August was a difficult month for morning meetings in office- when I was not following the olympics late into the night, it was the Democratic party convention in Denver that kept me awake- the Michelle Obama speech, the Clinton speech, the Biden speech, the Barack speech- it lifted my spirit and made me believe in hope and that anything was possible. Again, let me qualify as I have done previously in my blog, while I am not interested in politics, just in the pure art of speech making and speech giving, if the Democrats win Gold, the Republicans dont even make the podium!
Talking of podiums, the two men who stood out for me were Phelps and Usain Bolt, one I knew before this Olympics, and the other one I had never heard of, but who seemed to possess superhuman quality in the sprints. Bolt's emphatic wins in 100 and 200 with world record times were breathtaking to watch, and given his premature celebratory gestures in the 100, he made us feel he could go better than 9.69, which makes this 21 year old a great athletic prospect for the future. He doesnt have the best of starts, but accelerates remarkably well- if he can add 400 to his repertoire, he could potentially turn out to be greater than Michael Johnson, if not Carl Lewis- he is THAT special.
Phelps made me love swimming more than anyone else. He won in all fashions- with conviction, by the thinnest of margins, leading from the front, coming from behind, as an individual, as part of a team effort- it was an incredible effort and one that is likely to stand the test of time. As my two year old watched the races with a "go Phelps" cheer, I wondered how many budding sportspersons he would inspire.
Even as I watched the closing ceremony with breathtaking awe, I wondered when was the last Olympics when I felt genuinely sad at the closing, and my mind had to go back to 1984 (when Mary Lou and Carl Lewis turned in the performances of a lifetime). I may have been bleary eyed in morning meetings, but I think it was all worth it- there is nothing like watching history being made live!
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