I was captivated by the Olympics this summer and watched as many events as I could. I did not realize how many really fast runners there are! Really impressive.

There were a couple of things that struck me. Perhaps the most striking was the good sportsmanship displayed by the athletes. So much hugging between winners and losers. Refreshing.. I also loved the engagement of the audience. The French men’s basketball team took silver and the crowd broke into a spontaneous anthem. So moving!

The teams were diverse, not only the United States contingent, but most. I love seeing the inclusion of all these athletes, including some from countries who not only have never won but never even participated before now.

Also impressive was the number of women competitors. Women have not been well represented in the past but, boy, they sure were this time. Wonderful to see.

The only two blots on the Olympics had almost nothing to do with the athletes but with the judges instead. I have been following the dustup over the gymnastics. The judges made several mistakes, that is fact. They marked off one gymnast for going out of bounds and the replay clearly shows she did not. They missed the difficulty of one of the moves in Jordan Chiles’ routine, added it on review and then took it away again. Instead of admitting their mistakes, they’ve doubled down. Both the USA and Romania agree to multiple bronzes (3 to include another gymnast) but the judges refuse. This is not a good look and certainly does not display good sportsmanship.

Finally, the Chinese diving team tested positive for a banned substance. When Kamila Valieva tested positive during the figure skating in the Winter Olympics she lost her gold and Russia was banned. China suffered no consequences. If this is the rule (and it should be) it should be applied uniformly. The Chinese divers may have won anyway – they are that good – but doping gave them an edge and supposedly is forbidden.