Olympics
There have been some great stories out of the Olympics:
- the Nigerian rower who had no sponsors but earned herself a silver medal,
- the first Iranian woman to win a medal (tai kwan do),
- the first Filipina to win a medal (don't remember the sport),
- the Indian village boy who couldn't swim but became a rower in the army,
- the Brazilian badminton player whose dad formed a club and trained kids in the favela where he had grown up,
- the classy Canadian race walker who not only supported a competitor who went down part-way through the 50 km race but refused to file an appeal over losing his bronze medal after being bumped on the course and losing by less than a second.
Then there were the more high-profile nice stories: Andy Murray pointing out that he was not the first tennis player ever to win two gold medals but in fact that honour went to the Williams sisters (who have won four each), and kayaker Adam Van Koeverden who called out sexism in much of the reporting about the Olympics in a blog that went viral (at least in Canada) and was published in one of the largest Canadian newspapers.
I love Brazil and was hopeful that they would pull an impressive event out of the predicted disaster. It's the Brazilian way. I worried I would be wrong this time, but so far everything has gone at least as well as expected. I am concerned about whether the Paralympics will go equally well, but that's for another day. Right now, I'm just going to enjoy the Olympic moments.
- the Nigerian rower who had no sponsors but earned herself a silver medal,
- the first Iranian woman to win a medal (tai kwan do),
- the first Filipina to win a medal (don't remember the sport),
- the Indian village boy who couldn't swim but became a rower in the army,
- the Brazilian badminton player whose dad formed a club and trained kids in the favela where he had grown up,
- the classy Canadian race walker who not only supported a competitor who went down part-way through the 50 km race but refused to file an appeal over losing his bronze medal after being bumped on the course and losing by less than a second.
Then there were the more high-profile nice stories: Andy Murray pointing out that he was not the first tennis player ever to win two gold medals but in fact that honour went to the Williams sisters (who have won four each), and kayaker Adam Van Koeverden who called out sexism in much of the reporting about the Olympics in a blog that went viral (at least in Canada) and was published in one of the largest Canadian newspapers.
I love Brazil and was hopeful that they would pull an impressive event out of the predicted disaster. It's the Brazilian way. I worried I would be wrong this time, but so far everything has gone at least as well as expected. I am concerned about whether the Paralympics will go equally well, but that's for another day. Right now, I'm just going to enjoy the Olympic moments.