Let me first start off by saying that this isn't about the standard of athletes coming from our country and competing. The US leads in medals with 100 medals (35 Gold, 33 Silver and 32 Bronze) at the time of writing this. That's 42 more than the next country and 13 more Gold than the country with the second most Gold medals. We've had outstanding performances from returning vets like Michael Phelps, who ended his career with 23 Gold medals (28 over all). If he were his own country, he'd be tied for 38th with South Africa for Gold medals won during the summer games. We've also had knockout performances from Katie Ledecky, who won 4 Gold Medals and set 4 Olympic Records and 2 World records, (one of those being her own that she broke for the 4th time) and another outstanding performance by our Woman's Gymnastic team, including Simone Biles, who has won the most gymnastic medals in a single Olympics by an American since 1984 and with 4 Gold medals has set a new record for most gymnastic Golds in a single Olympics ever.
But, and this could possibly be a single, un-shared opinion, but it seems to be overshadowed by some of the negativity involving the US in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. We'll start small and work our way up.
The US Men's basketball team is made up of the best players in the world, just from the NBA. There are other leagues around the world, but nothing compares in skill or popularity to the National Basketball Association. All of these players are the most elite at their sport, having multi-million dollar contracts to compete for the championship each year. And they do so on opposing teams. So to take these players, who are the best on their respective teams and compete on such a high level against each other, and to put them on one single team together; realistically, against the competition that's out there, this shouldn't be a challenge. Again, maybe I am not giving enough credit to the other teams around the world, but these players really should sweep the gold like they have the previous two Olympics. However, it seems like this particular group of individuals doesn't see the Olympics as critical as they do the NBA Finals. After winning their first two games by at least 40 points, they slowed down and only had a 10 point win over Australia, who had only lost once in the Prelims. But in their next two games, against France and Serbia, they barely squeaked by with a 3 point win, even being down a decent amount for parts of those games. I'd like these athletes to take the Olympics as seriously as every other athlete who competes around the world, because the Olympics showcase the best of the best, and these competitors are role models to their respective countries. Thankfully the US rolled over Argentina in the Quarterfinals, so hopefully they've taken a chance to look at what they've done, and plan to play their hearts out.
Secondly, I'm a bit ashamed of the conduct by our US national women's soccer team. Comments from Hope Solo, after their defeat by Sweden, calling them "cowards" doesn't seem like the kind of Olympian attitude any athlete should have. The goalkeeper was frustrated at the defensive game that Sweden played, and how they 'refused to attack and chose to sit back' and honestly that's really silly to be upset about. At the end of the day, Sweden didn't cheat or play underhanded; they came up with a strategy that would win them a match against a heavily favored US team. The US were definitely a shoe-in to win their 5th Gold medal in 6 Olympics but crazy things happen in sports all the time, and this time the US failed to win. Sportsmanship should always be a top priority, especially from the greatest athletes in the world, competing where the entire world is watching. Other members of the team voiced their disappointment towards the demeanor of their goalkeeper.
Lastly, and I'm sure I've missed quite a few other things, but earlier in the week it was reported that a few members of our swim teamed were victims of a robbery. Ryan Lochte and a couple other swimmers were later found out to be falsifying their report, and that no such event occurred. The officials in Rio have been investigating these accusations and now these members of our team are under possible indictment for falsely reporting a crime. Even the IOC (International Olympic Committee) decided that the whole incident was 'just a kid trying to have fun' even after video footage showed the group vandalizing a restroom and leaving before officers arrived. This whole ordeal is just confusing from the standpoint of an American Citizen who looks to the Olympics as a nice takeaway from worldly conflict, and a place where everyone from every race and country respects each other. This kind of etiquette is not the American standard and is not the kind of showing anyone should have at any kind of event, let alone the epitome of athletic competition. What kind of example are we setting for other countries around the world? America is often looked to as the Great Land of Opportunity and we can't be making fools of ourselves.
Perhaps I am just nitpicking, and these 2016 Olympics aren't really different from past Olympics, but to me these events have really stood out, in what has otherwise been an amazing American performance so far. But sometimes the good doesn't always blot out the bad. And what do we really want to remember from this, and every other Olympics?
