Imagine the training for the Olympics. All the work, the anxiety, the parties missed, and the mornings you'd rather have spent in bed. The money spent on training, equipment, travel, all of it. You sacrifice so much because you are single-mindedly focused on becoming the best. You make it to the Olympics, where you represent your country on the international stage, and for one shining moment, all those sacrifices seem worth it.
Now imagine that this is the photo of that moment that lives on in the collective memory, in the form of your top Getty Images search result:
For some reason, the photographers assigned to capture luge photos are positioned in such a way that the majority of their photos are these foreshortened monstrosities which make the lugers look like they are two feet tall, have 20 chins, and place an unnecessary emphasis on their groins.
These are Olympic athletes! Have some respect!
These athletes are mega-sledding at nearly 100 miles per hour, and somehow not falling off or even screaming, which to me is a huge accomplishment. Luge is an objectively cool sport, and while their posture is a bit awkward, it's possible to take photos of lugers looking cool. Here is the proof:
I understand that you sacrifice some recognizability here, but I think it's a fair trade to avoid an angle more often associated with someone accidentally opening their front-facing camera.
I don't know how much power these photographers have over where they get to stand during these heats, so I don't know precisely whether the blame for these photos lies with them, or with a more shadowy bureaucratic force that governs press placement. But whoever is responsible for this should apologize to each of these lugers, and get themselves to an elevated surface so they can capture these athletes in their glory.
