So it’s the first night without the Olympics on TV, and I have to say I kind of miss them. I did not slavishly follow anything, but left whatever event happened to be on as background while I read the newspaper.
The journalists covering the events were a sharp contrast to those I read in newspapers and online, who were sure uncomplimentary – especially when it came to swimmer Michael Phelps. Quite a few used the term “freakishly large” or “freak of nature” or similar. I also saw “hugely talented but mostly uninteresting.” Really, could we not just admire his talent and leave looks out of it?
All I can say is when you’re really good at what you do, you make it look easy, and maybe that opens the door to (jealous?) sniping. I hear all the gold medals Phelps earned resulted in a $1 million bonus from his sponsor, so I’m sure that prevents the names from hurting.