Did you spend your weekend watching the Gymnastics Olympic Trials? Nope? I did.
Unfortunately, gymnastics is not on the radar of most black folks. I guess it falls in lines of tennis and golf. Expensive as hell. I was lucky. My Mom enrolled me when I was 2 and I didn't quit until 16. Those curves & a knee that would not act right. But over the years I have gone back to teach and test my mettle to see if I could still do the skills. (It's funny I can walk on a 4 inch beam without falling off, but give me land....shit...I will make a mess. 6 concussions for proof.)
I am always excited every 4 years when it is Olympic time. The honor. The skill. The perseverance. The will to be the best. It always gets me.
So this weekend I watched my favorite men and women (really the men are really men but the women are all under 20...) The men's team has been named but it will take a camp to determine the additional women. So excited to see a darker hue in the running. Dominique Dawes was a long time ago.
One of my favorite commericals is of Derek Redmond. A British Track & Field athlete that suffered an injury during a heat. And his father who guranteed he completed the race. That type of love and affirmation is awesome.
This is footage of the race.
This is footage of the commercial.
2 comments:
I used to love watching gymnastics. Me and my sisters. That weekend I actually got to watch it with two men (who admitted that they love watching them compete). It was refreshing to have a room of two brown people and a "manly" (discus- and hammer-throwing) man sit back, enjoy, and critique some uneven bars, some floor exercises, and some balance beam.
Oooh! Can I borrow them? I can't get mine to watch! Lucky.
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