Sarah Warsi

It’s that time of the year again. 2900 Athletes from 92 countries are competing in this year’s winter olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

So I’ve got to admit that I’m not a crazy winter olympics fan – I do enjoy watching skating, skiing and luge, but if I had to choose, I would much prefer the summer olympics mainly because I asbolutely love watching gymnastics, diving, , swimming and track and field.

Also, the winter olympics involves curling – a sport that can put anyone to sleep, but, I do have an appreciate for the professional curlers who clearly know what their doing and understand the game (unlike me). 🙂

But, in general, with every single Olympics game, summer or winter, what always amazes me is the monstrous level of camaraderie and sportsmanship that is so apparent for the 10 days that the event runs for. It’s so amazing to see the talent and athleticism coming together from all walks of the world. Sure, everyone is going for gold, but winning any Olympics medal is something to be so proud of and celebrated for years to come.

I still remember a very memorable moment from the 1996 summer olympics in Atlanta when Kerri Strug, an American gymnast at the time, nailed a vault that won her team a gold medal, in spite of having injured her ankle in a previous run.

As you’ll see in the video, she initially fell on the first one, so she had to nail the second one in order for her team to win. Talk about pressure!

You can clearly see the agony she was in after sticking the landing, but as they say, no pain, no gain, and I’m sure all these years later she has looked back on that moment in her life very fondly and with incredible pride.

The video gets me teared up every time.

Moments like this remind us that it doesn’t matter whether your country was being represented – all that matters is the sheer determination and perseverance an athlete can have under such extreme circumstances, to be able come through for your team and home country.

So as we journey through the 2018 games, all the best to all the competing countries with the same common goal; and of course, all the best to Team Canada, we know you’ll make us proud.

The feature image in this post can be found at Olympic.ca.