Statistically speaking, out athletes have been, as a group, disproportionately successful at these Olympic Games. The 11 openly GLBT athletes Outsports has followed over the past two weeks raked in 4 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze medal. In other words, 64% of out athletes won a medal; a third of all out athletes won a gold medal. The medalists are:

Gold: Matthew Mitcham, Australia (Diving, 10m platform); Natasha Kai, USA (Soccer); Gro Hammerseng & Katya Nyberg, Norway (Handball)

Silver: Lauren Lappin and bi athlete Vicky Galindo, USA (Softball)

Bronze: Linda Bresonik, Germany (Soccer)

I’ve struggled mightily to understand why NBC prefers to tape events and repackage them for a delayed broadcast as if the sports themselves are not inherently interesting to watch. NBCOlympics.com, like every other site in the world, reports major Olympic headlines and live results, but then turns around 12-15 hours later and pretends in their primetime broadcast that the audience is clueless. Suddenly it occurred to me: we are.

It was “focus on females” as the network honed into synchronized swimming, more gymnastics and the individual dressage finals. While the frenzied Phelps medal race was on, the Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven has been quietly pursuing her third Olympic gold. This is a huge achievement in dressage, where you can’t pile up medals the way you can in swimming.  In all Olympic history, no individual rider has collected more than two golds.  Van Grunsven and Germany’s Isabell Werth, the two grandes dames, have been dueling for years.

A few days back I wrote an item called “Woe Canada,” that detailed how the nation of 33 million had yet to win a medal. I wasn’t alone as it became a constant theme in the Great White North.

Things have changed in a hurry, with 13 medals in four days. Included in that group is diver Alexandre Despatie (right), who won a silver in the 3-meter springboard.

Following are the list of Olympic sports I enjoy watching and ones that leave me nodding off or changing the channel. I would love to hear from others on what moves them or bores them.

This list is not a commentary on the athletic skills or talents involved in the sport, but rather how I see them as a spectator and not an insider of the sport: