Summer Olympics are just better with Armstrong’s silver and gold
- col-teri-stein
- August 8, 2024
- 743
This has been the best Olympics. Congratulations to hometown Dover favorite Hunter Armstrong, who won a gold and a silver medal in the swimming competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The whole of Tuscarawas County is claiming you too, as well as the state of Ohio.
Armstrong first won gold in Paris with his teammates Caeleb Dressel, Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. Then Armstrong and teammates Dressel, Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink won silver in the 4x100 meter medley relay.
Yes, it’s been so exciting, and I even got up extremely early (for me) a couple of days just to watch our local guy compete in preliminary swims. I had the opportunity to interview Armstrong, briefly in person in 2021, so this counts as I know an Olympian. Previously, in all my years of being a fan of the Olympics, I never knew one or met one or knew someone else who knew one. This is a big deal for our area, and it just keeps getting better.
Last week I opened my copy of People magazine that had Prince Harry, King Charles and Lady Gaga on the cover. Not far in, on page six, is the StarTracks section, which featured a large photo of Snoop Dogg, a hugely famous rap singer and Olympics fan. Snoop is wearing his Olympic rings sunglasses for the photo. He’s looking cool.
To the top right of the photo is Hunter Armstrong of Dover in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, joyously celebrating the gold medal win with his teammates Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy. Caeleb Dressel, the fourth teammate, was not pictured. So exciting, but who else is on the page? Celine Dion’s photo is to the right of the swim team photo. Two other photos feature Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who star in the upcoming movie version of “Wicked,” and a smiling “Today Show” host, Hoda Kotb, with Tom Cruise, someone she has always wanted to meet — very impressive company.
Yes, it is much more fun to watch the Olympics when someone from your area is competing.
As a lifetime fan of the Olympics, when the Olympics are on television — summer or winter — I’m watching sports as many hours as possible. And I’m watching sports that I never watch at any other time. I’m sure there are others like me. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the drama of the best of the best competing, country against country, and the incredible and sometimes heartbreaking stories of what the athletes had to do to get there.
Today I watched men’s racing and saw an event I didn’t know existed — the Steeple Chase race. My details might be a little fuzzy, but the group raced around a track with hurdles placed about every 100-150 feet, I would guess, not sure, and the meters thing is confusing. Then at least once each time around the track, they jumped to the top of a larger hurdle and over a rectangular pool of water onto the other side. What?
Anyway, I was all into this race, even though the runner from the USA was second to last, because one of the runners from another country, who had a good chance of winning the race, according to the announcers, missed the water hurdle and had to go back. He was trying to make up time just enough to be in the group who qualified for the next race. He ran his heart out, but he didn’t make it. I felt bad.
But more incredibly important, Olympic competitions are coming up, and I gotta go. I need to keep up on rugby, skateboarding, gymnastics, beach volleyball, soccer, canoe, basketball, boxing, badminton, handball, judo, equestrian, cycling, swimming, diving, Ping-Pong, tennis, surfing, archery, triathlon, track and field, break dancing, golf, water polo and more.
And to all my fellow Olympics followers, “More cowbell!”