I’m so pleased the Olympics went off relatively smoothly, because I was afraid they wouldn’t.
As I watched these games it occurred to me just how little I remember of Athens in 2004. Those games passed in the understandable blur that any occasion would pass when you have a four month old baby and you’re a first-time mother and you’re still trying to get a handle on your new life. Which is a shame but, really, my viewing pleasure of the Olympics paled in comparison with my need for sleep. It was the higher priority.
How a few years changes everything.
It was fascinating to see which sports snagged and kept each of my children’s interest. Keira enjoyed watching the swimming and the gymnastics (guess who’s signed up for classes now, eh? The sporting industry will PEAK these coming months, I reckon, with new club registrations and such.) Riley was besotted by the BMX riders and the basketball.
Next to their full throated barracking for the Aussies, which was very cute and amusing, Keira also expressed her devotion to the Spaniards.
“Are there any Spanish people in this race?”
“No, Keira.”
It took me a while to figure out that she was really going for ‘Dora’s people’ (because Dora the Explorer speaks Spanish) and then I had to explain that Dora is actually Mexican. Which then added a third country to Keira’s list of ‘People to Cheer.’
But no-one could top this person:
Stephanie Rice has a new fan. A devotee. A willing acolyte.
Any sport which had water, any kind of water (even a pond for the equestrian horses to splash through), brought the inevitable question, “Where’s Stephanie?” “I want Stephanie.”
Which would all point to why now Ms. Rice is reportedly worth millions in potential sponsorship. My daughter, indirectly, could be helping her pay her bills in the years to come.
Before my daughter becomes a hero herself in the 2024 games, in the newly introduced sport of Tunnel Racing:
