Every 4 years (well 2 if you count Winter) most of the world puts their differences aside as the elite athletes come together to compete in the name of their countries... THE OLYMPICS! The first summer Olympics were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece and only 14 countries competed. Fast forward to 2012 in London and 204 National Olympic Committees are represented!
There are two things that really stand out about the Olympics to me: the variety of events and the way it unites countries. The events range from swimming to soccer to skeet shooting to judo and everything in between. I'm not a huge sports fan myself but something about watching the men and women (and in some cases, boys and girls) who have trained years and years to excel in their sport go head to head with nothing to lose. Just the sheer intensity they compete with blows my mind, not to mention the precision and perfection they portray on the field of play.
It also brings a swelling of national pride to watch our fellow Americans (and in some cases, neighbors, friends, or family) fighting to win not only for themselves, but for America. It seems that no matter how divided the situation here at home (and I would assume the same for other countries) we always seem to put those issues and differences aside for 15 days and rally behind our Olympic heroes.
If you haven't been watching, there is 24 hour coverage on several channels and tons of content online. As of today, America is tied with China with 23 overall medals and is in 2nd behind China in Gold medals.
Keep kicking ass Team USA!
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