Now What?

Supposing that there may be those of you who haven't heard, the Olympics games are being held in Beijing, China. (Technically they are not called the summer Olympics, even though the winter Olympics are officially called the Winter Olympics).

Over the past two weeks you may have caught footage of the opening ceremonies, stayed up till near dawn to watch gymnastics, or experienced the agony of tape-delayed covergage. Those of you who are home during the day may have seen unfamiliar sporting events that are often just a blip on the radar, even during the Olympics, such as badmitton or water polo.

Next week, the Olympics and the sporting events that make them up, will recede back into the level of obscurity that they inhabit except for a two week period every four years. (Not including the Winter Olympics naturally.) Still, life goes on for the sports and the Olympics beyond Beijing.

Most sporting federations will hold one or more world championships between the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. One such event will be the 13th FINA World Swimming and Diving Championships, to be held in Rome, Italy in 2009. (FINA oversees International Swimming and Diving.) Learn more about this event here.

And before you know it, the 2010 Winter Olympics will be upon us. These games will be held in Vancouver, Canada. (Translation=less tape delay). You see, those fine folks at the International Olympic Committee have this well thought out and organized idea of picking the host site for the Olympics about six to seven years out from the date of the games. That allows the host city/nation time to prepare. London will host the 2012 summer Olympics. Sochi, Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Chicago, Rio de Janiero, and Madrid, Spain are the finalists for the 2016 summer Olympics. Whew. That's a lot of Olympics to look forward to.

Still, as you are watching the hurdles, pole vault, diving, swimming, and judo, just remember the Olympics once had events such as the Hop, Step, and Jump (similar to the Triple Jump) and even the Tug of War. Wasn't life so much simpler . . .

JWF