I got sucked in by this show and fell in love all over again. It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it's always just like the first time. Bear with me, this is my first trip to Boulder.
Her dismount was perfect. Blinded by flashbulbs and deafened by the roar of the most enthusiastic crowd she had ever performed for, she raised her arms, triumphant, and grinned into the sea of cheering spectators. This was London. This was her ambition. This was her childhood dream and it was coming true right now.
No one could cheer louder than her parents. Her staunchest advocates, even in her darkest days, they were front and centre at the Olympic stadium, pockets full of tissues ready to watch their little girl climb the podium steps. No one could cheer louder than them, but no one could cheer with a bigger sense of relief than the man in the back row beside the fire exit. It wasn't that he didn't believe in her – after her parents, of course, he had believed in her even when she lost faith in herself – it was just that he hadn't breathed for the last two years, since the world championships that led to the Olympic training and ultimately, the biggest sporting event in the world.
As the last athlete to perform, there would be no waiting or guessing beyond the announcement of her scores. Once they were released, the champion would be clear. In fourteen years of competitive sport, eight at the elite level, she had never felt so nervous – or so at peace. She sat on the bench beside her teammates, eyes closed in her infamous focus. The arena could have fallen around her ears and she wouldn't have noticed – until the second cheer and frantic, forceful shaking of her shoulders.
Climbing the podium steps for real – just as she had promised her parents at four years old, just as she had watched her idols do a hundred times over – was even more dazzling than she had ever imagined. It was the icing on the most perfect cake: a trip to the Olympics as a world-class athlete and a gold medal as a souvenir.
He slipped out of the fire exit as Star Spangled Banner began to play.