Peggy Shinn Blog - What do you love about the Olympics?

(Photo: Samantha Shinn, 2008 Killington Camp Dog Paddle Gold Medalist)

My daughter came home from camp yesterday with a gold medal around her neck and a toilet-paper-roll torch in her backpack.

“How did you win that?” I asked, pointing to the medal, a squashed soda can spray-painted gold.

“In the dog paddle race,” she said proudly. “I won by a mile!”

Seriously. Dog paddle. She’s 7. It’s her best stroke.

At bedtime, I asked her if she wanted to watch the Olympics or read Harry Potter. She has been reading about the wizard since last October and has yet to pass up a night forging on through the 7-book series.

“The Olympics,” she declared.

When I asked what she liked about the Olympics, she said, “I dunno, it’s fun, and I get to cuddle with Daddy.”

But it made me think back to why I’ve always loved the Olympics.

My first memory is watching Dave Wottle race around the track at the 1972 Olympics. We had a small black-and-white TV, but that man in the white hat winning the race and the roar of the crowd made a strong impression.

“I’m going to go to the Olympics,” I announced, adding that if I couldn’t make it in my favorite sports of swimming, skiing, or ice skating, then I would make it in an “easy” sport like track. I was 9 and couldn’t run down the block without getting a stitch in my side. F

our years later, my summer camp’s evening program became watching the 1976 Olympics on a color TV perched high on a wall in the rec hall. I was 13 and wanted to be Shirley Babashoff. I won every swim meet at camp that summer in what turned out to be the pinnacle of my swimming career.

My husband says skiing was his Olympic dream. He aspired to be Franz Klammer (and on skis, still seems to). Although we may gripe about the Games — on too late at night, too much beach volleyball, too much swimming — we still love watching the Olympics.

Is it the athletic perfection we enjoy? The against-all-odds achievements? Or the fond memory of those childhood fantasies? Do they simply make us feel young again?

What do you love about the Olympics?

Peggy Shinn is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This feature was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.