Never before have I (or my whole family) been so captivated by the Olympic games. This year's was really special.
From the astonishing and awe-inspiring opening ceremonies to the incredible efforts of many athletes to the glimpse into the heart of the Chinese people, this Olympics feels like a bit of real history. The venues were historic, and the fact that they were in Beijing was historic. The ceremonies were off-the-chart amazing and unlikely to ever be equaled. There is something very universal, very recognizable, and very inspiring in seeing the pinnacle of human achievement in any form, humans at the very top of their game. I felt like we were seeing that over and over throughout the games, including the ceremonies and the army of Chinese who made the whole thing work, as well as the athletes.
There were so many great stories of heroic athleticism, not just Phelps (though that was amazing) and Bolt (though that was amazing too). The Kenyan who finally won the Olympic marathon for Kenya and obliterated the Olympic record by several minutes in very unfavorable conditions. The Chinese domination of diving, especially the women. The Russian pole-vaulter who had already clinched the gold medal, but went on and broke her own world record at the Olympics. The North Korean swimmer who won gold and North Korea's first swimming medal. The sheer number of world records set in swimming. The last 100m of the women's 4x400m final where Sanya Richards came from behind to win gold for the US.
Those are just a few... in every event we watched, it was clear that the athletes had focused most or all of their lives on this one event. Obscure events like table tennis and team synchronized swimming demonstrated athletes that were absolute masters. They weren't just pretty good, nearly everyone was amazing.
All in all, there was a sense of dignity, of sanctity of human endeavor, and of wonder, about the games as a whole. It was really fun to watch, and I don't think my boys are likely to ever forget it. Their heroes are now Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, Michael Phelps and Jeremy Wariner. And China. Gabriel was so intrigued by China that he wants to learn Mandarin... so he's taking Mandarin once a week on Saturdays (it doesn't hurt that we frequent a number of Chinese restaurants).
I'm looking forward to London, but with the expectation that it probably won't be quite the same. This one was special.
Technorati Tags:
olympics, 2008
Recent Comments