The summer games are finally underway and I am soo excited. I am an olympics junkie…

It was the 1st race in the morning, and there were 17,000 people there to cheer on the Aussie swimmers (Swimming, like all sport, is very big in Oz – the trials are shown on free to air prime time TV)

It was the first heat, only 3 involved, and then the guys from Kazakhstan and Iran false started and got disqualified. (I like to think that Eric was so petrified he forgot to jump) I always think that that was such a great missed story – imagine coming all the way from Kazakhstan and never getting to race at all after all that training, flying, free stuff at the Olympic Village etc etc etc. How do you explain that to the future grandchildren?

So it was just Eric left, and the mood changed to stifled giggles as the scoreboard focused in on him – He looked like he’d never worn goggles before and I remember he hadn’t tied the cord on his Speedos and it was hanging down at his knees. In hindsight, he must have been soiling himself.

And then he jumped in, and there was this horrendously awkward pause as he took FOREVER to surface. And then he started thrashing his way down the pool and his ineptitude was so great that the crowd was mesmerised. We throw our kids in the pool very young here in Oz and its fair to say that the average 5 year old here would have whipped this bloke… he was going that slow.

The tumble turn had a real frog-in-a-blender quality to it. I think that that was the point at which sentiment turned. The crowd really started to cheer for the guy and nearly lifted the roof off when he got 20m out from the finish and basically swam in the same spot for 10 seconds. Joe was right to say that there was a genuine risk that the guy might drown. When he finished, it was one of the loudest cheers I have ever heard.

The beauty of the Olympics at their best is that optimistic spirit that it generates. Everyone should have laughed at Eric really but the crowd recognised his struggle and responded to him, roaring on him on. Just because he was rubbish didn’t mean that you couldn’t admire his courage to jump in in the first place. I don’t think that many of us would have the guts to attempt something you were a complete novice at in front of a huge crowd and billions on TV.

If I remember rightly, a couple of days later Eric went down to Bondi for a photo op and nearly drowned again.

What a legend.

The reason the Eel won his heat is because he followed the rules. The guys who false started did so presumably in an effort to get an extra split second advantage in order to win. Eric probably had no notion of a quick start, heck, he probably was starting to get tired from the two double false start jumps, but he was there to compete fairly and show the world that Equatorial Guinea exists and wants to be on the same stage as everybody else. I’d much rather they show their national pride by sending a near drowner to the Olympics than by starting a war. And every Olympics there are competitors who show great courage and skill or face incredible diversity just trying to finish, who unite us in rooting for them, and that shared experience shows that we are all people, whether we are from America or Equatorial Guinea.

There are two victories in every Olympic competition. One goes to the people who wind up on the medal stand. The other goes to everybody who shows up, who tries, risking ridicule and in some cases injury but coming together to show the world that we are all people. Maybe we’re not as fast or as strong or as buoyant or hydrodynamic but we’re willing to be alongside you, risks and all, because it means something. That’s why I’m so utterly opposed to nations who boycott the Olympics, because they’re saying, “We don’t want to be with you, we want to be against you.” Those are the people who put hate above humanity. Those are the people behind terrorism. And the Olympics, in a very small way, Bob Costas and all, are part of the rest of the world saying, “We reject your hatred. We are going to be together, winners and medalists, and as long as we retain our ability to compete in friendship we make your message of hatred that much harder to accept.”

But in the rush to satisfy the corporate sponsors that own the Olympics, will anyone bother to write about the real stories in Beijing? The culture clash between east and west is a huge deal, especially in an election year. There are so many stories that will never be written for fear of persecution – and I’m not just talking about China.

When I said the Olympics is full of sports that nobody cares about, I do mean that nobody cares about them as entertainment. I think the evidence is overwhelming on that point.

Check the ratings for the Ironman Triathlon. They’re awful every year, yet most sports fans would tell you that what those athletes do is astonishing. For many fans the correlation between finding an athletic feat admirable and wanting to watch it or read about it isn’t always there.

I have no problem with the story you have told: there is more to sport than simply breaking records. There is ambassadorship, and one man’s attempt to bring his sport to prominence at home. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Blah blah blah blah

I am a consume American sports entertainment in epic proportions, dedicating my Saturday and Sunday nights in the Fall to football even when overseas, and catching as many MLB games as possible (MLB.tv is great for watching games whilst in Europe). I like the “Big Three” sports–I love them, played them, and enjoy watching them. I have my favorite teams, go to games when I can, etc. They entertain me, but they rarely force me to think about the connection between sport and the human spirit (with rare exceptions, which are now enshrined in our collective conscience–MJ crying with the trophy is a good example).

However, when I watch track and field (yes, I’m a former runner, Andy) or swimming or cycling, I am inspired by the indomitable human spirit on display and awed at the apparent ease with which the limits of human ability are extended*.

*Is it just me, or do the athletes making World Record (WR) performances look like they are hardly trying? They tend to flow along, as smooth as can be. It truly is incredible.