Saturday, August 16, 2008
2008 Olympics
This morning I watched the recap of Michael Phelps' latest Olympic win. I won >dered why Mark Spitz wasn't commenting on it given that every other former Olympic winner seems to be there. Luckily, this online entry answered that question. Spitz was a champion when the height of commercialization was having your face and a medal put on a cereal box. And, I agree with his quote in this entry that it wouldn't make sense for him to be there unless he was invited.
I've been watching the progress of Michael Phelps and am happy to see him doing so well. I had read earlier accounts about how he made the decision as a child not to suffer the negative side effects of taking medication for ADHD and instead figured out how to focus his energies in other ways. The only sport I could successfully compete in as a child was swimming so that is the Olympic sport that has always attracted most of my attention. And, the timing of the summer Olympics also played a role since they usually started just as our summer competitive swimming season ended.
The exception to the above was watching the 1976 performance of Nadia Comaneci and her scoring the first perfect 10 in gymnastics. The timing is also probably a factor here given that I was an impressionable not quite teenager at the time.
As I was writing this, I couldn't think of the name of the Olympic swimmer I remembered watching about that same time. Luckily, Google came to the rescue.
I've been watching the progress of Michael Phelps and am happy to see him doing so well. I had read earlier accounts about how he made the decision as a child not to suffer the negative side effects of taking medication for ADHD and instead figured out how to focus his energies in other ways. The only sport I could successfully compete in as a child was swimming so that is the Olympic sport that has always attracted most of my attention. And, the timing of the summer Olympics also played a role since they usually started just as our summer competitive swimming season ended.
The exception to the above was watching the 1976 performance of Nadia Comaneci and her scoring the first perfect 10 in gymnastics. The timing is also probably a factor here given that I was an impressionable not quite teenager at the time.
As I was writing this, I couldn't think of the name of the Olympic swimmer I remembered watching about that same time. Luckily, Google came to the rescue.
Labels: Comaneci, Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, Nadia, Olympics, Phelps, Spitz, Tracy Caulkins
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