Gregor Deschwanden of Switzerland. (USATSI)
Gregor Deschwanden of Switzerland. (USATSI)

The ski jump. How do these men and women get the guts?

It's not the most fascinating watch -- the average viewer can't discern a good from a great jump, really -- but it is at the same time hard to turn away.

At least know this: The Olympians participating in Sochi are very much human. Stomachs of steel? Sure. But not immune to the fleeting holy-crap-I'm-flying facial expression. I've culled a few of the better ones from the first few days of the Olympics.

Janne Ahonen (USATSI)
Janne Ahonen of Finland. (USATSI)

Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes. (USATSI)
Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes of Canada. (USATSI)

Jakub Janda. (USATSI)
Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic. (USATSI)

Reruhi Shimizu (USATSI)
Reruhi Shimizu of Japan. (USATSI)

Ronan Lamy Chappuis. (USATSI)
Ronan Lamy Chappuis of France. (USATSI)

(USATSI)
Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria. (USATSI)

Andreas Kofler (USATSI)
Andreas Kofler of Austria. (USATSI)

Gregor Deschwanden. (USATSI)
Gregor Deschwanden of Switzerland. (USATSI)

 (USATSI)
Lukas Hlava of the Czech Republic. (USATSI)

Roman Koudelka (USATSI)
Roman Koudelka of the Czech Republic. (USATSI)

Hyun-Ki Kim. (USATSI)
Hyun-Ki Kim of South Korea. (USATSI)