nuts.

Quote from JJ72 :

kicking people in the nuts.

You're thinking of Olympicks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotswold_Games

I have done plenty of them (mostly in school), but only serious attemps were probadly Badminton, which I played for three years, rowing, and trampoline when I was in elementary school, but the club was closed after a year

My doc once told me I should start Biathlon, because my body can calme itself down very fast But i have never done skiing.