GOATs to the Rescue!
Just when the political news cycle seemed like it couldn’t get more outrageous, the women saved us from insanity. Not just any women — two women Olympic Champions who are the GOATs, the Greatest of All Time in their respective sports. Simone Biles is one of the most amazing athletes in any sport, and her gold medal performance yesterday to capture the individual all-round Olympic championship was simply stunning. Swimming champion Katie Ledecky now is the most decorated female Olympian of all time. As both women competed yesterday, their strength and resilience and sheer excellence pushed the negative headlines off the screen, replaced with images of our high aspirations to be the best in whatever endeavors we pursue. That’s one of the reasons why we love watching the Olympics — not only to cheer for our faves but also to soak in the moments of inspiration, hope and joy in achievement.
Let’s cheer for the GOATs!
The achievements of Simone and Katie and other Olympians were balm in a news cycle that highlighted some of the worst of human behavior on the political side. This blog was going to be solely devoted to a certain presidential candidate’s ugly, racist, shameful behavior in his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists. I may still write about the disgraceful, disordered rhetoric of that candidate and the baseline expectations in civility and truth we must have for our national leaders. But the GOATs stole the show this week, and good for them, let’s not let one man’s disgusting behavior distract us from the real champions worth celebrating.
Another huge story of hope and triumph filled our screens last night as well — the freeing of American hostages from Russian prisons. What an amazing story of resilience, perseverance, diplomacy and grit! Who didn’t get goose bumps watching Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kormasheva emerge from the plane at Joint Base Andrews late last night? Congratulations to all public officials, diplomats and private negotiators from multiple nations who secured their release!
As we head into the waning days of summer, let’s continue to celebrate the best of who we are and can be. Let’s appreciate and cheer for the GOATs, and let’s push the negativity and hostility to the margins. Keeping our balance in this turgid political time is essential to be sure that this nation emerges victorious as a thriving, healthy democracy after the November presidential election.
Cheers for Team USA!!
