Wednesday August 20, 2008

Just 5 more days of the Olympics and just 2 more days until I’m at Igo Library (2-3pm) for an Olympic book reading with autographs and a chance to enter a drawing to win the USA team backpack. So stay tuned for more information.

As much as I like swimming… track and gymnastics are the original Olympic Sports and some of my favorites to watch. We have seen some incredible performances so far in these two sports.

It must be cool to say like Usain Bolt, that you’re the fastest man in the world. Or to say like 16 year old Shawn Johnson that you are one of the best gymnasts in the world. Do you think you could be the best in the world at something? Do you really? Well, I never thought when I was growing up that I could be the best in the world at something? I didn’t think it was possible until I was 20. But I just kept setting my goals progressively higher and I kept doing my best everyday in school and sports. Then sure enough, years later it worked. Now whatever your gifts are, whether it’s a subject in school, music, art, fixing things, computers or sports always do your best for a long time and you will be amazed at where your life ends up!

The other original Olympic sport is wrestling. Henry Cejudo who’s mom and 6 siblings came here from Mexico has won a gold medal for men’s freestyle wrestling. I met some of the wrestlers on the plane to China last week. And although they are not very tall they are super tough and
I would not want to challenge them to a match. Henry just finished college and now has a gold medal, surely America is a land of dreams and opportunity.

The other athlete I met on the plane was the famous triathlete, Hunter Kemper, cool name isn’t it? As you may know, the Latin prefix “tri” stands for three. So, Hunter trains in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center for 3 events rolled into one: 1.5 mile swim, 20 km bike and then a 4 mile run, Have you ever “tried” a triathlon? You should try a “tri”. I did it once…once. I had fun but it hurt, but when I look back at my life as kid, that’s pretty much all I did was swim at the Harmony Hills Cabana Club all day, ride my bike all over the neighborhood every day and run around and play tag or just race. Most children are natural triathletes! I challenge you to swim 10 laps in the pool, bike twice around your block and run 5 times around your house and then read for at least 30 minutes. If you did that you would have a very fun, productive day!

Like I said when I was a kid I used to ride my bike everywhere. And now they have a new Olympic sport of BMX bike racing. How cool is that! Do you like riding your bike? Maybe this could be your Olympic sport? The 4 other new sports at the Games this year are: 10K open water(very difficult and crazy), Women’s steeplechase(very cool), Women’s team sabre and foil or fencing(our own Kelly Hurley is in that, Yea!), and finally Table Tennis team event or we call Team Ping Pong(very fast and contrary to what you might thing very difficult).

Certainly, there has been some incredible victories but there have been some sad disappointments. Even the very best in the world can have off days and make mistakes. It’s normal to be upset but to turn it around into a positive attitude is the sign of a true champion. Whether you have a things that go well or not so well today keep a positive attitude.

Hi everyone!

I told you I’d give you the links to my news clips from Beijing.

Beijing News Clips

Monday August 18, 2008

What an incredible weekend for this Olympics and
Olympic History! We witnessed the fastest man ever in
the world on land and in the pool. Usain Bolt broke
the world record in the 100m dash in track and Michael
Phelps, as everybody knows, became the greatest
Olympian of all time and easily the greatest swimmer
ever, by winning 8 gold medals in 7 world records.
Unbelievable!! And we got to say we saw it with our
own eyes. We can look back and remember that we saw
history being made.

Michael’s story began with a goal when he was 11 years
old. First he wanted to be the best 11-12 year old he
could, then the best 13-14 year old, then at 15 made
his 1st Olympics. I was with Michael on that team in
2000 and I never would have guessed that he would
accomplish all that he has. But he and his coach had
a dream and a goal and then they just worked really
hard for about 10 years. From age 13-23 Michael
worked harder than anybody else in the world and he
went on to do the most amazing feat the world has ever
seen. I read an article the other day about success.
It says that no matter who you are, no matter what
line of work: sports, medicine, businesss, one can
achieve greatness if they work very hard for about 10
years or 10,000 hours, regardless of talent! I think
that last phrase is cool because sometimes we think we
need more talent or genetic gifts to be better, but
it’s not true! Most of the time it’s just not giving
up. I’m so excited about where you and I will be 10
years from now as we keep reading and working hard!
We can be like Michael and set goals and work hard and
see our dreams come true also! (more…)

Saturday, August 16 2008

Can you believe it? I knew it could happen but
actually seeing it happen is something else. And to
do it with such drama and style is truly impressive.
Actually Michael only has 7 of the 8 gold medals that
he hopes to get. The 8th gold medal should come
tonight but it will be a very difficult race in the
4×100 medley relay with the Australians. I’m trusting
that he and the USA team have overcome so much already
that hopefully this last relay will work out fine. In
tying the record 7 golds in one Olympics Michael
already is a champion but to get one more would make
him the greatest ever!

What makes a champion? Is it someone who never loses
or is it more in how you hold yourself before and
after a race regardless of the result? I think it may
have more to do with the latter. Watching Michael
Phelps makes me wonder, what are the qualities of a
true champion? No doubt Michael’s domination of the
world in all his events followed by gracious and
humble interviews would be very close to the epitome
of a champion. But I also see signs of it when world
record holder Aaron Piersol was incredibly gracious
and positive while receiving the silver medal after
his teammate Ryan Lochte had broken the record and won
the gold. I saw it when Jason Lezak decided not to
give up on the end of the 4×100 free relay. I saw it
when Brendan Hansen congratulated his rival Kosuke
Kitajima from Japan broke his world record and Brendan
painfully got fourth. (more…)

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Today is the 3rd day of competition but I’m still
riding high from Sunday night’s relay win!!
That was the greatest race I’ve ever seen! Michael
Phelps swam harder than ever to lead us off then our
anchor leg Jason Lezak, despite facing incredible
odds, decided to not give up and amazingly touched out
the huge world record Frenchman! It just goes to show
you how powerful the decision can be to never give up.

Just think what can happen in your life when you go
all out to develop your body, spirit and of course,
your mind through reading!!! We were all so proud to
sing that National Anthem and see our flag raised!!

I think it’s important to note 2 things about the
medal ceremonies. One is the singing of the national
anthem and the other is proper flag etiquette.
Etiquette is a French word for proper actions or good
manners. It stems from the same origin as the word
ethics or how you do things. Winning a gold
medal for your country is very good time to showcase
your very best ethics or etiquette. You are
representing an entire country and every facial
gesture is showcased on global television! I think
it looks so good when an athlete smiles and sings the
anthem with pride and gratitude. I don’t know why
some athletes don’t smile and sing but if you every
find yourself winning the gold may I encourage you to
smile and sing. As a refresher, I have included the
words of our National Anthem:
(more…)