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Olympians Just Like You And Me
Submitted by Rae on Fri, 02/26/2010 - 12:30
Is it me or did the 2008 Summer Olympics seem more… hyped-up? This was one of the questions which was discussed during a lunch time conversation last weekend. To some, the opening ceremonies and media coverage of the events in the 2010 Winter Olympics felt underwhelming. Someone from the lunch conversation offered up a couple of possible reasons why. The first argued that those who participated in the winter games were a smaller subset of the affluent who could afford the expensive gear and access to snow and ice; that these games really only targeted that demographic. The second argument complimented the first, stating that the sporting events in the Winter Olympics were not relatable to the general public. Although I could see some validity in that person’s reasoning, a quick glimpse into the women’s figure skating event these past few days proves them wrong.
Now, I must admit that I’m not a general fan of the sport, but I do love watching it during the winter games. It brings back nostalgic feelings of cheering on past U.S.A. Olympians like Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, and Kristi Yamaguchi. This year it was the stories of Kim Yu-na from Korea, Joannie Rochette from Canada, Tugba Karademir from Turkey, and U.S.A.’s own Mirai Nagasu that proved to be inspirational on multiple levels.
Kim Yu-na, South Korea’s most celebrated celebrity athlete has raked in a reported 8 million in endorsements. Her charismatic smile coupled with her unbelievable talent has helped her rise to the top, winning a gold medal last night in Vancouver. But this wasn’t always the case. She hails from a small town with humble roots. Growing up, her family struggled financially; Her father’s small business eventually collapsed in the late 1990s. One of her fans, Lee Dong-woo was quoted to say, “She embodies the Korean saying, ‘A case of a dragon rising from a ditch.’ She is the first South Korean to win gold and set a world record in figure skating during the Olympic games.
Two more of these dragons would be Mirai Nagasi and Tugba Karademir. Nagasi, who is from Southern California, wasn’t born into affluence. Her family owns a small restaurant in her hometown. During commentary throughout her performances this week, NBC shared tidbits of her story; how her parents worked long hours and sacrificed so much so Nagasi could skate. Nagasi herself, spent summers working the register at the restaurant.
Then there is Karademir, who is originally from Turkey. When she was young, NBC reported that her mother was an engineer and her father owned several restaurant businesses. But with little opportunity for Karademir to flourish in figure skating in Turkey, they packed up, left behind their successful careers, and moved to Canada. Working as day laborers, they could not afford to travel to Vancouver to watch their daughter skate. An Olympic sponsor stepped up and was able to provide them the opportunity to see what they had worked so hard for – their daughter to skate in the Olympic games as the only figure skater to have ever represented Turkey.
The last story is about Joannie Rochette from Canada. Just two days before her short program, her mother passed away from a heart attack. As reported by Yahoo! Sports, often times the athlete shoulders the hopes of a country. In Rochette’s case, Canada lifted Rochette, cheering and supporting her through her programs. There was not a dry eye in the stadium as they watched her fight back the tears while she jumped, twirled and glided on the ice. This was both her and her mother’s dream. It didn’t matter whether she medaled or not (She would eventually win bronze), she was going to do a tribute to her mother.
On the surface, it may seem that these games and their athletes are not relatable or that perhaps they have gotten to the top because that is where they started out. However, if one took a closer look, they would see that these athletes and their families struggle, they have goals, they make sacrifices and they persevere and overcome disappointments and tragic events. Peel back a few layers and it’s easy to see, these stories are just like yours and mine.
-Rae is a blogger for The Daily Vine. Check out her bio to see where her view comes from.
Source/Related Articles
South Korea erupts in joy as its `queen' wins gold, Washington Post
Rochette golden in winning bronze for her mother, Yahoo! Sports
Five fun facts about Mirai Nagasu, NBC
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Comments
I was mostly disappointed by
I was mostly disappointed by the TV coverage by NBC. They aired almost every single curling game played during the games but could not be bothered to show more than five or six runs of the top competitors in the downhill skiing races?? Also, almost nothing was aired live- so I would accidentally find out who won while going to nytimes.com. They made some very annoying choices of what to air and when. Although, the hockey game this afternoon was awesome!
Inspiring post! It's great
Inspiring post! It's great to hear about athletes who came from non-affluent backgrounds, or overcame many hardships to reach their olympic success. It makes you feel like you can do anything!
I don't have cable now so I haven't been keeping up with the winter olympics this year, but I was totally obsessed with Kristi Yamaguchi when I was little. Ice skating was my favorite sport, and I would skate around the kitchen floor in my socks. Ironically, I've never ice skated before since my family never lived anywhere near an ice skating rink. I sure would like to try someday though =)
Personally, I've always found the summer olympics to be much more strongly promoted than the winter olympics. Maybe it's because there are more events in the summer, or because children are home to watch during the summer, I'm not sure. The thing that my husband pointed out about the winter olympics is that they are less "natural," as he puts it, than the summer olympics. In the summer olympics you get a lot of natural human movements and activities, like running, swimming, wrestling, etc. Even a lot of the events that require equipment, like cycling or rowing, are still things that people do for reasons other than competition or entertainment. With the winter olympics, everything is very unnatural since it's made to be on the ice and snow. Bobsleds aren't a normal means of transportation, you don't wear ice skates just to get around, etc. That's why he find the winter olympics strange, which I thought was an interesting perspective =)