Wrestling: Wait, what’s this doing here? Didn’t the IOC give it the ax in ’21 to make room for surfing or whatever? I’ve seen various competitions over the decades, some good, some bad, and the key factors that determine the quality of any given match are: 1. How aggressive on the attack the competitors are, 2. how effective these attacks are, and 3. how unevenly matched they are. The super sucky, hyperboring, soul-draining, this-is-better-than-Texas-Hold-‘Em-how-exactly matches are when the competitors are so even and both unable and unwilling to impose their will on the other that it’s basically six minutes of two brick walls trying to topple the other. (I remember one particularly execrable bout where both men did virtually nothing but timidly paw at each other and rack up passivity violations. And this was freestyle!) When they’re on the attack, moving around, working, looking for openings, making things happen or at least trying to, that’s when it gets entertaining. And when one of them is superior and has the muscle and know-how to execute a winning strategy, that’s even better. So far NBC’s offerings have been on the plus end, although I suspect that with so many other sports to cover they can’t afford to lose viewers with a dragfest.
Artistic swimming: No synchronicity, just a whole lot of coordination, acrobatics, and superhuman breath control. I recall discussing “Olympic events that should not get the same award as real sports” many years ago, and this is a perfect example. Look, I don’t doubt for a second that it’s beautiful, or it requires a ton of work, or it’s dangerous, or it’s extremely physically demanding, or it’s really hard to get waterproof makeup just right. I like it as a spectacle. As a sport, what does it take to win? What are the “elements” and “artistry”? How are they scored? What takes off points? Is anyone even trying to explain any of this? The scores go into 7 digits. That doesn’t look right to me!
And I’d like to renew my periodic gripe about sportscasters claiming that past gold medal winners are ””””defending”””” their medals, much less that utter BS about Simone Biles “”””””””””regaining”””””””””” the individual all-around gold. 
Like, it’s bad enough when you’re talking about an even that happens every year. Did you know that 90% of Olympians will only ever be in one Olympiad? Sheesh… 
Railer13 - I’d already found it on my DVR, but thanks. I’m not really hip to track drama (nor do I have any desire to be, ever, at all), so I just saw a front-runner get caught and a thrilling finish. Mainly it goes to show just how much pressure runners are under. Jocks win championships by big or even overwhelming margins all the time…look at the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics, much of Steffi Graf’s career, Royce Gracie’s early career, Tiger Woods, Max Verstappen, heck, look at much of the history of the Super Bowl. But track produces razor-tight, final-millisecond, dang-why-can’t-American-Ninja-Warrior-have-more-of-these finishes all the time. It’s possible to lose out on a gold medal, or any medal at all, by a hundredth of a second OR LESS. (What was Noah Lyles’ margin at the 100, .005?) It’s especially intense when they know that they won’t get another chance for four long years, if ever.
Besides that, I’d like to know what Josh Kerr was thinking. He was the one who started this dumb rivalry with Ingebrigtsen to begin with, so I had to figure he had to have some seriously mixed emotions.
suranyi - Oh, yeah, I (very) dimly remember something like that happening. Eh. That’s life. 