It is only during the Olympics that – television coverage permitting – most of us will ever watch the vast array of sport on offer: handball, table tennis (Ping Pong for the more ocker among us), archery, weightlifting, and even diving.
But it’s not just the sports that hook the games obsessed, it is the complete change in sporting attitude that most of the athletes present.
Away from the wash of professional commitments and flush with the pride of representing a national team, many of the athletes seem to be swept up in the Olympic spirit.
Tears of desperation at missing out on a win are usually swapped for the pride of wearing the national jersey and competing on a stage that only arrives every four years.
Jess Schipper, Libby Trickett and Sally Mclellan were fabulous in their appreciation of winning minor medals.
The Jamaican womens 4x100m sprint team embraced, after failing to complete the final where they were red hot favourites, and triathlete after triathlete embraced at the finish, before passing out due to heat exhaustion.
There were a few exceptions.
I was saddened by the American reaction when both their teams went down in the relays, especially Tyson Gay; a certain wrestler spat the dummy and the medal; while a former gold medalist from Cuba used his Tae Kwon Do skills on a judge.
In general though, it is the greatest show of sportsmanship around today and something that the spoiled professionals in the NRL, NBA, and EPL can learn from.
If you want to show your kids how to play the game, show them replays of the Aussie women winning a bronze in softball or the tears of joy from an Algerian 800m runner when he realised that he had made the final against all expectations.
That is why I love to watch the games: the display of sportsmanship that is generally lacking in games ruled by money.
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