I am always pleasantly surprised to realize that I love watching most of the events. These sports that few of us pay attention to for four years turn out to be by turns exciting and charming. A lot of the appeal is seeing people who have worked for years to perfect their talents and their technique, finally having a turn on the world stage. We skating lovers tend to think of skating as a neglected sport (in the States, at any rate--compared to football and auto racing and pro wrestling). But these other sports are even more obscure, and yet they have athletes and devoted followers who stand in the cold for hours to watch and cheer people on. There's a real nobility in these athletes, who pursue excellence while working at often humble day jobs. Except for some stars like snowboarder Shaun White, many of them barely manage a mortgage. Yet they persevere.
A large part of the events' appeal is the voice-over by knowledgeable commentators such as the guys who covered the Women's Mogul skiing last night. These folks take into account that they're talking to an audience of mostly newcomers, and they're clear yet excited about the proceedings. They point out things like which competitor is showing good form (in the moguls, it's a relatively still upper body). The American commentators tend to talk a lot, but since everything they say is new, I'm fascinated.
And it's wonderful to see the delighted faces of the athletes who do well. Whether they're from my country or not doesn't generally seem to matter to me. By the time I see what they have to go through to reach the finish line, I'm on their side!
So far, I seem to prefer the airborne or gliding sports, like the slightly longer short track (1500 m, I think--the very short track just looks like human crash dummies), ski jumping, half pipe snowboard, and crosscountry skiing. This kind of leaves out curling, but I love that such a sport exists. A sport with brooms that isn't Quidditch! Who'd have thought?
