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Olympic Junkie

 
by Amanda Forester

I confess.  I'm addicted to the Olympics.  Even as I write this blog I'm watching the ladies' free skate.  Has anyone had that 'wish I was an Olympic figure skater' dream?  Or perhaps its near cousin, 'I wish I looked like an Olympic figure skater' dream! But alas, I will never jump or spin or pull my leg up over my head (so painful even to watch!).  And as for the skin-tight bedazzled outfits, that's just never going to happen.  (Pic: Yuna Kim by David Carmichael)

Despite my utter lack of athletic prowess, or perhaps because of it, I find myself glued to the television watching the games.  Lately, I have been fascinated by sports I only watch every four years when the Olympics come around.  From the skeleton to the downhill, ski jumping to freestyle, I am transfixed watching athletes do things that would kill the average mortal. 

I have tried to infect my family with Olympics fever, but they are stubbornly immune.  I get blank stares at the bobsled, yawns at the giant slalom, and outright snores at cross country skiing. And yet, I am undeterred. The only member of my family I have convinced to enjoy the games with me is kitten, who has a new game of attacking the skiers as they race down the hill.  Watch out Maze - fuzzy kitten is after you!

I am always amazed at the dedication is takes to be an Olympian.  Let's face it, I will never march in an opening ceremonies or compete for my country.  Yet I am still inspired by these athletes' amazing abilities and the years of hard work it took to get there.  The determination the athletes show makes me wonder what I could achieve if I put that same dedication into my writing? 

I'm not sure what being an Olympic writer would look like (I'm am very grateful writing does not require me to wear a skin-tight jumpsuit!), but I'm sure if I approached this endeavor with similar discipline, I could only improve.  So here's to doing what you love like an Olympian!  What are your 'go for the gold' passions in life?

Comments

  1. Writing, creating bears, photography.

    I used to love the Olympics, until one year the best ice skaters beyond doubt were a Canadian pair, but did they win the gold? No. The USSR Block at the time voted in a Russian pair, even though they clearly were not the best. After that, I figured it was like so much else--even in dog shows, it's who you know, lots of money, lots of corruption, and those who really truly are the winners--don't win. :( It might not be like that any longer, but that really ruined it for me. And then the problem with some medalist winners being caught doping themselves to win? So here you've been really just amazed about the speed of some new guy in water events, or something else, and really pulling for this super hero, and you find he's been using drugs for that speed? Then later, he's stripped of all his medals, but it's too late. He already had all the glory when someone else should have been the winner. *sigh*

    But I believe that shooting for the gold in our own lives, and I always taught that to me daughter and son when I was raising them that they could do whatever they put their minds to and become a success, is truly a worthy goal. :)

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    1. Your comment makes me remember a figure skating world championship I went to years ago where the teams were ranked when they began the skate and not one moved a single slot based on performance. They have revised the scoring since then to try to be more fair, but I see now that there is some disagreement on how the women's skate was judged last night so the controversy continues.

      All that said, it is still amazing to watch. Sounds like you are definitely raising your kids right!

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  2. I'm with Terry on the events requiring subjective judging. It's better if the competitors race against a clock or each other. Then you know for certain who won.

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    1. I agree - the time clock is a fair and unbiased judge. And yet I still do enjoy figure skating!

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  3. Reading! I haven't been watching, and I've been trying to keep my daughter from seeing the ice skating. The last time we saw it, she wanted to take lessons. We did, and I don't want to repeat!

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    1. I wish I had more time for reading too! My daughter wanted to be a figure skater too - until she actually put on skates and went out onto the ice. That was the end of that!

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  4. My husband and I have always enjoyed watching all the events on the Olympics. Sadly, there is always controversy. It just happened on the ice skating last night. One of the judges had been suspended for a year for fixing a competition before and one judge is married to the head of the Russian ice skating federation. So I agree that the events that are timed are so much more fair. But I still enjoy watching it lol.

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    1. I have been reading about some of the controversy. It wouldn't be ice skating if there wasn't a good controversy. It can be disheartening, but I was very impressed by the level of skating. I love it when athletes perform their best. In some ways skating is like writing, it's very subjective.

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  5. Hi Amanda, As I type this my husband has the USA/Canada men's hockey game on in the background (on mute of course so he can work). I love watching the downhill skiing events like the Super G. I swoosh with the skiers on my sofa. But, the one athletic even that intrigues me is cross country skiing. I'd like to try that.

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    1. Cross country skiing is probably the only sport I could do without killing myself. I do enjoy skiing, just MUCH slower than anything in the Olympics!

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