Captain America (616 Steve Rogers) Runs The Rio Gauntlet

[The Watcher]

In the recent history you know the United States Olympic team emerged from the 2016 Rio Games with the highest medal count of all the participating nations. Champions such as Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Kyle Snyder triumphantly brought home the gold for the USA. But in another reality such stalwarts were not able to attend the games, having been snatched up by the Grandmaster to participate in some athletic competitions of his own devising.

While the rest of the Avengers have been dispatched to rescue the athletes the Olympic Committee, in an unprecedented decision, has authorized the substitution of Captain America for the missing U.S. team. He will be allowed to compete in all events for both genders. Since the Super Soldier Serum is not on the list of officially banned performance enhancers it will not disqualify Rogers from competing in the games. And thanks to the generosity of Reed Richards loan of a specialized time platform, the Captain will be able to compete in two or more events that are scheduled at the same time. Unfortunately, to avoid potential paradoxes, Rogers can not be at the same event more than once so there will only be one of him for team sports.

So, how does the Star Spangled Avenger do in each event? How many medals will he be able to win of each type? Does he do better or worse than what the U.S. Olympic Team would have done? Which will be the easiest events for him and which the most difficult?

I, The Watcher, pose this question to you all,

What If Captain America Competed In The Place Of The U.S. Olympic Team?

Bonus Question: Same scenario as above, except it's the MCU version of Captain America competing.

[Sharpandpointies]

I'm having problems seeing comic Cap lose in any event that doesn't have an artistic element or a team. Equestrian? He won't take that. Probably not Golf or Sailing, either.

[Primetime Harder]

I think that if Cap were entered as an Olympic participant, the IOC would trip over themselves to get Super-Soldier Serum qualified as an illegal doping agent.

[Sharpandpointies]

Probably, but...the OP says 'Not this time.'

[The Dog]

As Sharpandpointies said, Cap pretty much takes all the purely athletic events. Because 616 Cap is defined as a "comic book peak human", which can be best defined as "far better than normal people, even Olympic athletes, but not so consistently good as to be considered blatantly superhuman".

So swimming, taekwondo, boxing, track and field, etc. are basically going to be gold-medaled by Cap. And events requiring a team, well, Cap's gonna be humiliating multiple people at once.

[Lord Falcon]

Captain America would solo entire basketball teams, despite lacking technical skill. His running and perception feats are outright superhuman.

[Beadle]

Looking at the sports off the top of my head...

Athletics (Track & Field): Yup. Every non-team event, he nails.
Swimming: Though there may be areas where technique might win out over athletic ability, yup. Every event.
Gymnastics: Yup
Cycling: Yup
Diving: Yup
Weightlifting: Yup
Wrestling: Yup
Boxing: Yup
Judo: Yup
Taekwondo: Yup
Rowing: Yup
Canoeing: Yup
Shooting: Yup
Archery: Probably...?
Triathlon: Yup
Equestrian: Nope
Modern Pentathlon: He'll lose some points on the riding, but he'll be so far ahead on the other stuff it won't make any difference.
Tennis: Yup
Badminton: Yup
Table Tennis: Yup
Golf: Nope
Sailing: Nope

I'm almost certainly forgetting some stuff, but... bleh.

Would he beat the US medal haul?

Urgh. Tough.
1) He can't get more than one medal in the same event.
2) He can only compete in one weight category in the weightlifting and martial arts events.
3) No team events.

But the fact that he can compete in both genders events leads me to say yes, he'd do it.

[The Watcher]

Are there any sports where Steve's lack of practice and experience compared to the athletes who trained relentlessly to perform would make it a close contest or is the physical superiority gap too large to be narrowed significantly by skill and practice?

[Sharpandpointies]

Captain America would solo entire basketball teams, despite lacking technical skill. His running and perception feats are outright superhuman.

Absolutely.

But something like Volleyball, he would pretty much lose because he would need to return for a point on the first hit, each and every time. That's probably not happening over the course of a match.

[Sharpandpointies]

Are there any sports where Steve's lack of practice and experience compared to the athletes who trained relentlessly to perform would make it a close contest or is the physical superiority gap too large to be narrowed significantly by skill and practice?

Artistic stuff.

Also, possibly stuff to do with skating/skiing/etc, which aren't an issue in the Summer Olympics.

Everything else, Steve has more than enough experience. Gymnastics/Acrobatics/Balancing? Sewn up. Throwing things? Running? Jumping? Running while jumping? Cycling? Swimming? One could argue that he doesn't have sufficient experience in particular kinds of swimming, and as such won't win all of the events - that would make sense to me. Any of the combat sports? No problem. Table tennis? The ball might as well be moving in slow motion (and I bet he HAS played that before). Same with Badminton, though he'd probably need practice.

Tennis I could see him losing. Sure, he'll get ridiculously good at it with practice, but beating Olympics? I doubt it.

Equestrian, he loses. Same deal with Golf, barring someone showing some feats for him (he's not Classic Strange, as I understand).

But most stuff, his physical ability is so far above that of even Olympic athletes, and he DOES have some experience in that area or similar areas.

...he shouldn't be allowed to compete in both genders, just saying. ^_^

[MorphyVSFischer]

Diving: Yup

Would he really though? Diving from I understand requires impeccable technique. Sure Steve could do a crazy amount of flips as he dives but there's a bit more to it then that I thought.

Also in regards to archery/shooting events what accuracy feats does Cap have?

[Sharpandpointies]

Would he really though? Diving from I understand requires impeccable technique. Sure Steve could do a crazy amount of flips as he dives but there's a bit more to it then that I thought.

Also in regards to archery/shooting events what accuracy feats does Cap have?

Cap used firearms during World War II, and has occasionally fired a shot off with something or other (with predictable, nigh-perfect results). Given his ridiculous physical capacity I figure he'd do fine with firearms.

Bows...as I recall, Cap once used Hawkeye's bow and arrows quite well. Someone help with that, I don't recall issue number. I've seen an image for Cap 317 with him using the bow and Hawkeye with his shield, but nothing more.

[Cyke]

I think that if Cap were entered as an Olympic participant, the IOC would trip over themselves to get Super-Soldier Serum qualified as an illegal doping agent.

Or the IOC might try to turn the other cheek and say, "He's just a kid at the Olympics! Cut him some slack." To which everyone will remind the committee that Cap is at least 96 years old. (30 physically, but still more than a kid).

And events requiring a team, well, Cap's gonna be humiliating multiple people at once.

Well, not synchronized swimming. Then he'd get humiliated, too.

Would he really though? Diving from I understand requires impeccable technique. Sure Steve could do a crazy amount of flips as he dives but there's a bit more to it then that I thought.

Part of the technique is minimizing the splash as much as possible. Given that he has the physique of a bodybuilder (a graceful one sure, but still huge), that's going to be exceedingly difficult for him.

[Little_Mac]

Artistic stuff.

Also, possibly stuff to do with skating/skiing/etc, which aren't an issue in the Summer Olympics.

Everything else, Steve has more than enough experience. Gymnastics/Acrobatics/Balancing? Sewn up. Throwing things? Running? Jumping? Running while jumping? Cycling? Swimming? One could argue that he doesn't have sufficient experience in particular kinds of swimming, and as such won't win all of the events - that would make sense to me. Any of the combat sports? No problem. Table tennis? The ball might as well be moving in slow motion (and I bet he HAS played that before). Same with Badminton, though he'd probably need practice.

Tennis I could see him losing. Sure, he'll get ridiculously good at it with practice, but beating Olympics? I doubt it.

Equestrian, he loses. Same deal with Golf, barring someone showing some feats for him (he's not Classic Strange, as I understand).

But most stuff, his physical ability is so far above that of even Olympic athletes, and he DOES have some experience in that area or similar areas.

...he shouldn't be allowed to compete in both genders, just saying. ^_^

I'm curious as to his endurance (within the past 10 years). I'm certain that he can run quickly, but most of his fights aren't long (and he uses the quinjet). I can't recall him going for any long trots anymore (like he would have done in WWII). I'm almost certain that he takes the marathon, and cycling events, but what's his current feats for endurance? (Especially if the OP doesn't allow him time to recover after each match)

It's the same issue that I have with shooting. In WWII, crack shot. 60 years without using a gun often might be enough to bring him back to the pack. I can't give him the shooting events based on WWII feats.

I do see him getting banned after the Olympics from multiple sports due to injuring his competitors (Soccer, Handball, Field Hockey, Tennis, water polo).

Cap: *looks sheepish*
Official: How come the entire opposition team is out with concussions?!?!
Cap: I never thought that they would be dumb enough to try and STOP the shot.

[Sharpandpointies]

I'm curious as to his endurance (within the past 10 years). I'm certain that he can run quickly, but most of his fights aren't long (and he uses the quinjet). I can't recall him going for any long trots anymore (like he would have done in WWII). I'm almost certain that he takes the marathon, and cycling events, but what's his current feats for endurance? (Especially if the OP doesn't allow him time to recover after each match)

It's a big thing that even for a guy with 'peak human' stats, the Super Soldier Serum allows Cap to process the fatigue toxins differently and he's insanely enduring.

I'm sure someone will wander in with some kind of feat or seven to show this. :)

It's the same issue that I have with shooting. In WWII, crack shot. 60 years without using a gun often might be enough to bring him back to the pack. I can't give him the shooting events based on WWII feats.

I'm no expert on Cap. I'm sure someone will trundle in with scenes of him shooting something at some point. :)