The Olympics still serve as inspiration

BY TRACY BELL
EDITOR OF THE STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
Published: August 13, 2008

To this day, the Olympics still serve to inspire young athletes and rally a nation.

Despite a horrifying tragedy in Beijing — the murder of an American tourist, which occurred as athletes prepared to compete in the Olympic games — the spirit of the Olympics is still in the air.

For a while over the years, it seemed that the Olympic spirit died down a bit, from past years.

Growing up I can remember watching Mary Lou Retton bound across the gymnasium floor at the 1984 Olympics, racking up gold medals everywhere you turned.

Her spirit was infectious and there was some type of excitement in the air surrounding the games.

Along the way, before Retton and after her, there have been other athletes that garnered such spirit, too. It’s that feeling of patriotism and belonging to something -— our country in this case —  that creates a sense of pride in us as spectators as we watch these athletes.

They inspire us to be better, and to strive for more. Albeit, maybe not for a gold medal -— some of us cannot, or do not want to — run, bike or swim any farther than the distance of our front driveways —  but the athletes inspire us to do something, or to find something in ourselves that makes us improve within.

A great example is Michael Phelps, the amazing record-breaking swimmer who has everyone excited to watch the Olympics. Now, he’s the greatest Olympian of all time.

The French team, which vowed to beat the Americans, noted: “The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for.”

They did not.

Asked about the comment, Phelps and his crew, poised after winning, nonchalantly replied: “Yeah, the Frenchies were talking some stuff.”

When one thought he couldn’t go any farther in swimming, Phelps did. OK, maybe many of us had an inkling he could do it. But, that extra push is inspiring to
not only adults, but to children as well. Hopefully, many of Stafford’s young children, athletes or not, are watching the Olympics these days.

Tracy Bell is managing editor of the Stafford County Sun. Reach her at .