All creatures great and small
August 3, 2012 5:12 AM   Subscribe

Olympic athletes come in all shapes and sizes. The BBC's handy new app allows you to see which athlete you are the closest body match with.

Or you can access the full data set here.
posted by MuffinMan (106 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Neat! Apparently, I'm a welterweight.
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:19 AM on August 3, 2012


Keon Woo Park and Liam Killeen, both bikers. Which is great, as biking it about the only sport I do.
posted by Jehan at 5:22 AM on August 3, 2012


I am only a little heavier that a shooter. As I am from the United States, this seems sort of appropriate.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:22 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Wow, I never would have guessed that so many of the heaviest Olympians would be in Judo. I would have guessed that Judo would favor agility over mass. Shotput and weightlifting, sure. Heaviest athlete is Ricardo Blas at 218 kg (480 pounds), competing in Men's Judo 100kg+ for Guam.
posted by scose at 5:22 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Asuka Teramoto only weighs 66 lb.? Good grief, she's a hobbit.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:23 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


I had the sinking feeling that I was going to be, like, a male wrestler, but apparently I've got the build of a BMX biker on Britain's women's team.

I'm going to feel a little prouder of my wobbling around Brooklyn on my Schwinn now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:23 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


The heaviest competitor, Ricardo Blas at 218 kg, is over seven times the weight of the lightest, Asuka Teramoto at 30 kg.
posted by Jehan at 5:24 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


Or, to put it another way, Ricardo Blas likely weighs the same as the whole of Japan's women's gymnastic team.
posted by Jehan at 5:28 AM on August 3, 2012 [10 favorites]


Sign me up for women's handball, Team GB.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:30 AM on August 3, 2012


Apparently I fit either a bicycle sprinter or a water polo player depending on the +- 5lb that my weight seems to vary.

I am slightly intimated and feeling very out of shape.
posted by Hactar at 5:31 AM on August 3, 2012


I've lost a fair bit of weight over the last six months or so, apparently dropping me from being like Andrew Simpson the sailor to being like Sir Chris Hoy the Cyclist.

Apparently, no matter what I do, I'm always built like someone British.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:36 AM on August 3, 2012


Women's gymnastics here I come!
posted by griphus at 5:37 AM on August 3, 2012


Previously.
posted by MartinWisse at 5:39 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Cool! I'm like Yudai Nitta, (cycling) track sprinter! Makes sense as I'm a former competitive track cyclist.
posted by Mister_A at 5:40 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm putting in my true height (163cm) and it's telling me I'm like a 193cm female basketball player...
posted by altolinguistic at 5:40 AM on August 3, 2012


Bulgaroktonos: "Apparently, no matter what I do, I'm always built like someone British."

That's just because of the dataset they are using:
"Data sample contains all of Team GB, the tallest, shortest, heaviest and lightest competitors plus 10% from all the other Olympic teams."

I am most like a German Men's Trap Shooter.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:41 AM on August 3, 2012


Ah, Ramziddin Sayidov my brother, never shall we know the simple joy of well-fitting jeans or dress shirts.
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 5:42 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Or, to put it another way, Ricardo Blas likely weighs the same as the whole of Japan's women's gymnastic team.

The BBC is well ahead of you - Blas actually weighs 6st 10lbs (94 pounds) more than the entire Japanese women's gymnastics team.
posted by ZsigE at 5:44 AM on August 3, 2012 [5 favorites]


Wow, I didn't realize pie-eating was an Olympic sport!
posted by blue_beetle at 5:44 AM on August 3, 2012


Yessss, I'm a Kazakh Women's Middleweight boxer. Or a Ukranian Men's Shooter, which is not as exciting, somehow.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:44 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a British male archer, which considering I used to take Archery, is kind of spooky.
posted by The Whelk at 5:48 AM on August 3, 2012


Although actually I might be closer in size to UK Women's BMXer Shanaze Reade.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:50 AM on August 3, 2012


Wow, I didn't realize pie-eating was an Olympic sport!

I'd like to see you say that to Ricardo Blas' face.
posted by fight or flight at 5:51 AM on August 3, 2012


Call me Thor.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:52 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a Shanaze Reade, too. I think that make's three so far. What's up with that?
posted by kyrademon at 5:53 AM on August 3, 2012


You and me both, Brandon Blatcher.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:55 AM on August 3, 2012


I could be a rower or a water polo player. And, oddly enough, I workout regularly on a rowing machine (but I've never rowed a boat).

Water polo, on the other hand, I can't imagine doing let alone simulating.
posted by tommasz at 5:55 AM on August 3, 2012


which athlete you are the closest body match with.

Is there can Olympic darts event?
posted by Artw at 5:56 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Filipino Judoka Tomohiko Hoshina here. This is zero surprise. We hot-water-heater-shaped men, we aren't much for the gymnastics or the distance running, but we are good at the rollin-round-on-the-floor-in-combat-jammies stuff.

More sports should have weight classes. Tiny judoka are protected from competition against larger ones, but who protects the large gymnasts from the smurfs? Heavyweight gymnastics now! Let's have a 125+ kg. vaulting event and floor exercises!

Actually, it'd be cool to see how the sport would adapt to that...
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 6:00 AM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]


My height/weight combination: Women's Javelin Throw

Awesome. Without any breasts to get in the way, I should do very well indeed.
posted by three blind mice at 6:04 AM on August 3, 2012


I, a 6'1 185 desk jockey, apparently resemble a woman representing Canada in the javelin. Welp
posted by dismas at 6:05 AM on August 3, 2012


I feel better about myself now that I know I have the body of a Chinese shotputter. Coincidentally, shotput was what I was best at in high school gym.
posted by Foosnark at 6:06 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm an Austrian dressage horse.
posted by dudekiller at 6:08 AM on August 3, 2012 [31 favorites]


I seem to match a lot of handball players.
posted by Nothing at 6:09 AM on August 3, 2012


Oy. Bostjan Macek, Men's Trap, Slovenia.

My ideal weight? Eldin Saad, Men's Football, Egypt. Now that's what I need to shoot for.
posted by eoden at 6:10 AM on August 3, 2012


...also, I placed third in the hundred meter fuck-all.
posted by Foosnark at 6:10 AM on August 3, 2012 [3 favorites]


A hurdler, a female rower and a taekwondo guy. Not bad!
posted by jquinby at 6:11 AM on August 3, 2012


I got Aragorn.
posted by samofidelis at 6:14 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


At 6'2 and 180 pounds I've been matched with a boxer. If you'll excuse me, I just need to get something from my car. *sound of door slamming, tyres screeching into the distance*
posted by ominous_paws at 6:15 AM on August 3, 2012


The closest to me is a high jumper, but looking around there are a lot of choices for me from cycling to sailing. I'm in a pretty popular height/weight group.
posted by Eekacat at 6:17 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I got two female judokas, a female sprint cyclist and a javelin thrower. Among the males I got a Chinese hockey player, a Honduran football player. Woot!
posted by peacheater at 6:19 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a rower and a cyclist. I guess that makes sense as I am a professional rower and -- daww, that's a lie, the only organized "sport" I've ever "played" was - hem - cheerleading.
posted by Mooseli at 6:23 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a female Brazilian basketball player! Or a male British gymnast.

I watched some women's judo yesterday, and I guess because I never see judo except at the Olympics, I forget that it's more like sumo than it is like, I dunno, ninjas. Agility is clearly important, but being able to grapple your opponent to the floor and then keep them there is even more so.
posted by rtha at 6:24 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm, apparently, close to a wrestler and a footballer? Which I was quite offended about until I remembered, oh, right, that kind of football. It didn't show any women at all for me!

This is fun but I wish they'd include some actual body measurements. I'm a pretty average height/weight but I carry it all in my lower half-- something I associate strongly with female martial artists, equestrians and (weirdly) swing dancers.
posted by WidgetAlley at 6:25 AM on August 3, 2012


OH, so just put my height and weight in. That's surely an accurate picture of body. ::click:: wtf, Zhaoxu Zhang??
posted by zephyr_words at 6:25 AM on August 3, 2012


Yeah actually those results kind of make sense to me. In school, the only thing I was good at without trying was the javelin throw (I also swam, but I worked damned hard for that). And also kabaddi, an ancient Indian sport with a skill set remarkably similar to that required in judo, it appears. Now sprint cycling, I've never actually tried.
posted by peacheater at 6:26 AM on August 3, 2012



Men's 4x400 relay here.

Not sure how well I'll do since I really don't like running all that much.
posted by Jalliah at 6:29 AM on August 3, 2012


You and me both, Brandon Blatcher.

Then I'll be Loki.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:30 AM on August 3, 2012


Men's 4x400 relay here.

Not sure how well I'll do since I really don't like running all that much


Forgot. I'm also team Trinidad and Tobago. I can handle that. Southern Caribbean woo!
posted by Jalliah at 6:34 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a tubby cubicle-monkey who runs out of breath at just under a mile, but thanks to the power of abstract measurements, I know that I resemble three world-class athletes!
posted by gauche at 6:35 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


My height and weight matches with Balazs Sziranyi Somogyi, a water polo player.
I don’t know if that's including the horse.
posted by Floydd at 6:35 AM on August 3, 2012


More caffeine needed in my system I was all depressed cause I'm like Damn I've let myself go and resemble a Japanese weightlifter.

Then I realized my error and switched from kilograms to pounds and now I'm like, damn Jeremias you cut!
posted by jeremias at 6:37 AM on August 3, 2012


I got shot put ball.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:41 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


Evidentially I'm an equestrian.
posted by Algebra at 6:44 AM on August 3, 2012


There are three rowers in my top six. What's interesting is the rest are all team sports (football, basketball and handball). I guess I'm not built to excel in individual competition.
posted by mcmile at 6:49 AM on August 3, 2012


Chris Mears, M.Mccann, Abigail Edmonds, all related to water sports & I don't even know how to swim LOL
posted by edwardking at 6:59 AM on August 3, 2012


me, earlier: I'm putting in my true height (163cm) and it's telling me I'm like a 193cm female basketball player...

Ahem. Evidently I hadn't had enough coffee this morning, as it turns out I entered my height as 163m, not 1.63m...
posted by altolinguistic at 7:01 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'm a Brazilian gymnast. And male, apparently....
posted by Anima Mundi at 7:03 AM on August 3, 2012


i made the same mistake as jeremias, and went from being ricardo blas jr. to being james austin. a little correction that did wonders for my self esteem
posted by camdan at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2012


My avatar is a female handball player.

In real life, I am a male who plays ultimate and swims, though not as much as he should, and could probably lose 20 pounds.

I'm also, at 5'9" and 200 lbs, an outlier on the distribution chart. Not that the Olympics were likely in my biography, but I have often noted that I am at an odd body shape for sports. Not tall enough for some, not short enough for others.

I played team handball at camp and liked it...maybe 24 years later, I can find an adult league.
posted by oneironaut at 7:09 AM on August 3, 2012


Evidentially I'm an equestrian.

Better to be an equestrian than a horse.
posted by Foosnark at 7:10 AM on August 3, 2012


I just ran a number of different weights as well, around what I would consider to be my ideal weight--170-180lbs--and I'm still on the outside of the distribution, sharing body types only with equestrians, sailors, archers, and shooters. And I'm a team sport guy. Even at my lowest conceivable healthy weight--160-165 lbs, I am matched by a boxer and a hockey player. Interesting.
posted by oneironaut at 7:15 AM on August 3, 2012


I thought we did this a few weeks ago and found that more than a few mefites were Tonga Islanders?

Anyway, I see that in the last twenty years I have gradually morphed from Austrian rower to Russian weightlifter.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:23 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Men's 4x400 relay here.

Not sure how well I'll do since I really don't like running all that much

Forgot. I'm also team Trinidad and Tobago. I can handle that. Southern Caribbean woo!




OH HAAAYY we're teammates. Which means we are screwed, since I am not much of a runner myself.



(Or more likely, we are the same dude.)
posted by louche mustachio at 7:31 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a female rower or swimmer from team USA. Not female, but swimming and rowing are the two sports I ever competed in ...
posted by feckless at 7:35 AM on August 3, 2012


They need to bring poetry, sculpture, and croquet back to the games.
posted by Algebra at 7:41 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


My top two results were both German women's 4 x 400m relay. This pleases me because I do indeed have a little chunk of Getman ancestry, and track is indeed the only area of athleticism I could ever be said not to catastrophically fail at.
posted by milk white peacock at 7:55 AM on August 3, 2012


Just height and weight? I'm pretty sure Karen Gallardo (Chilean discus thrower) has shoulders and arms that would put mine to shame.
posted by ODiV at 7:59 AM on August 3, 2012


Huh - I just tried inputting both my lightest weight (when I was in my 20's and had the metabolism of a lab rat on meth) and my ideal/target weight (what it would be if I DID go to the gym like I"m supposed to) and I always seem to end up either in women's judo or biking.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:10 AM on August 3, 2012


I am like 2 male footballers (soccer players), a male cyclist, and a male swimmer.

I am a woman cyclist. True that footballers often have similar bodies. Guessing it's the 1.8m (5'11") that throw me into men's territory.
posted by fraula at 8:12 AM on August 3, 2012


I don’t know if that's including the horse.

Water polo players ride seahorses, so it shouldn't matter.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:12 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


I'm Bradley Wiggins. I was actually surprised at how much sense that made, being a tall and gangly bike racer myself. I'd much rather race seahorses, though.
posted by Chutzler at 8:18 AM on August 3, 2012


Sadly they don't have darts in the Olympics.
posted by Space_Lady at 8:29 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I am the same height and weight as a Swedish taekwando competitor. It looks a lot better on her than it does on me.
posted by bukvich at 8:32 AM on August 3, 2012


What if every sport was photographed like women's beach volleyball

This is so, so true.
posted by winna at 8:37 AM on August 3, 2012


So at my 'comfortable' weight (when I'm at right now) I'm a shooter, when I'm at my heaviest, I'm judo/archery, and when I'm at my ideal target weight, I'm a swimmer/football player. Never have my own body issues been spelled out so accurately.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:38 AM on August 3, 2012


What if every sport was photographed like women's beach volleyball.

Then apparently some of the cropped shots would be interesting in and of themselves?

I'm not really a feminist anyhow, there's nothing wrong with giving the opposite sex a show and pretty women are made to be looked at. :)

Besides, it has to be said that diving pretty much fulfills the same need for women. That's why Tom Daley has gorgeous press shots that make me hope it's OK for a 29 year old woman to tingle quite this much over someone born in the mid 90s.
posted by Space_Lady at 8:38 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a rower or a table tennis player.

Pretty good since I'm a dead philosopher.
posted by wittgenstein at 8:39 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I appear to be a male sprint canoeist or a woman shot putter, which is uncanny since I often skip rocks on rivers.
posted by Isadorady at 8:47 AM on August 3, 2012


I am a male soccer player. When I reach my goal weight, I will be a female gymnast. I had no idea soccer players were so short. :)
posted by blurker at 8:47 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm a male Belarusian soccer player! I knew it, I always knew it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:49 AM on August 3, 2012


Ha! I didn't even see Ricardo out there. That's awesome page layout.
posted by CaseyB at 8:50 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm not sure I accept that the photos are that different. From the same source (the Guardian) as the Daley shot, a sample report on the British women's BV doubles pair. It features women in a full length body shot, in the middle of saving a point. It's from the side, so even the cleavage can barely be seen.

It's not like a topless sunbathing tabloid shot.
posted by Space_Lady at 8:54 AM on August 3, 2012


I meant hammer throw. Much cooler.
posted by Isadorady at 8:54 AM on August 3, 2012


Quite happy that I matched the swimmers best. Water babies, represent!
posted by batmonkey at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2012


I have a feeling that that Greek weightlifter carries his 92kg in slightly different parts of his body than I do.
posted by 256 at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2012 [4 favorites]


I am a disgraced Chinese badminton player.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:25 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


Canadian men's 4 rower.

That's actually kinda cool, I think I would probably like rowing if I ever tried it. Mind you, that dude's weight probably involves a lot more back muscles while mine has more to do with an evening cocktail habit, but still...
posted by dnash at 9:29 AM on August 3, 2012


Yeah, this is dumb. There's a lot more going on than simply weight and height. Muscle mass, body fat percentage, etc etc.

(shakes cane)
posted by Justinian at 9:40 AM on August 3, 2012


Oh! To put it another way, this is comparing your BMI to the BMI of various athletes. Now consider what you think about the usefulness of BMI on an individual level.
posted by Justinian at 9:42 AM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I am a Serbian table tennis player.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:55 AM on August 3, 2012


I fluctuate between Canadian swimmer and British footballer, apparently.
posted by elizardbits at 10:04 AM on August 3, 2012


I got Beckie Kershaw. It's nice to see that I have the weight and height of a young English female that plays water polo.

Despite being a male that couldn't swim to save his life. Maybe if I could swim, I'd have a career in women's water polo.
posted by Redfield at 10:07 AM on August 3, 2012


Satomi Kubokura (JAP)

Athletics (400m Hurdles).

You have git to be kidding me? *Goes back to my couch and junk food*
posted by ZeroAmbition at 10:10 AM on August 3, 2012


I'm either a British female handballer (ahem) or a French weightlifter.
posted by me3dia at 11:43 AM on August 3, 2012


My Olympic match is BMX cyclist Shanaze Reade. Normally I don't like these things that rely on only height and weight, but I actually think that we have similar builds, and she looks pretty bad ass, so I'm going to go with it this time. Maybe I should have taken up BMX racing instead of the pole dance and circus aerials I favour now, or the rowing I did in university, and I'd have been able to quit my job and workout full time. It's a nice dream anyway. :-)

As for the other sports being filmed like beach volleyball, I say bring it on! I don't get why we shouldn't want to see male bodies as much as female bodies. Especially gymnasts and rowers. Rowza!
posted by Kurichina at 1:15 PM on August 3, 2012


I wish I could see their bodies to compare how they look to my self-image.

Also, small changes have a big impact on the pool; I'm between 6' and 6'1", and waffle between 156 and 161 currently.

If I do 6'1" and 157, I get one guy in Great Britain who cycles.
If I do 6' and 160, I get two swimmers, a volleyball player, a rower, and someone in "athletics", from five different countries (two girls.)
If I do 6' and 157, I get one guy in Great Britain who cycles (but a different guy.)
If I do 6'1" and 160, I get a footballer (soccer), a rower and another "athletics", from three different countries (one girl.)

But! If I do 6 feet 0.7 inches (which is as accurate as is reasonable to get) and 157 pounds (which is my weight today, by pure coincidence, I haven't checked in months prior) I get that first guy.

Therefore, "davejay" is MeFi's own Christopher Froome.

not really, and my bicycle is missing a seat, which I doubt is the case with him
posted by davejay at 2:42 PM on August 3, 2012


I'm a synchronized swimmer?!?!? Oh, that's just great. Really.
posted by the painkiller at 2:56 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I would either be a hammer thrower or a member of the Uzbek Judo Team. Take heed.
posted by raysmj at 3:14 PM on August 3, 2012


I'm a male wrestler. I kinda...never want to eat again.
posted by sweetkid at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh wait I did that totally wrong! I'm a female sailor. OMG.
posted by sweetkid at 5:04 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


I would still be a Filipino Jodo team member if I were at my absolute ideal weight, a weightlifter below that. And to think that I prefer swimming in reality.
posted by raysmj at 5:10 PM on August 3, 2012


Well, footballer if I tweak the weight a bit.
posted by raysmj at 5:17 PM on August 3, 2012


Yay, I am most like a female Chilean weightlifter, woo hoo! (I lift weights and love it.)
posted by ifjuly at 10:28 PM on August 3, 2012


I am most like Bokyung Kim (South Korea, Football), Chris Bartley (GB, Lightweight Rowing) and Julia Hassler (Liechtenstein, Swimming).
posted by TheophileEscargot at 11:27 PM on August 3, 2012


someone in "athletics"

I just had to teach my boyfriend on Wednesday that 'athletics' means 'track and field' and he keeps laughing at me when I say it.
posted by jacalata at 3:46 PM on August 4, 2012


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