I am not a sports fan at all. Perhaps it is because I was always the last person chosen for any team other than the spelling bee team. (I didn't blame them for not choosing me for the team; I knew that if any ball of any size came toward me, I just tried to get out of its way so it wouldn't hit me.) The attraction of watching or playing sports has always eluded me.
So every other year we have the Summer or Winter Olympics where nations vie with each other to host the games. They spend a gazillion dollars to build villages and arenas for the athletes, journalists, and tourists who attend. Since wasting money is what governments seem to do all the time anyway, this is not surprising but it does seem to be a shame that they don't spend the money to improve infrastructure or provide a better life for their citizens. Anyway, what I find hard to understand is why the athletes spend their lives doing one thing, honing their skill hour after hour, week after week, year after year. It seems terribly boring to me. So after the competition, we crown the victor. Fine but then what? Do you spend the rest of your life doing endorsements for sports equipment? And what about the competitors who have spent years of their lives and all their parents' retirement money but came in 4th or are disabled by accidents or damage from overuse? Doesn't seem like a reasonable use of time or money to me. But then I'm not a gambler.
All that being said, I do like to watch the figure skating. The music is beautiful, the costumes are usually lovely, and it seems to be as close to flying as humans will ever get.
