I love the winter Olympics. Seriously love them. The summer Olympics are not a big deal. I'll watch them--at least some of the events--but I don't get into them the way I do the winter games. Maybe it's because I'm from Minnesota?
Anyway, I always watch a lot of the winter Olympics and this year I've been knitting as I've watched. Ravelry has an event called Ravellenics where knitters and crocheters try to finish projects while the games are on. I'm doing a scarf which I wanted to finish, but because I hate seed stitch, had been putting off. I figured this was a good way to finish it.
And now that I've totally digressed... One of the things I love most about the Olympics is watching the athletes fulfilling dreams. Some of these sports are obscure--like the cross country skiing/target shooting event--and you have to think these men and women are doing it solely for love of the sport.
I love to see people pursuing their dreams. Even if they don't medal, they've still succeeded far beyond someone who didn't even try.
One of my favorite stories is the man from Tonga. That's right, Tonga sent an athlete to the winter games. Notice the singular. Pita Taufatofua spent the two years since the summer games learning to cross country ski on an island without snow. He worked hard enough to qualify for the games. Now that's an Olympic story!
I also think about the speed skating. What would it be like to represent the Netherlands where your country dominates a sport? Is it scary to try to live up to expectations?
I'm sure there are as many stories as their are athletes, but I like the underdog, the kid that's trying with all their will even though they might not be as good as the others in their sport. To me, this is what the games are really about.
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Cool Runnings
I love the winter Olympics. Seriously love. There's only one sport in the whole thing that I can't stand watching--curling--but I enjoy everything else. In fact, I'm watching figure skating as I write this. Or attempt to write. There are a lot of typos I'm fixing. :-)
Just before the Olympics began, I read an article online about Eddie the Eagle who was a ski jumper for the United Kingdom. The article said that after he competed, the ski jumping federation set some kind of bar that made it impossible for someone like him to ever be part of the Olympics again. His theory--and who knows if this is true or not--is that the other jumpers didn't like all the publicity he got.
This year, the Jamaican bobsled team is racing again, the first time in years, because they didn't qualify for the Olympics. Apparently there's a bar in bobsled too.
Now granted no one would enjoy the field being overrun by amateurs. Part of what makes the Olympics fun is watching the best in the world, but I also think that competitors like the Jamaican bobsled team make the games more fun to watch because we root for the underdog (at least I do).
It's like the Miracle on Ice from the 1980 Olympics. There will never be another hockey miracle like that, not now that the teams are populated with NHL stars. Part of what made the miracle was how outclassed the college kids on the US team were compared to the Soviets who were professional in all but name.
Anyway, I love seeing the occasional underdog, the everyman, in there competing at the Olympics. Now there are people who are truly pursuing their dreams.
Just before the Olympics began, I read an article online about Eddie the Eagle who was a ski jumper for the United Kingdom. The article said that after he competed, the ski jumping federation set some kind of bar that made it impossible for someone like him to ever be part of the Olympics again. His theory--and who knows if this is true or not--is that the other jumpers didn't like all the publicity he got.
This year, the Jamaican bobsled team is racing again, the first time in years, because they didn't qualify for the Olympics. Apparently there's a bar in bobsled too.
Now granted no one would enjoy the field being overrun by amateurs. Part of what makes the Olympics fun is watching the best in the world, but I also think that competitors like the Jamaican bobsled team make the games more fun to watch because we root for the underdog (at least I do).
It's like the Miracle on Ice from the 1980 Olympics. There will never be another hockey miracle like that, not now that the teams are populated with NHL stars. Part of what made the miracle was how outclassed the college kids on the US team were compared to the Soviets who were professional in all but name.
Anyway, I love seeing the occasional underdog, the everyman, in there competing at the Olympics. Now there are people who are truly pursuing their dreams.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Dream On
A few years ago, I blogged about pursuing dreams (not here, but on a different blog). I wasn't prepared for the angry responses I received for a post that I thought would be encouraging. It's entirely possible that I didn't write it well enough, but watching the Olympics got me thinking about chasing dreams again.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an Olympic figure skater. It was my dream. At six, my parents signed me up for lessons. Unfortunately, the class was too big and the teacher didn't seem to care about actually helping students learn to skate. It was more like he was there and that was it.
Despite my disappointment, I kept at it because I wanted this. At least until I fell during class and broke my leg. The tibia. But the dream didn't die, and even though it took me three years to work up my courage again, I got back on the ice. My friends taught me how to skate this time and I had a blast. So much fun that I wanted to go the next day.
And I fell and broke my left ankle.
The dream of being an Olympic skater died then. I wasn't willing to risk breaking a leg for a third time. But you know what? Just because that dream was gone, didn't mean I didn't find other dreams.
When I was in eighth grade, I discovered fiction writing and fell in love. I always had stories in my head, but now I'd found a way to share them with others. I found a new dream--to be a professional writer.
Selling my first book might have satisfied the basic dream, but then I grew it, let it become more. My goal now is to be successful enough at writing to be able to do it full time. I'm still chasing that dream, but I know that if I ever reach it, I'll come up with a new dream because life is a journey, not a destination and I need something to shoot toward.
So when I got the backlash from my blog post years ago, I didn't understand why people couldn't/wouldn't pursue their dreams. If someone is married with children and their dream is to run off and backpack solo through Europe for a year, well, maybe it's time to adjust that to visit Europe for a couple of weeks with the spouse once the kids are in college.
If the dream is to be an Olympic gymnast and someone is in their 30s, well, that boat sailed since most gymnasts are in their teens, but this is where I would find a new dream, like switching from Olympic figure skater to writer. Do I still feel a pang when I watch figure skating? Yes, but I also know that I'm not strapping on skates again for any reason and I let the regret go. Life is about choices and I made mine.
Dreams shouldn't be stagnant. There is nothing wrong with finding a new dream, even if it's simply taking an online class to learn something that's always been an interest. If circumstances decree that the original dream isn't feasible, then what's a new dream that is doable?
Just as an FYI, I turned off comments on this post. This is something I never do, but I simply don't have time or energy to deal with anger if I managed to say things wrong again.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an Olympic figure skater. It was my dream. At six, my parents signed me up for lessons. Unfortunately, the class was too big and the teacher didn't seem to care about actually helping students learn to skate. It was more like he was there and that was it.
Despite my disappointment, I kept at it because I wanted this. At least until I fell during class and broke my leg. The tibia. But the dream didn't die, and even though it took me three years to work up my courage again, I got back on the ice. My friends taught me how to skate this time and I had a blast. So much fun that I wanted to go the next day.
And I fell and broke my left ankle.
The dream of being an Olympic skater died then. I wasn't willing to risk breaking a leg for a third time. But you know what? Just because that dream was gone, didn't mean I didn't find other dreams.
When I was in eighth grade, I discovered fiction writing and fell in love. I always had stories in my head, but now I'd found a way to share them with others. I found a new dream--to be a professional writer.
Selling my first book might have satisfied the basic dream, but then I grew it, let it become more. My goal now is to be successful enough at writing to be able to do it full time. I'm still chasing that dream, but I know that if I ever reach it, I'll come up with a new dream because life is a journey, not a destination and I need something to shoot toward.
So when I got the backlash from my blog post years ago, I didn't understand why people couldn't/wouldn't pursue their dreams. If someone is married with children and their dream is to run off and backpack solo through Europe for a year, well, maybe it's time to adjust that to visit Europe for a couple of weeks with the spouse once the kids are in college.
If the dream is to be an Olympic gymnast and someone is in their 30s, well, that boat sailed since most gymnasts are in their teens, but this is where I would find a new dream, like switching from Olympic figure skater to writer. Do I still feel a pang when I watch figure skating? Yes, but I also know that I'm not strapping on skates again for any reason and I let the regret go. Life is about choices and I made mine.
Dreams shouldn't be stagnant. There is nothing wrong with finding a new dream, even if it's simply taking an online class to learn something that's always been an interest. If circumstances decree that the original dream isn't feasible, then what's a new dream that is doable?
Just as an FYI, I turned off comments on this post. This is something I never do, but I simply don't have time or energy to deal with anger if I managed to say things wrong again.
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