Do you know who this Olympic Track athlete and Track Mom are ?
With the Winter Olympics in full swing I am totally engrossed in every event I get a chance to watch or TIVO….Who knew I would be so fixed on the Winter Olympics. My husband just smiles at me and says “I can sleep with the TV on honey. Boy am I glad,’cause I’ve been watching nightly since last Friday night.
I don’t just watch for the sport of the moment on the screen, I watch for the perceptions the commentators on each sport and performance,how the families of the athletes cheer and support the performances of their family members and friends. The process of an elite athlete’s journey to the moment of standing on top of the hill or middle of the rink and for a small group standing at the top of the podium hearing the anthem of your country of origin is compelling and moving.
I think what I enjoy most about the Olympic experience is that every single athlete has a story to tell,every athlete as given up something to be a part of a thing in many way much bigger than his or her own accomplishments. At the same time so personal and meaningful to themselves. Sport has a familial culture that transcends the sport one participates or enjoys; no matter if you totally understand a particular sport or not, you can’t deny the talent effort and hard work it takes to participate.
Like Shawn White performing crazy scary twists in the air while on a board feet fastened with nerves of steel or Lindsey Vonn speeding down a hill to a first gold medal victory after many years of world championships and clearly the best women skier in her events in the world. you can’t not admire the journey and effort.
Sport unites our psyche in possibility, and hope that effort will pay off. I have found that in our own household this week we have had conversations about athletes I usually don’t think much about. Some athletes can even transend their sport and enter in to households (like mine) that usually wouldn’t have conversation about a particular sport or athlete.
I have enjoyed learning about the families journey not just the athlete,as all parents know it take a large effort to support and nurture an athlete to reach their full potential.I have come to realize that parents of all sports make decisions early about what they are wiling and able to do to support and help create their child’s dreams what ever they may be.
This week I couldn’t watch the Olympic broadcast to long before hearing about the athletes friends and family ties. Whether our youth track and field athletes are destined for Gold at a Invitational, Bronze at a regional or a 29th place finish at a National Championship,sports provide challenge,drama, intensity,joy,fun,sorrow,emotional and physical challenges and triumph in victory. Sports helps demonstrate that ever athlete can accomplish and change thier bodies no matter what place they come acrossed the finish line . A youth athlete can garner a a great deal of personal aspirations from having peer athletic role models and a level of confidence from being one as well.
As I prepare for another exciting season of track and field my personal goal is to learn a little bit more about what makes Lauren tick as an athlete, what athletic challenges does she want to face and maybe even conquer as we set goals and what does she view as vauable form us as parents to suport her efforts to strive fora National titile and personal best this season. No two seasons since we have been envolved in Track and field have been the same. Already this one is different in many ways so I just face the fact that season to season we all can grow and learn to make better the next.
Lastly sports inspires me, Lauren inspires me to be my best..never an olympian but my best and I am okay with that…
Oh yeah…the Olympian in the photo is Lauryn and her Track Mom Donna
Connect With TrackMom