I remember tuning into MTV to catch some music and instead being faced with something that was apparently very real.
While the “reality” of “The Real World” was as debatable as pro wrestling in its day, there was no doubting the popularity of that reality when it came to the ratings. While acting that feels real can pull at your heartstrings, there’s just nothing as moving as the really real. The thrill of victory and agony of defeat are reality for us all, whether coming on an Idol’s stage, a Bake-off’s kitchen, or even a Drag Race’s runway.
But there’s really nothing so real in this world as the real-time unfolding of competition in sport, and maybe nothing quite so dramatic as that competition amongst “amateur” athletes at the Olympics every four years. The stories that have emerged from Paris in the Olympics first week have had an insane amount of emotion.
Want drama? If you’re a basketball fan, a Denver sports fan, or just someone who likes an underdog, one of the more highly anticipated matchups of this last week was the United States Men’s team game against the Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic and the Serbian National team early in the games. Joker was as vocal and active as his strongest Nuggets games, playing the USA’s stacked squad to a draw when he was on the floor. It was hard to decide who to cheer for in the game, and Nuggets fans everywhere were as torn as watching a deep family drama.
Want sheer, unadulterated joy? Catch the wrap-up of the US Men’s gymnastics team competition, where bespectacled pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik pushed the last buttons to give the guys their first medal in 16 years. Stephen and the team are the toast of the early Olympics, he and his glasses bouncing their way into a fame he could have never expected.
Want to hear to hopes of an entire country? Hear the rhythmic cheers of what sounds like all of France cheering on Leon Marchand every time his head breaks the water, a noise so ebullient that even his fellow competitors think it only amazing for their sport. Marchand’s multiple medals have seemed some of the sparkliest of the competition, if only from the light of the fans surrounding.
Want utter heartbreak? See Brazil’s Marta, of the Women’s National Soccer team, who while vigorously pursuing a ball, inadvertently ended up with her foot connecting with a competitor’s head. Such an act is an immediate and hard-to-argue red card and dismissal, even when inadvertent. But piled on top of the story was the Brazilian legend’s plan to retire at the end of this Olympic tourney. Suddenly, the end was much more immediate than she’d even planned, and her agony was even felt and empathized with by the official who had little choice but to show her the door.
Want the power that the attention from all of this drama can bring? See the sudden flood of eyeballs turned towards social media sensation Ilona Maher and the US Women’s National Rugby Team, who stormed back from a sure loss in their Bronze Medal contest, an achievement they could point to with pride just for having made it to, when Alex Sedrick decided maybe she’d like to pack a little metal on the way back home. Sedrick’s run punched the final button on a promised 4 million dollar donation to the program from Michelle Kang, and the sport has never been riding a higher high in the United States.
Most of the view of the drama above comes from the very biased eyes of an American sports fan, who can still see how entertaining and wonderful this past week has been whether you are French, Serbian, or from one of the other 200+ nations attending this peerless event. If reality TV is your thing in the slightest, you need to spend you next week and a half with your eyes towards Paris. It doesn’t get any more real than this.
