What a Games it was
Olympic athletes spend their lives training for an instant to compete on the Olympic stage.
For a moment, a few seconds of glory they have the world at their fingertips.
Then it’s over.
Done. Wrapped for another four years or perhaps forever.
For better or worse, this is the life of someone who trains at such a high level. It’s the be all and end all of their athletic career to truly be part of the legacy of athletes who can call themselves the best in the world.
Frankly, if I was to ever get to that point, regardless of being first or 500th, I’d tattoo the Olympic rings so large on my back you could see them from space.
In these Olympic games, there has been a collection of first timers and veterans who have walked into their events only to walk away with memories.
Others have been fortunate to surprise even themselves and bring home some very important hardware.
Regardless, it has been refreshing to see equal amounts of excitement and joy exuding from both parties. From the kiss and cry, post figure skate holding area to the base of the ski slope, waiting
for the judge’s marks and having the chance to truly experience the joy alongside these athletes, is the moment. Is the Olympics.
The sheer anticipation to have all the hard work, all the times you pushed yourself beyond what your mind told you could do and redefining the limits of what your body could achieve.
Crossing the finish line for yourself, your country and for all the people in between who drove you to practices, bought you the gear, helped push those team fundraiser chocolates on co-workers, (or ate them all and then just paid you for them), who were there for you when the tournament didn’t go so well, when injury struck or when you wanted to hit the snooze but they knew better.
There has been a lot to learn about the joy of sport throughout these Olympic games.
Celebration of a vast achievement is one thing. It’s the Holy Grail and something I’m certain all of these athletes have pictured and practiced since experiencing that first sense of joy for their sport. But no one sits down and envisions it all going awry.
These Olympians, I’m sure, never sat up and watched their idles graciously accepting a disqualification due to a fall and think, “wow, I can’t wait to meekly smile and nod while a broadcaster asks me what went wrong as I allowed my Olympics dreams to get flushed down the toilet.” You can’t prepare to be humble in that moment.
For everyone watching, for the next generation, it’s not only the effort and the passion we should be celebrating, but also the humility for those who came, tried and went home with memories while maintaining the respect and passion for their sport and the determination to try again.
It has been the upmost pleasure to sit and bare witness to many of these moments — good, bad, ugly, oiled and shirtless. It has been a challenge to remain conscious for 90 per cent of it given the time discrepancy.
It has been a lesson worth learning on what our country and what the world has to offer in reference to top, amateur athletic abilities and it has been a blast to have free-reign to give opinions and half-researched insights on a collection of sports that no one should ever spend this much time watching.
For better or worse, to agree or disagree, it has been an honour to pretend to know what I’m talking about whilst sitting on this thrown of an armchair (full disclosure: it has been the left flank of a couch nestled next to a constant cup of coffee).