Olympic Glory

Like many of you, we've really enjoyed the Olympics this year. It has been fun to get to introduce Brian and Caitlyn to so many different sports and countries from all around the world. The athleticism of these men and women is incredible. Learning the individual stories of triumph and heartache, disappointment and dedication and all it takes just to get to the Olympics inspires me to want to be better, to reach higher, to go faster, and to live stronger.

It was amazing to see Michael Phelps reach his unprecedented goal, and to see that even individual greatness (Phelps' 8 golds) is only possible with help from others - his single mother raising 3 kids, the support and direction of a coach who saw the potential in a scrawny 11 yr old with ADD, the unbelievable come-from-behind once-in-a-lifetime sprint of his relay teammate who some had described as too old and never having lived up to his potential who snatched victory from the world-record holder by 1/100 of a second.

I was amazed to learn last night of a South African swimmer named Natalie du Toit who, after almost qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, lost her left leg in a car accident. She competed yesterday in the swimming marathon without any kind of prosthetic device.

Some times the athletes gave everything they had and won it all. But because of the nature of the competition, not everyone gets the gold. Watching many of the gymnastic events I was confused by the judges' scoring and dismayed when someone I thought was totally deserving of a gold medal was relegated to second place because of an obscure tie-breaking rule. Luckily, I was able to find some of the gymnastics video footage and you can make your own judgement call.