As the Rio Olympics draw to a close, I thought I’d take the liberty and express my feelings toward them in a way that can relate to the general public. Since 2016 is the year of realizing things, according to Kylie Jenner [link to her tweet about realizing things], here are things to conclude from this year’s Games of the XXXI Olympiad:
1. That Ping-Pong really isn’t a sport.
I mean, it’s super impressive how fast those dudes can change positions, man oh man that’s a super intense thing. In my opinion, but it shouldn’t be a sport because it’s less physically strenuous than most sports; it shouldn’t be a sport because I’ll get a heart attack from the suspense watching it. That China Vs. Nigeria match…
2. Synchronized diving: how does that work?
If you haven’t seen a video of synchronized diving, watch one. That stuff requires a kind of skill and discipline that most of us don’t have. You need to know exactly how each other are going to spin and how high to jump. Literally, how? It's cool and crazy.
3. That 30 year-old men can still be seen as ‘boys’.
With all of this Ryan Lochte mess, I think we can only conclude that a thirty-year-old man can be seen as a ‘child’ who is a jokester, but a literal 12 year-old can be seen as an adult. Enough said.
4. The lengths people will go to in order to tear down a black girl.
U.S.A. Women's Gymnastics Team
People actually had the audacity to berate Gabby Douglas over her not covering her hand over her heart, when most of the US Men’s Gymnastics team didn’t. When this happened, we realized easily people can jump on a girl, especially black girls. Protect black girls at all costs.
5. That black girls are magical.
Simone Biles, Simone Manuel, Gabby Douglas, Allison Felix, and even more of the woman powerhouses proved to us that black girls are magical. Biles, at 19, is arguably the best female gymnast, or for that matter, best gymnast of all time. These olympics, she demonstrated that regardless of race, you can still dominate your sport. Black girls still rock, though.
6. Katie Ledecky… how?
Breaking 2 world records is probably the best thing I’ve seen from these Olympics next to Biles being absolutely fantastic. She passed people by entire body lengths. How do you go faster from there? Can you swim a lap in 1 second? Katie Ledecky can.
7. We always have something to look forward to every 4 years.
Every Olympics proves to us things that we can look forward to in the next summer Olympics. Watching every Olympics is truly an amazing experience. Even though most people didn't win a medal, we have to remember that they were still the best in their country at what they did; they made it to the freakin' Olympics. We can look forward to more progress from people like Biles and Ledecky, while also more antics that athletes like Lochte an prove. But, we will all see what the Games of the XXXII Olympiad entails. See you in 2020.
man running in forestPhoto by 
