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Comment by barry-cotter | Hacker News Reader

Can you answer the question you were asked please? Do you think the average person is capable of qualifying for the Olympics?

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Have you ever watched the Olympics? Modest talents appear in the Olympics ALL. THE. TIME. Here are just a few off the top of my head:

- Liz Swaney, the woman who may have singlehandedly gotten the Olympic Committee to add a minimum acceptable skill level qualification (TBD) [0]

- Did you happen to catch any of the men's curling in PyeongChang? [1]

- And who could forget the inspiration behind _Cool Runnings_? [2]

[0]https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/19/elizabeth-swaney-olym...

[1]http://time.com/5173987/usa-mens-curling-gold-medal/

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Runnings

Geena Davis (actress) picked up archery at 41 and got to 24th in the US. Resources count since she _started_ with an Olympic coach. Imagine if she had the access and desire at 14...

https://www.archery360.com/2017/05/26/celeb-world-class-arch...

I do, since it has been done.

Here's a reasonable example: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2018/02/20/587356461/h...

That’s quite the non-central example. Gamesmanship, cheating and being the only San Marinan or Guamian able and willing to represent their country in some sport excepted do you think a normal person is capable of becoming conpetitive at an élite level in most sports?

It didn’t work for Dan McLaughlin when he tried to go from nothing to pro in golf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_McLaughlin_(golfer)

http://thedanplan.com/

The answer you were given is perfectly reasonable. It is clear and on point and even illustrates a little bit why your question is too narrow or perhaps unfair.

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