Kovacevic: Reporter's Decathlon Part I, Of cats, mice, real hockey, Egyptians, Costanza, celebrating every point

RIO DE JANEIRO -- It seemed like a good idea at the time. So good that I stole it.

The reporter's decathlon was the brain child of Tom Reed from the Akron Beacon-Journal, a coverage blur of 10 events over two days, much in the spirit of the event itself minus actual athleticism, valor and, really, anyone caring much. I decided in 2004, with Tom's generous blessing, to give it a try myself in Athens and, a dozen years and four Olympics later, I still haven't smartened up and ditched the thing.

Maybe because it buys an easy excuse to get to the velodrome ...

CYCLING TRACK
Rio Olympic Velodrome

There's something to be said for a bike race that opens with helpers holding up your bike so it doesn't tip over, like dad hovering over his 6-year-old, but there's even more to be said when that race opens with the riders basically staring at each other wondering who's going to be dumb enough to pedal quickly.

Love the velodrome. Love it. And I mean that.

This 30-second video I shot will not demonstrate why:

https://vimeo.com/179057728

Because that's the leg where this loud pistol pops off, and everyone knows to go for broke. That's the part that's just a race, and that's no big deal aside from the glorious quirk that the bikes have only one gear and no brakes. For real. If someone were to dare stop on that pine track, angled between 32 and 45 degrees with the riders moving at 50 mph and making 180 turns at either end ... yeah.

The part of this sport, which has been in the Olympics since their 1896 revival in Athens, that has always floored me is all the cat-and-mouse, especially when it's just two of them. The guy or gal in front will look back over the shoulder at the other. Waiting. Watching. Wondering. This can go on ... my goodness, almost the entire race. I've seen more than one occasion of the event reaching a near-total standstill.

Here's an example from the Montreal Games in 1976 that kind of sums it up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi059S3R6ZQ

These make for awesome documentaries, too, and they're shown a lot on European TV. They really get into the racers' heads, why they do what they do, their psychological approaches ... it comes across as chess on wheels.

And man, do the spectators love it. The moment I walked into the velodrome here, one of just 125 in the world, you could feel an electricity, an intensity unlike anywhere across Olympic Park. These people are lifers. They know all the riders, respect what they do and why, and it shows in their dramatically varied reactions as the race progresses.

I'm hoping Pittsburgh gets an Olympics someday just so we can build track No. 126.