Donelle Knudsen, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.
Blogs by Donelle Knudsen
Winning, Losing and Rekindling the Olympic Flame 8/11/2008 5:49:51 PM
Reflections on winners and losers and why I'll watch the XXIX Summer Olympics. The XXIX Summer Olympics have begun and so far it's missed my radar screen. It's not that I don't appreciate or admire the incredible skill and dedication of the hundreds of athletes who have gathered in Beijing. I understand what it means to be immersed in whatever it is you love to do; so much so that you ignore everything around you - in my case to sit at my desk to write, re-write, and stare out the window as I search for that perfect word. And like most writers who put in countless hours on writing projects, there is no applause - no standing O's - just the satisfaction that you have churned out your very best.
But I digress, back to the Olympics. I can trace the exact moment my unabashed excitement at watching starry-eyed athletes go for the Gold disappeared like Harry Potter beneath his cloak of invisibility. It was with the Tanya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan knee bashing incident at the XVII Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Thugs scored a new low for figure skating, good sportsmanship and the spirit of clean and honest competition. A beautiful sport was marred one month before the opening ceremonies. The big question was: would Nancy Kerrigan recover to skate a clean program? She took home the Silver medal, but could she have won the Gold? Tanya placed eighth and eventually was stripped of her title and barred from figure skating for life.
There will always be individuals who take the short-cut and look for the edge by unorthodox and illegal ways. They may try to snatch the prize from someone else, but in the end they are the losers. After a few false starts of my own, I've decided to put aside my disappointments in previous Games and watch this year's international gathering of athletes, the best of the best. I will cheer them on and feel a surge of pride for each and every one who stands on the podium.
