Storylines of the Olympic Games

"Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it." ~Dalai Lama XIV

I love the Olympics, for reasons just like we have seen this week. The nice guy finishes first. Tremendous sacrifices made by a couple pay off. These are what the Olympics are made for.

Nice Guy Finishes First.

Everyone has probably heard about Alex Bilodeau, the 22 year old Canadian moguls skier who gave Canada their first gold medal on home soil. Ever. Seeing all of the Canadian fans go completely crazy when "Oh Canada" was played at the medal ceremony was really great.

But my favorite part of the story has to do with his brother. His older brother, Frederic, suffers from cerebral palsy. Alex told the press that his brother has been an inspiration to him since he was a child. When Alex didn't want to get out of bed on cold mornings to get to practice, he would think of his brother, who didn't have the opportunity to ski. Alex said that he has adopted his brother's philosophy on life, "Enjoy life." Alex says that if his brother can have that philosophy, when Frederic really does have a right to complain, Alex can do it too.

When Alex won the race, Frederic joined him at the base of the ski run. His family pushed him in his wheelchair down the ramp from the bleachers. He waved both of his arms in the air and shouted all the way to the base of the ski run. It may not have gotten the national attention of the medals ceremony, but it may have meant just as much to Alex and Frederic.

Tremendous Sacrifices Pay Off.

The other big story line was in pairs figure skating. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo have been skatin together for 18 years. This was their 4th Olympics. They have been world champions twice. The only thing missing? Their Olympic gold medal.

A lot of people got on their bandwagon because of the love story.....the couple married in 2007. It was the day after Valentine's Day. All that love, romance junk.

That's not the reason I love the story. I like the sacrifices they made. These two retired when they got married. But then, they came back, all to try to get the illusive gold medal. They lived in the dorms at the figure skating training center, separately. They ate in the cafeteria. They didn't have much of a married life. This is what the Olympics are all about---sacrifices to have one chance at your dream every four years. These skaters left their family to move to the training center eighteen years ago. They put their lives and marriage on hold. In the end, it paid off. They got their gold medal.

What's their plan now? To have a huge wedding celebration, re-retire, and have a baby. Because they were willing to make sacrifices, they will do all three with gold medals around their necks.

Yep....these two stories are what the Olympics are all about.