An Olympic Review

While I'm typing this the Closing Ceremony is on tv and I'm a little sad (even though what I'm seeing is a little bizarre....octopus dj??).  We have spent a lot of time watching them this year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's always fascinating to watch the world's greatest of the great compete - whether to see those live up to the hype that's followed them to the games or to see the unexpected unfold.  Here are some of our favorite moments from the London Olympics:

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It was not a light moment when Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings won their third Olympic Gold Medal this year.  They nearly got away with total beach volleyball dominance.  They won every match they played, loosing just 1 set out of a total 43! So it goes without saying (but I'm gonna say it anyway) that these two ladies are awesome. To run around that much in the sand and still knock out all the competition... yep, they are awesome.

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This is not the photo I wanted to share as my favorite moment from the USA Women's Gymnastics Team Final win.  I searched and searched for Aly Raisman's expression as she made her last landing on her floor routine - the final round of the night.  As soon as her toes hit the mat she knew she had put forth her best performance and locked in the USA for the gold.  Before she made her final pose she was already overcome with emotion.  I just loved that moment.  They are all so focused (and nervous) during this event because the team's score hangs by each movement of every member of the team.  You could just feel her joy and relief in that moment I wanted to share with you (remind you of), but apparently no one in the world snapped a photo at that very moment. Nonetheless, they brought home the gold!

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If you saw this man (Oscar Pistorius) run, you already know he touched the hearts of many people this year. His story was so inspiring.  In case you didn't know, he is the first double-leg amputee to compete in the Olympics.  Through the years as he trained and competed in other races his prosthetics caused controversy as some believed they gave him an advantage.  He went through rigorous testing to prove otherwise, not just for himself, but to help open the field for other amputees to have a part in these races.  My favorite part of his story was this quote from his mother when he was a child:

"She said, 'Carl, you put on your shoes and Oscar you put on your prosthetics, and that's the last I want to hear about it.' I didn't grow up thinking I had a disability. I grew up thinking I had different shoes.''

Obviously this has a lot to do in forming his belief within himself that he had no limitations on what he could do, even if he had no legs.  And he proved that to the world this year!

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This moment was not one of the greatest to happen during the Olympics, but it did.  During the men's BMX race the guy in 2nd place ran into the guy in 3rd place, which caused a huge crash - literally everyone behind them went down!  The guy in first place had no idea this had happened until he looked back after he had made it a bit further down the track.  Horrible crash, funny story.

This was only a few of the many incredible moments throughout this year's games.  Now we are ready for the Winter Olympics!