Reply To: I Hate the Olympics
I get the impression that there are plenty of people who get to compete in the Olympics without having a snowball’s chance, the George Plimptons of the Olympics. You may recall the Jamaican bobsled team a number of years back. I went to school with a girl who later skated for the Taiwanese Olympic team. She spent a lot of time skating, but it wasn’t all-consuming for her. I expect that the guy who came in last behind Michael Phelps will one day boast to his grandkids of having raced against Michael Phelps. It doesn’t have the same pathos. Now, the guy who comes in a close second? That’s a bit harder, especially with the silver medal as a constant reminder of what might be perceived as a qualified failure.