I've not watched a speck of the Olympics this year, until today, when we watched
- synchronized swimming, and
- some track and field events.
Synchronized swimming: no offense to any synchronized swimmers among my readership, but what the hell? It's kind of beautiful but also, well, absurd. Right? Am I wrong about this? On the one hand, each person is a terrific athlete, strong as hell, and can hold her breath for agonizing lengths of time. On the other hand, swimming in full makeup? with all that mess in the hair? And all the smiling? Well, there you go. Whatever that is, it's not a sport. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
We just barely watched Nancy Lagat from Kenya win the 1500 meters race, which I happen to think is one of the most agonizing track events, because you basically sprint for the whole distance. Ms. Lagat had a fantastic kick at the end, though, that put her well out of reach of the Bahrain runner, the heavy favorite. It was awesome to see. Even for a person who cannot be bothered to watch a second of the Olympics, until today.
