Every four years, for 16 days, the world comes together as one in the spirit of competition. Nation after nation arrive in one location to claim their place at the top of the winners podium. Upon humanity’s largest stage step the dreamers, the brave, the ones who have dared to believe in the impossible. It’s time for the summer Olympics!
As most of you are well aware by now I am a big fan of the Olympics. Sure it has it problems with the bidding process, the leftover venues that are rarely repurposed, the crippling debt most cities take on to host the extravaganza. This year there have been concerns over the environmental impact, the displacement of citizenry of Rio’s Favela’s and numerous doping scandals. Let’s set all of that aside for now. We have four years until the next summer Olympics to bicker about their worth. This week and next, it’s all about the athletes and the competition.
At no other time in sports do we, as a species, get to celebrate the accomplishments of those who have worked and dreamed their whole lives for this single opportunity. After years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice, usually without fan fair, attention, or the media’s praise, our athletes step out of the shadows and onto the grand stage for the world to see. The majority of the Olympians at these games don’t make millions of dollars. The accolades that make them the best of the best have gone unheralded. Most of their names we have never heard of. For two weeks they will have our attention as they compete for their nations and their dreams. We will shout their names, we will share their dreams.
It is during the Olympics that we get to witness greatness in the making. The tempering of the human will to steel. These athletes have been through endless quarters, innings, sets, heats, meets, competitions great and small. None of that matters now. For many there is only one chance for Olympic Gold. It is the ultimate achievement professionally and personally for many of the Olympians participating. For that they will give it their all. Rising to meet the stiffest of competition, daring everything to stand upon the podium.
Before our eyes unfurls the greatest of human dramas. Many will reach for Gold, but only one will walk away with it. Each success, each failure is another thread telling a greater story through the events themselves. For some just getting to the games has been an exercise in extreme effort and patience. Faced with wars and persecution ten of the Olympic athletes this year will compete under the Olympic flag as refugees. Proof that these games are about the people not just the nations. Other athletes face insurmountable odds of winning. Already the US Women’s Field Hockey team has upset the number 2 and number 3 ranked teams in the preliminaries. Still more Olympians will have to overcome the champions of their sports. Coming off of three wrist surgeries no one thought Juan Martin del Potro would get very far this year. Especially considering his first opponent was Novak Djokovic, the number one ranked player in the world. Del Porto walked off the court a champion that day. Giants can be toppled. Records will be shattered. Unlikely heroes will rise. And we will shout and cheer our athletes on as they reach for their dreams.