Regarding the 'should you play to 110% of your ability no matter what' argument earlier, the Men's Sprint cycling is an interesting one, which I only found out about today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCsRgnPqANM
Ostensibly, it's a 3-lap 1-on-1 cycle race.
However, slipstreaming pays a HUGE part, so while they could just ride as fast as they could for 60 seconds, what would likely happen is one would tuck in behind the other and just use the energy they saved to slingshot past the other as they exit the final corner.
So what you end up with is two very slow laps of 'mind-games' with neither rider committing to the race until they think they've caught the other off-guard. Is it as exciting as a 3-lap dash? I'm undecided. Is it treading the same moral ground as playing a lacklustre game of badminton to make later games easier? Very possibly.