I usually love the Olympics. I wrote this post, Olympics and Other Obsessions, during the last summer Olympics in 2012. I am not sure what the problem is for me this year… the politics of Putin, the warm weather in Sochi, the time delay causing so many spoilers, lame suits for speed skating… Whatever it is, I have not been so into it this year. Even my beloved Today Show cast seems flat to me (not to mention poor Bob Costas!)
I mentioned this to Maureen and she said she and her dad were just saying the same thing. So we started talking about some inspirational moments and got pretty jazzed about the Olympics after all.
Here are some highlights of our chat – and a few more that I thought of:
- Canadian moguls skier Alex Bilodeau dedicated his win to his brother, Frederic, who has cerebral palsy, when he became the first in his event to win two Olympic gold medals. He then said, “The motivation that he has, if he had had the chances like I did, he would have been four times Olympic champion. He’s a great inspiration, a great person and he’s going to be an inspiration for me after my career also.” Amazing!
- Switzerland’s Dario Cologna won the men’s cross-country 15-kilometer race on Feb. 14, but he waited 28 minutes more to congratulate the two last-place finishers including the last place Peruvian athlete who was his countries ONLY winter Olympian this year! (Now, maybe Meb could wait for me in the next NYC marathon?? What is an hour and ten or so between friends?)
- Shaun White missed a medal but “showed his mettle” by jumping over a barrier to greet a 10-year-old cancer survivor who really wanted to meet him. (I did not know this, but I read that White himself survived two open-heart surgeries as a kid.) Maureen mentioned that she saw a great piece with him on the pressure of the competition while recovering from a fall early on. I am a fan of White – especially now that he is “all grown up.”
- Russian skier Anton Gafarov fell and broke a ski in the middle of a race. Canada’s coach ran out to give him a spare so he could finish. “I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line,” said coach Justin Wadsworth, a three-time Olympian. “Any coach would offer that.” Now that is sportsmanship.
- Nicole Pikus-Pace with toddlers in tow came back from retirement and a 4th place finish in Vancouver (and terrible injuries that kept her out of the games in 2006) in skeleton to win silver.
- I like this one from Teaching Kids News.Com, “Canadian speed skater Gilmore Junio gave an incredible gift to his teammate, Denny Morrison, this week. When Morrison fell and failed to qualify for the 1000-metre event, Junio gave Morrison his spot in the race. Junio said Morrison had a better chance of winning a medal than he did, so it was in the team’s best interests to let Morrison race. After years of working towards a spot in an Olympic race, it is overwhelmingly generous to allow someone else to take your spot in a race. Morrison won a silver medal for Canada.” Wow!
- And then there is Johnny Weir… Read/see more from Susannah’s hilarious post HERE.
Well… that’s not so bad after all. Pretty great, actually! What are your favorite Sochi Olympic moments so far?
PS. Don’t forget my Icebox Knitting Giveaway! The cold will return… at least here in Chicago. And it is the last day for my Thunderbird Energetica and EPIC Bar giveaway, too!