I Love the Olympics

I really do. Both flavours, Winter and Summer. And it does seem weird, because I don't care all that much about any other type of sporting event. Maybe the odd football game if it's a big England match, but that's it. Why does this one event seem to catch my imagination like no other sports do?

For one thing, it's only on every two years, on the four year cycle between Summer and Winter. Some sporting events feel like they're on all the time. Formula 1 seems to take up a good three quarters of the year, Wimbledon is once a year and it seems like there's football on every day. But the Olympics are rare enough to still seem like a novelty.

I especially love the opening and closing ceremonies! They're as much about culture as they are sport, showcasing all the best things about a nation. One of the best ways to understand somewhere is to learn about it's culture. I enjoy all the pomp and ceremony of the opening, raising the flags, lighting the torches and making the oaths. I also really like the Parade of Nations, and Dad and I play a game where we try and guess the country coming next from the flag. And I like the more relaxed atmosphere of the Closing Ceremony, with every country coming in together and it feeling more like one big party.

It's nice to see sports other than the usual. Normally, if there's a sport on UK TV, it's one of a select few. But the Olympics showcases more unusual sports, ones you don't always see. There's always something on, and sometimes I tune in for fun on a random sport, and cheer for all countries if neither is Team GB. And, at least over here, Women's and Men's events get the same amount of coverage and interest, something you don't often see in a huge sporting competition.

With the state of the world at the moment, it's nice to see countries coming together for a little friendly competition. I like it when things aren't taken too seriously, and if we get a medal, that's awesome, if we don't, that's cool too. These athletes are the best of the best, and few people can do anything like what they do. Sport has a unique power to bring people together - the Christmas Day football match in the First World War is a favourite of mine - and no-where is that shown better than the Olympics, featuring people from many different countries. I always hope that the gathering of people from all corners of the globe can lead to better understanding between everyone.

I think that overall, the Olympics inspires us to be the best in what we do everyday, whether that be sports or not, and that is worth supporting.