The medal count looks impressive, but it was the US women and their incredible gold medal performances in swimming, gymnastics, and track and field that made such a tremendous difference in the overall standings. Michael Phelps' last Olympic appearance didn't hurt, either.
I didn't get see any weightlifting, even though I was watching for it. I did get to see lots of badminton and ping pong waiting for it, though.
sigh
I got to see the U.S. win in men and women's shot put. I did get to see women's high jump. And I got to see all the major sprints and relays.
I still think that "sports" determined by nothing but judges scores aren't really sports. They might be fun to watch, but they're more art exhibitions than competitions. The people performing them are athletes, but real sports have teams and/ or players in direct competition with one another, defense and offense, and points scored, or times recorded in such a way that judges shouldn't be the only ones knowing what actually happened.
My general rule of thumb? Judges shouldn't determine champions.
Overall, I was satisfied. WAY, WAY too much basketball, soccer, golf, and tennis was broadcast. Entire channels devoted to those four sports was just too much. But when you have that many channels to fill with programming, I guess you have to show something.
It was nice to see the USA dominate. It's just one of the reasons I prefer the summer games.
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