classy ladies.

I'm a big fan of sportsmanship. Maybe it's seeing how catty girls can be from the perspective of the ref or all those feel good hours in sports psychology class but you know, sports should really be about being the best we can be and despite competition I think all athletes can at the very least be nice to each other with that shared goal in mind.*

SO I was extra happy to see this post on Jez today featuring the gymnasts Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson. This video made Johnson my hero-- what an amazing thing to see such a young woman having her shit together like that. The way she talked about giving it her all and cheering for her teammate-- who beat her-- was really inspiring. I want to be like her when I grow up-- have you seen that girl walk around? Pure confidence, that one. Without pretense. You just don't see such down to earth people that often.

The other lady that got me today was the swimmer Dara Torres. Her story is amazing-- she is the fastest lady swimmer in the world coming into the Olympics at age 41-- but I thought it was really awesome that she broke her preswim focus to advocate on behalf of a fellow swimmer having some garment issues so that the race would start with all swimmers present. She went on to win the race. You can be nice and be the best at what you do.



*Which is why I have on occasion lost.my.mind. with parents and players when people have been nasty to each other. You just don't fuck with sports.