Go Team! Olympic Lessons for Children of All Ages

I am not a sportsperson. I don’t enjoy watching them and I don’t really like to play anything beyond a casual game of frisbee during a picnic. I have traveled my entire life so there's no home team I feel particularly tied to and my alma mater's athletic program…well let's just say the fighting Cardinals don’t really inspire rabid fandom.

However, there is one exception. The Olympics…sort of. Every two years I roll my eyes as the world whips itself into a frenzy over the pursuit of gold. But by the end of the proceedings, I’m a convert. Invariably, I have laughed, cried, and been inspired by something over those few weeks of athletic competition. The Olympics teach us some incredibly important lessons about humanity and then, a few years later when we have forgotten all the pomp and circumstance or become jaded once more, they come around again to reinforce those lessons.

I have heard a fair number of friends and colleagues say they are having trouble getting into the Olympic spirit this year. I get it. No fans in the stands, lots of masks, and protesters. It has a Twilight Zone meets zombie apocalypse feel to it, but then so did everything else that came out of 2020 so it’s at least on brand. But I think that is why this year, it’s even more important to be inspired. Here are a few lessons the Olympics have taught me over the years, lessons that I hope the young people around me can internalize as well.

In fact, they welcome being in a room with those who can actually challenge them. When you are skilled, other people’s skills don’t intimidate you, they excite you and drive you to learn even more. Because ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

The Olympics often give us incredible moments that have nothing to do with the gold medal. One that stands out for me was Derek Redmond in 1992. He tore his hamstring seconds into the 400-meter dash qualifier. It was obviously painful, and heart-wrenching to watch him roll on the ground clutching his leg. And then he got up. No chance of a medal but he got up and finished the race. As if that wasn’t inspiring enough, his father ran onto the track and helped support his son the last few meters across the line. The entire world was crying and cheering Redmond on because this moment touched something powerfully human in all of us. Fall, but get back up. Keep going, help will come.

I have no idea who the 400-meter dash medal winners were in ’92. I doubt many people do. But we remember Redmond. I bet you can’t tell me who the medalists were in the 1936 Olympic long jump either. But the iconic photo of Jessie Owens and Luz Long (a Black American and a white German) walking around the track hand in hand literally under the nose of Hitler is the most inspiring display of sportsmanship I can think of. Those human connections and recognition are the real win. There are plenty of stories of other athletes who don’t win a medal but go on to lead incredible lives and complete amazing tasks because of their experiences in the arena. It’s not about the disk around your neck, it’s about the experience of pushing yourself to your highest bar physically, emotionally, and mentally.

That is this year's lesson courtesy of Team USA Basketball. Just because you have always excelled doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed this time. You need to bring you’re A-game every game. No exceptions.

You can and should be proud of your country. But the Olympics give us the rare opportunity to not only cheer for our home team but be inspired by the best of every other nation as well. I love watching Simone Biles dominate and am thrilled and proud that she represents the US but I also find myself fist-bumping for China’s own Fan Yilin when she slays on the uneven bars. You can have pride without believing you are superior. You can believe in yourself and still respect others and find them inspirational. Couldn’t the world use a little more of that?

Will the 2020 Olympics give us a historically iconic moment? Maybe, maybe not. That's not the point. The point is that for a few weeks every couple of years, we come together as the human race and challenge each other to be just a little better than we were last time. We take a moment to salute the excellence in each other and learn a little bit more about our fellow human beings and ourselves. Right now, I think we all could use a little more of that in our lives.