Our culture is rife with such, arenas where (mostly young) people put their life and health at risk for the merriment of the couch potatoes that make up the bulk of the public. We can't outlaw it as long as there are people who rely on it for their livelihood, and large swathes of the populace are insensitive to the sufferings of strangers to the point of enjoying it, immensely.
To be fair, a sport like sledding does not exist for the audience as much as for participants themselves. I doubt anyone gets into that sport to make a living out of it. I expect that's the case for most olympic disciplines.
Your critique is fair for a couple of other sports, particularly boxing/fighting and american football.