Olympic Day

Opening ceremonies consisted of a parade (below) and lighting of the torch (above). Very cool!

Rob's class was Team Egypt.

Robert had Olympic Day at school. And for weeks the kids were practicing for their events. Robert was in 3 events: Broad Jump, Relay Race and Ball Throw. I was a little worried about the relay race because, let's face it, he's not a very face runner. So I asked him how he felt about all his events. He said that he was okay with all the events except for the relay race because he always came in last. No matter how hard he tried he always came in last. Needless to say, it broke my heart. So being the athlete that I am (hahahahahahahahaha!), I gave him a few pointers.

1. Don't forget to breathe.

I asked him to run for me so I could see how he was running. The little stinker was holding his breath at the start. No wonder he was coming in last!


2. No matter what you do, don't worry where everyone else is in the race. You just worry about you and handing off the baton. Just focus on handing off the baton.


3. Run as fast as you can the whole way. Don't stop until you hand off the baton!


I was so nervous the day of the games. After all, I really didn't want my little boy to come in last. But just in case, I was preparing myself and what I would say if he did. But Robert was as cool as a cucumber.


His first event was the ball throw. He got up and threw the ball and did fantastic. The next event was the broad jump. He didn't do bad on that either. Finally, it was time for the relay race. He was the middle leg which I knew was good strategizing on the coaches part. The gun goes off and they're off. Robert's team mate was in the lead when he handed off to Robert. Robert took off as fast as he could go. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, "Go Baby Go! Go Baby Go! Woo!" He kept running as hard as he could. The other racers were gaining on him. I'm still screaming, "Go Rob!!!! Go Baby!!!!". He's nearing the hand off. I'm screaming like crazy 'cuz the other racers are on him and Bam! he hands off the baton just ahead of the other racers and his teammate takes off. I'm jumping up and down screaming. I didn't really care how the race ended I was just so proud of my little boy. It was obvious that he ran his little heart out.


Honestly, I don't think any of my pointers really helped him (except for maybe the breathing part). But, I should have known that he would have done just fine. After all, that little boy works best under pressure. This isn't the first time I witnessed this. He's prooved me wrong before. And although his team didn't win he put his whole heart and soul into his part of the race. And I couldn't have been prouder.