The Student Government Association Olympics provide a break from the typical intramural events and different opportunities than last year.
The six events hosted by SGA are bouldering, bench press, swimming, cornhole, ultimate frisbee and track and field events. The swimming and track and field events are the two events remaining from last year, while the others are new additions.
As well as track and field and swimming, last year’s Olympics included kickball and bowling events. SGA Treasurer Tyler Gaylor took point on planning this year’s events and said logistics were the main reason for changing some of the events.
“I don’t think we can ever really change the swimming and the track and field because they’re just two staples of the Olympics,” said Gaylor, senior accounting major from Richardson. “After that, we have to figure out what has worked and what hasn’t worked. Last year, we tried PrimeTime, which was an off-campus bowling event. Nobody really went beside the people participating.”
Gaylor said the swimming and track and field events are the most popular, and the individual races allow for louder environments and greater competition.
“I think everyone should always go to swimming and track and field because those are the best environments,” he said. “It’s fun. It’s always fun to see a race in my opinion.”
Tamil Adele, SGA Director of Student Engagement and Recruitment, said the Olympics provide a great opportunity for students to do something they love without pressure being put on them.
“It’s just a bunch of different things,” said Adele, junior criminal justice major from Midland. “Which I really love because I think it’s like catering to different types of people.”
SGA Vice President Athena Triantopoulos added the break from the typical intramural events allows students to showcase different talents, such as with bouldering or cornhole.
“It’s something that they already enjoy,” said Triantopoulos, senior advertising and public relations major from Las Vegas. “But it’s also something that’s special and unique, and you don’t always get to do it. It’s things that students are still interested in and excited for, but it’s different.”
The bouldering, bench press and swimming events were held on Monday, and the cornhole and ultimate frisbee events took place on Tuesday. The Olympics will end Thursday evening with the track and field events starting at 6 p.m.
