You Never Know

Since my last publisher’s letter, I have had the opportunity to proudly watch my son Jackson graduate from the University of Louisville on May 11. Two days later, we were flying over the Atlantic Ocean along with my wife, Kristen, and Jackson’s longtime girlfriend, Katherine, on a long-planned graduation trip to Europe. After spending several days in Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands, we took a Eurostar train through Belgium and entered Paris, France.

While Paris would be spectacular at any time, the city definitely had something extra special with all the busy preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics happening right in front of us. An unusual dinner reservation made by Jackson at Café de l’Homme afforded us tight Eiffel Tower views, and so we ended up being in the same location as NBC’s studio for the entirety of this year’s Games.

For me, the Summer Olympics easily surpasses all my favorite sporting events. My first recollection of the Olympics is a fleeting memory of the 1968 Games in Mexico City, Mexico, with the controversy over American athletes Tommie Smith’s and John Carlos’ raised fists on the medal stand for the men’s 200-meter race. I remember the palpable sadness of the 1972 Games in Munich, Germany, when 11 Israeli hostages were taken and all 11 executed by their captors. I was stunned when then-President Jimmy Carter announced the United States would boycott the 1980 Games in Moscow, in what then still was the Soviet Union, to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Sixty-five nations boycotted and 80 attended. The Games are to promote sport and Olympic values in society, after all.

Going into 1980, I knew a swimmer, now deceased, who held national and world record times. His life trajectory was never the same after the boycott; a wrist injury prevented him the opportunity to swim for his country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Also in 1984, I saw my cousin swim in the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke. As my cousin and I are a month apart in age, it was extremely cool to watch, and it still is today. (My cousin still is not cool.) These were the initial building blocks of my love for the Olympics.

With the Olympics, I think the insight you gain into other countries’ cultures – the strong sense of nationalism of the athletes and fans – is like no other event. Do you usually watch the men’s gymnastics vault holding your breath? The track and field athletes and swimmers become household names. Well, I can’t get enough of it, and I bet a lot of you can’t, either.

And you never know if the 10-year- old girl from Evansville you saw winning her first 50-meter breaststroke state title just might become an Olympic gold medalist.

As always, I look forward to hearing from most of you.