The Olympics

It's hard for me to write about the Olympics because I get so emotional. My friend M asked me last weekend about my favorite Olympic memories-and I teared up just thinking about them. The Miracle on Ice in 1980, Nadia Comaneci in 1976, the Black Power salute of 1968...(okay, that one doesn't make me tear up). But there are so many great and unexpected stories at each Olympics-I told my friend D that every person has a story and that's true of every athlete as well. I remember a story about a Canadian rower who got into a freak rowing accident in which her leg was almost severed at the hip. It was reattached and the road back was difficult and arduous-no on was sure she'd be able to walk properly again, let again row. And yet, there she was in the next Olympics. She didn't win a medal, but she made the Olympic team and she made it to the final, which was huge. When I was growing up, it seemed that PBS showed Olympic Moments all the time. They were 30 minute shows showcasing runners or swimmers or decathletes-whatever. They were all narrated by Bud Greenspan, who also shot much of the later Olympic footage and they were fascinating. I learned about Paavo Nurmi (the Flying Finn), Fanny Blankers Koen and Rafer Johnson (believe it or not, they all competed before I was born) and it was COOL. In his calm, unemotional voice, Greenspan told the story of those who competed long before the net, before TV and long before every eye in the world was on them-except for Jesse Owens, who certainly knew the whole world was watching him. Roger Bannister, the first man to run the mile under 4 minutes, Naim Suleymanoglu, born of Turkish descent in Bulgaria, forced to change his name to make it more Bulgarian, defected to Turkey and waited in hopes that his family could join him there...and won three gold medals in three different Olympics along the way. I also want to say this: yes, Michael Phelps is a phenomenal athlete-his heart his probably like Secretariat's-1 1/2 times larger than a regular heart, allowing him to pump blood faster and oxygenate it better than anyone else around. And Mark Spitz was extremely gracious when Phelps broke his record (Phelps sounded like a dork talking to him) but for my money, I'd like to mention the name Eric Heiden. Eric Heiden who also won every race he entered at Lake Placid, from the 500 to the 10,000 meters. This is the equivalent of winning both the 100 meters run AND the 10,000 run. I'm not explaining this very well but what I'm saying is that he excelled at both sprints and long-distance. If Michael Phelps had won both the Splash and Dash (the 50 free) and the 1,500) meters (which takes around 15-20 minutes, depending on how fast you are), then he would be in the same category of depth as Eric Heiden-who later went to Stanford and became an orthopedic surgeon.
So, best Olympic moment? For these Olympics, it's a tie between Shawn Johnson finally winning gold on the balance beam, it's the kayaker from Togo winning his countries first medal EVER, it's Jason Lezak's rundown of Alain Bernard in the 4x100 relay. I'd also like to say thank you to the USA basketball team for restoring pride and good manners to a team that in the past was known for not only being cocky but for not winning. I thought things were going to be different when I saw Kobe Bryant marching in the Opening Ceremonies and I'm glad to see that things have changed. The players who make millions, who don't have to care, talk about representing the United States and representing it well. So many players in the past really didn't care about that (including the Dream Team, who played well but were far more concerned about product endorsements than anything else-"they can mail it to me" Michael Jordan sneered about the gold medal). So, thanks, Team USA. You're representing your country well. I suspect Coach K has much to do with it but I'll take it.

Overall best moment? Miracle on Ice, hands down. I cried when I found out they won (almost no one I know watched this game, I don't think it was televised) but EVERYONE watched the gold medal game against Finland on Sunday-and we all cried again when the got their medals. It was awesome.