1. There's Only One Time Zone in China, and It's Exactly 12 Hours Ahead of New York
Chairman Mao didn't mean to make it easy to watch live coverage from his country; it just worked out that way.

2. It's a "Fast Pool"
To promote the breaking of swimming world records, the Chinese have optimized their Water Cube pool for speed by: (1) Keeping the water at 80.6 degrees, the temperature considered optimal for swimmers; (2) pumping "microbubbles" into the pool to break the water's surface tension; (3) building the pool to a depth of 42.7 feet, which prevents water-temperature interference; and (4) introducing a ventilation system that whisks chlorine fumes off the surface of the water, allowing the athletes to breathe clean air.

3. Why the Chinese Hold Their Paddles That Way
It's called the penhold grip, and it allows a player to unleash vicious topspin attacks from the forehand and consistent, though less forceful, blocks on the backhand. And since the penhold uses only one side of the paddle for both strokes, it's impossible to jam a shot into the body of a table-tennis (calling it Ping-Pong is picking a fight) player using it. While the Western shakehand grip is considered more versatile, the penhold has legions of often obsessive proponents. Break it out in casual play and watch the rumpus room go quiet.

4. Middle-School Gym Class Is an Olympic Sport
When medals are involved, though, it's called team handball. Now making its tenth Olympic appearance, the court game—it enjoys curling's notoriety minus the beer jokes—still can't be explained without real-sport references, like "water polo without water" or "lacrosse without sticks." We call it "a sport with scores but without a point." But that's only because our team sucks at it.

5. Logan Tom
If she doesn't win gold in beach volleyball, we probably won't know who did.