Why I, Susan Reese, Love the Olympics

For anyone that really knows me, this statement can’t come as a surprise.  I have loved the Olympics since as long as I can remember.  The first time I remember watching it was when I was 10 and it was held in Atlanta Georgia.  I remember my mom exclaiming that Muhammad Ali was lighting the torch and having no clue who that was.  But my most vivid memory from those games was the night that Kerri Strug did the second vault even after she injured her ankle during her first, and won the United States its first ever team gold medal.  It may be super lame, but that moment made quite an impression on me.  Honestly, I still watch that video and tear up.  I flag this story and will refer back to it later.

When it was announced that Salt Lake was hosting the Olympics in 2002, I was downtown with the rest of the city watching a jumbo-tron.  Some guy with an accent announced that we were awarded the Olympics and everyone went bezerk.   Balloons were up in the air, hugs were shared, it was quite a moment.  I remember thinking how fun it would be to volunteer since I would be 16 years old (never did that, fyi).  A million years later after all the construction, the games were here and it was definitely one of the coolest things.  I went to the village with my parents one night and we went through the metal detectors with some Eastern European athletes.  It hit me that the eye of the entire world was focused on our little city.

The next games were held right as I started college and my new roommate and I tried to bond watching swimming on the basement TV of Deseret Towers.  Four years later I threw an Opening Ceremonies party during the very time I was graduating from college.  It was a perfect sandwich to my ungrad education. 

The past three games (Turin, Beijing, Vancouver) I have watched almost every single minute.  I watched the Today show recap in the morning, I would watch the minute I got home from school, I would eat during the small break on TV, then do homework with it on in the background.  I don’t have cable, so I don’t watch the more obscure sports, but I will honestly watch anything.  The bobsled was a pleasant surprise this last Olympics.

The main point of this already long post is to try and pin down why and what exactly causes such excitement in me.  I think it is three-fold. 

1)      I love that this has been going one since ancient Rome (kind of).  We have these ceremonies and pledges that have been done since the beginning.  It is kind of cool that we still do these rituals and seeing how every country does them a little differently.

2)      The fact that our country, nay the whole world, comes together for 2 weeks.  Our country doesn’t really do football or the World Cup in the same way other countries do, so we don’t have a unifying sport that we come together and cheer for against other countries.  Everyone is so pro-America in our great nation during that time, it’s awesome!  And, generally speaking, how respectful everyone is to the host nation, and others during that time.  I love unity.

3)      And finally, I just love that Olympic Spirit and those moments that you will remember forever.  Like Kerri Strug.  Honestly, when else would someone run super fast, flip over a piece of wood, landing hard on your feet on an already sprained ankle?  She did it for her team and country! 

Or what about watching Michael Phelps win all 8 gold medals in 2008?  Especially the one where he won by like 1/10 of a second?  Or the relay one where his teammate totally lapped the Australian on the fourth lap?  I mean seriously, what is more exciting? 

Last games we watched Shaun White do the most gravity defying trick on a flimsy piece of plastic having already won the gold medal!  (Too see the actual NBC footage, click HERE, it's awesome!!)

If you want to get pumped, just watch those Visa commercials narrated by Morgan Freeman (the one on the top is the best).

Of course with the good comes the bad.  There are the times when countries refused to come, people were caught doping and got medals taken away, and obviously the scariest being the time that hostages were taken.  But I tend to overlook that and remember how amazing they are and how much I love watching them.

This year I will be hosting my Opening Ceremonies party, not sure where or who with, but I’ll do it even if I’m by myself!  And since I am a bit of an anglophile, this year is going to be the best ever in London!  Summer that is, Salt Lake in 2002 (and possible 2022?) dominates of course.  Let the countdown begin!