The Olympic Games

[causingchaos]

I just saw Macayla's silver medal pictures yesterday. Oh my goodness my first thought when I saw that was "wow what a little snit." I get that coming in second place is the first person to lose but holy wow. Kind of lost a lot of respect for her.

As someone with very unruly hair that does not take product well I didn't see any glaring issues with any of the hair that the gymnasts had. If I had to keep all my hair back like that I would be using about a million clips like Gabby did. Some people just have hair like that. Didn't affect the performance so I don't care.

[justCoz]

One of the gymnastics commentators said something like seeing good sportsmanship never gets old in response to watching Sam's reaction to the winner. His actual joy in the routines that put him further down the ranking was great to see. He loved seeing those fantastic routines and was genuinely happy for the medalists. It was great to watch this, especially in comparison to Macayla's response, and that one Russian girl who looked like she would cry at any minute and her gloating look when it went her way. It raises my opinion of Sam and lowers my opinion of the others.

Also Kirani James' great sportsmanship, the trading of his number card was very cool. I also was so impressed with him when he won. He celebrated for a few seconds and then turned around to shake all of his competitors hands, even to the point of seeking out those sitting on the ground a few feet away. Then he went on to celebrate some more and go over to the Grenadians watching him.

It's interesting how in each of those cases it raised my estimation of the athletes. One didn't get a medal, the other won gold but their classy behavior sets them apart in a good way.

I know getting silver or bronze is not winning but it is a medal and I wish some athletes would be more happy when they get one. I loved the American that took bronze in shot put. He was so thrilled to get a medal and so was his mom. He's been in the Olympics before and didn't get any medals so any color made them thrilled. Michael Phelps' medal count is enhanced by the others he got that aren't gold.

[Bearcata]

One of the gymnastics commentators said something like seeing good sportsmanship never gets old in response to watching Sam's reaction to the winner. His actual joy in the routines that put him further down the ranking was great to see. He loved seeing those fantastic routines and was genuinely happy for the medalists. It was great to watch this, especially in comparison to Macayla's response, and that one Russian girl who looked like she would cry at any minute and her gloating look when it went her way. It raises my opinion of Sam and lowers my opinion of the others.

Also Kirani James' great sportsmanship, the trading of his number card was very cool. I also was so impressed with him when he won. He celebrated for a few seconds and then turned around to shake all of his competitors hands, even to the point of seeking out those sitting on the ground a few feet away. Then he went on to celebrate some more and go over to the Grenadians watching him.

It's interesting how in each of those cases it raised my estimation of the athletes. One didn't get a medal, the other won gold but their classy behavior sets them apart in a good way.

I know getting silver or bronze is not winning but it is a medal and I wish some athletes would be more happy when they get one. I loved the American that took bronze in shot put. He was so thrilled to get a medal and so was his mom. He's been in the Olympics before and didn't get any medals so any color made them thrilled. Michael Phelps' medal count is enhanced by the others he got that aren't gold.

I really hate that attitude. If only winning gold counted than why the heck is everyone keeping track of the silver and bronze medal counts?

[Critical]

One of the gymnastics commentators said something like seeing good sportsmanship never gets old in response to watching Sam's reaction to the winner. His actual joy in the routines that put him further down the ranking was great to see. He loved seeing those fantastic routines and was genuinely happy for the medalists. It was great to watch this, especially in comparison to Macayla's response, and that one Russian girl who looked like she would cry at any minute and her gloating look when it went her way. It raises my opinion of Sam and lowers my opinion of the others.

Also Kirani James' great sportsmanship, the trading of his number card was very cool. I also was so impressed with him when he won. He celebrated for a few seconds and then turned around to shake all of his competitors hands, even to the point of seeking out those sitting on the ground a few feet away. Then he went on to celebrate some more and go over to the Grenadians watching him.

It's interesting how in each of those cases it raised my estimation of the athletes. One didn't get a medal, the other won gold but their classy behavior sets them apart in a good way.

I know getting silver or bronze is not winning but it is a medal and I wish some athletes would be more happy when they get one. I loved the American that took bronze in shot put. He was so thrilled to get a medal and so was his mom. He's been in the Olympics before and didn't get any medals so any color made them thrilled. Michael Phelps' medal count is enhanced by the others he got that aren't gold.

I had no idea who Kirani James was even a few days ago and I'm sure I'm not alone. I'll bet he's made millions of new fans in the last few days. What a class act!

I also noticed Mustafina's gloating when she won her gold. Ugly. I loved how all of the men in the vault competition looked so happy with their performances, whether they got a medal or not. Nearly every competitor did really well and each of them seemed genuinely pleased. They all took the time to congratulate each other and it didn't seem empty the way it sometimes does.

Part of the Olympic is experience is actually competing and feeling joy in that. It's sad how many competitors have lost that.

The equestrian is on right now and my cat is transfixed! He rarely even notices the TV, but he's been watching for about 10 minutes now. Too funny.

[Fanny Mare]

The equestrian is on right now and my cat is transfixed! He rarely even notices the TV, but he's been watching for about 10 minutes now. Too funny

And my dogs sit and bark at the horses. I have to put them in another room. LOL

[jacobson00]

Alexandra Raisman just won gold on floor and jordan ended 7th. Now people will stop saying Jordan should have advanced to All around when Alex is having a better run. Happy for the Romanian girl (the 24 yrs old one).

[Tilden]

Alexandra Raisman just won gold on floor and jordan ended 7th. Now people will stop saying Jordan should have advanced to All around when Alex is having a better run. Happy for the Romanian girl (the 24 yrs old one).

I'm so happy for Aly. Not that I wanted Jordan ending up in seventh or anything like that. I just wanted Aly to get a medal--any color--in an individual event so the commentators would stop going on about how unfair it was that Jordan didn't make it into the all-around or how Aly fell apart on the balance beam and lost (just barely) the bronze. It's certainly not Aly's fault that Jordan didn't make it into the all around, and the way that they kept concentrating on Jordan's disappointment made it difficult for Aly to show any pleasure in her achievement without looking like she was rubbing it in Jordan's face. If Aly can help the team win gold, lose the bronze in the all-around by the smallest of tie-breaking margins, and then take a gold in an individual event, maybe she really is pretty talented, all on her own, regardless of how talented the rest of the team is or isn't, and the announcers could just let her enjoy her moment in the spotlight.

[Bearcata]

Alexandra Raisman just won gold on floor and jordan ended 7th. Now people will stop saying Jordan should have advanced to All around when Alex is having a better run. Happy for the Romanian girl (the 24 yrs old one).

Not that long ago team coaches would pull out the athletes that qualified for the event if one of their favorites were close to the top at 3rd or 4th to give them a chance at a medal. I saw the Russians do it to various girls on the gymnastics teams over the years. I can imagine that some wanted to do that for Jordan. Thankfully Marta Karoyli does not do that.

[Tilden]

I loved the Kirani James autograph story too. What a sweet thing for him to do in terms of making the autograph about the little girl and her mother instead of himself.

Isn't he only like nineteen too? How nice to see someone so young behave with such maturity and grace. His family, and whoever else had a hand in raising him to be like that, should be proud.

Speaking of which, did anyone else see that video about the high school athlete who snuck onto a plane ahead of his coach and the rest of team by slipping in with the people who had legitimate reasons to board early? His coach wrote a statement for him that he got the flight attendants to allow him to read over the intercom before the flight took off. It was something like, "I apologize for my behavior. It was rude and inappropriate. Please forgive me, for I am but a young man who is not always as smart as I think I am." He tried to get by with only reading the first sentence, but the female flight attendant who was holding the mike, hissed, "Read the WHOLE thing." As he sheepishly slunk his way back to his seat, all the other passengers were laughing and applauding (they actually started laughing when he read the last sentence). I'm sure what they were applauding was really the coach's quick action in making him take responsibility for his behavior. That's what I mean about people beyond family having a hand in raising kids. I bet that boy thinks twice before he tries to pull something like that again with his coach around.

[libgirl2]

Feliz Sanchez sobbing during the medal ceremony as his national anthem played = me Those moments are why I love the Olympics.

As part Dominican, I was very proud. My cousins down there too were ecstatic!