Olympic Nonsense

This seems to be the first olympics that I've ever paid attention to. You'd think it'd be more interesting when I was younger, but apparently I've never watched before. Because, it seems, that every freaking sport is a surprise to me.

Last week I was shocked, and delighted to see that synchronized diving was an event. I had no idea you could synch that. Swimming, sure. But diving? Amazing.

And, who knew about women's softball? Not me.

But really, the big shock to me was today's 90 minute event of the women's 20K racewalk. Seriously? walking? Not even real walking. Mostly some kind of crazy waddle. What makes it a walk? These rules:

The first dictates that the athlete's back toe cannot leave the ground until the heel of the front foot has touched. Violation of this rule is known as loss of contact. The second rule requires that the supporting leg must straighten from the point of contact with the ground and remain straightened until the body passes over it. These rules are judged by the human eye, which creates controversy at today's high speeds.

Most olympic athletes are graceful at their sport. They have some kind of skill that is generally appealing. Unless you're really into ducks, I can't see how you'd find this sport attractive. It looks terrible for your knees, and even terribler if you had middle school kids around who would definitely mock you. I generally don't have much respect for marathon runners. It seems like a stupid skill to have, and is really terrible for your body. But 20k walking is way, way stupider.

If you don't believe me, check out the men's 50k on the 22nd.

And a shout out to Rakia Al Gassra for defying all odds, and being one of the first women to represent Bahrain. She was in Athens. And I saw her tonight, racing in her long pants, long sleeves and hoodie. A bold move, when the other women runners wear practically nothing.

Seriously, this olympics thing is just weird.