IF I HADN’T witnessed it myself I wouldn’t have believed it. My husband changing the TV channel, not from sport, but to watch sport.

It’s unheard of. He’s so sports phobic he’s usually unable to suffer any form of it, even on the box in the corner of our living room.

He hatred of it, and of competition, is such that I’d say he’s suffering from a recognised medical condition. There’s one, athlemaphobia - defined as a fear of sports, which ticks all his boxes.

He knows the cause: school. From a young age he was thrust into the English public school system, attending stately home-like institutions that live and breathe sport.

Boys were out on the playing fields from dawn to dusk most days, pausing only for an hour or two of classics. If you weren’t in the First Xl for cricket or the First XV for rugby - which he wasn’t - you amounted to nothing.

“You even wore a different tie and scarf and got special privileges if you were good at cricket or rugby,” he says.

The experience scarred him. So, apart from Wimbledon - which I insist upon - sport has been largely absent from our home.

But the Olympics, and in particular the swimming, has brought on a renaissance. He is actually enjoying watching some of the events. “That was actually quite exciting,” he said, after watching Britain win gold in the men’s 200m relay. And we saw Keely Hodgkinson clinch gold in the women's 800m.

Keely Hodgkinson wins gold in the women's 800m. Picture: PAKeely Hodgkinson wins gold in the women's 800m. Picture: PA

The Paris Olympics is fabulous. I defy anyone, even those who don’t like sport, not to get swept up in the occasion, even if it is only on TV. The commentary has been brilliant.

My husband has been happy to watch it with me and tune in every evening.

We were riveted by the synchronised diving - hats off to the brilliant British teams, up against Chinese perfectionists. And the gymnastics were just incredible.

We have both enjoyed watching all those Olympic sports that you don’t often see - BMX riding, skateboarding, canoeing. How does anyone graduate from skateboarding on the pavement outside their home to twisting and turning through the air and sliding down those weird handrails?

How do people progress from tearing around the local park on a BMX to performing the sort of aerial tricks that leave spectators open mouthed at the Olympics? It’s fascinating.

Then there’s all the track and field events. Some sports rekindle memories: let’s face it the last time the majority of adults set foot on a vaulting horse was in the gym at school. The same with the discus or shot put - we left those things behind on the playing fields of our youth

I hated discus and shot put at school. We would slouch around trying not to laugh at each other’s pathetic attempts to master both. But in the same way that my husband has embraced Olympic sport, I’m really enjoying watching it, along with hammer throwing and pole vaulting - how does anyone get into those sports?

We loved the pole vaulting - the Swede who won the men’s competition - breaking his own world record - was superhuman.

For armchair audiences, many sports stay well under our radar. We only hear of them during the Olympics. It’s only then that it hits home how much time and effort these superb athletes put into their sport.

Despite the controversies that have surrounded some sports during these Olympics, you can’t fail but be captivated by all of it.

I will feel a bit deflated on Sunday when it ends. I suspect my husband will miss it too.