Today's interactive graphic by Amanda Cox on the New York Times Olympics page mixes sound with visuals extremely effectively.
The visual distribution of the finishing times is pretty effective on its own, showing how close athletes are when most aren't racing simultaneously. But when you click "play" and hear the little synthesizer piano tick off the finishes, you can suddenly imagine lugers sailing across the finish line — at 90 mph, no less — in rapid succession. The added sound really drives home the closeness of many of these races and makes the graphic much more effective.
Interesting: I think the men have noticeably more ticks on average - they are more closely bunched to the winner (assuming the number of competitors per race is the same). It probably means that more countries field high-quality men's competitors.
So more countries need Title IX, then?