2016 Rio Olympics: Just because ...

Fireworks exploded during the Closing Ceremonies
for the Summer Olympic Games at Maracanã Stadium
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday night.

Every four years I fall in love with the Summer Olympic Games.

Just because.

It goes beyond just the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

NPR sports commentator Frank Deford once observed that the Olympics are "like an independent movie with foreign actors you've never heard of." Further, he said, it's quite all right if we "cheer for people you've never heard of in a sport you don't care about just because."

David Rudisha of Kenya won the men's 800-meter run.

During the Rio fortnight that just concluded Sunday night, in addition to rooting for American athletes like the swimmer Michael Phelps and Simone Biles, and for the American teams in basketball and volleyball to win and do well, I found myself:

• Urging on Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, such as David Rudisha and Almaz Ayana, who moved so gracefully about the track, excelling in the middle and long distances. Rudisha became the first male runner to successful defend his 800-meter gold since 1964 while Ayana shattered the women's 10,000-meter world record by 14 seconds.

Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands
displays her gymnastics gold medal.

• Cheering on a Dutch gymnast, Sanne Wevers, from the Netherlands, who steadied herself on the four-inch-wide balance beam and flawlessly performed a gold-medal routine. In doing so, she became the first Dutch gymnast to earn an individual medal of any color.

• Applauding a South African sprinter, Wayde van Niekerk, who broke a 17-year-old world record in winning the 400-meter run, then seeing the priceless joy expressed by his coach, a white-haired, 74-year-old grandmother named Ans Botha, who sat in the stands with van Niekerk's mother, watching over her pupil with admiration, confidence and enthusiasm.

• Smiling for the charismatic host Brazilian men's and women's football teams, with their iconic one-named stars like Neymar Jr. and Marta, as they provided their country with many thrills, none bigger than Neymar's decisive penalty kick that clinched the gold medal for Brazil over Germany.

• And, I think everyone around the world cheered for Jamaica's Usain Bolt as he once again ran faster than anyone in the world in collecting three gold medals in athletics for the third consecutive Olympics.

Malek Jaziri of Tunisia competed in the
Olympic Tennis Event.

Also, thanks to having a lot of Facebook friends from Tunisia, I rooted for their country's athletes like Malek Jaziri (tennis), Habiba Ghribi (athletics), Ines Boubakri (fencing) and Oussama Mellouli (indoor and outdoor swimming) to do well. This proud North African nation collected three bronze medals, earned in fencing, taekwondo and wrestling.

Closer to home, I thrilled in cheering for the United States on the basketball court, in the swimming pool, in the gymnastics arena and on the Olympic Stadium running track throughout the past two weeks. I ached for Kerri Walsh-Jennings, whose quest for a fourth consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball was dashed by Brazil, but delighted in seeing her and teammate April Ross rebound the next night to win a bronze medal. They were elated and so was I. The same goes for the U.S. women's indoor volleyball team, arguably the best women's volleyball team in the world. After going through pool play undefeated and winning their quarterfinal-round match, they stumbled against Serbia in the semifinals. Their gold-medal hopes were broken, but the Americans regrouped nicely to win the bronze medal with a satisfying four-set win over the Netherlands – and they were beaming with their bronze medals around their necks on the awards platform. Sometimes, medals can be color-blind. It's the thrill of achievement, sometimes under adversity, that we'll remember years from now.

Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the first American woman
of Muslim faith to compete wearing a hijab.

The late American poet Maya Angelou, who wrote about diversity and inclusion throughout her distinguished lifetime, once observed: "We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."

Swimmer Simone Manuel became the first African-American
woman to win an individual swimming gold medal.

I was so very proud to see the swimmer Simone Manuel break a color barrier in becoming the first African-American woman to win an individual swimming gold medal, when she tied for first with Canada's Penny Oleksiak in the 100-meter freestyle, setting an Olympic record along the way.

Afterward, Manual said the gold medal wasn't just for her. "It was for people that came before me and inspired me to stay in the sport. For people who believe that they can't do it, I hope I'm an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. You might be pretty good at it."

I was just as proud of American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad for being the first American woman of Muslim faith to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics. There were many other first set during the Rio Games – most of them positive – and I applaud those nations who won gold medals for the first time, including: Singapore (swimming), Vietnam (air pistol), Kosovo (judo), Fiji (rugby sevens) and Puerto Rico (tennis).

The Parade of flags during Sunday's closing ceremonies.

Throughout this Olympic fortnight, the host nation Brazil displayed for the world to see why they are a sports-loving country.

I found myself rooting for athletes from around the world I had never heard of in sports that rarely receive any mention in my country like team handball, judo, and weightlifting.

Just because ... just because I cared enough to want to. And it was fun.


Photos: A variety of sources was used for the photographs included in this blog post.

These Olympics have been stunning, full of emotion, digital, even conversational, too!

For the love of sport / Winning an Olympic gold medal
is what every athlete strives to achieve.

The late, great Czech long-distance runner Emil Zátopek, who won three gold medals in the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympic Games, once offered some astute advice to would-be Olympians: "If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

In the Helsinki Games, Zátopek won the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon. Zátopek's final medal (he also won a gold and a silver medal in the 1948 London Games) came when he decided at the last minute to compete in his very first marathon. He broke the existing Olympic record in winning each of the three events.

Zátopek's strategy for the marathon was simple, wrote Simon Burnton in the London Guardian newspaper: "He raced alongside Jim Peters, the British world-record holder. After a punishing first 15 kilometers in which Peters knew he had overtaxed himself, Zátopek asked the Englishman what he thought of the race thus far. The astonished Peters told the Czech that the pace was 'too slow', in an attempt to slip up Zátopek, at which point Zátopek simply accelerated. Peters never finished; Zátopek ran an Olymic record race."

Zátopek's triple gold medal hat trick from 60 years ago was merely ranked No. 41 among 50 stunning Olympic moments by the Guardian earlier this year.

Usain Bolt / World's Fastest Human ~ again.

During the first 11 days of this year's London Summer Games, there's been many stunning and memorable moments involving the world's most outstanding athletes: Think American swimmer Michael Phelps, who broke a 48-year-old Olympic record for most total medals. We've been witness to supreme excellence and raw emotions: Think Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who claimed the title of world's fastest human for the second consecutive Summer Olympics, then put on a theatrical performance in celebrating his victory that would be the envy of West End theatre. And, certainly, there's been much for host nation Great Britain to be jolly about, too: Think Andy Murray winning the men's singles gold on the famed Wimbledon grass tennis courts.

In a perfect world, NBC, my country's Olympics television broadcaster, would show all of the marquee events like swimming, gymnastics and track and field ~ called athletics throughout much of the rest of the world ~ live, coast-to-coast in all time zones. Instead, NBC monopolizes these events for dramatic, prime-time viewing, packaged on tape, and shown hours after they took place. Often, many big events, like the men's 100 meter dash, aired here in the U.S. after 11 p.m., much too late for many to stay up to watch.

Michael Phelps / The greatest Olympian of them all.

Instead, I've found a reliable internet connection for the BBC, and last week, I delighted in watching all of the swimming finals live during the middle of the day on my MacBook Pro laptop. In doing so, I gained a different perspective about American Olympians like Phelps and Missy Franklin, who reigned in the pool, and the 16-year-old American gymnast Gabby Douglas, who won the all-around gold medal after she helped the U.S. win the team gold medal.

In addition, I came to learn the personal stories of many wonderful and charismatic British athletes competing for Team GB, like Jessica Ennis (gold medal winner in the heptathlon), Mo Farah (gold medal winner in the men's 10,000 meters) and Sir Chris Hoy, who Tuesday night became the most decorated British Olympian when he won his sixth gold medal in track cycling. Their fetes were brilliantly described by a hardy group of BBC presenters, correspondents and commentators. I found myself rooting for Team GB from across the pond, wanting to see these likable athletes do well and win gold.

American gymnast Gabby Douglas
won the individual all-around title.

Also, I've relied on reading the wonderful and descriptive stories, and thrilled to the dramatic and colorful photography and detailed graphics each day in my home-delivered copy of the New York Times print edition and on their website, too.

Sometimes, it still takes an old-fashioned newspaper to be able to put something as huge as the Summer Olympics into proper perspective.

For many, including myself, these have been a digital and "conversational" Olympics, too. Through Facebook, Twitter, texting and other social media, eager fans across the world have been able to engage in conversation ~ at times as the events are unfolding ~ with like-minded Olympic fans. In the past week, I've discussed LeBron James and the U.S. "dream team" with a basketball fan in Tunisia, and cheered for Phelps and Franklin with swimming fans in Germany and Hungary. Plus, I shared in the raw emotions of last Friday's 19-17 third-set tennis thriller between Roger Federer of Switzerland and Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina on Wimbledon's Centre Court with fans of both players, stretching from Canada to Scotland and from Morocco to Serbia, too.

While there's been many moments to digest and delight in during this London fortnight, there is one that's worth remembering for all the right reasons. It involved the sprinter Kirani James, who won the first medal for the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada. Before Monday night, Grenada, which only gained its independence in 1974, had never had an Olympic medalist in any event. Now, it has a gold medalist in the talented 19-year-old James. It was special to see him receive his gold medal tonight and to hear his country's national anthem played before an electrifying-but-appreciative Olympic Stadium crowd. The BBC's television images captured the moment nicely for the all world to see, and James could be seen throughout the anthem singing the words to "Hail Grenada" with much emotion showing in his young face. It left me wondering if this magic Olympic moment will get left on the NBC editing floor?

Olympic spirit and flame / Colorful javelins are ready for
competition in front of the cauldron at Olympic Stadium.

Indeed, each day has brought us golden moments that will live on in our collective memory and, importantly, the Olympics have helped foster an appreciation for healthy competition among the world's elite athletes.

Which brings us full circle to Emil Zátopek for a dash of Olympics perspective. He observed: "Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater."

Photo of Olympic gold medal courtesy of Getty Images, 2012.
Photos of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps courtesy of the Guardian.co.uk, 2012.
Photo of Gabby Douglas courtesy of nytimes.com, 2012
Photo of Olympic cauldron courtesy of Reuters, 2012.

These Olympic Games have been about breaking down barriers and having fun, too

The 2012 London Summer Games are less than a week old. Already, these Olympic Games have been all about host Britain being confidently eccentric, at times quirky, but always putting on a good show.

From the pristine grass tennis courts of Wimbledon to the party-like atmosphere of beach volleyball, played in the middle of the Horse Guards Parade, to the road cycling races buzzing the Mall while taking a quick right at Buckingham Palace, the sights and sounds throughout London have been unabashed and brilliantly British.

After all, a nation that's given us William Shakespeare, Sir Isaac Newton, Jane Austen, Sir Winston Churchill, the Beatles, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter and the House of Windsor, is definitely a nation secure in its own identity. And, who else but filmmaker Danny Boyle of "Slumdog Millionaire" fame could convince Queen Elizabeth that jumping out of a helicopter with James Bond during last Friday's opening ceremonies would be a good career move for her? 

Who even knew the Queen even had a sense of humour?

Undoubtedly, the London Summer Games have been colorful. Lots of Union Jacks, Stella McCartney-inspired fashion and painted faces all about town have made for good visuals on TV and the Internet. Thank goodness, I've found a reliable Internet link to watch the BBC's refreshingly enjoyable coverage that is far less pretentious and glitzy than NBC's here in the U.S.

Just as importantly, the London Summer Games have been about breaking down barriers. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. women's football (soccer) team defeated North Korea 1-0 in the first women's international match played in the 102-year history of Old Trafford, the home of famed Manchester United of the English Premier League.

"It's not every decade," said U.S. player Megan Rapinoe, when asked by a New York Times reporter if she was impressed by the aura of playing at Old Trafford, the so-called "Theater of Dreams."

Talk about your gender bias.

As Olympic and Old Trafford historians met and compared notes, it seemed that the only other women's match believed to have been played at Old Trafford was a 1989 Women's F.A. Cup final between Friends of Fulham FC and Leasowe Pacific, which Leasowe won 3-2 in front of a paltry crowd of 916.

Big Ben / The Games of the XXX Olympiad from London.

NPR sports commentator Frank Deford recently observed that the Olympics are "like an independent movie with foreign actors you've never heard of." Further, he said, it's quite alright if we "cheer for people you've never heard of in a sport you don't care about just because."

While I've been riveted to the first-week excitement in the swimming pool, I've also been fascinated by sampling a bit of the action in archery, badminton, fencing and table tennis, too. These aren't exactly household sports with recognizable athletes in America. And, the competitions in these sports have been airing at odd hours of the day and night. Yet, it's been fun to watch, too.

Meanwhile, the London Summer Games have been filled with wonderful, weepy moments and dreams come true. And, it's only the first week.

At the Olympic pool Monday night, Ruta Meilutyte, a 15-year-old from Lithuania, won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1 minute, 05.47 seconds. It was her country's first Olympic swimming medal. Imagine what this must mean for Meilutyte and for her country, too.  "I can't believe it," said Meilutyte, excitedly, in a poolside interview with the BBC moments after beating an impressive field. 

Michael Phelps / The greatest Olympian of them all.

Tonight, American swimmer Michael Phelps anchored a U.S. victory in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle and, thus, won his 15th gold and 19th overall medal to break the Olympic record for most career medals set 48 years ago by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina. The crowd was electrified by this unbelievably spectacular and historic night in the swimming pool. Phelps had become the greatest Olympian of them all.

Aside from cheering for Phelps, among the most emotional of highlights in the first week of the Olympics for me happened during the opening ceremonies. It was the performance of the hymn "Abide With Me" as sung by the Scottish singer Emelie Sandé. She appeared shortly after a moving sequence during which a memorial wall on the stadium screens showed images of spectators' loved ones who had passed away. It was worth a good cry.

The hymn, "Abide With Me" is a prayer for God to remain present with the speaker throughout life, through trials, and through death. Since the 1927 F.A. Cup final between Arsenal and Cardiff City, the first and last verses of the hymn have been traditionally sung at the F.A. Cup final before the kick off of the match. It was awe inspiring.

As a nation, Britain has always excelled at celebrating its past: from its military victories to its monarchies, from its intellectual achievement to its culture. For this fortnight, the BBC commentators are sparing no adjectives. Everything is: amazing, beautiful, charming, dashing, elegant, fabulous, and so on. Boosterish? Maybe, but it's that lovely British accent that puts a delightful spin on everything. And, that's cool by me. 

Yes, these Olympic Games, the world's greatest five-ring sports spectacular, have been absolutely fabulous.  And, it's only the first week.

Michael Phelps photograph courtesy of the Guardian.co.uk.