I remember once hearing a talk by the conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, about how the decline of instrumental music instruction in schools inevitably led, years later, to a decrease in symphony audiences. Simply put, the people who most appreciated classical performance were usually those who had done some of it themselves.

Which seems to me particularly true in the parallel world of watching the Olympics. Prior to CrossFit, I had never tried to clean, jerk or snatch a weight, had never played on rings, parallel bars, or a pommel horse.

So, while I watched and enjoyed both the Olympic lifting and men’s gymnastics events at Athens, Sydney, and Atlanta, I didn’t until this year appreciate how really, really, holy shit I can’t believe what I’m seeing, good these guys are.

I mean seriously. It’s almost like all of these guys are Olympic-caliber athletes.