I, Sportsman

With my last video I put up I have had a couple of people disagree with me ('I usually agree with you... but' seems to be the phrase of the day) and to be honest I was expecting it, this being a very hot topic at the moment.






I love it when people disagree with me, I feel like it challenges me and really tests how strongly I feel about the view point I have demonstrated. But today one specific commenter said this:



"The Olympics are a competition for getting first place, and from my point of view, only promote spite and even hatred. That doesn't help countries work together, now does it? Sorry, but I have LOTS of problems with organized sports, the Olympics in particular."



And quite frankly I can't disagree more.



Not many people know this but I used to be quite a good swimmer in my day, I swam for my county and got quite high up the national rankings. When I was younger I used to dream and fantasise about going to the Olympics. Unfortunately, due to injury I was not able to continue with this aspect of my life to the level that I would have liked and had to leave the sport in terms of competition.



Although my swimming days are over I know for a fact the countless hours I spent in the water and on poolside for competitions have had a gargantuan impact on who I am today.



From my sport I learnt about hard work, discipline, fair play, friendship, winning and losing; all things that I believe are in short supply these days.



The truth is, yes, in any sport you are aiming for Gold, to be the best, and yes there is a lot of bad publicity with drug taking and gamesmanship, some sports more so than others. But the Olympics have always been a beacon for all that is positive in sport. Drug takers are banned, all are encouraged in the way of fair play and athletes who have devoted their whole lives to becoming the best they can be are justly rewarded.



The hosts of these games may carry with them controversy, but the Olympics provide us with a rare glimpse of people of all backgrounds united, under the banner that is sport. I may be cheesy, but God knows we need a bit of it now a days.



Keep Safe

Jaz