Notes from the Desk: Olympian Achievments

For the last two weeks I have managed to forgo my nightly foray to the library in favor of planting myself in front of my friend’s 15-inch, non-HD television in a desperate attempt to capture one of the greatest events in sports: the Olympics. Much like a student who writes a response paper to assuage the guilt of a missed class, I decided to chronicle the most memorable moments of the games to justify my over-the-top involvement.

Joannie Rochette: Women’s figure skating has never been my favorite event, but after hearing about her impressive performance in the short-program I had to tune in for her free-skate. Skating less than a week after losing her mother to a massive heart attack, the Canadian fought back tears while skating a beautiful program that reverberated with emotion and energy. Her story was a Visa “Go World” commercial made incarnate, with people from across the globe crossing their fingers the judges would reward the beauty of her skate. Less than a week later, I cannot remember who won the gold, but I will never forget her bronze.

The Giant Joints: Not only did the Olympic torches look shockingly similar to paraphernalia, but the image of a lost Steve Nash wondering what to do as the fourth torch failed to emerge from the ground during the opening ceremony made for an inauspicious beginning to the Games. Two weeks of fantastic athletics later, Vancouver’s ability to poke fun at itself during the closing ceremony provided the perfect coda.

Ryan Miller: Sure, Sidney Crosby won the adoration of a nation last week, but it was Miller’s performance that provided the perfect foil for Canada’s expected victory. During the tournament, the American goaltender stood on his head for two weeks while his roster of young forwards and unheard-of defensemen worked out the kinks in front of him. Perhaps his best moment came in defeat, however, as he struck a victory for honesty by responding to a question about how it felt to let in the gold-medal winning tally in overtime with the short, succinct and factual answer: “Like s***.” Let’s hope the interest generated by his performance convinces the NHL to allow players to go to the 2014 games in Sochi.

Shaun White: It was sometime around when he came to a stop 40 feet above the half-pipe on the first jump of his first run that I realized I was about to see something special, and his 1260 Double McTwist would have left Newton grasping at straws. The best part of it all? That he had the gold medal locked up before he dropped in for his last run … and proceeded to put up an even higher score than he had on his first. Whether it was White or the general culture of snowboarding, it was special to see an athlete put on a world-class performance for nothing more than the love of the sport.

Georgia’s opening ceremony entrance: With the Games behind us, it is easy to forget that they opened under a cloud of sober grief. The universal standing ovation that greeted the entrance of the Georgian delegation, which itself had only decided to march at the last minute, was a poignant reminder of the global community these games were created to engender. At the risk of marginalizing the sacrifices of men and women in uniform across the world, the Georgian luger who died did so while competing under the banner of his country, and he did so for no monetary gain but rather the glory of his flag. His death kicked off the 2010 Winter Olympics with a somber tension that even two weeks of excitement could not eradicate, but in many ways his story illuminates the Olympic ideal. For years he woke in the wee hours of the morning to throw himself down an ice-shaft with twin-blades providing his only form of control, each day pushing the limits of physical endurance and mental concentration for himself and for Georgia. For on the day he pushed too far, his delegation chose to march in memory and the world chose to stand in recognition — hundreds of flags, thousands of athletes, one stadium and one world. While he was never able to realize his dream of competing in the Olympics, his story provided the perfect context for meaningful competition.