The Olympic Sports You Aren’t Watching Yet (But Really Should Be)
So many events, so few screens …
The Olympics are great! There are so many events on, with incredible athletes you’ve never heard of from countries you only learned about in AP World History, bringing the world together in some semblance of peace and harmony for three weeks.
The Olympics are terrible! There are so many events on that you may find yourself wearing out your TV controller toggling among channels, and to your streaming device, and that doesn’t even count what you could watch on your phone.
In all the chaos, it’s easy for great sports to fall through the cracks, so here are three events you might not have planned to watch that you should keep an eye on across the next few days. (All times ET)
(1) Rugby: While the women’s tournament is over (and wow, it’s worth the re-watch if you have a few hours on your hands), the men’s tournament is just revving up. Rugby, for the uninitiated, is like football, if football involved throwing the ball backwards with uninhibited, incredibly rough tackling. It’s quick (seven minutes per half, except in the finals, when there are 10 minutes per half), it’s physical (did I mention the tackling?), and it’s easy to watch and root for without needing to read a Harry-Potter-and-the-Goblet-of-Fire-sized rulebook.
Wednesday: 10a.m.-5:30 p.m., every 30 minutes.
Thursday: 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m., every 30 minutes. Medal matches at 5:30 p.m. and 6p.m.
(2) Women’s and Men’s Cycling Time Trials: Unlike the road race, which is a madhouse of everyone on the road at once, time trials are just you, your bike, the road, and the clock. The course is the same insanely tricky one as for the road race (which claimed more than half the field in the men’s race, and seriously injured Dutch competitor Annemiek van Vleuten in the women’s) and has sections that will favor both climbers and sprinters. The favorites on the women’s side include American Evelyn Stevens, and on the men’s side recent Tour de France champion Chris Froome (Great Britain) and time trialing legend Tom Dumoulin (The Netherlands), who is battling a wrist injury. If you like competition with a gorgeous backdrop, this is for you.
Wednesday: (Women) 7:30 a.m., (Men) 9a.m.
(3) Kayak Slalom: Ever done a raft ride in Colorado? This is that, turned up to 11 and done in tiny fiberglass boats the size of shoes with obstacles to avoid and gates to go through. The men go down the river twice Wednesday, and the women Thursday, and if you don’t think you’ll hold your breath watching a person in a kayak, you haven’t watched slalom.
Wednesday: (Men), 12:30 p.m. semifinals, 2:15 p.m. finals
Thursday: (Women), 12:15 p.m. semifinals, 2:00 p.m. finals
These should be plenty to tide us all over until Simone Biles and Aly Raisman and the rest of the Final Five return to the floor to continue their reign of dominance Thursday — or to keep you interested if gymnastics isn’t your thing!
Kate Morrison is a baseball writer by day, obsessive Olympics watcher (also by day), and enthusiastic cycling live-tweeter. You can find her works at Baseball Prospectus, WFAA.com, Today’s Knuckleball, and ESPN, and follow her on Twitter @unlikelyfanatic.
