“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Special Olympics Athlete Oath
This past week saw the Special Olympics 2015 World Games throughout Los Angeles. And it was fab.
Mister and I watched daily coverage of the Games, and I have more complaints about that than I can list here. (Hey ESPN – in devoting only one half hour of coverage per day, how did you decide to spend half of that time focusing on the two commentators, instead of on the athletes and events? I mean – the commentators were clearly the story, right? Shame on you, ESPN. Shame on you.) But we takes what we can gets, right? And each day’s half hour of airtime did yield about 10 minutes of actual coverage.
Anyhoo – I was lucky enough to get to one venue: L.A.’s Equestrian Center for Dressage or Equestrian Events. The venue is lovely. And who doesn’t love ponies?
The events themselves were so sweet and fun. I loved being in the stands with French delegates on one side of me and United Arab Emirates delegates on the other. For that short amount of time, the world was small and all around me.
On the day I was there, the athletes were still getting used to the horses. As I understand it, each athlete was paired with a horse according to her or his ability, size and event. The getting-to-know-you period was rather important, as the athletes needed to trust these animals during competition. And I suppose the animals needed to trust the athletes, too. We did see an Italian rider thrown from her horse, and that was a frightening few minutes. Thankfully, the Italian rider was okay and all of us in the stands gave a collective sigh of relief. An American athlete was paired with one of the most amazing horses I’ve ever seen. The photo fails to give it justice, but believe me when I tell you this horse made me think of some sort of Norse-Horse-God! It was stunning!
I’m so glad I attended an event. My heart was full and I managed to hold on to the beauty I experienced for a few days. And I think the timing of this year’s Special Olympics was perfect for me. I needed to get outside myself, and the Games gave me that gift. I was moved and inspired. And in the end, I think my heart – like The Grinch’s – grew 3 sizes. What a lucky gal I am.