It’s an Olympic year!
I never spend as much time in front of the TV as I do when the Olympic games are happening. Winter or summer, I love watching people compete at the highest level of sport.
So come February 4th, like millions of people around the world, I will be glued to my TV for sixteen days, watching with awe and wonder as the best of the best in the sports world do their thing.
It shouldn’t have been but, compliments of a global pandemic that is lasting way longer than anyone had guessed or hoped, 2021 was also an Olympic year and July-August 2021 was a time of too much TV for me, too.
I particularly enjoy watching competition in sports I participated in, of which there are many (thank-you, military child experience). I was a budding gymnast myself in 1976 when Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, took the sports world by storm by earning an unprecedented perfect 10 on the uneven parallel bars.
We were both 14 that summer; Nadia would go on to score six more 10s in Montreal and a couple more four years later in Moscow. My gymnastics career, however, was a year away from falling victim to a massive growth spurt that made it abundantly clear I was no longer meant to be a gymnast.
Another point of enjoyment of the Olympics for me is the tremendous pride in our homegrown athletes. So, it was even more enjoyable for me to watch Suni Lee become the women’s gymnastics all-around Olympic champion at the Tokyo games. Which brings me to the first reason why I love the Olympics:
Our diversity is on display in the grandest way.
Watching our athletes process in the opening and closing ceremonies gives a wonderful visual of our diversity. Look at all these faces: we Americans literally come in every shape, size, and color. Israel Zangwill’s 100+ year old metaphor of a melting pot still holds up: we are the best crayon box in the world, and it is our greatest strength.
The U.S. is a welcoming and generous country
Our introduction to Suni Lee was a great lesson for people unfamiliar with Hmong Americans. The United States has a rich history of accepting refugees, and the Hmong are a good example.
When the Vietnam War leached into Laos in the 1960s, the Hmong bravely helped American efforts against the spread of Communism to their country. When the U.S. called it quits in Vietnam in the mid-seventies, the Hmong were targeted for aiding Americans. Over half of the Hmong population became refugees who fled to escape death at the hands of the Communists. Making it to a refugee camp in Thailand greatly increased the chances they would make it to the United States; they are now over 300,000 strong and from the looks of Suni Lee and her supportive community, they are thriving.
Hard work never goes out of style
Watching Olympic athletes in their seemingly effortless attempt to win medals and break records, it’s easy to forget how much time and sacrifice goes into being an elite athlete. It takes many hours of practice to become the best at any given endeavor (a subject of vigorous debate), but few would argue against the fact that it takes A LOT of commitment and determination to become the best at something.
Swimming is another sport I love watching because I also swam competitively. I don’t know which I enjoyed more: watching Katy Ledecky’s hard work and training pay off with the addition of 4 more Olympic medals to make 10 (none of which are bronze) or listening to Rowdy Gaines lose his mind while calling races. Katy Ledecky knows a thing or two about the discipline it takes to become a world class athlete, and she’s a shining example to us all that hard work reaps rewards.
Yet Even while doing superhuman things, elite athletes are still human.
A collective gasp sounded around the globe when Simone Biles announced her withdrawal from competition when she realized she had a case of the “twisties.” Clearly an expert in her field, Simone knew something wasn’t right and made what had to be an excruciating decision to bow out of the competition. Instead of curling up in the fetal position and hiding in her room (which is what I would have done), she continued her role as team leader, cheered her team’s victories from the sidelines, and showed the world what grace and poise is. God bless Simone Biles. I hope she realizes what a gift she gave to so many people by sharing her humanity with us.
They remind me of why I’m proud to be an American
Part of the Olympic experience is hearing the athlete’s stories. An unexpected by-product of the pandemic’s elimination of fan attendance for the 2020 Olympics was that viewers were privy to family interactions in a way we wouldn’t if the games were conducted under usual circumstances. As a result, millions of people shared many poignant, private moments between athletes and their families, and a resounding theme was gratitude from the athletes for their loved ones’ unwavering support. 
It was impossible not to fall in love with women’s wrestling gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock while watching her post-win interviews. This gracious, ebullient, proud American girl was so dog-gone happy and grateful to everyone who helped her along the way.
The Olympics were barely over when she began thinking of ways to thank her supportive mother. Mensah-Stock wanted to use her Olympic winnings to fulfill a five-year-old promise and buy her mom a food truck for her BBQ business.
Cameron Davies, who like Mensah-Stock hails from Houston and owns Cruising Kitchens, agrees with me: “I did my research on her and fell in love with the person she was,” he said while announcing he was giving Mensah’s mom a custom-made food truck so she can get her dream business off the ground.
And that’s the American spirit on full display: we are a country of innovators, dreamers, givers, and people who get stuff done.
And with the highest medal count, 113 total, we are also a country of winners. It was a pleasure to watch our amazing American athletes get the job done again at the 2020 (2021) Olympics, and I can’t wait to see what they do in 2022.
