Olympics!

I love watching the Olympics, and I am so glad that the competition starts tomorrow. Here are the events that I am especially excited to watch.

1. Gymnastics. The USA women's team won the World Championship last fall, so they are the team to beat. And we have several girls on the squad who have really good chances of medalling in the all-around and event finals. The USA men's team isn't too shabby either, plus they have really nice muscles :) Unfortunately, the Hamm twins won't be competing, but hopefully the team will really pull together and give a great performance.

2. Diving. One of my favorite athletes is USA's Laura Wilkinson, who won gold on the platform at the 2000 Games. This is her last Olympics, so I will definitely be cheering her on.

3. Track and Field. I really like all the running events (surprise, surprise), although I think my favorites are the 5000 and 10,000 meters because they are familiar racing distances to me. Also, one of the competitors in women's 10,000 is Shalane Flanagan, who is a UNC graduate.

4. Men's and Women's Marathon. Will USA's Deena Kastor be able to win a medal again? Will UK's Paula Radcliffe finally grab that elusive gold?

5. Swimming. Team USA has a bunch of awesome swimmers, not to mention all the hype surrounding Michael Phelps.