#FridayFunny: couch to Olympics in four years?
Want to know what it costs to become an Olympic rider? Well a light-hearted “study” by a voucher website claims to have worked out how much time and money you would need to put in between now and 2020 to have a shot at competing at the next Games.
Years of hard work, dedication and skill — coupled with the ups and downs that naturally go hand-in-hand with horses — have been put in by our Olympic riders.
But “researchers” at money-saving website Voucherbox.co.uk reckon it would take 6,240 hours of training and £468,000 to go from total novice to riding on Olympic Team GBR in Tokyo.
The calculation does not take into account the exceptional support networks our Olympic riders have, nor the work that goes into keeping or competing a horse.
Instead voucherbox.co.uk worked out the average cost of a lesson across five riding schools, which they put at £75, then multiplied it by five hours a day, six days a week, for four years.
“There’s no greater accolade than competing for your country at the Olympics,” said Shane Forster, of Voucherbox.co.uk.
“Our Olympic medallists are celebrated for years to come. Although our research shows that it’s costly to achieve your goals, you can’t put a price on success.”
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The “researchers” also looked into the time and financial cost it would take the “average person” to reach world class-level in just four years for boxing, judo, triathlon, archery and badminton.
They found triathlon would require a time investment of 25 hours each week and £322,400.
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Mastering judo, meanwhile, was billed at £80,000 and 6,864 hours of training. Boxing allegedly needed more time to master than the other sports in the “study”, with 7,488 hours apparently necessary between now and Tokyo.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.