One is silver and the other gold.

I have been a lazy blogger. Instead of posting updates about our family adventures, I have been watching the Olympics. I like swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball, but I LOVE track and field. I heard a story on NPR the other day about how the silver medalists are often the most disappointed because they feel like they should have won, whereas the bronze medalists are typically happier because they feel lucky to have gotten any medal at all. This held true in the women's vault competition last night: McKayla Maroney was favored to win, but wound up with a silver instead. After the winner's scores were announced, Maroney gave off some icy stares, gave the winner a forced hug, and choked back bitter tears during the medal ceremony.

It's nice to see that not every silver medalist reacts this way. My favorite moment of the Olympics thus far is from the men's 10K race. There was a lot of pre-race talk about Mo Farah (UK) and Galen Rupp (USA) because they are training partners and best friends, but they would be competing against each other in the 10K final and the Olympics is on Farah's home turf. The race was strategic and exciting: slow at first, then faster and faster. Elbows were thrown, someone fell. Farah, who had run in about sixth place for most of the race, took the lead for the final lap and charged ahead with a sprint. Rupp, who was behind Farah for most of the race, went into the final lap in fourth place. It wasn't until the final 100 meters that Rupp sprinted ahead and finished just behind Farah. After the finish, the two embraced and it wasn't a forced hug: both were elated at not only their own performance, but each other's performance. I think part of this comes from being training partners; they helped each other run faster in training and during the race. If you missed the race, check it out. It is awesome.