I disagree.
Don’t you see the World’s Strongest man" competition to be a sport? Its basically the same thing as Ironman, except for people built much bigger. A lot of these people are disgustingly obese, but they do have brute strength. And some of these men make it competitively into their late 40s.
Triathlon is a sport, Ironman is not a ‘sport’. It’s a particular distance triathlon. Strongest Man competitions(plural) I would say are pretty much a separate thing and sure I suppose a sport in itself. But if you asked many of those guys what sport they do, I wouldn’t be suprised if they said “I’m a weightlifter and do Strongest Man competions”. So I’m refering to Tour de France not being a sport, Cycling is the sport. Boston Marathon is not a sport, Marathon running is a sport. Point being, if the list starts with Downhill Skiing, I doubted Ironman would be on the list, but maybe it will be.
And actually, after looking back at the original post, looks like the title isn’t ‘10 hardest sports’, but 10 hardest things to do in sports, which it very different and which you would think would be much more specific than ‘Downhill Skiing’
Julian:
I take exception to that! :), I played 8 years of baseball and still think hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sport.
I saw a special on PBS about some guys who climbed the highest mountain in Antarctica. 40 degrees below zero F and 50 mile per hour winds. Now, I don’t know what YOUR weather is like, but not even the Northeast had such bad weather this winter. 
Anyway, given the conditions under which most mountain climbing is done, I’d say it is easily #1. Triathlon is probably 5-6 on the list.
Rugby isn’t a sport, it’s legalized mayhem. :),
I’d put the Tour de France at #2. Hitting a baseball moving at 90 mph gets #3. Hitting a golf ball at #4. Downhill skiing is a piece of cake! How did it even make the top 10. Good grief… Now, a 100km ski race, that’s a different animal…
-Robert
If I can do it Ironman isn’t that hard. I’m a total non-athlete. I was a fat kid. There’s still a fat kid inside here. I can’t do anything with a ball. I suck at it. Oh, pardon me, “I’m just not interested…”
I saw this list on another sight and the poster said being a Phillies Fan… I disagree… the hardest things in sports to be is definately a Cowboy fan.
FWIW Joe Moya
Well boyos TDF is numero 8. If that’s the case, it’s doubtful that an IM will even make the list.
Well, what do you expect? This is a list of prejudices and little else. Furthermore, it will engender discussion and promote sales. That’s what it’s all about-paying the bills.
-Robert
Tour de France is #8…cant even bring myself to comment :).
Pardon me! Being a Cowboys fan isn’t hard, it’s embarrasing…what with them hitting you up for bail money and such. ;^) Now you want “hard” from a fan perspective, try out my lot… lifelong Red Sox fan!! Sheesh.
I saw this list on another sight and the poster said being a Phillies Fan… I disagree… the hardest things in sports to be is definately a Cowboy fan.
FWIW Joe Moya
As a Chicagoan, I vehementy disagree… there is nothing worse than being a Cub fan.