Did you know that there are incredible Olympic sporting events that the general public rarely sees, if ever, on television? With the rise of Olympics coverage on multiple networks, though, we have had unprecedented access to a lot of these events, and some of them are definitely amazing, even if they are hard to understand at first. Here are my top five “behind the scenes” Olympic sports:
5. Fencing
There’s just something about the facemasks, or the foils, or the technique it takes to fence correctly. Until the 2008 games in Beijing I had never watched a second of it, but when I was recording coverage during those Olympic Games it was one of the events I came back to frequently. It didn’t hurt, either, that Americans did so well in it that year.
4. Curling
The rise of curling was a subtle one, in my opinion, although I’m sure it had been very huge in Canada for a very long time. I didn’t get into it until the most recent winter games, and I still don’t quite understand all of its rules, but it intrigues me. It was rare for it to be shown on NBC, but I did catch it on there in those same Games. I like curling because it’s a team effort, and those guys are amazing with the brooms. Maybe some day I’ll even understand the rules.
3. Badminton
This has long been one of my favorite sports, ever since I took a class (an actual class) on it in college. We played various tournaments against the others in the class, and I ended up second overall in three of our five tournaments, losing in the final match each time. I hadn’t even realized that badminton was an Olympic sport, however, until I happened to catch one of the late night broadcasts a few Summer Games back. I found out then that it was usually broadcast on some of the fringe channels, and I caught almost the entire tournament at the Beijing Games. It’s incredible.
2. Trampoline
I am afraid of heights, but I have been more comfortable lately watching people dive from great heights, so I’ve come around on the trampoline, another of those “obscure” sports. What I remember about trampolines is them being in backyards for people to have fun on, but when I saw the Olympic version of the sport I was honestly amazed. These are real athletes who do amazing flips at great heights, and have to stay as close to the center of the pad on the landings, which is tricky indeed. I truly enjoy the trampoline competition, especially when one of the favorites messes up because that opens the door for some true surprises.
1. Snowboard cross
I was one of the first people to scoff at the idea of having snowboarding at the Olympics, but Shaun White and company made a believer out of me with the half-pipe. Then I was shocked that they were going to add more snowboarding events to the winter program, but when I saw snowboard cross in action, it was incredible. It’s the competition of excellent athletes who have to be technically correct as well as be skilled at avoiding others on the same track at the same time. I look forward to seeing more of it at the Winter Games next year in Sochi.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 