We are a week into the 31st Olympiad and it is obvious that the women are stealing the show. Not taking anything from Michael Phelps, but the women from multiple countries have been rocking and rolling, breaking records, and defying all odds.
On the American side alone, besides Katie Ledecky had you known the names of Maya Dirado, Simone Biles, Simone Manuel, or Lily King? Katie Ledecky was destined to win multiple events because the star is on a whole other level compared to the rest of the middle distance freestyle pack, but as humans we love competition. With competition comes the story of underdogs. Women are consistently the underdogs to men especially when it comes to athletics, but some of the best moments of these Olympics have been achieved by women.
Katie Ledecky won all of her individual events included the 200 meters freestyle. If you aren't a swimmer it's hard to understand that the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle events are VERY different and are never won by the same person. But apparently, as Rowdy Gaines, NBC announcer, likes to say, she's the next Michael Phelps. No, she's not. She's her own person with unbelievable abilities. She's the first Katie Ledecky.
A shocked Simone Manuel cried as she looked at the scoreboard and saw that she not only broke an Olympic record in the 100-meter freestyle, but she had also beat the Campbell sisters who both have the fastest times ever swum in that event. Is there a better underdog story? That's why we watch the Olympics to be able to see not only the stars shine, but for the underdogs to achieve their dreams that they never thought possible.
I watch the Olympics for moments like this. Moments where both the stars and underdogs have a chance to shine to the world. The moments that pictures can't even capture perfectly. The moments these athletes wait their whole life for. In conclusion, I would appreciate it if the commentators would give the athletes the credit they deserve. No one should be compared to anyone else. All of these achievements are incredible. Not one of those gold medals should be overlooked or dismissed. Michael Phelps gold medal is no different than Simone Manuel's. Except we saw the medal ceremony for every one of Phelps' medal, but we didn't see Simone Manuel cry tears of joy for hers.
