Now that the extravagance and spectacle of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games has subsided, it’s time to reflect on what was. Michael Phelps and USA in Bolt were scary in their respective destruction of the record books; Phelps captured 8 Gold Medals in the pool and Bolt sprinting to an unheard of 2 world records in the 100 and 200m. These games also had unexpected surprises; the lip-syncing controversy of the opening ceremonies, amazing Chinese gymnasts who may or may not have been too young, and the Swedish tae kwon do referee who took a kick to the kisser from a Cuban contestant after the match he was officiating ended. All in all however, Beijing put on an incredible show. Though, in stark contrast to the opening and closing ceremonies, some of the competitions seemed to lack that edge-of-your-seat’ness. How many people stayed Good88 awake for the Equestrian finals (horse-riding competitions are considered athletic contests??) or those heart-pounding pistol events? We think there are some obvious replacements for those “sports” that seem to be, well, just a little lame.

First, some rules; in general, sports are eligible to be included if they meet certain criteria. They should have a scoring format, ruling body, and must be widely practiced (75 countries on 4 continents for men’s competitions and 40 countries on 3 continents for women’s). Any sport that requires motor propulsion cannot be included (Phelps and Bolt feats not withstanding), so no luck for F1 and Moto GP fans. In addition, the sport in question needs to be recognized as an Olympic sport prior to the Olympic Games in which they are to be contested and usually shown as a demonstration sport at a prior Olympic Games.