I don't know about y'all but I LOVE THE OLYMPICS! I love the competition, I love the Unification of not just the country but the world. It's one of the only times it feels like the world is for the most part On the same page.
It feels like all the kids of the world said...
"HEY let's get together in two years and play on the same play ground! We'll play some games, have some food, Dance, Laugh, share our stories, celebrate our differences and win some awards! Before we leave, lets agree on another place to meet up and play again!"
Doesn't it kind of remind you of the Saturday mornings at the ball field when you were a kid?
Everyone would show up with their gear, we'd pick teams and then spend all day playing, talking trash, disagreeing, redeeming ourselves of our mistakes. By the end of the day everyone went home tired, happy, with stories to tell. Ready to come back next weekend to do it all over again. There could be someone who was an absolute geek or that you didn't get along with during the week, but on the weekend, when it was time to hit that playground and play, they might have been picked last for a team but they were still picked. Eventually they would come into their own and find they possessed a talent they didn't know they had.
I must admit I do not always route for the USA to win. *GASP!* I hope this confession doesn't interfere with me getting a passport this year. Or a "special" interview with the FBI or Secret Service.
I'm always stocked when the U.S does win and it's BONUS. I'm a sucker for the underdog medal, the historical medal, the deserved medal, the lucky medal, THE AWESOME MEDAL!
Some Examples:
Underdog Medal:
Simon Ammann of Switzerland aka Harry Potter, The Wizard:
Remember this kid at the 2002 Olympics? He come virtually out of no where a no name except to maybe friends, family and teammates. Places 35th in the Nagano Olympics at the age of 16. This kid has never one any kind of big championship competition and out of Nowhere, like Harry Potter on a broomstick wins 2 gold medals for Long Hill AND Normal Hill Ski jumping. So much JOY and disbelief in his reaction, I still get choked up when I see it and that was 8 years ago. Does nothing in the 2006 Olympics and then comes back in 2010 to win Gold (the first gold of the 2010) again in the Normal Hill Jump. He became the first man in Olympic history to win gold medals in the Individual Normal Hill event in two Olympics.
PS: Don't call him Harry Potter, it's a bit tiresome for the now 28 year old.
Historical Medal:
I have to give it up to China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. They started skating together in 1992.
Won a few championships, became the first Chinese pair to ever medal for Figure skating by placing 3rd at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. They Suffered injury after injury after that time for both of them. Despite injuries they won several World Championships. March 21, 2007 they won their third World Championship title. On March 21, 2007 on the ice at the end of their performance at the 2007 World Championship in tokyo, Japan where they won the World Pairs Skating title,Zhao Hongbo kneeled before Shen Xue to propose to her.
They announce their retirement and got married. Later decided the only thing that eludes them, is an Olympic Gold Medal. They came out of retirement went back to living in separate Olympic dorms and eating cafeteria food. 2010 to watch their Skating performance was truly Poetic Love in Motion. Stunning.
For China, love is golden, they scored the highest score in pairs history, they won the first Gold for China in Olympics Figure Skating pairs History knocking out Russia's 12 year reign.
*** And how about Alex Bildeau Winning Canada's firt told medal on Home Soil. I could hear the Canadian Roar here in Utah!
The Deserved Medal
Petra Majdic of Slovenia. This chick is TOUGH AS NAILS! She falls off course during a practice run falls down steep bank onto some rocks.
She says: " "The accident happened on an icy corner, the area was not secured, I slipped and the momentum carried me over the edge," she said.
"There was a big drop -- about three meters -- and I landed in a small stream with rocks. I was falling towards a big rock and I managed to turn on my side, but I still broke both poles and a ski.
"I was in pain and some volunteers helped me out. They wanted to take me to the medical center, but I yelled, 'take me to the start."
She did undergo a quick examination and the ultrasound revealed no breaks just deep bruising.
She turns down pain killers that would restrict her movement during her race, which is four laps of 1.4m.
Kudos to the First American who can tell me what that is in miles!
She' goes on to win the Bronze Medal, which would be the first medal of the games for her country, Slovenia and the countries first ever cross country medal .
She basically collapsed on the other side of the finish and is carried off. After further examination: four fractured ribs and a tear of the membrane of the lung. Again in her own words "This is not a bronze medal, this is a gold medal with little diamonds on it." NOOO KIDDING! And just to prove that Olympians have a hormone laced with crazy in them, she was hoping to compete again by the end of next week! 
Lady, you have an injured lung!!! The Dr's ,however, say she's done in Vancouver. That Lady Deserved that Medal... and more!
The Lucky Medal:
OH NO! IF there is anyone anymore more Highly Favored by the Olympic God's than Apolo Anton Ohno I would like to know who it is? Maybe it's because he bears the Name and looks of a Greek God. Unlike the Greek God his name is only Spelled with one "L." It is because the other L is for "Luck?" The Man is Gorgeous, Sexy, Charming, has winning dance moves and is a brilliant short track athlete. He first Appeared on the Scene at the 2002 Olympics, a cute kid with a Soul Patch on his chin and baby doe eyes that lure you in.
SLC 2002 Disqualified in the 500m race. Doesn't sound very Lucky does it? In the 1000 m he was winning. During a turn around the final corner, a skater from another country tries to pass him and another skater from the inside knocking 4 skater, including OHNO against the padded walls and out of the race. OR SO YOU THINK! So Some kid from Australia in 4th place not only sails into 1st place but it is the THE FIRST WINTER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL ever for a country in the southern hemisphere. *Luck* Apolo being the highly favored things to starts scrambling on the ice toward the finish line he slips but manages to reach his blade of his now INJURED LEG over the finish line for 2nd place(He needed six stitches in his inner thigh.) Another of the fallen came in third for the bronze medal. *Luck*
Same Olympics: 1500 meters Ohno won the gold medal. During the 1500 m final race, another skater was first across the finish line, but was disqualified for blocking Ohno, in a rule-violation called cross tracking. With three laps remaining and currently in second position, Ohno attempted to make a pass on the leader, who then drifted to the inside and as a result, Ohno raised his arms to signal he was blocked. The tapes were reviewed, the athlete that crossed the ice first was disqualified. OH NO FOR THE GOLD! *Luck*
2006 in Torino Apolo doesn't even qualify for 1500m. Won bronze in the 1000m behind the two who caused him grief in 2002 and then wins gold in the 500 m when he took the lead right off and kept it til the end. No fuss, no muss right? Wrong! There was criticism that he appeared to move before the start, a violation of the rules. That accusation was overruled *Luck*
Jump to 2010 Vancouver:
Let's just jump right to the 1500m. Apolo hangs out behind as always waiting for the right time to make his move. When he makes that move he's in first, then 3rd, then 2nd then 4th, then tried to make a move for 2nd and is block back into 4th. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place skaters from the same country, it look like a sweep! When suddenly 3rd place tries to pass 2nd place country men at the last corner... and knocks them both out. Apolo sail into 2nd place for the silver with another USA country man right behind for the Bronze. *Luck*
This medal makes Apolo Anton Ohno Tied with Bonnie Blair for the most medals won by 1 person at a winter Olympics. The beauty of it... Apolo has 4 more events before the end of these Olympics. 1 more medals makes him the the Athlete with the most medals ever won for THE Winter Olympics.
APOLO, GOOD "L!"
THE AWESOME MEDAL!
Two Words: Shaun White!
Seriously this kid has AWESOME in his blood. It's one thing to dominate in your sport. It's HISTORICAL to bring your craft to new levels of innovation and expand the boundaries. The man has to be Helicopters into his own SECRET HALFPIPE LABORATORIES ON HIS PRIVATE MOUNTAINS in Colorado where he literally concocts new maneuvers to push the boundaries for his sport.
He showed up in 2006 off the Skateboarding circuit.
Shaun DOMINATES the Winter X Games, where he has won a medal every year since 2002. Including all winter X Games competitions through 2009, his medal count stands at 14 (9 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze), including the first four-peat winner by a male athlete in one the snowboard slopestyle event.
2006 He Hit the scene and helped the Americans Sweep the Snowboarding winning the gold lookin like a little kid playing dress up in over sized Olympic gear.
He sustained minor injuries when he hit his face on the pipe just a few weeks before the 2010 Olympics. When Asked what went through his mind after his crash he basically said: Man I gotta get back up there and lay it down. He did, and won Winter X Gold.
2010 Was there any doubt Shaun White would get his gold? Nope, not even. The way you qualify for Halfpipe cold: You have 2 Quarter final Qualification runs. If you Score high enough you automatically advance to the finals. Top 6 automatically advance. Everyone else gets two semi final runs and try to advance from their. You get 2 finals run. The highest of each run is the one that advances your or wins. Shaun White won with 2 runs. 1 run automatically advances him to the finals, 2nd run, just a practice run where he slightly stumbles. Who cares, he's already in the finals.
Shaun White won gold before he even began his second run on what was considered a "conservative first run. His first run scored at 48.4 out of 50. He doesn't need to do his 2nd run. However there's a new trick he's concocted: "The Double McTwist 1260." No It's not a new item on the McDonald's Menu yet... but Give it time, I'm sure our Red headed Olympian will be scooped up by
Mc Donalds in no time!
The Double Mc twist 1260 is the newest Snowboarding Trick and right now only one man can do it, the man how created it. The man who doesn't even need to introduce it cuz he already won the Gold. His Family is going crazy! His even brought his dog, Rambo to the Olympics!
Why should he risk himself danger by doing it if he doesn't need to? Because the fans want him to.
He Displays his AWESOMENESS on his 2nd run which is dubbed his Victory lap.
I believe these are the Medal that the Olympics are made of. These and the stories of the countries who have 1 athlete Like Algeria, Morocco, and Columbia or 5 Athletes like Brazil and Iceland. Athletes who we may never hear or know their name. Athletes who work just as hard to get to Olympics as the gold medal winners, and in most cases even harder because they don't have the funding, opportunity as the countries with world wide sponsors like Nike, Coke, or Wheaties. I am proud to be and American. Proud of our Athletes and their hard work and achievements. I am more proud of those Olympians who defy the odds of everyday living to become and Olympian. Their Stories are what I enjoy most and Those are the champions, no matter what country I cheer most for. I am HUMAN first and fore most, then American.
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