Rio 2016: The Experience - Day 6 - The GOAT

8/11/16 (Rio 2016 Day 6), “The GOAT”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The GOAT.  There is no higher praise that can be bestowed upon an athlete.  Whether represented with an emoji of a goat or if the acronym is properly spelled out, calling an athlete the greatest of all time is as high as praise gets.  I have seen three athletes this trip who are probably the GOAT in their sport: Kerri Walsh in Beach Volleyball, Simone Biles in Gymnastics, and Michael Phelps in Swimming.

I will be seeing Biles in the arena and Phelps in the pool again today.  Simone will be dueling off against my girl Aly for the Gold in the Individual All-Around.  If Simone wins in commanding fashion, I think she will be clearly considered the GOAT.  As for Phelps, he is already the GOAT in Swimming, but, he has something bigger at stake tonight.  If he wins the 200m IM tonight, he will be the GOAT, not just in Swimming, but of any Olympic athlete, ancient or modern, by any measure.  That is the history I can see tonight.

Phelps is now tied with Leonidas of Rhodes for the most individual Olympic championships (12) and with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for most individual medals of any color (14).  A win in tonight’s 200m IM will give him the sole claim to both of those titles and make it hard to argue against calling him the GOAT of all Olympic athletes.  In fact, I think, after this Games, it will be necessary to start talking about him in the same conversation as Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Babe Ruth.  That is what it means to be the GOAT.

Alright, so I guess there’s not much to report after I closed last night, but I do need to formally close out this entry.  I headed down, went to sleep almost immediately, slept until past noon, woke up, got ready for the day, came up to the roof, and sat down in my usual spot, where I proceeded to light up a Partagas and write this entry, which I will now close so that I can upload some more photos before I head out for the day.

(Rio Olympic Arena gymnastics venue)

All that remains between Simone BILES and Olympic Gold is her floor exercise, and I think that might be her best event with her sky-high tumbling passes.  Her third tumble is better than most elite gymnasts’ first pass.  That is saying a lot.  It like saying she can run the 400m as fast as most elite runners can run the 100m times 4.  She is just that good.  How she does on the apparatus finals this weekend will determine if she can claim the GOAT title.  I have faith in her ability to take home three of those four gold medals.  I’ve literally never seen anyone like her before.

It’s one thing to watch her on TV, but to see it in person is just something else entirely.  My crush on Aly RAISMAN notwithstanding, I have to give credit where credit is due.  Simone looks set to win this gold medal, and, if she does, she will absolutely deserve it.  This will be a short entry, as, well, not much has happened since I last closed, and I want to wrap it up before Aly gets on the beam.  I will write in more detail during my break between this event and the Swimming tonight.

After I closed at the hotel, I took the now-familiar route by public transportation to the Olympic Park, picking up some cheesy bread at the bus platform.  I then made my way to the venue, and, even though I left earlier, I was still, once again, tight on time.  I had enough time, though, to get my souvenir and lunch, consisting of a double cheeseburger, potato chips, and a beer, just like the gymnasts eat, of course.

I then sat down in time for warm ups, having found a great seat, where I could easily see all four apparatuses.  I watched Aly and Simone do their vaults, then had my lunch.  After that, came their turns on the uneven bars.  They were killing it, but Simone was, well, Simone, and she had the lead.  I then went out for another beer and some popcorn, which was a process that took far longer than it should have, and I missed the uneven bars routine of the Russian gymnast favored for Bronze.  She is the reigning world champion on bars and the reigning All-Around Olympic Silver-medalist.

Her routine put her into first, but I knew it would not hold up after the beam.  I was right.  Simone had an amazing routine on the beam, which allowed her to reclaim her number one spot (Aly hasn’t gone yet).  After her score came through, I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can watch the rest of the event.

(Barra Olympic Park)

I won’t say this is the happiest moment of my life, but it’s probably top ten.  Our girls did it.  Simone and Aly, gold and silver.  If Missy FRANKLIN was my crush of the London Games, then Aly RAISMAN would certainly be my crush of the Rio Games.  Simone just needed 13 and change to win the Gold.  I wanted Aly to win, but that would have been such an embarrassing score, I kind of had to root for Simone to kill it.  She did.  She beat Aly by 2 points.  2 fucking points.  That’s not a small score.  That’s like 2 seconds in 400m race.  That’s huge.  The Russian who took Bronze was 1.5 points behind Aly.  That means Simone was 3.5 points ahead of the Russian.  That’s another league.  Take 3.5 points of the Russian’s score, and it would drop her down to almost last place.  That’s how good our girls were.

After I closed, I saw Aly do her beam routine, and she killed it, such poise and grace.  There is actually such a huge contrast between Aly and Simone, and I don’t just mean the physical appearances of white versus black, tall versus short.  The way the conduct themselves, Aly’s reserved manner versus Simone’s cocky attitude, the grace of Aly’s routines versus Simone’s pure power.  They are the greatest gymnasts in the world, and it was amazing to see them in person again, but it is definitely interesting how different they are.  Aly was one sixteenth (yes, 0.066) of a point behind the Russian, and Simone, well, she was 2 points ahead of both of them.  Oh, one point of order, the Russian is the reigning Olympic Champion on the bars, not the reigning World Champion, and she won Bronze, not Silver, on the All-Around in London.

Simone would be doing her victory lap on the floor again, but Aly had to make a statement.  She is the reigning gold-medalist on the floor, but she’s also 22, and she needed to prove she’s still got it.  When her turn came up, while the previous gymnast was awaiting her score, I headed down to the railing.  It was about two minutes before her routine.  Then, right as the routine started, a volunteer came up to me and told me I couldn’t stand there.  Seriously?!?  You couldn’t have told me to move before the routine started?  Or you couldn’t have let me waited the 90 seconds of the routine?

I had to race up the stairs back to my seat, and I missed a few precious seconds of the routine I had most been looking forward to all day.  I saw the end of it, and she killed it.  She knew she killed it.  She was crying her eyes out.  Her score moved her solidly into first place with only Simone left to go.  Needless to say, Simone easily won, and then came the waterworks.  Our girls had done it, the 1-2 punch.

I have to give credit to Marta Karolyi.  She really built quite a team over the past decade or so.  She gets to retire at the very top, and she can be immensely proud of what she’s done for USA Gymnastics.  The names come and go: Carly, Nastia, Shawn, Gabby, Aly, Simone, and the rest of our recent teams, but it’s Marta who made USA Gymnastics what it now is.  It all started in Athens when Paul HAMM and Carly PATTERSON won the Individual All-Around Golds, then Nastia LIUKIN won in Beijing, but our team came up short, losing to the home team’s group of underage girls with forged birth certificates.  I still haven’t forgive them for that, and I will always root against China, in any event, any sport.  I am glad to see how poorly they are doing this Games.

Never again.  Marta made sure we dominated in London, and that’s the “Fierce Five” did, dominated.  I could live to be 100, and I will still remember their names: Jordyn, Gabby, Kyla, McKayla, and, of course, Aly.  “The Fab Five are going gold.”  Again, even if I live to be 100, I will always remember Al Trautwig’s words, the words that announced a new dynasty of gymnastics had begun, and it gets to me every time.  I watched them at the trials, and I watched them at London.  They did it.  They dominated.

When Rio came around, these two tickets, the Team and All-Around finals, were the two most important events for me of the Games.  Again, I watched the trials, and I learned the names of our new team, the “Final Five” they would become, honoring Marta Karolyi’s impending retirement.  Gone were Jordyn, Kyla, and McKayla.  In their places were Simone, Laurie, and Madison.

Gabby was no longer in her prime, but Aly was, and she would able helm the team as captain.  At 22, they called her, “Grandma.”  She took her role to heart, and she proved herself as able of a captain as any other athlete ever has been.  Simone was the new phenom, and she is dominating.  I am predicting she comes home with 4 or 5 gold medals.  She already has two.  Aly might repeat her floor Gold for London, and that would thrill me to no end.

Wow, that might have been the longest tangent I’ve ever written.  Okay, so, then came the medal ceremony, and I sang along with the national anthem.  That was that.  It was time to go.  I headed out, and I saw one of the Italian gymnasts outside.  She was like half my height.  I took a picture with her, but it was a struggle with the camera angle due to the height difference.  I found a nice spot in view of the Olympic Rings, the Aquatics Stadium and the Broadcast studio.  I sat down there, where I proceeded to light up an H. Upmann and write this entry, which I will now close so that I can kill the two hours I have before Swimming.  This has been a Games to remember, and today is probably the biggest Day of all for me.

(Olympic Aquatics Stadium)

It’s the little things that get to me the most.  In 20 minutes, I will be watching what may come to be considered the greatest swimming race of all time.  However the race ends, it will be a moment I remember the rest of my life.  It will be epic.  There is no other word to describe this upcoming duel in the pool.  Those are the big things.  That’s why I’m here.  Everyone can understand how big of a deal that will be.  The little things, though.  That’s different.

Only the people who have endured previous Olympics with me can understand what something as seemingly as insignificant as eating a McDonald’s McFlurry inside the Olympic Park can mean to me.  Why such a seemingly simple thing could reduce me to a crying wreck.  I was in Rio, during the Olympics, at the main Olympic Park, eating McDonald’s.  Nothing tops that.  I also realized that the cheeseburgers I had been eating were actually also probably courtesy of McDonald’s, but that was not branded as such.  This was, and it was so special, just like being handed that bottle of Coca-Cola when I got off the airplane.

After I closed, I had about two hours to kill before the next event, and I spent most of it waiting on line, waiting on ticket lines, cashier lines, food lines, and lines to get inside.  I have to give it to Rio.  Brazil certainly knows how to throw a sports event.  That’s for sure.  And they made the Olympic Park a fun place to hang out between events.  I tried to get some more tickets, but anything I would have wanted to see (read: medal events for sports we hadn’t seen yet) was sold out.  I also got some food, which included a Brazilian version of lasagna.

Something I haven’t mentioned yet is about the collectable beer cups.  They made beer cups with pictograms of each of the Olympic Sports, so it has become a bit of game to try and collect them all, or at least the ones for the sports I am attending.  Some of the stations now are getting smart to this, and they pile up all the cups by pictogram so that people can decide which one they want.  I am still looking for Beach Volleyball, but I am also trying to collect as many as I can.  It’s a great gimmick to sell beer, as well, of course.

After I ate, I headed to the Official Rio 2016 Megastore, which fit its name.  Okay, medal ceremonies are about to start, so I’ll wrap up quickly.  I picked out a few things at the Megastore and waited on an even longer line to pay.  I then went next door to the McDonald’s ice cream station and got a McFlurry.  I was eating McDonald’s.  At the Olympics.  Oh!  My!  God!!!  That was like eating manna in heaven.  When I get home, all of my meals will be from McDonald’s for the rest of the Games, but, for now, I can eat whatever local food I want, and we have a lot of good meals ahead of us.

I then headed to the venue and sat pretty high up near my assigned section.  I was in view of the cameras, and my friend told me to wave during the 50m Semis.  He saw me wave.  Then came the W 200m Breaststroke Finals, but we didn’t have a dog in that race.  Next was the M 200m Backstroke, which Nathan ADRIAN won for Team USA.  After that, I headed to the souvenir stand and got a t-shirt before heading to the section I was in a few days ago.  I sat down there and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can watch the medal ceremonies and claim a spot by the railing for this impending duel in the pool.

I won’t say that today was the best day of my life, but it might be top five.  Spoiler alert: he did it.  He’s the GOAT.  And I don’t just mean swimmer.  I mean, he’s the greatest Olympian of all time.  Hell, he might even be the greatest athlete of all time, but more on that later.

After I closed, I headed up to the railing, and I moved to the center, next to some Team USA fans, right in view of Phelps’s lane.  They played our national anthem to honor Ryan MURPHY (not Nathan ADRIAN as I previously wrote) for his victory in the 200m Backstroke.  Then came the big race.  I was in prime position.  This was being billed as the greatest swimming race of all time.  The 200m Individual Medley.  They are the two best swimmers who have ever raced that race, and they were facing off for the final time.

Well, Phelps proved that he aged better than Lochte.  The GOAT claimed his title.  He won by a full body length.  Lochte came in fifth and proved that he was now just a goat.  In re: Phelps, I mixed in a few chants of “GOAT” with my “USA!!!  USA!!!  USA!!!” cheers.  I would spend the next three hours, a conversation that is still ongoing, messaging with my friend, debating if Phelps is the greatest athlete of all time.

The only names we found that even came close were Ruth and Ali.  Even they fell short of Phelps accomplishments.  Other great athletes did not have the 13 years of greatness that Phelps had.  GOAT.  That was what he was.  No other word would suffice.  Not just the greatest swimmer of all time, not even just the greatest Olympian of all time (a title he indubitably earned with that victory), but, quite possibly the greatest athlete of all time.  That is what I now mean when I call him the GOAT.  And I was standing right behind his lane to watch it all happen.

There were a few more races, including the W 200m Backstroke, which had an interesting result.  It was a tie.  USA and CAN tied for Gold, with a SWE Bronze.  That was fun.  They did the medal ceremony for Phelps before that race, though.  I was standing right behind him!  Someone asked him how it felt, and he looked back at us.  I shouted to him that he was the greatest athlete of all time.

That was the moment NBC showed me on TV.  After the medal ceremony, he had to come back out for his semis in the 100m Butterfly.  Well, he was still tired for his phenomenal performance just 32 minutes earlier.  He was in last place at the turn, but he pulled into second place by the finish, securing his spot in the finals tomorrow night, where I will be seeing him in his last individual race ever.  It is just such an unreal experience to be here to watch my hero end his career with such glory.

Then came the medal ceremony with the dual gold-medalists.  After that, it was time to go home.  It was starting to rain, and I had no desire to sit on a bus for almost two hours, so I headed to the hotel by the Park and waited on the cab line there.  I soon enough was in a cab, and, engrossed in my debate about the GOAT, before I knew it, I was back at the hotel.

I reorganized myself a little bit in the room before I headed up to the roof, where I lit up an Hoyo de Monterrey and, after the rain let up, went to my usual spot and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can publish and crash.  Tomorrow we’ll actually spend some time on the beach.  It’s been a great day, and it has put this trip one step closer to being the GOAT.