If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the Olympics constantly for the past two weeks. If you haven’t been watching the Olympics, even for a little bit, there’s something seriously wrong with you. And if you were unaware that the Olympics were even on, well, you must live under a rock or in a pineapple under the sea.
Even if you aren’t a sports person, saying “I don’t watch sports” or “I don’t like sports” is really no reason to not watch the Olympics. There are dozens of sports to watch on about three or four different channels, ranging from soccer to swimming to diving to gymnastics to fencing to golf to volleyball and so many others. I find it hard to believe that most people wouldn’t like at least one sport that is in the Olympics.
The Olympics bring the world together. It is a time to forget about the problems that the world is having and let our brains enjoy watching different athletes compete against each other. The sportsmanship and emotion that the athletes display is beautiful.
Just look at Simone Manuel’s reaction to finding out that she won the gold medal in the 100m freestyle, making her the first African-American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming.
She tied for first place with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, who she now also shares the Olympic record with.
Here’s the U.S. men’s 400m freestyle relay on the podium.
And how could I ever forget Katie Ledecky?
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team was really happy to win gold…
And meet Zac Efron! (Not pictured: Simone receiving a kiss from Zac.)
These Brazilian gymnasts, Diego Hypolito and Arthur Mariano, are overcome with emotion after finishing second and third, respectively, on the floor routine.
American and New Zealand runners Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin helped each other to the finish line after colliding during a race.
Ibti Muhammad was the first woman to wear a hijab in the Olympics… AND she won a medal.
Fiji won its first gold medal ever in rugby sevens.
Usain Bolt is just a freak of nature. Is there anyone with a more appropriate name? I don’t think so.
This list could continue on forever and there are so many sports that I failed to mention, such as cycling, volleyball, rowing, boxing, badminton and so on. Besides getting to see so many moments of triumph, we also get to see sports that we don’t normally get to watch. This is the one time every four years that Swimming, Gymnastics, Track and Field and so many other sports get aired during primetime. Not that there’s anything wrong with the NFL or MLB, but it is nice to get to see a variety of sports on TV. These athletes work just as hard at their sports and should get recognized for it.
If you don’t care about the Olympics and didn’t watch it for at least a little bit, you really missed out. You didn’t get to see all the patriotism and passion that the athletes and fans displayed and you missed out on an awful lot of excitement. I wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the Olympics to air again, but at least the Winter Olympics will be on in 2018.
One more thing….
You show him, Phelps.
