And Done..

The Olympics wrapped up yesterday. Did you end up watching any of the events?

I watched all of the US men's and women's soccer matches like I thought I would. Exciting finishes on a lot of the women's games and you cannot argue with the results. It was also nice to watch the women being dominating without the president actively rooting against them for a change. I'd like to keep that change going and never let that guy back in the White House, such a disgrace. 

We watched track and marveled at how freaking fast they all are. Same with swimming. And we watched diving and remembered how much we both really like it. There is just something amazing about those flips and spins and the clean slice into the water. Watching the Chinese athletes take gold in every single category was impressive. 

Women's gymnastics was amazing as always. Gravity defying women. Men's gymnastics provided some fun storylines as well. Still waiting to hear the final results from the Jordan Chiles medal debacle. There is video evidence that the request was submitted on time. So if you are keeping track they messed up in scoring her. Then tried to say she didn't actually win because they were four seconds too late submitting the challenge. And now there is evidence that they were not. Medal won, medal taken away, medal given back, medal taken away... It's not right to treat her or the Romanian gymnasts like this. But at least we got that iconic moment on the medal stand and they can't take that visual away.

Women's rugby, who knew? But they have a really effective spokesperson playing right now and she's generating excitement all on her own. 

US men's and women's basketball both took gold after some nervy performances and close calls. 

I didn't watch the break dancing live, though the clips of the Australian competitor have been unavoidable. On one hand I fell terribly for her. Watching people just savage what you've done is not great. On the other I have to admire her for getting out there and doing the damn thing. Everyone watching from the couch mocking her did not. 

You know where I stand on the women's boxing. I'm glad the two athletes that faced the bigotry won gold. I'm glad that crowds turned out to cheer them on in person to sort of balance out the vitriol they were facing online. I hope that Imane Khelif's lawsuit serves her well and people who spouted violent threats against her reach the find out portion very quickly. 

But aside from the always present scoring controversies and the really nasty misogynistic bullshit the games were fun. 

Everyone I've talked to has mentioned that. That this year in particular it seems like the athletes were having more fun. That they were enjoying each other as competitors and seeing how they could stretch and grow and still have fun. It just seemed lighter.

I'm sure part of it for women's gymnastics was the lifting of the cloud of abuse. Knowing they fought and won and made change not just for themselves but for all of the young women and girls coming up behind them. 

I'm sure part of it for the women's soccer team was the fact that they knew their president had their back. That they wouldn't be going home to find out that people were rejoicing over any mistakes that were made. 

But watching the pictures from medal ceremonies, for some reason NBC didn't want to show them live, we saw a lot of joy and camaraderie. Watching the athletes waiting for scores in the diving competition we got to see the Chinese athletes laughing and joking with the rest of the divers who were competing for silver in some cases and bronze in others as China had gold locked up quickly and often silver as well. But they still all seemed relaxed with each other and just joyful.

That's the best part about sports. There are a lot of bad parts. And when you add in politics it can get just awful, but this time? This time just seemed so much lighter and better. 

I hope that's the way it really was. I hope that's the way it will stay. I hope LA 2028 is able to capture that feeling again. 

And I hope the bigots, bullies and assholes all have socks that won't stay up and underwear that creeps into their cracks in perpetuity.