My Olympics Highlights - Stories That Made The Rio Games Olympic

As a sports fan, I look forward to Olympic years. I prefer the summer games but will also watch countless hours of the winter events.

This year, I was in sports fan heaven the last couple of weeks during the 2016 Summer Olympics. My DVR was perpetually at 100% capacity as I recorded as many of the events as possible after searching through all the offerings by the NBC affiliated networks. I watched the prime time telecasts every night and the recorded events as time permitted. I still have many recordings to watch, so I'll be able to savor the Games for a few more days.

As the Rio Games have come and gone, I thought I'd take a break from politics, chat about the Olympics in general, and the Rio Olympics in particular. It would be impossible to put all my thoughts into one post so I'm going to break it up into several posts. Today, I'll reflect on my favorite Olympic moments.

Baron de Coubertin

The Olympic spirit always surfaces during the Games in various ways. Baron de Coubertin,  founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and father of the modern Olympics, put it best when he was asked to define the Olympic spirit. Just before he passed away, he said, “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”

Acts of selflessness and sportsmanship are not uncommon during the Games and these moments are particularly significant to me. During the 1988 Games in Seoul, I remember reading about a Canadian sailor who had the silver medal locked up during his race. Some unexpected gusts of winds came up and caused several boats to capsize. Two of his fellow competitors ended up in the water, injured. Believing that they were in danger of drowning, the Canadian jumped into the water and helped rescue them, sacrificing his spot on the podium while truly exemplifying the Olympic spirit.

Jesse Owens on his way to winning four gold medals in Berlin

There are many other memorable Olympic stories that I've come to know. They include Jesse Owens winning four gold medals at the 1936 Games in Berlin as Adolf Hitler and his supposed "master race" were shown that they weren't all that and a bag of chips after all. The Allied forces taught them that lesson again a few years later.

A barefoot Abebe Bikila

The men's marathon during the 1960 Rome Olympics must have been a sight to see as Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won the race in bare feet. Bikila was a last minute replacement on the Ethiopian team when another runner came down with an illness just before the team departed Ethiopia for Rome. He did not own a pair of running shoes so he left Ethiopia without any shoes in which to compete. Ethiopian officials simply assumed he could get fitted for shoes upon arriving in Rome. After their arrival, they discovered that Adidas, the shoe sponsor for the Olympics that year, did not have a pair of shoes in stock that fit Bikila. As the start of the race drew near, Bikila decided to run barefoot, which was the way he had trained for the race. He not only won, he set a new World Record of 2:15:16.2

Derek Redmond and his father

More recently, in the 1992 Barcelona Games. Derek Redmond of Great Britain was running in a 400 meter semi-final race and tore a hamstring as he was racing down the back straightaway. He grabbed the back of his leg, slowed, and began limping. Despite being in agony, he was determined to finish the race. With every step he took, he winced and screamed, but he continued on as he hopped, limped, and tried to complete the remaining 200 meters. After a few meters, it was obvious he would not be able to do it.

As he made his way around the turn, out of nowhere, Redmond's father appeared on the track. He had been watching his son run from the stands and realized what had happened. Jumping from the stands onto the track, he ran after his son and after reaching him he draped his son's arms around his shoulders. The duo slowly walked to the finish line arm in arm as Olympic officials made several attempts to take Redmond's father off the track. Mr. Redmond would have none of that. He waved them off anytime they got near him. The officials finally gave up, father and son crossed the finish line, and hugged.

Eddie the Eagle Edwards

Then there was Eddie the Eagle, the gold rimmed bespectacled British ski jumper who finished dead last in both the 70 and 90 meter ski jumping competitions at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. His jumps weren't anywhere near those of the next-to-last competitor.

But Eddie didn't give a hoot. He was the first ski jumper to represent Great Britain since 1929 in ski jumping and he lived the Olympic dream. Along with the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team, Eddie Edwards became the epitome of the Olympic spirit.

The Jamaican bobsled team in Calgary

During the closing ceremonies, the President of the Olympic Organizing Committee paid honor to Eddie's spirit by telling the athletes, "You have broken world records and you have established personal bests. Some of you have even soared like an eagle."

So as this year's Summer Games approached, I anxiously awaited being able to spend every night glued to the TV. Aside from the normal fare of swimming, track, and gymnastics, I would have a chance to watch the best of the best competing in sports like wrestling, judo, fencing, tae kwon do, rowing, weightlifting, badminton, and water polo. And I wasn't disappointed. Not only as far as the athletic competitions, but also in the form of heart warming stories.

There were highlights galore. There were also some low lights. Here are my picks for the highlights of the Rio Games.

The Most Decorated Olympic Athlete Piles Up More Medals

Mr. Phelps

What can you say about Michael Phelps? One of his fellow competitors has called him an extraterrestrial. I'm just glad I have had the good fortune to watch him compete in three Olympic Games and prove over and over again that he is the best Olympic athlete ever. Twenty eight Olympic medals, twenty three of them gold. Holy Moly.

The cliche is that records are meant to be broken. I doubt that anyone will ever break Phelps' record, not in my lifetime and not ever. Except maybe by...

Katie Ledecky. Exemplifying Greatness With Class

The "First Lasy of Freestyle", Katie Ledecky

She's nineteen years old and she's never been beaten. Everyone, including the best of the best in their respective sport, loses sometime - Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, and yes, Michael Phelps. Not Katie. She has now competed in twelve individual finals at the World Championships or Olympic meets and has never lost. 

Not only does she not lose, when she swims she leaves the rest of the field in the dust. In the Finals of the Rio women's 800 meter race she was almost an entire pool length ahead of her nearest competitor.  

She owns the world record in the 400 meter, 800 meter, and the 1,500 meter freestyle among the thirteen world records she has set along the way. And she racked up four golds in Rio plus a silver to add to the gold medal she won as a 15-year-old in London four years ago.

Did I mention she's only nineteen? That means she'll be 24 when the Tokyo Games roll around and will be a heavy favorite to pick up another haul of medals. Barring injury or lack of desire that would keep her out of the 2024 Games, she could easily end up with more gold medals than any other woman athlete ever. Gymnast Latisa Latynina holds the current record with nine gold and 18 overall medals. Katie could conceivably surpass her in total medals if she decided to do so.

Even if Ledecky never swims again, her performance in Rio was nothing short of spectacular.

Love Was In The Air

China's Qin Kai proposes to He Zi

Marriage proposals were everywhere during the Rio Games. Qin Kai, a Chinese diver who won a bronze medal, waited until his sweetie He Zi (also a diver) won a silver medal. As she stepped off the podium, he was there to propose. She said yes.

Dean Wyatt wearing his "Can We Get Married Now" shirt

United States triple jumper Will Claye won a silver medal and as soon as he received his medal he ran from the podium into the stands and proposed to his girlfriend, American hurdler Queen Harrison. She also said yes.

Not to be outdone, while British equestrian rider Charlotte Dujardin was competing in her individual dressage event, her fiance' Dean Wyatt was seen in the stands wearing a sign on his chest that read, ”Can We Get Married Now?” Charlotte won the gold medal and confirmed that the two plan to tie the knot.

Ethiopia's Etenesh Diro Qualifies For the Finals In The 3,000 Meter Steeplechase While Wearing One Shoe

Etenesh Diro

It was not your typical race for Ethiopia's Etenesh Diro. Midway through her preliminary heat in the Women's 3,000 meter steeplechase, as she led the first few laps, she was involved in some jostling with other runners and one of them clipped the heel of her right shoe. The shoe came partially off and she was forced to stop, kneel, and try to put it back on. Much as she tried, it was so badly damaged that it would not stay on.

Channeling her inner Abebe Bikila, Diro ripped the torn  shoe and sock off her right foot and finished the remainder of the race (some three laps) with a shoeless, sock less, bare right foot.

Dire managed to pass several runners in a valiant effort to make up time but finished seventh, out of the hunt to qualify for the Finals.

After the race, Dire collapsed to the track and thought her Olympics were over. However, officials from two other countries, representing the two women who fell when Dire went down with her damaged shoe, joined Ethiopia in protesting the results. All three women were advanced to the Finals. Dire ended with a 14th place finish.

Mo Farah - He's Fallen But He Got Back Up. And Won.

Mo

Great Britain's Mo Farah was cruising during the Finals of the 10,000 meter race, at one point even waving to his family in the stands as he came around a turn. But then the runners in front of him unexpectedly bunched up and we next saw Farah tumble to the track.

That did not rattle the three time Olympic medalist. He got back up, chased down the leaders, and sprinted to the finish to win back to back Olympic Gold medals in successive Games. To top it all off, he followed that performance with a win in the 5,000 Meter race to double up on Gold medals in Rio just as he did four years earlier in London.

The First Olympic Team Without A Country

The Refugee Team

Ten Olympic athletes were given the chance to compete in the Rio Olympics but were not representing their homelands. They were dubbed "The Refugee Team". These ten athletes had escaped war and conflict in their home countries but were not eligible to compete for their host countries. So, the IOC created the first ever "team" of individuals from various lands.

Yusra Mardini

While none of the team members won any medals, two Syrians made a splash, so to speak. Swimmer Rami Anis recorded a personal best in his freestyle event and Yusra Mardini won her preliminary heat in the 100 meter butterfly.

You may have heard about Mardini - she's the one who made it out of Syria to Turkey and then boarded a boat bound for Greece along with twenty others. A few minutes after leaving Turkey, the boat's engines died. Martini and her sister jumped in the water and swam behind the boat, pushing it towards Greece. Eventually, they made it to a small island safely with the other refugees aboard the boat.

The Refugee Team walked into the Olympic Stadium to a standing ovation at the opening ceremony under the Olympic Flag and to the sound of the Olympic Anthem.

Abby D'Agostino and Nikki Hamblin

Nikki Hamblin helps Abby D'Agostino to her feet after D'Agostino collapsed to the track

American 5,000 Meter runner Abby D'Agostino collided with New Zealander Nikki Hamblin halfway through their semifinal heat. Both of them tumbled to the track and D'agostino got up first. Her first instinct was to start running again and turned to do so when she noticed that Hamblin was still sprawled on the track. D'agostino turned around and helped Hamblin to her feet and urged Hamblin not to quit. As the pair turned to resume running, D'Agostino collapsed in pain with a much more serious injury than she originally realized. As she tried to run, she was unable to put any weight on one of her legs.

D'Agostino is taken off the track in a wheelchair at the end of the race

Eventually, the two resumed running together with D'agostino limping noticeable and grimacing in pain with every step she took. Hamblin ran ahead of D'Agostino and finished well ahead of but nowhere near having advanced to the Finals. When she got to the finish line, she waited for D'agostino and when D'Agostino arrived, the two hugged. D'agostino was taken off the track in a wheelchair. She learned afterwards that she had suffered a complete tear of the ACL, a torn meniscus, and an MCL strain. Amazingly, D'agostino ran almost a mile with those injuries before crossing the finish line

The IOC advanced both runners to he Finals but D'agostino was unable to start. She was, however, in the stands cheering Hamblin on - a woman she had never met before their run in the day before.

Brotherly Love

The Brownlee Bros

British siblings Alistair and Jonny Brownlee dominated the men's triathlon final and won the gold and silver medals with Alistair edging out his younger brother for the top spot on the podium. The two were neck and neck after the swimming and cycling portion of the event and ran together for most of the running leg of the event. Eventually, older brother Alistair surged ahead and finished a few seconds ahead of baby bro Jonny.

As he neared the finish line, Alistair turned and saw that Jonny would soon cross the line in second. Alistair finished the race and collapsed to the track, joined by his brother a few seconds later as they hugged just beyond the finish line.

There are many stories like the ones above, too many to share to keep this post from turning into a book. But I saved what I think was the best story for last, recorded for posterity in one seemingly innocuous image. To me it was ...

The Best Story Of The Games...

Politics give way to the Olympic spirit. The Koreas star a selfie

Korea has been a divided nation since 1945. Despite the natural bonds that people from the North share with the South, they rarely have an opportunity to meet let alone interact with each other. But during a training session at the Rio Games, two gymnasts did the unimaginable - they put political differences aside and took a selfie together.

South Korea's Lee Eun-Ju, appearing in her first Olympic Games, met North Korea's Hong Un Jong and posed for an iconic picture that will be remembered long after the two head home. Despite their two nations having been in a state of war for over seventy years, two girls showed us that no matter our differences, they can be set aside in the spirit of athletic competition.

You go, girls.