GLORIA SHELLER
Assistant Perspectives Editor
The time has come for the much-anticipated 2006 Winter Olympics. In the wake of so much global unrest, the games couldn’t have come at a better time. The TV channels are polluted with news about war and federal deficits, and prime-time sitcoms are increasingly hard to swallow. Finally, the world can come together for a good old fashion display of physical strength and nationalism.
The Olympic Games have never been about who has the most money or who has the strongest leaders. Rather, the Olympics are a way to shed light on amazing athletes who represent the determination that all people should strive to have.
Friday’s opening ceremonies were so big, my parents went to a dinner party just to watch them. This year the show was fully loaded. According to the official Olympics website, it took about 6,100 volunteers and 240 professionals 15,000 days to pull off a show big enough to dazzle the entire world.
Nothing says Olympics like a man speed skating around the ice with a flaming helmet or 4,000 dancers making one giant red heart. It’s a bit over the top. But everyone likes it, so there’s absolutely no problem with a few skaters on fire or a human display of love. Somehow, it brought people in Olympic Stadium in Torino, Italy and those watching at home, a little closer together. Congratulations volunteers, professionals flaming skaters and dancing heart people on a job well done.
An event like the opening ceremonies is just the beginning of two weeks that will take people’s minds off all their problems and, instead, create life-long heroes. People watch their favorite events, keep tabs on specific countries and root for their most beloved athlete.
The Olympic Games are a time for countries, small or large, to show off their strength and uniqueness. True to tradition, when the underdog pulls through, the whole world sings.
Take women’s cross-country skiing gold medalist, Kristina Smigun from Estonia. She finished the course only two seconds before the silver medalist and is the first woman from her country to win the gold since Estonia gained its independence. I watched Smigun make a snow angel at the finish line in all her excitement. She is a hero in her country.
Her gold medal, won’t be stashed in a drawer with countless others, but cherished for being a first.
Smigun’s gold proves what the Olympics are all about: triumphs, good stories and goose bumps.
It’s also always exciting when a competitor from the host country wins a gold. For some reason, it seems special seeing that person who is able to win in front of their entire country.
Men’s luge gold medalist, Armin Zoeggeler from Italy, flew through the course, only beating his opponents by hundredths of a second. While Americans probably couldn’t care less, that win meant the world to all of Italy. Zoeggeler became a hero.
As for America, we started off the week trailing in the medals category. But medals aren’t what it’s all about. It’s about suitemates all watching the games together on one bed. It’s about one person getting excited about watching women’s hockey even if no one else is. It’s about the memories and the pictures, like the flaming helmet, that will stick in our minds for years to come.
During the games, forget the war in Iraq and everything you feel is wrong with the world. Set your political beliefs on the shelf and hug your fellow American … or sit down and watch an event together. Go crazy and buy a “Support Our Athletes” bumper sticker.
02-16-2006