This is kind of old, but I just discovered it. They plotted out the finishers in the skiing (and other events) from the last Olympics. The visual is good at showing the spacing, but the audio part really brings home how close they all really are to each other and what that fraction of time is like.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/26/sports/olympics/20100226-olysymphony.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/26/sports/olympics/20100226-olysymphony.html