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Thursday, August 7, 2008

Favorite Olympians

I've always loved the Olympics. Anticipating the start of the '08 Olympics has me thinking about my all time favorite olympians and I have 2 that are most memorable to me.



The first is Mary Lou Retton. Obviously she was a great gymnast, capturing the only All Around Gold Medal ever won by an American woman in the '84 Olympics. I always admired her spunk and great attitude. I wanted to be Mary Lou! She was born in West Virginia so that made me like her even more. I think I had a Mary Lou Retton kids workout album that I played on my fisher price record player. I can remember practicing forward rolls in my living room and ending them with the big, over done dismount pose.

I did come close to meeting her once. I actually sat on the same pew as her at Second Baptist Houston one Sunday morning a few years ago. I just think she's a classy lady and she always has a great short haircut and I'm all about that!



My second favorite Olympian is Debi Thomas. I always admired the fact that she was an outstanding ice skater, but maintained her college degree while training for the Olympics. She was always so graceful and poised. When she was beat by Katarina Witt in the '88 Olympics I was devastated. I will always remember Debi Thomas skating her encore at the Olypics to George Michael's Teacher. I guess that's why that song always reminds me of Debi Thomas and her bronze medal in the '88 Olympics.

Who are the Olympians that you'll never forget? As I've been writing this, I've started thinking of others that have been memorable for me!

3 comments:

Lydee said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I found the humor in our little incident long before hubby did.

I'm looking forward also to the opening ceremonies for the olympics tonight. I always enjoy watching the gymnastics. I enjoy the diving also. Can't think of a particular moment that sticks with me. My brain's not awake yet!

Unknown said...

Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova were Russian figure skaters who won the gold in 1964. That was the first Olympics I remember watching and I was fascinated by the figure skating. They were a married couple and I thought that was neat, too.

Pegsy said...

O.K., I thought of one the other day. Paul Wylie who won a silver medal in men's figure skating (can't remember the year). His smile just lit up the entire arena and I loved watching him win that medal!

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