Interplanetary Olympics: How Long Before They Really Happen?

As America seems enthralled today with both the Olympics and the Curiosity rover landing on Mars, it got me thinking. How much longer will it be before these two momentous events are combined? Yes, I'm talking about Interplanetary Olympics. Assuming the Curiosity rover successfully lands on Mars, what happens if life is discovered? Of course, any life that is discovered would likely be at the microbe level, so it probably wouldn't be capable of taking part in a track and field event at this point in time. However, even the discovery of the building blocks of life would give credence to the possibility that there must be more advanced forms of life on the millions of planets out there. If there is other advanced life in the Universe, it's entirely conceivable that one day there will be an Interplanetary Olympics. While we might think that an Interplanetary Olympics will never occur in the lifetime of most living on Earth today given our relatively limited space exploration so far, what if the other advanced life forms discover us first?

If we are discovered rather than making the discovery ourselves, then other alien races might invite us to participate in an Interplanetary Olympics sooner rather than later. In fact, the idea of an Interplanetary Olympics has been explored numerous times in the world of comic books. Do the comic books give us any ideas on what type of events might be held in an Interplanetary Olympics? Unfortunately, if the comic books are right, the Interplanetary Olympics might consist of rather deadly events with huge stakes riding on the outcomes. Here are some of the Interplanetary Olympics events that have been foreshadowed in the comic books. Jousting On Space Dragons – On the cover of Mystery In Space #7, one of the Interplanetary Olympics events is shown to be jousting on weird-looking space dragons. Apparently, there are some shady dealings going on with the Interplanetary Olympics, because the cover touts that if Mars doesn't win an earthman is going to die.

The Death Walk – Introduced in Jigsaw Man Of A Thousand Parts #2, the event called the Death Walk features two combatants armed with electric lances and nets who battle it out on a beam of solid light particles. Again there are serious consequences for losing, as the first to fall is vanquished. Super Bowling, Obstacle Swimming Race, Blindfolded Javelin Toss – In Action Comics #304, Superman is invited to participate in a number of unusual events in the Interplanetary Olympics. In Super Bowling, the object is to try to knock down a grove of metal-wood trees with a huge boulder. In Obstacle Swimming Race, the goal is to try to swim across a tank stocked with underwater monstrosities. And in Blindfolded Javelin Toss, contestants throw a javelin while well…blindfolded. Hey, all the Interplanetary Olympic events can't be winners. How did Superman do in the Interplanetary Olympics? Not so well, as he had to throw every single event, because the entire Interplanetary Olympics was just an evil scheme to steal his super powers. Here's hoping that when the Interplanetary Olympics really do become a reality that there isn't quite as much corruption involved as when they are in the comic books. As far as events, I'm kind of looking forward to jousting on space dragons and the obstacle swimming race with underwater monstrosities. What events would you like to see in an Interplanetary Olympics?