The biggest lesson I learned from athletes while working for Nike-
The Olympics create the most important chapters of their life stories. And I feel bad for them.
The Tokyo Olympics is stillborn. The pile-on of all the negatives will tint the overall narrative of Tokyo 2020.
The games will be coloured by COVID, low viewership, politics.
But regardless, the games have begun.
Can we please not ruin it, for them?
Can we come together and celebrate the triumphs of athletic performance in the next 2 weeks?
Can we sink into these stories of losing, perseverance, camaraderie, excellence, tears, sweat, connectedness, and euphoria?
Can we just remember, even for just a second, that everyone of us is actually capable of relating to these humans whom we call athletes?
We all know what it feels like to have put so much of our lives into something.
We all know the taste of anticipation and excitement and fright cocktailed together.
We all know how out of control joy x disappointment x pride x shame overwhelm.
After everything in 2020 and 2021, don’t we all deserve a massive orgy (I meant celebration) of ultimate human striving?
Can we please not ruin this, for us?
Everything I mused about during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
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