We got to our seats which were almost the same exact seats that we had on Saturday evening – but on the other side of the stadium. (I forgot this until I started wondering how they had changed the locations of the three flags so quickly that they used for the medal ceremony…) It was a great night for the Americans. The American threw the winning discuss throw on her very first attempt. The American pole vaulter gave the Russian world record a real contest, getting a silver. The American men and women qualified with good times in several hurdle events, and the best was the very end when the American men went 1-2-3 in the 400M hurdles. The crowd again seemed to be very international, as we sat by people dressed in flag colors of so many nations. The group of Jamaicans sat right below us. When the gold medal ceremony was had for the 3 Jamaican women winners, one of the s below us turned and mentioned to the many next to me that she had been on the same high school track team as the gold medal winner, and was obviously so excited. The two highlights for me were 1) seeing a lot of winner from smaller and barely known countries win gold, silver, and bronze medals – reinforcing the international nature of the Olympics and 2) hearing the US national anthem in that huge stadium when we watched the US women’s discuss gold medal winner accept her medal. It was definitely a lump in the throat moment. Hard to describe.
As we walked away from our final event, Emily and I agreed this had been a once in a lifetime experience. We are sad to leave such an exciting event, glad to have had such an interesting and thought provoking experience, and excited to come back home to a place that we love with freedoms that we can easily take for granted.
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