Do you have Olympic fever?I've enjoyed the Olympics as far back as I can remember and my first real memories are from watching the Montreal games in 1976.
Bruce Jenner was the decathlete and honored with his picture on the Wheaties. (I wonder what he would have thought then if told his family would eventually be on something known as Reality TV?)
Jenner spoke to our high school in 1980. But there is no lasting memory from that experience.
1980 was the boycott of the games in Moscow and the famous winter Olympiad in Lake Placid with the Miracle on Ice. In the midst of American turmoil and, as President Carter put it, a general malaise - there was a genuine uplift from the hockey team's victory and Gold Medal win over Finland.
Lots of Wisconsin connections to that hockey team, including the current coach of the Wisconsin Women's team. Mark Johnson played for the U.W. and the USA in those games.
While working in South Dakota, I was honored to meet a few Olympians.
Billy Mills was the improbable come-from-behind winner in the 10,000 meter race in the Tokyo Olympics. He came from behind to beat the favorites. Mills was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota - one of the country's poorest places then and now.
I heard him speak and was able to interview him a couple of times during my time in TV news there. Personable, humble, and confident. A Marine. One of the greatest champions in USA history.
Also during my time out west, I met and interviewed twin brothers Jim and Bill Scherr in their hometown of Mobridge, South Dakota just before a parade in their honor that sent the pair on their way to compete in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
My meeting was a brief one in their family home before the parade was to start - and the town was excited for them to go compete. I remember them as both friendly and humble about their achievement - easy people to cheer for in the Games. In Korea, Jim finished 5th at 198 pounds and Bill earned a Bronze medal at 220.
The Olympics are fun to watch - with a variety of sports not seen since ABC's Wide World of Sports was in it's hey day. Watching men and women dedicated with ferocious tenacity to their sport for years and put it all in the line for one moment is exciting. As a middling (at best) athlete myself, I'm pulled to the stories of Olympians who qualify with hopes of reaching a final and posting a personal best.
There is a lot to cheer for this year - lots of new Olympic sports - and compelling stories that hopefully will be confined to the fields of competition.
If you are looking for athletes who triumphed by making it to the Opening Ceremonies - there are plenty to choose from out there.
Wisconsin sends lots of athletes for the USA and other countries. A story I that caught my eye the other day was this about a skier from the Caribbean. A few years ago, a Milwaukee man whose home country is Mexico qualified in Cross Country skiing. This year it's a Half-pipe skier from the British Virgin Islands who went to school in Lake Geneva.
Enjoy the Games!
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