Losing Olympic Virginity

I have a case of the Olympic blues. Just the other day, a friend said that after 25 years of watching the Olympics, her response this time did not seem as enthusiastic and intense as in the previous Olympics. She wondered if it was due to just getting older, we’re both in our 50’s, or were the games losing some of their sheen.

I don’t think it’s so much that we are getting older, but wiser in the ways of the . Olympics. We’ve watched these games for 25-30 years, so the expectations we might carry into a new Olympics are based on all that past experience.

We lost our Olympic virginity a long time ago.

For example, I set my standard for ice dancing on the 1984 Olympic performance by the British duo of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who just about melted the ice with their steamy routine to Maurice Revel’s "Bolero" on Valentine's Day. So flawless was their performance that they received perfect 6.0s across the board for artistic impression, an achievement which has never been duplicated. So, imagine my disappointment this year with seeing several of the couples fall or give incomplete routines.

That’s why the attraction for me is what I call “the uncertainty of outcome”. For example, Monday night, the Hungarian ice dancing pair Nora Hoffmann and Attila Elek attempted what NBC commentator Dick Buttons referred to as “a sacrilege” by using “Bolero” for their program. Although all agreed it was a good performance, it lacked the intensity and vigor of the Torvill-Dean program. Hoffmann-Eleke finished in 11th place.

Then there is U.S. skier Bode Miller, who was expected to capture at least three gold medals in Alpine skiing competition. In actuality, the best Miller has done, so far, in any event is fifth place, and was disqualified in two of the five events. But that opened the door for Austrian Ben Raich, who came from fifth place in the early races to win the gold medal in giant slalom. Miller has one more event, the Super GS this Saturday, but even a gold medal there won’t redeem his reputation.

My advice: choose very carefully which of the remaining events to watch.