London 2012 Olympics: Oddest Events to Keep Fans Interested

With the 2012 Summer Olympics coming to the fans from London, England, the talk has shifted from the most well-known events. It’s time to analyze the oddest sports that will keep fans interested.

While calling these events odd may seem mean, it is a term of endearment.

All Olympic sports are worthy of our respect because of the dedication to become that great at something, but some events just make us laugh.

In between swimming and basketball, find some time to check out all of the following sports in the 2012 London Olympics. You won’t regret it!

Badminton

Do you love tennis? Do you hate full-size racquets? Then you can’t miss the wild action of Olympic badminton!

With the fast-paced action of tennis and the addition of the shuttlecock, don’t let the game that you played as a kid fool you into thinking it isn’t real; these players will vertical jump-smash you.

Thank goodness that we have both men’s and women’s singles and doubles play, but it could be the mixed doubles that has badminton fans everywhere ready to go.

Trampoline

Another event that comes straight from our childhoods is the trampoline; take that backyard trampoline from your youth and multiply the intensity by 1,000.

Technically called trampolining, the sport consists of athletes doing flips and twists in mid-jump and has been compared favorably to reverse diving.

Now this is a sport I wish I had known existed when I was growing up.

With absolute dominance, the People's Republic of China has run amok in this event with three medals, but the American fans can root for Steven Gluckstein and Savannah Vinsant to bring home the gold.

Handball

From what I can gather of this sport, it is the offspring of basketball and soccer. From the jump, that description alone has me convinced this will be great.

The hand-held ball is carried into the offensive zone by a player as he tries to throw it into the opposition’s net. The defenders can get physical with the offensive player and there are an unlimited amount of fouls.

With all the physical play and high scoring, this is the kind of game that American fans can really get behind. It’s a shame the USA has been terrible in this event.

Check back for more on the 2012 Summer Olympics as it comes, and don’t miss Bleacher Report’s Olympics page to get your fill of the best athletes the world has to offer.

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