2012 Olympics: Must-Watch Events to Make Week 1 Enjoyable

With the 2012 Summer Olympics underway, the first week of action is shaping up to be as impressive as anything you will see over the next three weeks.

Amazing crowd favorites like swimming will intrigue the casual fans, but it will be unique events like fencing and individual archery that can draw interest that was never there for the sport.

If this is the kind of excitement that we should expect throughout the games, the fans are in store for one great Olympiad!

Swimming

With stars like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and so many more, the sport that most casual Summer Olympic fans are very excited for is swimming.

From the Men’s and Women’s 100m freestyle to Men's 4x100m Medley Relay, there are so many different variations on the common sport of swimming that every person who has ever swam in a pool can relate.

Add in the American dominance of this sport, and it has been easy for the United States to get behind the sport of swimming. With competition amongst the American swimmers as well, missing this competition would be something fans would regret.

Fencing

For those that don’t know much about fencing, this is one of the wilder events in the entire Summer Olympics arsenal. With nine days of action, this will be the ultimate test of both skill and smarts.

As great as the team events are, there is no event that has captured the mainstream more than the Women’s Individual Sabre Fencing event and two-time gold medalist Mariel Zagunis.

Zagunis is Team USA’s biggest star in the sport and has taken on the role of the face of the sport for the casual fans. While the men’s events are just as entertaining, most people will be watching to see the U.S. favorite stealing the show once again.

Individual Archery

While the men’s and women’s team tournament was Saturday and Sunday, Week 1’s action with the Men's and Women's Individual Archery tournament is where the fun really starts.

It’s like March Madness, but with bows and arrows.

With five days of action (July 30-August 3), the individual men’s and women’s archery tournament will be one of the most exciting events of the 2012 Olympics.

Many casual fans will not think about archery as a normal sport, but the hunting-inspired sport has become an event to behold. The skill and talent needed to do the things these athletes will do in Week 1 is nothing short of unbelievable.

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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