When people think of Olympic sports, we tend to think of sports powered by some sort of muscle power. The 100m dash, skiing, basketball, all of these require muscles to be accomplished. Really, this view harkens back to the original Olympics of Ancient Greece, where the Games were a testament to the pinnacle of human strength and physical accomplishment. In that light, the thought of an Olympic sport involving a motor seems almost sacreligious.

But I would argue that the modern Olympics as a competition of human physical strength is a myth. A quick look at various Olympic events shows that there are many events where physical strength plays little if any role in success. Any of the shooting disciplines are excellent examples. Yes, I will concede that there is a certain amount of strength and stamina required to hold a pistol or rifle dead steady for 60 consecutive shots. But having competitively shot several shooting disciplines myself, I can honestly say that they are almost entirely mental sports. Absolute mental concentration on your sights, target, and trigger control is what truly sets the world’s best apart from the simply mundane. Contrast that with the physical build and strength requirements to be competitive in something like the 100m dash or the shotput and you will see that while both are sports, one rewards physical prowess and one mental prowess.

Then of course there are the equestrian events, where the brunt of the work is done by the horse, not by the rider. Yes, there is a physical demand to riding a horse, but the ultimate action is entirely a function of the horse and its ability. Anything else would be like arguing that a car brakes primarily by the effort of pushing the brake pedal, rather than the effort of the braking system itself. I see no fundamental difference between telling a horse what to do and telling a car what to do. If anything, I would argue that driving a car is harder, as you literally have to make every fine correction that a living animal should be able to make on its own.

There is also the little-known fact that there actually has been a motorsport in the Olympics. The 1908 Olympics in London featured 3 motorboat events, each of which made 5 laps around an 8-mile course. Due to a rather severe gale during the events, only 1 of the boats actually made it to the end of each race, meaning that only a gold medal has ever been awarded in Olympic motorboating.

So where do motorsports fit into all of this? I am of the opinion that motorsports are most definitely a sport. The mental concentration, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and stamina required to successfully complete a race are at least on par or greater than virtually any sport at the Beijing Olympics. Physical prowess is not crucial for motorsports, but neither is it for shooting or archery. Then of course there is the technological argument - that motorsports is a function of technology more than anything else - but this too does not withstand comparison. Look at any modern air rifle, and you will see a level of technological sophistication on par with most major motorsports series. Look at the technology that goes into such things as skis, or running shoes, or a tennis racket, or the design of a soccer ball. All these sports owe their current status to technological advances as much as to the athletes who are able to exploit the technology.

The issue really boils down to whether a primarily mental activity can be a sport, or whether a sport primarily requires a demonstration of physical prowess. As the wide range of mental-oriented events already in the Olympics demonstrates, “sport” is really a much broader term than most people tend to acknowledge, broad enough that motorsports fits comfortably within its scope.