Like everyone else, I've been following the Olympics to some degree. There are events that I really enjoy, and others that you couldn't pay me to watch. For example, the beach volleyball had my interest, whereas the baseball and basketball were to be flipped over if at all possible. That might mark me as less of a regular guy than most, but it's how I'm wired.
My wife and I are very fond of the diving events. Watching these young men and women hurl themselves off of a springboard or the 10 metre platform is very exciting. We don't even pick which athletes to be interested in (beyond normal desire to see our country get a medal), we just admire the form that they show.
Interestingly enough, after a while, you begin to understand just what the judges are looking for. Were the toes pointed on entry? How vertical was that entry? At first I wasn't sure why some divers were scored the way they were. Now I get it. It was the same way during the winter Olympics, with curling. It took me time to get that one too.
There was an interesting debate in a forum I frequent about what constitutes a sport, and what is just an athletic equivalent to a beauty contest. It seems that some feel that an event that is judged subjectively is not really a sport. Only the events with clear "first past the post" winners can be considered a sport. I haven't really come down on one side or the other. I think that all of the events are sports. If it requires physical training to the nth level, and is not something just anyone can do well, it's a sport.
The day they introduce competitive eating, I'm out of here. Now that is NOT a sport!
An interesting side note, the CBC sports program asked for viewer input on who was the most gifted athlete at the games, or something to that effect. Somebody very wisely voted for one of the horses on the Canadian Equestrian team. We get so caught up in the human element, sometimes we forget what we ask of our partners.
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