I’ve mentioned the olympics a few times lately and now that they’ve been over for a while, I thought I’d actually blog about them. I wound up watching more of them that I had anticipated and it was nice the see the US win so many medals.
I read that the US had a record number of LGBT olympians competing, including the first gay married couple. Although I missed it, there was apparently a proposal on the rugby field by Brazilian athlete Isadora Cerullo to her girlfriend, Marjorie Enya. The games also welcomed a team of refugee athletes and during the opening ceremonies I noticed a US athlete wearing a hijab — a first, I think.
One of the more entertaining things was watching Aly Raisman’s parents while she performed her gymnastic routines. The whole experience of watching their daughter apparently was totally nerve-wracking for them. One of the commentators said that the Raismans made an olympic sport out of watching Aly. I heard the parents performance called “adorably nervous.”
Before the games, in a bid to improve communication between taxi driver and tourists, drivers were given free English lessons. The Hey Taxi program was intended to improve the visitor experience. During all the swimming activities, legal requirements dictated that a “life guard” be at the pool — somehow I don’t think he went home at night feeling a sense of accomplishment.
I think it’s great that these athletes are (theoretically, at least) competing for pure love of the sport. Not many people work that hard at anything if there’s no cash reward at the end of the journey. Of course it’s also an opportunity to feel massively inadequate about your sports (or even life) achievements. So that’s it for me and the olympics for a couple of years. I should get started training for the winter olympics… I may have to get a new chair.
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