Reply #77: I see your point, and I think that still holds with what I said

[fishwax]

Poor kids will have a better chance at success in a sport where there are well-developed and extensive networks for recognizing and developing talent. That's the case with popular sports like baseball, basketball, track, and (in some regions) hockey. But access isn't as readily available to the networks through which one might be discovered in sports like, say, swimming or diving. A kid from a poor family might have a bike and might be able to ride it very, very fast, but unless he access to clubs (which will be more likely in more affluent communities) or competitions (which require some investment of time, energy, and money from the family) he's not likely to be discovered.

Generally speaking, as I said, I agree with the idea that working-class kids are more likely to break into the summer Olympics ... I just don't think the discrepancy is quite as big as it might initially appear, both because there are ways that poorer kids (in the right geographic location) can have access to winter sports and because the bar for many summer sports is bigger than it might seem.