The thrill of meeting a champion never fades
Thousands gather at Rio Olympics to take in the extraordinary feats of sport
By Scott Russell, CBC Sports
Being in the Olympic city at the time of the Games can be an incredibly moving experience.
It is thrilling to watch the spectacle unfold as well as exhausting to consider all of the possibilities. There is so much here right now including a tapestry which symbolizes the complexity of the international community at both work and play.
There are hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who have ventured here from far flung places just in order to witness the extraordinary things that may or may not happen. They've arrived to support sons and daughters, family and friends and, in many cases, the stars of sport they know only by reputation.
They've come to this place to be surrounded by champions.
I see it every day when I go to work.
There are myriad gold medal winners who are our sport analysts. There are others who are track stars morphing into journalists, as well as countless legendary Olympians who busily go about the task of passing on the folklore of the Games all over the planet.
They're all gathered right here in the Olympic city and they eat lunch in the same cafeteria that I do.
Still it's hard not to be impressed.
Unmistakable aura
There are old champions, young ones, and those just beginning their responsibilities. There are others who are stepping down after long and glorious runs at the mountain top. But the thrill of meeting a champion never seems to fade for me. They have this unmistakable aura about them which, while not always visible, leaves a lasting impression.
They are winners, even though they may sometimes lose the race.
From the studio I work in, which has a big window overlooking the Barra Olympic Park, I can hear the roar of the crowds at the handball arena or the aquatics stadium. I can see the throngs of people moving like ants from venue to venue. The mood is invariably joyous and the mingling of cultures remarkable.
No one speaks the same language but everyone gets what seems to be a universal message.
There are champions about to be crowned, gold medals to be won and anthems to be played. The crowd has come here to share in the victor's glory but also to understand the pain of the vanquished.
We are here – all of us – to receive the new champions.
Feel right at home
Or in some cases to pay tribute to them once they move to the next phase of their existence.
Each night in that same studio, the new and the old champions come to sit and talk with me. They share stories, offer thanks to those who've supported them and even, in some cases, shed a few tears of sorrowful regret.
I think all of this is close to the bone for them because at the Games and over the course of these few fleeting days once every quadrennial, the champions feel most at home and seem to have found their situation in the world.
This is without doubt an imaginary place which will soon evaporate when all of the tents, banners, and podiums are packed away and moved to the next town – in the next country – somewhere down the road.
But the citizens of the transient Olympic city will migrate along with the Games themselves.
And in four-years time many of us will follow suit in order to be surrounded by the champions again.