Olympic Moments

August 09, 2012

I may have mentioned - or possibly ranted - in an earlier blog about how much I love the Olympic Games. They are occupying my thoughts, not to mention my DVR, almost completely this week. And what I found myself thinking about, while watching the Japanese and Honduran teams fritter away the final minutes in their scoreless soccer match, was time.
 
The measurement of time is a big deal in the Olympics, where a few seconds can count more than thousands of hours spent training. Macmillan Dictionary defines a moment as "a very short period of time," but also as "a short period of time when you have the opportunity to do something" and "a point in time when something important, unusual, or special happens."
 
Which brings me to the curious case of Kieran Behan.
 
When Kieran Behan was ten, doctors told him he would never walk again after complications from a surgery. But they were wrong. He followed his love of gymnastics back to the gym and had an accident that left him again in a wheelchair, with doctors saying he would never walk. Wrong again. He tore tendons in his right knee and then in his left knee. He broke his wrist and his arm.
 
Kieran Behan, only the second Irish gymnast in Olympic history, stood before the world for 90 seconds, the length of time allotted to men’s floor exercise. Surely that was a moment.
 
His smile told us it would last forever.
 
The clock measures time one way, but sometimes it’s the least important way. Every Olympian has a moment. It’s an honor to share them.

Kristin K.
North Oak Branch