There are 32 Olympic sports. Both you and I won't be competing in any of them during this month's Summer Olympics. But what if we could? Which events would it be possible to finish? In which would it be impossible?

Fourth-Place Medal took a look at the list of events in London and ranked all 32, from easiest to hardest. Our criteria was simple: How hard would it be to get through a single competition? Could you survive a 200 IM next to Michael Phelps? Is playing against LeBron James harder than Aleksandar Sapic, the Serbian water polo star? Theoretical success (or lack of it) is not taken into account. We're only looking at whether you could make it through.

Notes: (1) If there are numerous events in a certain sport (like swimming and track), assume we're choosing one of medium difficulty and not the marathon. (2) In the eyes of the IOC, swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming are all the same sport: Aquatics. We're not going by the IOC list, which is why we list 32 sports, not the 26 official ones recognized at the Olympics.

N/A -- Diving, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, trampoline -- We're ranking sports, not judged activities. These five Olympic disciplines require intense training, athleticism and skill. So do ballet, flying in the Blue Angels and calligraphy. And how tough can it be to win a gymnastics medal anyway? Get China to forge a birth certificate, wink at some French judges and voila.

27. Table tennis -- It's cliche to poke fun at table tennis, so I won't go that route.

26. Weightlifting -- I moved a few weeks ago. Being unable to lift heavy things is not as difficult as it sounds.

25. Beach volleyball -- There's only one thing that's hard to do on the beach and it ain't volleyball.

24. Shooting -- I'd call this guy a doofus but, you know, he's armed.

23. Badminton -- No such qualms with this dude.

22. Fencing -- Once you get to know a few pawn shop owners, it comes naturally.

21. Volleyball -- On the bright side, opponents are trying to find free space on the floor on which to land their spikes.

20. Track -- Fall early, fake an injury and then have your dad help you the rest of the way. The Visa money will be rolling in in no time.

19. Cycling -- Track bikes have no brakes and the banks on the velodromes look tough to handle. So I searched for "is riding on a velodrome hard?" First hit says: "You can relax! Despite the way it looks and sounds, riding a track is relatively easy and a lot of fun. " Definitive proof! No. 19 it is.

18. Archery -- Any sport that allows competitors to wear that hat has to be ranked low. Also, I don't think the Apollo spaceships that went to the moon were as technologically advanced as these crossbows. Somewhere, on a page I'll never read, Katniss weeps.

17. Tennis --Sounds easy, until you have to return a 140-mph serve from Andy Roddick.

16 . Handball -- Throughout history, this event has been dominated by the Soviets/Russians and Yugoslavians/Croatians. That inherent toughness more than makes up for France winning the gold in 2008.

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