It's that time again, time to watch American athletes compete against the best athletes in the world in the Summer Olympics, this year held in Rio de Janeiro. We wait for these two plus weeks to come along every four year and when you ask people what they like to watch, you'll probably hear a combination of events from Gymnastics, Swimming, and Track & Field. These are the big events for the summer games, we all know this. But there are technically 28 sports with 41 disciplines and a whopping 306 events that athletes are competing in! So which sports are (sadly) swept by the wayside?
1. Badminton
With 5 separate events including Men's, Women's, and Mixed doubles, this sport will start and finish competition Thursday, August 11th. Be sure to catch these competitors play that game you never could during grade school gym.
2. Equestrian
The horse and rider teams are already in the middle of their four days of competition, having competed the dressage portions of the team and individual competitions. You can still catch the amazing cross country steeple chase on Monday, August 8th, and Jumping on Tuesday, August 9th.
3. Fencing
The men completed their competition Sunday, August 7th with American Alexander Massialas coming in second to Italy's Daniele Garozzo, but the women are still waiting to take the stage Monday, August 8th. Don't miss this *sharp* competition!
4. Handball
Honestly, I forgot this was a sport until I was looking up all of the Olympic sports. But it is!!!! This tournament continues preliminary rounds on Tuesday, August 9th with the Finals matches for Gold, Silver, and Bronze on Sunday, August 21st.
5. Marathon Swimming
I first heard about this event a few weekends ago during NPR's saturday morning program "Only A Game" where a man recalled a story of when he stumbled onto an Olympic event during the London 2012 Games while strolling through Hyde Park. These swimmers have to slough through 10 kilometers of rough water on Monday, August 15th (Women) and Tuesday, August 16th (Men).
6. Rhythmic Gymnastics
Everyone knows about the US Gymnastics team's dominance, but what about the Rhythmic Gymnastics team? Laura Zeng, Kiana Eide, Kristen Shaldybin, Alisa Kano, Monica Rokhman, and Natalie McGiffert will be competing on Friday, August 19th, Saturday, August 20th, and Sunday, August 20th.
7. Rowing
Rowing is already in full swing, starting on Day 1, but will continue to push through the water from Monday, August 8th until Saturday, August 13th.
8. Sailing
Sailing isn't just a rich person's summer hobby. Some athletes are competeing in boats on the water starting Monday, August 8th and in spatterings of events until Friday, August 12th.
9. Table Tennis
Ah yes, Ping Pong's more serious name, Table Tennis, is used for this high stakes Olympic sport. The preliminaries and rounds started on Day 1 and will continue for quite a few days with individual medals up for grabs on Wednesday, August 10th and Thursday, August 11th and team medals up for grabs on Tuesday, August 16th and Wednesday, August 17th.
10. Trampoline
This high flying sport is insane. If you thought jumping on a trampoline in some backyard was dangerously fun, tune in to the Women's competition on Friday, August 12th and the Men's competition on Saturday, August 13th.
With so many sports to choose from, there's certainly no lack for things to watch, so make sure you follow along and cheer on your favorite athletes and teams to go for gold in Rio.
