(Paul Gilham/Getty Images)These have been some special times, these last 17 days. We've seen records fall. We've seen upsets. We've seen underdogs win medals. We've seen redemption. We've seen disappointment. We've seen triumph born of tragedy.
We've seen history made.
It has been a Games filled with memorable moments. From Usain Bolt winning both the 100M and 200M, setting world records in both, to Dara Torres winning 3 silver medals at age 41, a 38 year old winning the women's marathon, and 33 year old winning a silver medal in gymnastics. The men's gymnastics team, who won--even without the Hamm brothers--when everyone else counted them out. Nastia and Shawn. Jonathan Horton. David and Thomas. Jeramy Wariner. Sonya Richards. Dalhauser and Rogers. The Redeem Team.
Michael.
It has all been special, but if I had to point to one single moment that defined these Games for me, it would have to be the men's 4 X 100 freestyle relay.
He was behind. No one thought he would win, but what they didn't know is that he had decided it was time to stop losing this race. It was time to bring this medal back to his country. Back to the United States. And so Jason Lezak swam the final leg of that relay in truly superhuman time--so fast that even Michael Phelps was impressed. He gave every ounce of energy he had to that race, he left everything he had in the pool. And won. Shocking the French. Amazing the world. That is truly the embodiment of the Olympic Spirit. Jason's accomplishment may be overshadowed by the glory that is Michael Phelps, but as Rowdy Gaines said, "He will forever be remembered as the hero of these games."
(JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)And so the flame is extinguished. The games of the 29th Olympiad come to a close. Tomorrow we will go on with our lives--back to work or school. Back to our mundane existence. But we will remember these times. We will remember these games.
For the rest of our lives, a little part of our hearts will remain in Beijing.
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4 comments:
I enjoyed the games. There was some great events, but I am glad they are over. I was disappointed in the NBC coverage of the games. There is just so many events and so few were covered.
These games were special, indeed. SN1 and I were talking on the phone last night and we both agreed on that point... further emphasized by the fact that neither he nor I could remember watching one single minute of the Athens games four years ago. And that was when he still lived in P-Ville, so we both know if we would have had a conversation about Athens.
But... back to Beijing. I really feel sorry for those folks who didn't watch because they had "issues" with the Chinese regime. I have the same issues, but politics really shouldn't be a consideration where the Olympics are concerned. That's the only good thing that freakin' idjit Jimmuh Carter taught us. And it wasn't all THAT good a lesson, at the time. (YMMV, of course)
I am so sad that the Summer Olympics are over. At least we have some very special memories that will last us a lifetime.
Lou, I agree that NBC did a pretty poor job of covering the games. They could have been showing more of a variety of sports, rather than all the prelims of the same sports over and over.
Buck, you're right, they missed a lot. I totally agree, politics should be left out of the Olympics. The time to protest was when Beijing was awarded the games, not now.
Opal, agree (1,000,000)
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