The Olympic Games are finally here. The modern incarnation began back in 1896, but the Olympic tradition harkens back to the ancient Greek festival where a massive municipal infrastructure boondoggle was offered unto the gods as a tribute.
Many of the sports appearing at the Summer Games have storied and truly ancient histories, and not just the obvious ones like the discus and javelin events. The race Herodotus presumably called “βμχ” is now honored with the Olympic event of bicycle motocross racing. Who could forget the ancient story of Achilles gaining victory over the Trojan Prince Hector in a particularly devastating table tennis bout. And most of all, while Pheidippides’ run following the Greek victory at the battle of Marathon gets all the glory, today we also commemorate in the Olympic Games the tenacious if less celebrated efforts of an unnamed Achaean soldier after the Battle of 50 Kilometer Race Walk.
Alright, I’ll just say it: Some Olympic events are better than others. Some are way better than others. And I wanted to figure out which are really the best.
FULL STORY: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/best-worst-olympic-sports-survey-ranked/
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