Jousting in the Olympics

The 2012 Olympics were in London and due to the British Isles connection to all things Renaissancey I think they should make jousting an Olympic sport.

Now that you have stopped laughing, I am completely serious.  No theatrical jousting, full contact, full armor.  Think about it, people, we have equestrian events already, we have fencing, why not some jousting?  Each country brings in their best horses, their best jousters and we have some real pageantry.

Now, I realize that there will be people saying:  “But they have never jousted in Jamaica.”

But they never had bobsledding until they put a team together for that.  And their horse could be awesome.  He could have a rasta hat on the horse and kind of a Bob Marley motif on the armor.  It would be awesome.  And some of the countries, especially those in Europe have a huge jousting tradition in their background.  It would be nice to see it come back.  We already have championships around the country and around the globe for jousting so this would just be another step.  And on top of that they already have the equestrian stadium that they have to build every four years anyway.  Put in a chute and let them tilt against each other.

Really the only drawback I could see is if a country that has no jousting history beat Britain or France or Germany the first year out.  Can you imagine the humiliation.

You have this proud knight from England on a gleaming horse and you have a jouster from one of the Caribbean island countries in patched together armor on a smaller horse facing off in the finals.   Proud Knight charges down the chute.  Knight Patchwork is slow off the block but determined.  The horses race toward each other.  The sun gleams off their armor.  The lances are lowered into position.  They get closer and closer.  Knight Patchwork’s aim is true and Proud Knight is underestimating his opponent.  Patchwork’s lance slips in and hits the target square.  The wood of the lance flexes but it holds.  Proud Knight feels the force of Patchwork’s lance.  He is lifted from his saddle.  He senses gravity taking over as he plummets to the ground.  Patchwork rides through following the tip of his lance and no one is more surprised then he to see Proud Knight lying on the ground, as his gleaming steed canters back to the squires.  Patchwork takes gold in the first ever Olympic Jousting competition.

And of course they would receive their medals while they were on horseback.  I think we need to start a petition – Jousting in the 2016 Olympics!

I bet Hanlon-Lees and the Freelancers would sign it.