Fandom usually means tracking your favorite team for years − so why are the Olympics so good at making us root for sports and athletes we tune out most of the time?

ph. A fan cheers for U.S. tennis players in the men’s doubles gold medal match during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano Noah Cohan, Washington University in St. Louis Every four years, millions of Americans join billions of their fellow humans across the globe to celebrate the astonishing athletic