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What about the lady with one leg that swim the marathon, that was touching that she wouldn't let the loss of her leg kill her dreams.
I'm a guy, a big guy and when the weightlifter dedicated his win to his wife who was saving money to go and died in a car crash, yeah I puddled up a little.
What about the lady with one leg that swim the marathon, that was touching that she wouldn't let the loss of her leg kill her dreams.
I'm a guy, a big guy and when the weightlifter dedicated his win to his wife who was saving money to go and died in a car crash, yeah I puddled up a little.
What got me with the weighlifter is after she completed the lift, he went NUTS ... I've not seen pure joy in the Olympics like that in years. And then you hear the backstory with him on the podium with the picture of his wife ..
I heard about Afghanistan's first medal, but didn't see it when it happened. It must have been quite a scene. Add my name to the list of those who got choked up over the weight lifter.
A few of my other gets-you-right-there moments:
Sometimes there is something touching about defeat. Sometimes there is even inspiration. I was touched by the scene of LoLo Jones down on her hands and knees on the track, overcome with emotion after coming oh so close to winning in the hurdles, then losing it when she clipped that final hurdle. Although the results of the women's 4 x 100 relay were a downer, I felt a moment of inspiration when Lauryn Williams picked up the dropped baton and sprinted to the finish even in certain defeat.
Then there was a moment that was poignant more than exciting, because of the awful incident that hung in the background. I'm talking about U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon's gushing release of emotion in the moments after his team had clinched the gold.
I know people see professional athletes as self-centered, but the players on the U.S. men's basketball team didn't have to be there in the Olympics. They did not have to be there, but there they were. There was something very appealing about the focus they showed in the pursuit of the gold, and something touching about their display of emotion at the medal ceremony. And I loved the scene of the players all surrounding Coach K after draping him with their gold medals.
Think way back to the first days of the Olympics. Watching the Olympics always gives me a bunch of those choke-up moments. The first time that happened for me during these Olympics was when I saw Natalie Coughlin trying to hold back the tears on the medal stand after she won her gold.
Some of my favorite touching scenes were those involving athletes' parents. I'm not a parent myself, but I have nieces and nephews I adore. I find it quite moving to think of how those parents must be feeling, after everything that entire families have often been through together so these athletes could pursue their dreams, in the moment when they see their sons and daughters make those dreams real. There was Shalane Flanagan's mother reveling in her daughter's medal. And, even though there was no one moment there that got me choked up, I really enjoyed the enthusiasm of Michael Phelps's mother throughout her son's amazing run.
Two scenes involving parents were the ones that really got me right there, probably more than any other moments. One was the scene where Jonathan Horton's mother sobbed with joy the moment she knew her son had won a silver medal.
And then, there was that scene with Shawn Johnson's parents. There was a thread started on here early in the Olympics, with the title "Yummy Shawn Johnson." That thread seems to have disappeared, but I think the word "yummy" was all wrong anyway for capturing the Shawn Johnson appeal. "Yummy" implies "sexy." C'm'on now, she's good looking, but she's a kid. Bright and perky and cute as anything, but too much of a kid to be sexy. The sweetheart next door isn't quite the right image either. To me, Shawn Johnson's appeal is that of the adorable little sister, the one you've always kind of looked out for, the kid the whole family knows is something special.
One of the commentators said that Shawn's parents had mortgaged their house a couple of times to pay for her training. The way kids have a tendency to bubble with enthusiasm over a new interest one moment, then abandon the same interest the next, I wonder how those parents knew that their daughter's pursuit of gymnastics was the real deal, but somehow they knew, and they gave deeply of themselves to help her go as far as she could.
I've read that Shawn trains at a gym near her home, and trains fewer hours than most Olympic gymnasts, because her parents have emphasized that she needs to have a home, to attend her local high school, not be isolated from other kids her age while being educated by private tutors, and that she needs time to be involved in school activities, time to just be a kid. Obviously they've struck a balance that works. What wonderful parents they must be. For me, the sight of that moment when they looked at each other, and the embrace they shared, after the goal they had supported all those years had just been achieved, when their precious daughter had taken the gold just moments before, was one of my all-time gets-you-right-there Olympics moments.
One final moment came just a while ago, during the closing ceremonies, when the IOC president gave his closing speech. Though the president spoke in French, Bob Costas provided a translation of the moment that always gets to me. It always gives me pause to reflect on what it's all about in this world, when the IOC president speaks the customary phrase, "I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now . . ."
Both of those stories were computer-generated by the Chinese.
LOL!
When coach McCutcheon walked off to be by himself, I got choked up. And I can't believe I was actually happy that we won the gold in men's basketball. Those guys were humble! And when the put all their medals around Coach K's neck ... awwwwwwwwwww .. sniff sniff.
And how about Iceland????? They won their first ever medal in men's team handball. I loved it!!!
I also thought is was touching that they presented the men's marathon medals during the closing ceremonies.
I'm in total Olympic withdrawl ... well, folks, I'm wrapping up my 17 days of posting here .. time for me to go back to the politics and other controversies board. It's been real. See you all in 2 years.
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If there won't be dancing at the revolution, I'm not coming.
Emma Goldman
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