There are so many different events to watch and lets face it, a lot of people don't follow a lot of these sports until the Olympic finals start. And a lot of people tuning in are doing so just to see if their home nation wins another medal. Once the Olympics end then a lot of people won't care for another 4 years. As for me, I am planning on watching the Men's U-23 soccer tournament, boxing, some of the men's basketball tournament, some of the swimming races, the track sprint races, and maybe some wrestling. It won't bother me if I miss everything else.
I respect pretty much every sport the Games sanctions --you got a gold medal, you're a badass regardless of what it's in-- but "Olympics" from my standpoint as a viewer pretty much means track & field. Most of the other Olympic sports don't hold my viewing interest or have been passed in prestige by the pro sector (basketball, soccer, tennis, golf).
Athletics in #1. Also look forward to the boxing, gymnastics, basketball, swimming, cycling and handball (after being enthralled by it in the last games). Don't like the fact football and tennis are there. Some of the sports like shooting, archery and equestrian just seem a bit silly and out of place and I can't stand the modern pentathlon.
Agreed with Auriaprottu, it's track and field. Nothing more dramatic in the Olympics. Looking forward to the Opening Ceremonies. Track and Field Soccer Gymnastics Wrestling Swimming Boxing Basketball Volleyball
I will be most likely be looking at: Swimming Basketball Soccer Track Every time the Olympics come up I get confused with some sports, like how they are played/rules/scores etc. I found this pretty cool interactive guide on each of the Olympic sports explaining the rules, scoring system etc. http://www.bigpondsport.com/Olympics/SportPreviews/InteractiveEventGuide/tabid/739/Default.aspx
Not the pinnacle of their sports. Even with basketball it's undoubtedly the major international competition.
agreed, olympics should be about track and field and thats about it personally to many swimming events, we dont have running backwards why are we subjected to backstroke and breastroke and butterfly?
There's nothing inherently American about watersports. People can swim with 16 teeth as easily as they can with 32. Go find your best swimmers and beat teh Phelps.
Do you not find it strange that there's no half-marathon in the olympics or cross-country running yet the f'n butterfly is?
I watch the athletics even though my country has no chance whatsoever of winning a medal in it. And then I enjoy the Dutch trying to win medals in swimming, field hockey, and gymnastics. My best olympic memories ever are the volleyball final Italy vs the NL and the waterpolo final four years ago. Both were EPIC.
Esp in the knowledge that these people train a billion times harder than footballers for a fraction of what footballers get paid. That's what's great about the olympics, the fact that outside of the high-profile sports there's still a massive amateur element to it. All about the pride & honour!
To me, the Olympics are a track meet, and everything else is window dressing. Especially the ceremonies.
Team sports I'll try to folllow: Soccer Handball Water polo Volleyball (not beach) Individual sports: Wrestling (freestyle and G/R) Athletics Cycling (road) Boxing Might watch some men's gymnastics. Haven't liked "women's" gymnastics since it's become dominated by barely-pubescent girls (I like NCAAwomen's gymnastics quite a bit more). And I will no doubt surprise myself by getting caught up in something I don't expect to. Who knows, it might even be dressage.
Loved watching the Road Cycling this morning! Track and Field just doesn't do it for me, although those are unarguably the top events. Interested in the Men's Gymnastics most of all, probably. And the Marathon. The swimming has started off more exciting now that Mr. Invincible from 2008 is obviously a mere mortal this time around. (Am I the only one wishing we were going into a Winter instead of a Summer Olympics over the last week? Boy, do I prefer the WO list of sports so much more. Right off the bat, ice hockey beats the crap out of basketball. Can't wait for Sochi!)
Not in the slightest. Then again I'm English and the Winter Olympics is basically a non-event over here.
Not really. The events in each sport are determined by the world federation in that sport, so there is no central authority saying "this event is in, that event is out" for all sports. Cross country was in the Olympics 100 years ago, but was discontinued. I think they decided that it drew the same people as the longest race on the track, the 10,000 meters. The half-marathon, which is a relatively new addition to the track scene, may have some of the same problem. It's hard to fit too many distance races into a two-week period. Just running the 5,000 and 10,000 against this sort of competition is tough. As for the butterfly, it's long been one of the four basic strokes in swimming, not some oddball newcomer like synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics. However, I do object to them adding so many swimming events at various distances. Thank goodness that track has stuck to the same events decade after decade.