1. I suspect there are Olympic hormones emitted slowly so that that Dan Jansen ad gets me every time. (I am also fond of the Jamaican Bobsled one, and the one about Julie Mancuso drawing her own posters.)
2. Amazing things happen. Including a young woman skating days after the loss of her mother.
3. A female bobsledder being thrown from the back of the bobsled. (She was fine, although the loss of a team member does not count as a completed run.
4. A female team pursuit speed skater making it across the track yon her stomach. (Interestingly, while not advised, as long as your skate crosses the line, they count that.)
5. It was pointed out that in many of the team sports, the gold and bronze medal winners arrive after a win (although clearly the bronze medal winners lost in the semifinals) while the silver medal winners have to stand there moments after losing their final game.
6. In the frenzy about medals, it sometimes get lost, that there are many more non-medal winners who still honored their country. In some cases, competitors were the only member of their
7. One American bobsledders family discovered both the best and worst of humankind. In searching for a place to stay to watch their guy compete, they fell victim to a scam offer, something they realized only after they had made a hefty deposit. One of the sponsors reimbursed them the lost funds, and an anonymous person offered them the use of her home, free of charge.
Bonus thing: It still tickles me that Macedonia is referred to Olympically as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and therefore marches after France in the Parade of Nations.
Rants About New (and old) Things
