It’s 7 a.m. on a rainy August day in San Antonio, Texas. The time, date and weather all suggest I should be wrapped up under a blanket in my bed enjoying some of the last days of summer. Instead, I’m on the edge of my couch in the living room with sweaty hands and a fast-pumping heart watching sport climbing, a sport I didn’t know existed just 30 minutes before that very moment.
Colin Duffy of the United States was just two moves away from clinching the gold medal, but instead he fell off the lead climbing wall too early and dropped all the way to seventh place. Heartbreak for Duffy, the USA and Brian.
For the past 17 days, I forgot that anything other than the Tokyo 2020 Olympics existed. After falling in love with the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and being depressed when they ended, I was determined to watch every possible moment of these delayed Olympics in Japan. When I say every possible moment, I mean that literally.
On the morning that I watched sport climbing, it was not as if I woke up extra early to catch some Olympic action. In fact I didn’t wake up at all. I just stayed up all night. Yes, as in not sleeping at all. I caught the April Ross and Alix Klineman beach volleyball semifinal match on my phone before settling in back home for 11 consecutive hours of Olympic coverage. Thank you NBC Sports App!
I did not intend to stay up all night, as I had planned my schedule the previous nights around certain events to make sure I got at least a couple of hours of sleep. I even slept on the couch most nights to immediately be ready to watch whatever was next. But as the night and morning went along, there were just too many exciting events to turn away from. American wrestler David Taylor pulled off a stunning comeback with 17 seconds left to win gold, American pole vaulter Katie Nageotte clinched a shocking gold herself, USA baseball defeated South Korea to advance to the gold medal game and Belgium held off Australia in a penalty shootout for gold in men’s field hockey.
Other than baseball, the sports I was watching were things I never really paid attention to. But that’s the beauty of the Olympics. Every four — or five — years, the world comes together to put on a spectacular show. Fans are treated to events they are never exposed to, and often they can fall in love. After watching Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen crush China’s Chen Long in the men’s badminton finals, I felt like asking my friends if they wanted to play badminton.
It is hard to describe exactly why I love the Olympics so much, but the best word I can come up with is magical. There is simply something magical about seeing the entire world come together for a little more than two weeks to do nothing more than play a few games.
It is also incredibly rewarding seeing athletes that sacrificed everything finally reach the pinnacle of their careers. Even though I could never relate to the thousands of hours they put into training, I felt as though I was right there with them when they won. From Suni Lee’s family freaking out about her all-around gold, to Caeleb Dressel tearing up while talking to his family after yet another Olympic title, it is hard to not get emotional watching people fulfill their dreams.
I am so thankful for sports, and I am so thankful for the Olympics. This has been a difficult two years, and I know that the Olympics like everything has its issues. But for the past 17 days, I was able to ignore everything else and enjoy the magic the Olympics create. Now, despite the sadness of it all being over, I have to look forward and say, “Bonjour, Paris!”
My top Olympic moments
It is nearly impossible to narrow down all I watched into just a few of my favorite moments, but here I go. I enjoyed everything, so these are just what stood out to me the most!
- Great Britain divers Tom Daley and Matty Lee winning gold over China in the men’s 10m synchronized diving.
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- China is so dominant in diving (they won every other event), so just them losing was shocking enough, but Daley finally winning gold in his fourth Olympics was thrilling to watch.
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- American swimmer Lydia Jacoby, from the great state of Alaska, stunning the world by winning gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke.
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- The best part of all this was watching the crowd back in Alaska go absolutely nuts when Jacoby won gold.
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- The entire USA gymnastics team
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- When Simone Biles pulled out of the team all-around final, myself and everyone in the world went into a state of shock. Everyone but Biles’ teammates, actually. The way that Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Grace McCallum and MyKayla Skinner came together, supported each other as humans first and then pulled out such impressive performances was monumentally inspirational. Skinner winning silver in the vault after nearly leaving Tokyo, Lee winning all-around gold and Biles returning for bronze in the beam after her difficult week stand out as the best overall moments from gymnastics among many choices.
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- Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain winning bronze over Novak Djokovic of Serbia
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- Djokovic is arrogant to say the least, so seeing him lose a medal was pretty sweet. But Carreño Busta’s happiness after winning bronze made this even sweeter.
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- Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi sharing a gold medal Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim in the high jump
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- This is what the Olympics are all about! Of course you want to win, but seeing these two sharing the spotlight in such a stressful moment and being so happy for each other gave me chills.
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- The USA Dream team in the women’s 4×400 relay
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- Try to come up with a better relay team than Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammed, Athing Mu and Allyson Felix. You can’t. On top of them blowing away the competition, Felix won her 11th medal to become the most decorated American track & field athlete, and this was likely her last race ever. Getting to watch it live is something I will never forget.
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- USA women’s volleyball (beach & indoor)
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- No medal had more personal investment from me than April Ross and Alix’s Klineman’s beach volleyball gold. I watched every single match of theirs, and after also watching every one of Ross’s matches in Rio when she won bronze, seeing Ross finally win gold meant the world.
- The USA indoor volleyball team not only won their first ever gold medal but also clinched the USA’s overall gold medal count victory over China. I paid way too much attention to this gold medal count, but it was great to see our country come out on top thanks to such a fearless and determined team.
Honorable mentions
- USA 3×3 Basketball winning gold
- Israel baseball’s entire Olympic run
- Israel winning two gold medals (Artem Dolgopyat and Linoy Ashram)
- All of USA Swimming, since swimming is by far the best Olympic sport. Shout out to Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky!
- Equestrian team jumping final (USA misses out on gold by 1.30 seconds!)
- USA sweeping the golf medals!