The first Olympics I actually remember watching something from was Atlanta in 1996. I was eight at the time, so that sounds about right. The event? The Women’s Gymnastics Team Final… Kerri Strug landing her vault to win the US a gold medal. I was in a hotel room with my family in Newton, IA after spending the day at Adventureland. I sure hope those details are correct, because that’s the way I’ve remembered it for years and I think it’s one of my earliest true memories. I kinda remember the hype around Michael Johnson and his races. Other than that… I don’t think I really remember anything.
I remember being more aware of the 98 Winter Olympics. Some of that probably had to do with receiving the magazine Sports Illustrated for Kids (which apparently still exists! If you have young children get this magazine for them). That said I’m not sure I remember much from the actual Games. I do remember Tara Lapinski winning gold… or at least I’d like to think I do. I’m convinced in my head I remember watching that (and I probably did… my mother loves figure skating) but I’m not sure. Either way can you believe she’s THIRTY now? I will admit I’m stunned to find out that Michelle Kwan was *only* 17 back then. I always had her pegged as an older woman compared to Lapinski I guess.
On to Sydney… being twelve at the time I remember a bit more. I remember having a t-shirt my grandparents bought me with the Sydney logo on it. I remember Ian Thorpe bursting on to the scene to the delight of his home crowd. I remember Rulon Gardner winning gold, that was a big deal since he was a former Nebraska wrestler. How could I forget Vince Carter’s dunk over some Frenchie. That was definitely my top dunk of all-time for quite a while after that.
Salt Lake City? Now the Olympics had really come home for me. Fourteen years old and beginning to really get into sports. I was probably on a sports message board or two (or ten) by this point and much more plugged in. Apollo Anton Ohno. Totally into watching him. Sara Hughes? I remember her winning gold while I was working on a paper for my 8th grade English class. Poor Michelle Kwan… I think I was probably rooting for her. I remember realizing how fun luge and bobsled were to watch. Hockey was a big deal to me back then and I followed the US team’s run. And who could forget that French judge…
Athens. Michael Phelps is a new big name. The Men’s Basketball team comes up short. That was pretty disappointing and very frustrating. How could so many big names stars fail to win? It was nice that the fastest men in the world were mostly Americans. Dominance. I also remember some of the events like canoeing, and the epicness of the Games being held in Greece once again!
Turin was largely forgotten to me. I was wrapping up my senior year of high school, working a lot and taking difficult classes. I remember that the final four episodes of Arrested Development were ran against the Opening Ceremonies of the Games. I remember Apollo Anton Ohno again, speed skating became easily one of my favorite Winter Olympic sports.
Beijing. Epicness. I might have had a job during this time… but I wasn’t really good at going all the time. Additionally a lot of the best events were in prime time somehow, and I would sit in the lounge at the dorms watching Olympics every night. What don’t I remember from Beijing? Some of my favorite Olympic moments. Phelps… Phelps… Phelps. Seemed like every day he was winning another gold, some of them in unbelievable fashion. I shouted/screamed a few times when he pulled the rabbit out of his hat. USAIN BOLT. Unbelievable. I still find it hard to believe what he did in those two gold medal runs.
My friend Kara would come over to watch soccer with me in the wee hours. She’d make biscuits. I’d fall asleep on the couch and miss most of the games. I remember being frustrated to no end by the dang US Men’s team… so many players on that squad I liked. Such a let down against the Dutch and then choking against Nigeria. Ugh. The women did slightly make up for it… but I have to admit I was asleep when the US scored the winning goal (I think). I was probably awoken by Kara’s shouts and did my best to pretend I had been awake.
I was reminded of my love for gymnastics during the Games. I was always rooting for Shawn Johnson, but Nastia won me over too. She was incredible. I cried when she won the gold. That she was able to win gold 20 years after her father won a gold medal in the Olympics was so cool. When Shawn got her gold medal too, it made it all okay in my mind.
Vancouver was the first Olympics I got to watch with my now wife. We watched the figure skating pretty closely (as apparently my mother did when I was an infant in 1988). So exciting to see the US recapture the Men’s title. The Canadian dancing team was so fun to see win, easy to root for our neighbors to the North. Yikes… can’t believe I just copped to enjoying Ice Dancing publicly.
I remember watching more skating, more skiing, more bobsledding. Hannah Kearney winning gold to start things off, a great start. Moguls. Are. Awesome. Lindsey Vonn capturing gold! Shaun White ABSOLUTELY DESTROYING the competition. The Bodemiester himself, Bode Miller getting his gold medal. The US Bobsledding team! I was rooting for them so hard! Curtis Tomasevicz is of course a former Husker, so he was a real big deal here in Nebraska. I remember missing the Men’s Ice Hockey gold medal game, but I don’t remember why anymore.
So here we are in 2012. The Games start in three weeks! I’m not ready… they are always so hard to resist once they arrive and gone in a flash. So much is packed into those 16 main days. You can’t take it all in, even if you try, and no one really expects you to. I will surely witness some incredible moments by athletes from all over the world. If Usain Bolt can win another 100m gold, I ‘m sure it’ll be one of my lasting memories of London. Yet there is nothing quite like seeing a fellow American take home a title, or even just give their best effort, every last ounce while representing our country.
This year I don’t want to find out who they are when NBC tells me about them. I want to know ahead of time, when their chance is still yet to come. I want to find out who doesn’t win a medal but gave it their all anyways. I want to root them on and give them what they deserve after all their hard work. I think they deserve our support and recognition for the great feat that just getting to the Olympics is.
While I love that the Olympics are the World’s Games and I understand Morgan Freeman’s “Go World!”, I’m willing to admit I’m more drawn towards Ian Darke’s “Go Go USA!”
Share your favorite Olympic memories in the comments below!