The Olympics

The Olympics always make me emotional... With their little stories about the moms and how hard the athletes have worked and all the tears they cry when they make a mistake or tears of joy when they win a medal. It makes me all sappy.

But my favorite thing about the Olympics is the unity that happens. As I sat and watched women's gymnastics, Aliya Mustafina of Russia had just finished an incredible uneven bar routine. He Kexin, the Chinese opponent, came over to Mustfina gave her a hug and smiled. Obviously speaking two different languages, Mustafina could only respond with a universal hand signal, a thumbs up. The two smiled again, showing respect for the others' talent, and went on their way.

And then I watched Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang as he once again was plagued by injury in his Achilles as he tried to run the 100 meter hurdles. He hopped on one foot the whole 100 meters just to cross the finish line. As he did, the athlete from Hungary came up to him, shook his hand, and then raised the Chinese man's arm in the arm. Soon, the runners from Great Britain and Spain came to help Xiang off the track. It was sportsmanship like I have not seen very often.

Yes, the Olympics are the world's biggest competition, but there are moments when the competition, the name of of your country, the language you speak, the politics, the history... It simply doesn't matter. It all freezes as incredibly talented athletes unite.