I’m the furthest thing from an athlete, but I am more than happy to drop my entire life to watch the Olympics. The general joke in our household is that I don’t watch TV, I just listen while I knit or crochet. The Olympics are the exception to this. I will sit mesmerized for hours watching gymnastics, swimming, water polo (which, while fun to watch, looks horrible to me – treading water constantly and swimming back and forth constantly after a ball? I’d drown from exhaustion!), and any other sport that happens to catch my fancy.
My favorite sports are the running and hurdles (because I am a runner, albeit a 5ker, not a marathoner), gymnastics, and swimming. It is hard to believe Sydney McLaughlin is only 16. And I admire Ashley Spencer for leaving the college she was attending to follow her coach to the U of Texas. I think a good teacher/mentor is hard to find and worth such a big move. I even let my daughter stay up way past her bedtime to watch the American gymnastics team perform, and we were never disappointed!
But I don’t just enjoy watching the sports themselves. I enjoy watching the interviews, and I’m embarrassed to admit, the commercials. My favorite commercial:
Who knew we all have 0.2 mg of gold in our blood?!
The message that we all have something good in us and can strive for excellence is why the Olympics are so popular I think. It’s inspiring, no matter what your career path or goals in life. I’ve heard not only Olympians, but other people at the top of their field say they got to where they’re at by competing only with themselves. Eventually they might compete against the other “bests”, but in their own minds, they are always focused on beating their own best. They believe they have that gold in their blood, and it motivates them to keep working.
What are your favorite moments from the Olympics? Please share with me or tell me what I might have missed.
And if anyone is wondering about my athletic abilities, this video illustrates my level of skill perfectly. Enjoy!
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