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Published: August 21st 2016
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Day 15 is over here in Rio and tomorrow will be the final day of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Looking back its hard to believe we visited the Olympic Park for the very last time. Hard to believe there won't be Beach Volleyball on tonight and into the wee hours of the morning at Copacabana Beach. Hard to believe the thousands of athletes that have poured their heart and soul into the past 4 years leading up to these Games will finish up tomorrow and head home to re-evaluate and re-charge. For us, the Games here in Rio have been nothing short of incredible. Our experience here in Rio has been first-rate. We've learned so much about this South American country, its people and the beautiful City that has played host to the world for the past two weeks.
Very quickly about our day today. It was our last journey on the new Line 4 subway and we're so excited for the people of Rio that this legacy will be left for them, all because of these Olympic Games. We went back to the beach for the Women's Triathlon in order to cheer on our Canadian Team. As we
talked about previously, this Olympics is about gaining experience and learning the ropes about how to compete at the Olympics for our young team of rookies. They took the challenge in stride and each had respectable performances on the course today. For the first time ever, an American has won a medal (Gold) at the Olympic Triathlon. There is no question that as much as the sport has grown in its very short history, it is about to explode wide open. Many young girls (and boys) will be waking up in America tomorrow morning and telling their parents while the swim in the backyard pool, ride their bike around the block or go for a run down to the park that when they grow up, they'd like to be like Gwen, they'd like to be a triathlete! This will be a very important breakthrough for the sport and something well overdue.
We decide to sell our tickets to the Gold Medal Game of Women's Basketball in order to stay home at our apartment and TV surf the Olympics for the first and only time during these Games. It was great to sit back and follow our Canadians in action
all day. We got to see Catherine Pendrel win another Bronze Medal and add to our Canadian squad's already impressive tally, live on TV. Her medal now ties us for the most successful (non-boycotted) Summer Games in Canadian history! We watched volleyball finals, the 10m diving finals, boxing, wrestling -- you name it, we watched it today all from our bed and in our pajamas! And, we also got to be here when Brazil won the Men's Soccer tournament in a shootout. Our apartment building went absolutely nuts -- cheering up and down the hallways. What a spectacular way for them to bring the second last day of the Games here in Rio to a close.
We've made a conscious effort over the past two weeks to focus on the good here in Rio and at the Games. The sad truth about these Games is that fewer people competed and experienced them than should have. The media, through a negative lens, painted the City, it's people and the Organizing Committee as a bunch of criminals, fools and insinuated that they were utterly incompetent. It's been 20 years since the Games in Atlanta and even longer since Canada hosted the
Summer Olympics. The biggest change in society has been our reliance on social media and twenty-four hour news outlets. Unfortunately, these same outlets and mediums for exchanging ideas and opinions have become a place where the most negative and salacious news (or opinions masquerading as news) win the day. In Sochi, it was the extreme cost, and an athletes village not ready for prime time. In London, the news was of displacing homeless people, a lack of hotels for visitors and a lack of tickets for locals. In Vancouver we didn't have enough snow, a sledder died on a track that was said to be unsafe by many. In Beijing it was human rights, pollution and hired fans to fill nearly empty stadiums. You pick an Olympics and you will likely find negative stories leading up to and during the Games. Thousands of media outlets send people to the Games and for weeks prior they each go out into the City and must produce 'stories', often times, the ones that get the most traction are the ones that lack the most honesty and are the most creative. Has their been problems here at the Games? Sure there has. We could've
filled our blog with stories about the homeless people we walk by each night, being stranded at 2am in the morning because transit just stopped and having to find out way back home with a dead cell phone. We could've talked about the terrible food at the venues or the fact that despite trying to buy extra tickets to many events that were apparently sold out, in reality there were plenty of seats left empty. The truth is, that would not have accomplished anything and it would have been a pretty horrible way to reflect on a trip that has left us feeling enlightened each and every day. A trip where we smile and laugh all day while watching the best athletes in the world give 'it' their all. It's a funny thing the way we as a society judge others. We celebrate baseball hitters as the very best in the world who only hit 30% of the time. The top scientists and researchers in the world fail nearly 100% of the time, with minor breakthroughs as the anomaly, not the norm. Some of the most celebrate people in the history of the planet have a much greater track record
of failure than they do success. Most of us were happy with 70s, 80s or 90s in school. Why then, do we, as a society, except the Host City of the Olympic Games every two years to be absolutely perfect? Sure it is the biggest 'stage' in the world. But, it is also the first (and only for most) time that they have hosted such a massive event that is beamed to every corner of the Earth via every imaginable media platform that exists. All we can ever hope for is that someone or an organization does their very best. That they adapt to situations within their control, that they are resourceful, that they problem-solve and that when things go sour -- they do their very best to make the most of it, learn from it and move on. The staff and volunteers here at these Games have been wonderful. So many of them coming from neighbourhoods and areas that have very little and yet each and everyday giving so much. Their efforts to keep the Games safe, fair and fun for all of the participants and fans has been heroic effort. Each and every person that tunes in to
watch the Olympics owes each of them a huge debt of gratitude. Overall, we believe history will judge these Olympic Games as a tremendous success. It will be a Games that has provided lasting memories for generations of Brazilians and hopefully has inspired many young people in this Country to be a better version of themselves, whatever that is. The Games will leave behind fantastic facilities and infrastructure that can hopefully help to jump-start the economy here and provide more equal and shared prosperity for all.
We'd be remiss if we didn't finish off the blog today without a quick note about Canadian Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip. We huddled around the laptop tonight in our apartment and watched with the rest of the Country as Gord allowed us to collectively say goodbye. Somewhere tonight we read that Gord had been called the Terry Fox of Rock. That might not be far off. As big as he was in life, Terry could have never imagined his impact on our Country, nor the contributions his courage would lead to in the future. This might have been his final concert, but it surely isn't Gord's final act.
Our plan
tomorrow is to head to the Men's Marathon, take in one final event here at the Games and then head over to Olympic Boulevard to see the Olympic flame before it begins its journey to South Korea and is extinguished here in Rio. We will do a quick blog tomorrow with some final thoughts on the Games.
No extra photos today -- we'll try to get a few extras tomorrow.
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kim
non-member comment
:)
Hope you are able to travel to Olympic Boulevard to see the Olympic flame. You have had an amazing journey. Once again....a HUGE thank you for sharing. xo