There's No Stopping Us Right Now

I actually cried in the Olympics today. Normally it takes a lot to make me cry. Funny thing though.... I cried twice. 

The first time was in the 200M Women's Breast Stroke. I used to swim this stroke, so it is close to my heart. I love it. Her name was Rebecca Soni. She got gold in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. No woman has ever been able to defend her title in this race, but I could tell she was going to be able to pull it off. The bleep went off for them to dive in to the water, and it was on. I do not know what made me cry. I was fine through the pure dedication and determination flowing through her during the race, the fact that she defended her title, or the fact that she broke the world record that she had set the day before with the time of 2:19:59 which had been her goal since childhood. I may have been screaming and white knuckling the remote, but I was not going to cry.Then, when she saw she had won and set a new record, she was so excited, as unbelief, happiness, and accomplishment rushed through her, she lost her put together look and showed the excitement of an Olympian. It was beautiful. Seeing her be so happy for all that she had done and worked for, I cried. It was only one tear that came streaming down my face, but it came no matter how hard I fought. 

Then came the women's individual gymnastics competition. I went in to this one not even having a favorite, but Gabby Douglas quickly won my vote. I loved watching her compete in each area. She was outstanding, and even with complete concentration, she smiled. When the time came for her to see if she won or not I was even nervous. She found out she won. She is the first African American girl to win gold in the women's all around gymnastics competition. She gave hope and inspired dreams for girls all over the world. A huge smile broke out. I was fine. I was ecstatic for this girl I had never seen before. Then the camera panned over to her mom. Her mom had burst into tears. I did too. 

 

The Olympics may be a time for us to be the ultimate in lazy and sit in front of the TV all day, but it brings a kind of excitement you cannot get anywhere else. Way to go U.S. teams! Way to represent and make all of us proud.