I've been watching some of the Winter Olympics over the past few days. I'm definitely more of a Summer Olympics fan - soccer, track and field, etc., and am convinced that many of the Winter Olympic events really shouldn't even be classified as sports. For example, if I ran the Winter Olympics, the first event I would strike down would be ice dancing. This should be a Monday night reality TV show following "Dancing with the Stars," and IMHO is not an actual sport.
However, there are some events which I've found to be incredibly exciting. Last night's 1,000 meter short track speed skating final with Apolo Ohno is a great example. Short track speed skating is volatile and definitely a full-contact sport. From the athlete's perspective, it must be challenging to prepare for an event in which someone can bump you and take you out of the race and there's really nothing you can do about it. In last night's race, Apolo was bumped and lost a significant amount of speed, allowing the two Koreans to pass him. However, in the interview following his bronze medal performance, he was very classy about it, acknowledging that that's just part of the sport.
I've also been impressed with the downhill skiing. I think you have to be a bit crazy to do it, but it's fun to watch and I've been excited to see the Americans have such success this year. Go USA!
