I have been very caught up in watching the 2008 Summer Olympics from Beijing on television. I admire the grit and determination of all of the athletes from around the world and I share in their victories and their defeats, their mistakes and their glories. It must be so cruel to spend years and years training only to screw up when it comes time for you to compete. I think that so much of that is mental preparation and conquest of nerves. After all, you are on the biggest stage in the world, the Olympic Games, with them being televised around the world to billions of viewers, so naturally, it's got to be nerve wracking to be hanging it all out there for the world to see. To have sacrificed so much to get there, to spend years training endlessly, spending untold amounts of money to do so, to keep on going even when you just want to throw in the towel, and then be rewarded with an Olympic medal, must be the essence of what it's all about. Most of these athletes are so young and could well compete in multiple games, as many have, and there is one 41- year old swimmer, Dara Torres, who swam to a silver medal who I have got to admire for not letting her age stand in her way. At that age, most of us are hanging it up on any athletic pursuits, admitting that the entrée into middle age is a reason to admit that you can't do things the way you could in your youth, but this woman has defied the odds and shown us that she can compete as well as any 16 year old. It's stories like that which make these games an inspiration to us older folks who are feeling the aches and pains of middle age creeping up on us. I've been training at a gym with a trainer for nearly 2 years now and although I can feel an improvement in my strength and stamina, I sure as hell am never going to be an athlete of any sort, but I do want to go into my middle years in better health.
What I have enjoyed watching is the unique spirit of the Jamaican sprinters, in particular Usain Bolt and Shelley Ann Frazer, who won the men's and women's 100M sprints in the track and field competitions. They have such a joy about them when they run and when they win, and it appears that this tiny Caribbean nation will be a force to be reckoned with in future Olympic Games when it comes to their runners, who seem to excel at these Games in the sprinting competitions. They've given everyone else a run for their money and have shown remarkable speed when they are sprinting down the track. They seem almost eerily relaxed as they run compared to everyone else who seems to be straining hard just to keep up with their competitors. It's a joy to watch them running and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. And who can forget the remarkable performance of Michael Phelps, who seems to defy human ability and flies through the water as if he were born to it.
Eight gold medal performances have sealed his place in history as the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. I've also greatly enjoyed the diving and gymnastics performances because of their sheer athleticism and grace. The athletes seem to be doing the impossible and making it look all too easy. Years and years of training is why. And a certain daredevil spirit that these athletes seem to have adopted in trying to push the envelope of what they do so that future athletes will have to come up to their standards of performance. it all makes for truly exciting watching and I will miss it when it all comes to an end later on this weekend. I've enjoyed every moment of it and I know that these games will be truly memorable to all of us fortunate enough to see them broadcast around the world. So now we must wait another four years for more Summer Olympic excitement. On to London in 2012 and more death defying feats of athletes from around the world! And then the summer games will be in Chicago in 2016, and since I will be retired by then, it's tempting to think about maybe even getting to go to those ones, since I have many friends who live in and around the greater Chicago area with whom I could consider staying! After all, it will be close enough to consider making such a dream a reality, something to think about eight years from now.
I have been very caught up in watching the 2008 Summer Olympics from Beijing on television. I admire the grit and determination of all of the athletes from around the world and I share in their victories and their defeats, their mistakes and their glories. It must be so cruel to spend years and years training only to screw up when it comes time for you to compete. I think that so much of that is mental preparation and conquest of nerves. After all, you are on the biggest stage in the world, the Olympic Games, with them being televised around the world to billions of viewers, so naturally, it's got to be nerve wracking to be hanging it all out there for the world to see. To have sacrificed so much to get there, to spend years training endlessly, spending untold amounts of money to do so, to keep on going even when you just want to throw in the towel, and then be rewarded with an Olympic medal, must be the essence of what it's all about. Most of these athletes are so young and could well compete in multiple games, as many have, and there is one 41- year old swimmer, Dara Torres, who swam to a silver medal who I have got to admire for not letting her age stand in her way. At that age, most of us are hanging it up on any athletic pursuits, admitting that the entrée into middle age is a reason to admit that you can't do things the way you could in your youth, but this woman has defied the odds and shown us that she can compete as well as any 16 year old. It's stories like that which make these games an inspiration to us older folks who are feeling the aches and pains of middle age creeping up on us. I've been training at a gym with a trainer for nearly 2 years now and although I can feel an improvement in my strength and stamina, I sure as hell am never going to be an athlete of any sort, but I do want to go into my middle years in better health.
What I have enjoyed watching is the unique spirit of the Jamaican sprinters, in particular Usain Bolt and Shelley Ann Frazer, who won the men's and women's 100M sprints in the track and field competitions. They have such a joy about them when they run and when they win, and it appears that this tiny Caribbean nation will be a force to be reckoned with in future Olympic Games when it comes to their runners, who seem to excel at these Games in the sprinting competitions. They've given everyone else a run for their money and have shown remarkable speed when they are sprinting down the track. They seem almost eerily relaxed as they run compared to everyone else who seems to be straining hard just to keep up with their competitors. It's a joy to watch them running and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. And who can forget the remarkable performance of Michael Phelps, who seems to defy human ability and flies through the water as if he were born to it. 
Eight gold medal performances have sealed his place in history as the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. I've also greatly enjoyed the diving and gymnastics performances because of their sheer athleticism and grace. The athletes seem to be doing the impossible and making it look all too easy. Years and years of training is why. And a certain daredevil spirit that these athletes seem to have adopted in trying to push the envelope of what they do so that future athletes will have to come up to their standards of performance. it all makes for truly exciting watching and I will miss it when it all comes to an end later on this weekend. I've enjoyed every moment of it and I know that these games will be truly memorable to all of us fortunate enough to see them broadcast around the world. So now we must wait another four years for more Summer Olympic excitement. On to London in 2012 and more death defying feats of athletes from around the world! And then the summer games will be in Chicago in 2016, and since I will be retired by then, it's tempting to think about maybe even getting to go to those ones, since I have many friends who live in and around the greater Chicago area with whom I could consider staying! After all, it will be close enough to consider making such a dream a reality, something to think about eight years from now.
1 comment:
It was good to see some of the investment in money and determination which us Brits have put into our Olympic team bearing fruit as well. Gives us something to live up to in 2012
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