Saturday, August 16, 2008

phelps

Talk about an amazing guy - Phelps came from behind in the 100 m butterfly to win his 7th Beijing gold medal by one one-hundreth of a second. His mother nearly collapsed in the stands.

I still don't have my cable set up at home so I am reduced to watching snippets of the Olympics on my laptop. But I have enjoyed every snippet I have watched. It is so gratifying to watch these athletes, knowing the time and energy they have put into the preparation. I always imagine the mothers and fathers getting up early in the morning to take their child to the pool, gym, field, etc. You know that gigantic sacrifices have been made on behalf of these athletes.

And listening to our national anthem play at the awards ceremony makes me cry every time. I am filled with images in my mind of all of the freedoms we have in this country -- and all of the ways in which I benefit daily from being an American.

Whether we win or lose, the Olympics is a time that I feel real pride to be an American.

1 comment:

jonesnori said...

Yeah, Phelps only won that last one by .06 seconds - it was a real nail-biter.

I feel proud of every athlete for coming out and competing - even the ones who come in last are heroes in my book. Wow.