The advertisements for this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio have kicked into high gear, and people who traditionally don’t follow sports like handball, judo, table tennis and equestrian events will suddenly become experts (or at least show a passing interest) if and when these events are on television.
It is a special time, and while I admit to knowing very little about the canoe sprint, rhythmic gymnastics and the modern pentathlon, I will sit and watch almost any sport or activity that’s available to watch. I think the Games build a spirit of unity and give people a common issue to discuss for 17 days without worry or concern of getting into a nasty debate, as politics, news events or even professional sports issues sometimes do.
(I hate to admit this, but I even enjoy the many “feel-good stories” that the broadcasting networks produce—even if it often interrupts a sport’s natural rhythm of the broadcast when they playback events on a tape-delayed basis).
We have the benefit of having some special former Olympic athletes in the RCN viewing area, and I had the absolute pleasure recently to sit down with a couple of them. Former cycling gold medalist Marty Nothstein and four-time Olympic track star Joetta Clark-Diggs joined us on “RCN SportsTalk” to talk about many different issues (the entire show is available on RCN On-Demand and on our podcast, here).
Nothstein and Clark-Diggs gave us some great insights on what Olympic athletes really deal with behind the scenes of the Games (for many, it’s not nearly as glamorous as one might think). They also talked about their individual stories of success, failure and perseverance. Both Marty and Joetta also gave us insights on what goes through their mind each year when the Olympic Games gain momentum and capture the nation’s attention. Both of these Olympic legends participated in the 1996 Atlanta games and gave us unique experiences about having this event held inside their home country, as well as talking about their 2000 Sydney, Australia experiences.
What was perhaps most surprising to me is that both of these international stars not only have strong views on today’s young people, but also spend large amounts of their time working with young people, and trying to teach many lessons to young people in the RCN viewing area.
Nothstein lent his name to a youth program that helps support young people learning about cycling but also preaches at length to his students about the importance of teamwork and helping out other people.
Joetta runs a camp each year that focuses on typical track-and-field related events, but also uses the lessons she’s learned as a standout athlete, and applies life lessons to kids who could apply to their lives, and to more everyday hurdles that they might come across in life.
Both of these great talents have written books about these issues that our young people face in addition to great insights to each one’s incredible athletic career. It is incredibly rewarding to see these mega-stars so involved in giving back to the community—willingly—and to really and sincerely enjoy working with our youth.
If you missed our “SportsTalk” show featuring these two Olympic legends, we’ll have an ‘encore’ edition of this program coming up on Thursday, August 4th at 7pm and again at 9pm on RCN-TV.
