Every four years, there is a Winter Olympics. This means that every four years, I get very excited about the prospect of more short track speed skating, the best sport at any Olympic games. Sure, people like their hockey and curling, especially in this case, but nothing can match the combination of strategy, speed, and people falling over that short track represents. It's quick, it's exciting, in the relay portion it's downright chaotic, but at the end of the day it's the sport that will draw me to the nearest screen whenever it's on. I'll even watch a feed on tape delay.
But outside the Olympics, short track really doesn't get very much attention. It's much more common to see extensive coverage of other sports than to stumble across short track competitions, and it's usually relegated to being an Olympic only event for most people. It's a shame, because it's the kind of sport that I could watch every day.
It's a surprise, because it's also a sport that Canadian athletes are very good at. Our country has already taken a gold and is poised to capture more medals in the sport. Clearly, people in this country have a passion for it, are skilled at it, and among the best in the world. You would think that it would be a rallying point, and we would see people glued to the television at every world cup.
We should, anyway, and not just because Canadian athletes are consistently strong in the sport. Even if they were not, it would be a sport worth watching. Every team has their own strategy, their own method for getting across the line first, and sometimes that conflicts with the other teams and that leads to something exciting. It's fast and unpredictable, which can lead to underdog victories, just because one slip or a bad push could cause an entire pack to fall over, as they are so close and balancing on a thin edge.
So why aren't we watching it all the time? Team sports tend to get the most play, because they get more people involved and can inspire intense devotion from fans in each area. Short track is largely an individual event, though there is the delightfully chaotic relay. For whatever reason, a team sport tends to attract the most passionate following, which attracts ad dollars and television time. The Olympics get the same following not simply due to time, but because it's the biggest team sport there is, each member and team being part of a much larger, much greater team. You can cheer on one person's Olympic dream because you're cheering on an entire country's simultaneously.
Would it have the same effect if we were just observing the Hamelin brothers in a more local Canadian event on the way to world championships? Perhaps not, the team pressure wouldn't be there, and we're just watching individuals. We would, however, be watching individuals in an exciting sport, one that is much about the personality of each participant as it is about the speed and the danger. It's better than a team sport because you begin to understand the way each skater thinks, even in a relatively brief event like the winter games.
Personally, I think this is the best sport at the Olympics, and it has been ever since it was introduced. I won't watch hockey, but if short track is on I will be right there the whole time.
