by Shelley Bennett
The first Olympics I remember was during the Summer of 1976. I have a clear memory of sitting on my grandma Speake’s hide-a-bed mattress with my brother, mom, and grandma Simpson eating cheese and crackers watching Nadia Comaneci’s perfect score.
I didn’t know the historical significance of the moment, but I was drawn to the Olympic spirit just the same.
From figure skating and bobsledding to synchronized swimming and track events, I am a huge fan and take time every night to watch a few events and highlights.
The past few weeks have been a blast as our family enjoyed watching womens rugby, basketball, gymnastics, swimming, and track, to name a few. We were drawn into the personal stories, families in the stands, Fava Flav, and Snoop Dogg.
Here are some of my top moments and take-aways from these games:
1. Ilona Maher – the social media darling of the womens rugby team and her message to girls, athletes or not, of body positivity reached millions. She is funny, irreverent, and has the best shades of lipstick.
The Womens Gymnastics team. All of them are queens and I am so irritated that they might take away Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal. Just make another one! Anyway, they are strong, artistic, and beautifully athletic.
2. We could all learn something from them by taking breaks for our mental health when needed and celebrating the competition when they earn it. The image of Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing down to Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade will go down in Olympic history.
3. Both of the womens and mens 4X400 teams. Holy cow! They were fast. I loved watching 16-year-old Quincy Wilson as his team clinched the gold. Crazy to think he will be sitting in his high school classroom in a couple weeks.
4. Mondo Duplantis’ pole jump world record. How did he do that? I watched him throw himself over the bar over and over again and I don’t how it is physically possible. It was like a Marvel moment.
5. Stef Curry, Lebron James, and company as they made the basketball team from France go “night, night”. They may have given us heartburn with their come-from-behind win over Serbia, but they redeemed themselves mightily in the gold medal game.
These are just a few that will live in my memory until the next Olympics rolls around in 2028. Do you think Susanville Stuff will send me to LA as a correspondent? Between me and Terra Avilla, we have it covered!
Remember when news was ‘newsy’? When you read about weddings, family events and engagement announcements in the newspaper? If you have something that might be newsworthy, please submit it to [email protected] and I’ll do my best to include it here in “The Good Stuff.”
