The Olympics

I am a big fan of the Olympics. I have watched every year for as far back as I can remember. The past few Olympics though have been rocked by scandals of Olympians abusing Human Growth Hormone or other performance enhancing substances. This is beyond disappointing for sports junkies like myself who enjoy watching these games for the sheer fact that some of these sports are sports we played as children and we enjoy watching people who have turned them into an art form. It is also disappointing because the young children of today look up to these Olympians as role models, and what kind of role models are the children of today getting if all they are learning is how to cheat and not get caught.

This year there is a truly inspiring story of 41 year old female US Olympian on the swimming team, Dara Torres. She is in her fifth Olympics and is the mother of a two-year-old little girl, Tessa. Due to all the scepticism regarding her quick comeback after her pregnancy and her age, she is taking part in an experimental drug testing program just to prove that she isn't taking performance enhancing drugs. I find it slightly sad and an interesting statement on our times that she has to prove ahead of time that she is not on any performance enhancing substance. No longer do we live in a society where you are innocent until proven guilty, now you have to go out of your way to prove your innocence before even being accused of a crime.

Considering the sheer number of US Track and Field medals that were revoked earlier this year in reaction to the recent drug scandals that have rocked the USOC, I personally am hoping that the Olympic athletes keep in mind that they compete not only for themselves, but when they put that US uniform on that they represent the millions of Americans at home who are rooting for them and cheering them on. When they fall down, we fall down with them, and we are tired of being dragged down in their drug scandals.

I wish all of the athletes good luck as they begin their Olympic journeys tomorrow. I hope they do themselves and their country proud.