Tag: olympics

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The night after Michael Phelps butterflew to his mind-boggling eighth gold medal in Beijing, a local TV news channel I was watching in San Diego went to a local youth swim meet and interviewed some kids. They all wanted to be like Mike.
That's natural. Olympic superstars are a great source of inspiration and motivation. But kids aren't the only ones who want to emulate their heroes. How about middle-agers who saw Dara Torres the same night set a personal best in the 50-meter freestyle in ta... Read More

Four years ago, at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, a 36-year-old pole vaulter was feeling down. He was the American record holder in his event, but for the second Trials in a row, he was an also-ran. He failed to make his second Olympic team.  Jeff Hartwig of Arkansas, the star-crossed vaulter, told the media:
"I said after 2000 (when he failed to clear his opening height at the Trials): 'I'll never let myself be that disappointed again.' This is par for the course for me at th... Read More

Two years ago, I became something I hadn’t been before. My soccer teammates told me I was a role model. It wasn’t because I was playing any better -- they just finally found out I was twenty years older than some of them. That’s what makes us proud of being GeezerJocks, isn’t it? We carry on our Weekend Road Warrior traditions long after our peers have retired to a couch potato trailer park of existence. But while I might inspire younger athletes, I am in turn inspired by others t... Read More