I wasn't able to sleep last Saturday (or Friday night) because the Olympics Opening Ceremony was shown at 2 am. My sister and I watched the entire ceremonies. She stayed up and watched the whole parade of 202 nations and territories; I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. When I woke up Saturday morning, watching the Today's hosts in Athens, Greece interviewing the athletes, I began to imagine myself in their shoes, wondering how one feels when you're considered one of the world's best athletes.
I can remember when I was first hooked on the Olympics. It was Matt Biondi's fault of course. Seeing him on the cover of Time Magazine wearing only his famous swimming trunks before the 1988 Olympics was permanently stamped into my brain. He won several medals that year and was forever my idea of what a swimming champion should look like. Alex Popov beat him during the 1992 Games but Matt Biondi started it all with me. I began daydreaming of what it would be like if I'm not such a klutz in sports.
I can handle swimming, but I'm not fast and I don't have the stamina to cross the 50m pool without resting in the middle. I can handle going through the motions of other sports, and passed in my P.E. classes but that's about it. What I can't do, is play any sports that has to do with balls. I just can't play with balls. (Now, you know why my sex life is just about nil.) I passed PE in high school because of swimming but I failed my volleyball and basketball classes. I took up ballet, fencing and archery in college because I can't even play a simple game of badminton or table tennis. I am hopeless in anything that has to do with balls. I can't even bowl to save my life.
And so, I dreamt of being an athlete. To walk down that gym with confidence and just a little bit of apprehension, reveling in the pressure given, basking in fan's adoration, they all do it so well. I watched Fu Ming Xia, not seeming to care that she's so young yet received so much attention just because she is grace personified on the diving board. I watched swimmers, volleyball players (especially Spain during the Atlanta Games), and tennis more than the other sports. I also like women's gymnastics although I don't like looking at the men. Pardon me for saying so, but I don't like looking at small, overly muscular guys. It's a preference, and an opinion; I just don't like looking at them. Although I must admit, those bars, rings and vault require strength.
Even though I'm not athletic, you can probably tell I love watching the athletes. (Note: see Matt Biondi during his glory days...it'll take you hours just looking at that wide, broad expanse he called his chest and those broad, broad shoulders...) I like to see them bask in the glory, and smile and cry tears of joy. It took them hundreds of hours of training to get there while people like me thinks it's easy to do what they do while we lie down on bed, dreaming what it would be like. It is a journey for them and it's a pleasure to watch them reach their destination.
Hmmm...That’s why I get along well with guys. I can rattle off names from basketball, tennis, and even extreme sports. I am a fan of Tony Hawk, and have cheered Kelly Slater several times. Though sadly, I do not remember most winners from the Winter Games, probably because they have names that are so hard to pronounce let alone to remember.
What Olympic event can I join in the future? Maybe if they make talking for hours at a time an Olympic event I can join, but I wouldn't win against Kris Aquino. Maybe if they make watching movies an Olympic event, I can qualify although I wouldn't win against several of my friends already.
Now how about daydreaming? If that would be an Olympic event, no one can hold a torch to me. Keep the flame burning; I'll just keep on daydreaming.
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