united (S of A)
many of us spent the last couple of weeks watching athletes from all around the world gather in paris to compete on the ultimate stage. and what an exciting olympics it was!!
here are a few things that were particularly memorable to me:
the olympic rings on the eiffel tower. i don’t know a whole lot about paris or the tower. but i now know that it was originally intended as a sign of france’s strength, was intended to be torn down (but obviously wasn’t) and somehow escaped ruin during world war ii. whenever i saw the rings on the tower i just thought it was so beautiful! the rings themselves symbolize unity of all countries, and paris really did not disappoint in the display.
the marathon course. those hills! i think this was an excellent choice for a championship course. flat & fast = boring in my book — but when you add the hills and the heat, you are finding those who are mentally & physically capable of the challenge that, in my opinion, should highlight the olympic games! i wish i had been there to run the pour tous :)
fierce competition followed by fierce accolades. in many post-competition interviews, & even on the podium, you could see the respect that many athletes have for each other. no matter what position you’re in, you know that it takes a lotttt of hard work, time, energy, sacrifice, GUTS (and sometimes a little bit of luck!) to get it right. there are so many components of an athletic performance that have to be timed just right — and then add in the fact that all of the competitors are striving for the same — so winning ANY medal is an incredibly impressive feat.
simone biles & jordan chiles bowed down in admiration to rebecca andrade …
quincy wilson’s teammates & competitors showering the 16 year old with hugs and high fives after the 4x4 prelims …
jakob ingrebrigtsen’s humbling instagram post following the 1500m finals — he acknowledged that he didn’t have it in him that race, but his competitors did and they earned their medals.
and soo many more (i watched primarily track & field, but i captured some cool moments in other sports through highlight replays & social media)
and, of course, THE WOMEN. and THE MOMS. this is the first olympic games where women make up 50% of the competing athletes — FINALLY!!!! it’s also the first olympic games where there was a nursery in the athletes’ village. and let’s not forget about the financial assistance that some moms were awarded, through organizations like &mother, to help them share their olympic moments with their kids. the women of team usa are coming home with 67 of the total 126 medals — that’s more than half of our country’s medals won by women!
and on the heels of this, one of the readings during our church service yesterday was about elijah & elisha. (note: my religious beliefs are not really relevant nor discussed here, but this story highlights something similar to the olympic spirit so please read on…)
our pastor gave us some back-story on elisha outside of the scripture lesson, including a description of elisha telling his city’s army to sit down for dinner with the enemy army, rather than killing them.
[ with great power comes great responsibility ] - voltaire
we spend a couple weeks every 2 years bringing representatives from all (or most) of the world’s countries together in one place for the purpose of competition. but, as you can see from what happened surrounding the competitions over the last 2 weeks, it’s more than just “a game”. they are in the village together, they are on the track and court and field, and in the pool and ring and ocean — together.
can we bring the spirit of the olympics — the togetherness, the camaraderie, the respect, the drive, a display of true emotions in the moment — to every day life?? just like in elisha’s city — can we sit down to eat and drink with our enemies, rather than fight and kill?
'I’ll end this post with some questions for you to ponder as you go about your non-olympics life:
what special olympics moments did you witness — either live/in-person or from your home screen?
how have these incredible athletes — incredible people! — inspired you?
how can we move forward as the united states of america, to be united with each other as athletes, fans, supporters, politicians … and humans?
[[image source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/paris-olympics-organizers-unveil-the-5-olympic-rings-mounted-on-the-eiffel-tower ]]