The 2020/2021 Olympics prevailed despite overwhelming doubt of their success. The lackluster opening ceremony did not inspire confidence, but the athletes went out and did their best. And their best was spectacular. Records were broken; dynasties ended and new faces emerged.
The US got more medals and gold’s than any other country, but that glory was shared. Three nations earned their first Olympic medals, and three nations got their first gold.
Still, American preeminence in baseball and basketball was challenged. Japanese men took home the gold in baseball, American women defeated the shorter but feisty Japanese in basketball, who got their first medal in the sport.
My personal favorites were teen’s Athing Mu and Lydia Jacoby. Mu, American born to Sudanese immigrants, got America’s first gold in the 800 meters in 53 years. Watching her long strides was poetry in motion. Lydia Jacoby, the 17- year-old from Seward, AK, was the only medalist who got two medals, one gold, for her home state.
Jacoby swims for the Seward Tsunami Swim Club, which was founded by my husband’s cousin, Janet VonDriessche, who also coached Jacoby’s coach!
In the late 1970s, Alaska built pools in every major town or city. Seward, with less than 4,000 population qualified. The high school asked Janet’s husband Yvon, a commercial diver, to be the coach. But since he did not have an education degree, they asked Janet. Besides operating a B&B, Janet taught and coached the team for 34 years.
Janet said Jacoby is “very kind, plays bass and piano, and loves photography.” Sounds just like the many multi-talented people who live in America’s small towns.
Streaming allowed families and friends spread around the world to have massive watch parties, with cheers that were quickly shared with their hometown athletes. So the success of the Olympics was not only the sports and sportsmanship, but also the remote sharing of the gold.
