The 29th Olympic Games

I love to watch the Olympics. When I was little, I used to get dressed up in my gymnastics leotard or my bathing suit and pretend that I was one of them. Of course, I never actually learned any of the strokes, and I was politely told I would never be a gymnast when I reached a certain height. I still love to watch, though, and cheer for the athletes that work so hard for so many years.

The United States seems to be dominating the swimming races this year. Well, I guess we are usually really good in the swimming competitions, but this year seems to be even crazier than normal. Michael Phelps is already 3 for 3 in his gold medal search, putting him at 9 total gold medals and 11 medals overall in his career. I am definitely cheering for him and hoping to see a truly talented young man break the record for the most gold medals in one Olympic games.

I like to watch the diving, too, but it seems that so far, the Chinese are unstoppable. I haven’t seen any of the track and field yet, so I am assuming that it hasn’t started. My favorite sport to watch, however, has always been gymnastics. (And that is honestly even second to my favorite winter sport, Ice Skating) Last night, I stayed up way past my body’s desire to sleep in order to watch the USA men’s gymnastic team win the bronze medal. It is simply amazing how much strength and agility those men have. The Chinese team was the best this year with almost perfect routines, and I know it must have been a very important day for their country to watch them win the gold in Beijing. Japan moved ahead of the USA in the last event to win the silver, but I was still excited for the US men. They were definitely the underdogs this year after losing two of their best athletes to injuries before the games. No one thought they had even a chance to medal, but they really gave it their all and came out winners.

Tonight it gets even better with the women’s gymnastics all-around competition. Unlike the men, the women are expected to compete for gold. Injuries have also caused some trouble for the women’s team after two different girls were injured while practicing in Beijing. Hopefully everyone else will stay safe and be on top of their game tonight. I will definitely be there watching and cheering them on!