Olympic Inspirers

While everyone is going ga-ga about Olympic achievers Micheal Phelps, Usian Bolt, Nastia Lukin or Shawn Johnson, personally there are few that have captured my heart, even though they might have not won any medals or broken world records.

Alicia Sacramone:



Gymnast Alicia Sacramone faltered on the balance beam before she even started her routine. You could hear the audience's shock and the commentator saying what a disaster this was for US gymnastic team. Alicia herself realized at the moment she lost balance that she stripped her team of any Gold medal dreams. However, she went on to completing the rest of her routine perfectly. Many people in her position would have given up, because after years of working for something so dear to you, losing it because of bad luck feels really awful. In her interview later she said that it was rare for her to have lost balance like that. But it happened and she moved on. What I liked about her was that she had the courage, determination and sportsmanship to continue and do what she needed to do. She accepted responsibility for her mistakes even though according to experts even if Alicia had given a perfect routine, they would be still lagging behind China has they performed routines with more difficulty. I really feel that she was unfairly scored in the vault competition which she competed for later and lost the chance of winning the bronze, but I knew this girl will get through it. :-)

Milorad Cavic (the guy who "almost" won Phelps)

Cavic would have changed history by defeating the world's greatest swimming champ. But he apparently came second place to Phelps by 1/100th of a second. This just seems like bad luck or plain unfairness. Even when one watches the clip by clip images of Phelps and Cavic, it is not crystal clear that Phelps finished the race earlier. However I am really impressed with how Cavic has taken this in his stride and moved on. Read his interview here. I guess thats life. It may not be fair, you might not get what you worked for. You might have played all the cards right and still might have not reaped its benefits. What can one do in these circumstances? I guess we have to just move on and as hard and difficult it might seem, we just need to maintain a positive attitude that our day will come.

Lolo Jones



I saw sprinter Lolo Jones do very well in the heats and in the semi-finals. I was shocked to see that she came 5th place in the finals. Unfortunately it was not her day. She was leading the race until she hit the 8th hurdle and lost her speed. According to her this rarely happens and happened during the most important day of her life. Jones had faced several difficulties in life and she managed to come this far, just because of her sheer determination and her love for the sport. It is really a very inspiring story. Read more here. Really an example of what life can throw at you in the most unexpected time and fashion. Like Jones says, what can you do in these circumstances other than to try again? Well easy to say, but really very difficult to follow. Time is the healer of all wounds.

I am sure there are many, many more Olympic heroes like these people who have captured our hearts in displaying mental strength in the face of adverse circumstances. Apart from sports there are many people in life who have shown greatness in spirit despite difficulties. My three cheers to them. I did read that you need not be a medal winner to be an Olympic champion. So true!