Opinion: Olympians deserve their praise

The work of all of the Olympic athletes is astonishing and is deserving of all the newscasts, bouquets, coverage and medals that the best of the best earn. While many people do not find interest in sports or international events, we should all appreciate the prowess of these athletes and their incredibly powerful abilities.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have included some interesting turnouts in the newly-appointed sports — skateboarding, sports climbing, surfing and karate. Skateboarding included the youngest Olympic athletes since 1936: 12-year-olds Kokona Hiraki and Sky Brown, who won silver and bronze respectively. Sakura Yosozumi, 13, won gold.

Some promising Utahn performances came from silver-medalists Grace McCallum in women’s gymnastics, Nathaniel Coleman in sports climbing and Rhyan White in women’s swimming.

There have already been many broken records and first times with athletes like Hidilyn Diaz and her 55-kilogram weightlifting performance winning the Philippines their first gold medal. Flora Duffy also won Bermuda’s first gold medal in the women’s triathlon. Erriyon Knighton, an American athlete who had previously broken records held by Usain Bolt, continued the tradition by breaking the legendary sportsman’s record by running 200 meters in 19.39 seconds.

And then there’s the groundbreaking performance of swimmer Emma McKeon who won seven gold medals.

In the women’s 400 meter hurdle, Sydney McLaughlin finished in 51.9 seconds, breaking Dalilah Muhammad’s two-year-old record. A stand-out performance by Elaine Thompson-Herah saw the Jamaican runner sprint across the women’s 100-meter finish line in 10.61 seconds. This 100-meter record was originally set by the legendary Florence Griffith Joyner 33 years ago.

Ryan Crouser, the American shot put star, blew away judges with his distance throwing.

“He repeated as Olympic champion in the men’s shot put equaling what he did in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games,” reported NPR news writer Tom Goldman. “He also set an Olympic record in the process. Not once. Not twice. But three times.”

Participants of all ages, genders and nationalities are exceeding expectations. Utah athletes are making the state proud, and the records broken will only motivate future Olympic athletes to work harder to be the best versions of themselves.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Megan Cowdell is a sophomore opinion columnist studying for a bachelor’s in communications. She loves music, reading and wants to write books for a living.

megan.cowdell@usu.edu