Yes, it’s true. I have Olympic fever. Over the last 9 days I’ve watched handball, table tennis, badminton, water polo, synchronized diving, fencing, beach and indoor volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, sprint races and shot put. NONE of these are sports I ever watch outside of the Olympics. Two weeks ago I didn’t even know handball existed. But there’s just something about the Olympics!
But, this being 2016 someone has to come along and be the killjoy of everything good and special and, of course, the Olympics are no exception. There are two that are really getting my goat:
#1 The anger over the lack of coverage of the shooting events. Specifically, over the medals won by American women. Of COURSE this is all Obama’s fault and has nothing to do with the fact that the sport hasn’t been covered to any degree at any point in Olympic history………..
#2 The anger over the coverage of Simone Manuel being the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold in an individual event. Apparently pointing out that just 50 years ago African-Americans weren’t even allowed in most public pools makes us bad Americans, instead of people who paid attention in history class.
There is still a full week of Olympics left. How about we ALL decide to look for the good from here on out? Let’s celebrate with the nation of Fiji who won their first gold medal ever in men’s rugby. Let’s celebrate Aly Raisman getting that ladies’ gymnastics All Around medal she missed out on in heart breaking fashion four years ago. Let’s root for Usain Bolt to continue to be the fastest man on Earth. Let’s hope for more of those amazing moments that take our breath away and that stay with us long after the games end.
And, most importantly, let’s root for each other in life. Let’s find what’s good and what’s worthy of celebration and focus on that. Not just for another week, but for the rest of our lives.