Let the Games Begin

Throughout my life I have been fortunate enough to attend many sporting events. All my life sports have played a major role, whether by participating, as a spectator or one who works the event. But the Olympics is an event that has no comparison.

Here the Olympic Flame shines brightly over the 2002 games in Salt Lake City. My wife and I witnessed Austria v Germany men's Ice Hockey at the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, the Women's Downhill at Snowbasin and the K120 Men's Ski Jump at Utah Olympic Park.

At most sporting events I attend there are two opposing sides, battling one another for victory. But at the Olympics there aren't two opposing sides, rather the entire world in support of these athletes to perform at their highest level. Many of these athletes aren't as well-known as the icons we watch on a daily basis. Rather they work train just as hard, perhaps pay their own way to competitions and put it all on the line for a few moments once every four years, or for some, once in their lifetime.