The Olympic trials are always great viewing. This year has been no different. You get to watch the best of the United States competing for a place in the Olympic arena. Being the United States, we are blessed to have some of the very best in many sports. When you see someone win the U.S. trials, you know they probably have a decent shot at a medal. But not only do you get to observe triumphs of sport, you often get to see something of the character behind the athlete. And if you are open to it, you have the opportunity to develop your own character, too.
This year one of the real delights was watching the young sprinter Quincy Wilson. Wilson is only sixteen and he made it to the final heat for the men’s 400 m. He set two U18 records on his way to that heat. And even though he came in sixth, he’s going to the Olympics with the relay team. Watching this young man step up to the line and race against grown men and do well was thrilling. While others wore their college or sponsor gear, he wore his high school uniform. Sometimes when you watch something like that, you know you are seeing the start of what will likely be a very storied career. You have the chance to get excited for the first time about someone.
The Olympic trials also allow us to appreciate long careers nearing their end. Katie Ledecky is going back to the Olympics this year. This will be her fourth Olympics. When we watch her swim now, we know we are watching something historic. And we know we are watching greatness that is the product of a lifetime of discipline and focus. There are no casual four-time Olympians with seven gold medals. Her triumphs are a testimony to her approach to the sport, not just her athletic genes.
Watching a great athlete at what might be their final Olympics should allow us to appreciate more than just that athlete, but also something about ourselves. At the trials, Simone Biles stunned us again—like usual. We’re accustomed to her being great, but at 27, she is also “the oldest American woman to make an Olympic gymnastics team since the 1950s.” We can and should be proud and impressed to have Biles represent the United States again, but we should also take a moment to appreciate whatever youth and vitality we have ourselves and have around us. Most of us will be less physically active four years from now, so why not appreciate what we have? We should also appreciate the energy in the young people who we have around, because they won’t always have quite so much.
The Olympic trials can make you cry. These athletes have spent their whole lives preparing for these games and the smallest thing can derail their biggest opportunity. This year Athing Mu fell in the women’s 800m final. She is the defending gold medal champ, but there aren’t any second chances in the trials. She may very well be the best women’s 800m runner in the world this summer, but she won’t have the opportunity to medal. At the Olympic trials, athletes face real heartbreak and they do it on television—in sports that are often not even televised in other years. Craig Engels, a real crowd favorite, came in ninth in the men’s 1500m and had his tears broadcast to the world but his words were about pride and appreciation. When these athletes face these challenges, they are showing us much more than physical strength. We witness their character.
The Olympics allow the United States to put our best athletes out there for the world to see. Watching the Olympic trials can help the rest of us become our better selves, too. Every life is like the Olympic trials—there are celebrations and there are moments for crying. Sometimes you have a bad break and there is no second chance. We all have to learn to live with hard realities and face the facts with dignity. Watching Olympic hopefuls do it on live television can be a good encouragement for us to do the same.
The Olympic trials should also remind us to be better encouragers. We watch these strangers performing at their peak and we are thrilled. We cheer for them from the couch. In everyday life, we can be skeptical about others achieving success or uncomfortable because of how we might compare. There’s a line in D.H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow when an unhappy young wife is being counseled about her husband and confronted with the fact that while she doesn’t want her husband to be unhappy, “neither do you intend him to be hopping for joy like a fish in a pond.” When we are watching the Olympic trials and the Olympics, we are so happy for our athletes to be hopping for joy like a fish in a pond. Most of us are thrilled to be cheering for Simone Biles from the couch. So why not cheer a little for the people we know personally when they take on challenges? Why not hope for those around us to be hopping for joy like a fish in a pond?