These aren't pampered athletes who are paid millions of dollars to play a children's game. No, the Olympics are mainly made up of people who have a real job, and just train on the side. That dedication, to spend all those hours training in a sport where you might only have a second of recognition, is amazing in itself. Add in the back stories that NBC has done a great job exposing, and the Olympics is an event that you can't turn off. Literally...its a beautiful day outside, but instead of tanning in Central Park I'm sitting in my apartment cheering on the US Mens Water Polo Team. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
My favorite stories half way through the Olympics:
1) Kayla Harrison: Kayla gave the Americans their first gold medal ever in Judo. What was crazy though was hearing her calmly discuss her back story. A lot of athletes have had to overcome difficult upbringings and use the hunger of those experiences to push themselves further than most people will ever be able to. Kayla has a story that broke my heart, as she has had to overcome being sexually abused by her coach when she was a teenager. Having someone you trust such a coach hurt you in that way leaves a scar we can't begin to understand. But instead of hiding from it, Kayla has embraced whats happened to her and wants to use her gold medal as a platform to help spread her story to help bring money/attention to abused children charities. Can you think of a better person to represent our country? I can't.
2) Women's Gymnastics: One of the glamor sports of the games, the US team has lived up to its prime time billing with its gold medal performance. The domination of the team though hasn't been as interesting as the individual athletes stories.
a) McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross: Best Friends as little kids make a promise that they will go to the Olympics together. Sound familiar? For anyone who was an athlete as a kid, I'm sure you all made similar goals with your friends. These two though get to live that dream as all the hours of work they have put in together materialized into an actual goal medal. Disney movie much?
b) Jordyn Weiber: the best gymnast in the world didn't make the all-around competition because of a stupid rule limiting the amount of athletes from each country. So what if she was the 4th best in qualifying...an arbitrary rule keeps her from a competition she completely deserves to be at. How do you bounce back from a disappointment like that caused from one of your own teammates? Well if you are Jordyn, you come back and show the Olympic Committee how bad a decision they made by dominating the team finals and leading your team to Gold. Team before individual...Jordyn showed that spirit.3) Murray: Yes, I know. He's not exactly a struggling athlete. He's the number 4 player in the World and makes a tons of money. But after watching him fall apart upon losing the Wimbledon final to Federer, you know he wants this Gold even more than the British public wants him to win it. And he is right on schedule to give us a rematch of that epic Wimbeldon final. Can you imagine the tension in that arena? I can't. But I sure hope I get the chance to see it.
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