The sport itself is pretty straight forward: the person who lifts the heaviest bar wins. But the drama comes from who can outdo the other in such tough competitions. Among the American women competing in weightlifting at the Games this year is Holley Mangold, whose brother is New York Jet Nick Mangold.

There will be 14 rowing events at the 2012 Games with boats featuring single rowers up to teams of nine, which include eight rowers and a "coxswain" who is responsible for giving the team directions and steering the boat. Of all the sports contested at the Games, it's the only one in which the athletes cross a finish line backwards.

The triathlon, which starts and ends in London's Hyde Park, consists of three events: a 1500m swim, a 40km bike race and then a 10km run to complete the event. Both the men's and women's triathlons at the Olympics are single-day events with no qualifying heats. The world's leading competitors will take less than two hours to complete the course.

Canoeing will include two main types of the event -- a sprint and a slalom course. The slalom course will be run on a brand new man-made water center while the sprint events will be held at an updated facility near Windsor Castle outside London.

In 2010, fans were glued to their televisions watching the latest Winter Olympics fascination: curling. A Summer Olympic sport could see the same kind of breakout popularity, but which one could it be? Here are a few to keep an eye on.