Passionately Enjoying the Olympics

Like millions of Americans and billions throughout the world, I have been passionately watching the Olympics. Partly because of streaming services and partly because in my new life, other than pickle ball in the morning, my schedule is very flexible.

Whatever is on, I watch. The question is not how many different sports have I watched, but how many I have missed.

My new favorite sport is rugby. If you think football in the US is tough, watch men’s rugby. If you think men’s rugby is tough, watch women’s rugby. The US women’s rugby team won the bronze as time ran out by making one of the most amazing plays you will ever see in any sport. If you want to be inspired watch the New Zealand’s gold medal winning rugby team perform the Haka after winning the medal.

Obviously I am always cheering for the US, no matter the sport. But I also enjoy watching athletes from every country. One of the reasons is the worst Olympic athlete in any sport is still an amazing athlete. Where some see a loser because they did not do well against the competition, I see some one who has worked for years, sometimes most of their lives to compete in the Olympics. Only a few competitors win a medal. Some finish in the middle and some dead last. And there is a lesson here, competing to the best of one’s ability does not mean you will win, but any Olympic athlete who competes to the best of his/her ability, and that includes training for years, is a winner. So they are all winners in my mind.

When the women’s US soccer team won their quarterfinal game against Japan by scoring a goal in extra time, I jumped so high in my chair that my watch notified me that it looked I had been in an accident and do I need emergency services. After the game, understandably the US players were celebrating while the Japanese were devastated and often crying. Japan had some opportunities to score goals, but for one reason or another, missed the opportunities. I watched Japanese players congratulation US players and US players hugging crying Japanese players. That’s common in the Olympics, winners hugging losers and losers congratulating winners. Its called sportsmanship.

Perhaps the best example of sportsmanship is when in a women’s handball match between Angola and Brazil, when an Angolan woman injured her knee, a Brazilian player picked her and carried her off the court.

I watched the following:
A 17-year old table tennis player from France win his singles match and I kept wondering how does someone who is a teenager, and there is a lot of them in the Olympics, have not just the physical ability, but also emotional maturity to compete in the Olympics.
The 4×400 mixed relay and though I was cheering for US team which was ahead the entire race until a woman runner from Netherlands came from behind in last quarter of the last leg and won the gold for her team. It was impressive.
A French race walker was with wife when she delivered their baby at 2:00 AM and a few hours later completed the race finishing in the top ten with a personal best. Also impressive.

I watched the top golfer in the world, Scott Scheffler cry on the podium after coming back tn the last few holes to win the gold in golf. This happens a lot. Elite athletes after winning a gold or any medal because of the pride and honor of winning a medal for their country smile, but also often cry. It means a lot.

Gymnastics is the most watched Olympic sport. And I suspect the most watched Olympian is the Simone Biles, arguably the greatest gymnast of all time. After dominating the 2016 games with four golds and one bronze, she was criticized by conservative media outlets after withdrawing from 2020 from an event for mental health issues. Keep in mind she won a silver and bronze medal in 2020. I wrote at the time, the media personas who criticized her maybe people, but were not Americans. The current Republican Vice-President candidate echoed those criticisms in a 2021 interview. During this Olympics, where she has earned another three gold medals and one silver she has been criticized by some for her hair. Seriously, I could not believe this when I heard it, but its true. Again, these “critics” may be people, but they are not Americans. Simone Biles is both an American hero and inspiration.

After winning a gold medal in 2020, Suni Lee has one gold and two bronzes in these Olympics. What many many not realize is in 2023 she was diagnosed with a rare kidney decease. She gained about 40 pounds in a short amount of time. I can relate as I have had a kidney decease for over 25 years. I have gained over 35 pounds in a short amount of time several times. I know what it is like to do athletic activities when I was tired 24/7 and my body hurt all over. Fortunately, the new meds worked for Lee, she is now in remission. I wonder if the same conservative media personalities who criticized Biles after 2020 Olympics when she was dealing with a mental decease criticized Lee in 2023 for having a kidney decease.

I could go on, the women’s 3×3 basketball team after losing first three games came back and won five in a row and eventually took bronze. Noah Lyles winning the 100 m by five-thousands of a second which less time than an eye blink. I guess I did go on.

Three final thoughts on the Olympics.
1 – Every Olympic athlete is an elite athlete who has trained for years or in some cases most of their lives. Any Olympic athlete who trains hard, gets the most out of their ability and still in finishes last in their event, is a winner.

2 – The drive to win a medal for one’s country. The ability to put all the years on training into focus to perform the best of the athlete’s ability at the most intense time. The pure joy afterwards. And the sportsmanship after that. Losers congratulating winners, winners consoling losers. Its the best of sports.

3 – The Olympics is both an inspiration and reminder that countries can live together in peace. Countries competing against other countries. On the playfield, not on the battlefield. In some cases friends, other cases not so much, but together in one place. For two weeks countries except for Russia and Belarus which are suspended for their hateful evil invasion of Ukraine, lived, completed and had fellowship together. If the countries of the world can do it for two weeks, it can be done for the whole year, then subsequent years.