After the Olympics
Gearing up for the Paralympics!
Disability and Determination is a weekly newsletter about my experience living with a rare disability…with a little bit of meditation, pop culture, and other random things thrown in. If you like this post, give me a like with the ❤️ symbol below. This will help me get discovered by others on Substack. Drop your email in the field at the bottom and click the Subscribe button to be notified of future posts, or if you want to contribute, I offer a paid subscription option (that includes extra monthly content), or you can Buy Me a Coffee ☕
[Disclaimer: I’m focusing on what I loved about the Olympics in this post, but I definitely had some mixed feelings because of the COVID of it all, especially the narrative it pushed that COVID wasn’t a big deal and that all the athletes who had it should “push through”. did a great post on the topic that you should check out.]
Now that the Olympics have ended, I’m reflecting back on some of my favorite moments (especially with all the time I have lying around nursing my ankle). One of my favorite things about the Olympics this year was all of the love shown between the athletes, especially in women’s gymnastics and swimming. I grew up watching the Olympics and I don’t remember a time when I saw so many competitors hugging each other, cheering each other on from the sidelines, and just genuinely being happy for each other’s successes. Women supporting women…there’s nothing better. There was no moment that showcased that better than this one:
[Image Description: Female gymnast, Rebeca Andrade stands on the gold medal podium with her arms up in celebration. To her left and to her right are Simon Biles and Jordan Chiles (silver and bronze medalists) from the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. Simon and Jordan are both bowing down, praising and showing their respect for Rebeca and her win.]
I loved seeing Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and the Clark Kent of men’s gymnastics, Stephen Nedoroscik cheering for the upcoming LA Olympics together after they did their pommel horse routines.
Seeing countries like Ireland, St. Lucia, and Kazakhstan win medals for the first time in an event brought tears to my eyes every time.
Another favorite moment was seeing Yaroslava Mahuchink take home gold in the high jump. I wish Ukraine could have taken every medal they went for home for all that they’re dealing with in their country.
My favorite non-sporting moments were definitely the clips with Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. From going to a fancy French restaurant to watching Martha explain dressage to Snoop, I’ve never loved a duo more. Snoop had this youthful innocence the whole time he was in Paris that I was so here for.
I loved the closing ceremonies too. France does such a great job with art, meaning, and symbolism and that came through in such a beautiful way in the opening and closing ceremonies. I loved seeing Phoenix perform some of my favorite tunes in the Stade de France. What a backdrop the City of Light was for these games too.
I can’t wait to see all the amazingness that the Paralympics bring.
I watched an interview with Paralympian Ezra Frech on Olympic Highlights on Peacock (absolutely hilarious if you didn’t get a chance to watch it) and he said something that struck me so much. I’m paraphrasing here because I can’t find the actual clip but the jist of it was that when you’re disabled, the belief (mostly a societally-imposed on) is that you can’t participate in sports. He’s working to shatter that belief with his own participation in sports, and also by raising money for an organization called Angel City Sports, a program that offers adaptive sports for people with disabilities.
Kind of like with working out, I’d always wished I could participate in sports growing up but the messaging you get is “you’re disabled, you can’t do that.” I never saw or heard anything about adaptive sports. I didn’t watch the Paralympics, nor did I even realize they existed until a few years ago.
The Olympics send an important message on humanity and bringing the world together. The Paralympics do that too, but with the added bonus that they send the message to disabled kids and people everywhere that you can compete too. You can be an athlete too. Sports are not just a “non-disabled thing”. I know my younger self would have appreciated hearing that so much.
What Made Me Happy This Week 🌞💞
Emily in Paris (📺) - The incredibly silly and extra series returned for the 1st half of season 4 on the 17th. I love the fashion, the setting in Paris, and it actually makes me laugh. It’s one of my favorite light fare TV shows (though all of its award nominations still confuse me).
Catching back up with everyone here 😊
Getting back on-track with my reading goal for 2024 (46 books).
I had a project revolving around a Gen Z playlist this week and even though I’m a millennial, I was here for so many of the songs on it. I even used it to create my own on Apple Music. This is one of the songs from the list that I added to my playlist and has been a #currentmood for a lot of this week:
Thank you for including my post - I really appreciate it! It’s nice to see you celebrating everything you love about the Olympics but also acknowledging the problem with athletes pushing through (and spreading) covid.
PS I’m just about to start Emily in Paris. Such a guilty pleasure!
I so appreciated the women supporting women vibe of the Olympics and the message of the Paralympics conveys that even if you're disabled you can find joy in sports is especially meaningful to the epilepsy community as we're so often discouraged from physical exertion and sports. To know it's possible truly lends hope.