There are no words to describe completely how much I love watching The Olympics. I don't care if it's the summer event or the winter one, you best believe I'm tuning in. Growing up, sports consumed my entire being. I started participating in them at the age of seven and never stopped. Even though I am in college now and don't play for the university team, I still actively participate in as many intramural teams as humanly possible, So really, my love for sports is no secret. Thanks to this passion of sports, I simply cannot resist the temptation to watch The Olympics every two years. Besides March Madness, this is an event that I have a huge passion for. What's not to love? There is patriotism, competition, passion, and so many other feelings - completely on display for the whole world to see. It allows children to have new role models, it displays athletes who believe in the value of hard work and determination. So now that the Rio Olympics are over, it's safe to say that I am sad. There are so many different aspects of this world competition that I'm going to miss. Here are a few of them.
One thing I am really going to miss is watching the different swimming and gymnastic events. The United States Swimming team and Women's Gymnastic team absolutely kicked butt this year at Rio. Standouts: Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, and Katie Ledecky just to name a few - made it a very exciting sport to watch. It was during this two-week long competition that they proved that they were truly the best in the world. Like how cool is it to be able to say that? There is this saying that is often used in the sports world that goes "there will always be someone better than you." Well, these specific athletes put that saying to shame. They are Olympic world champions. There is no one better than them. It's just crazy to imagine. The sports themselves are also really fun to watch, especially the gymnastics.
I am also going to miss Team USA dominating in literally every single category possible - for the most part at least. Our final medal count was 121 medals - the most of any country in the world. The second place country was China with only 70 medals. So as a country we were in first place by 51 medals which is hilarious. Not to mention, we also led the world in gold medal count, with 46 gold medals. We absolutely dominated as a country which was really great to see. Especially since this summer has been really tense for the United States. So it was nice to see Team USA come together and bring home the gold for a country that really needed some positivity.
All in all, I am really going to miss the Olympics. Clearly, Team USA was incredibly successful and I am lucky to live in a country that values determination and success. Now I just have to wait two whole years for the winter olympics.
