I Love the Olympics

I get so excited for the Olympics every year, and 2014 is no different.

I love the opening ceremonies and seeing how the host country chooses to present themselves.  Vancouver 2010 remains one of my favorite opening ceremonies just because of the variety of elements I didn’t know about previously.  London, of course, was fabulous, but Sochi made me want to learn more.

Not that I’m saying I love Russia more than the United Kingdom.  But let’s be honest – I know more about the UK than I do about Russia.  Most of what I know about Russia isn’t all that great either.  But from the start, I wanted to learn more.  I was so excited to see that Wikipedia has a page on the opening ceremony and tries to explain some of the elements.  Most notably, what all the letters in the alphabet from the movie in the very beginning represented.

Sure, it glossed over history.  But come on, no country is going to highlight their darkest days in an Olympic Opening Ceremony.

And then, once the games start, I find myself sucked into sports that I know nothing about.  Doesn’t matter what sport, doesn’t matter who is competing.  I get absolutely roped in.  And there are always “characters” who make themselves known, from Johnny Quinn busting through a door to Gus Kenworthy adopting a bunch of stray puppies.

This year has been especially entertaining with so many athletes on Twitter and Instagram throughout the games.   TwitterSports has created a list of the US athletes you can follow.  Sorry, Canada.  Though I love you, during the Olympics, I must cheer for Team USA.  However, you are a close second in my heart.

I just get so excited when watching the competitions.  The other day, I got sucked into the Russia/Slovakia hockey game.  (It was on before ice dancing and I was on the treadmill.)  I still don’t know who I was cheering for, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the game.  And I didn’t really care about the outcome.

I do wish the Paralympics got the coverage here in the US that they seem to get in other countries.  We have some pretty cool Paralympians competing this year, including Tatayna McFadden, a Maryland local, who recently won the women’s wheelchair division in the London, Boston, Chicago, and NYC marathons.  Wait, what?  That’s right.  Track and Field wasn’t enough for her, so she’s competing in Sochi in Nordic Skiing.  Talk about no limitations.

And there are so many other great stories out there.  I’m excited to see what the next week of the Olympics and then the upcoming Paralympics has to share.

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