as of last thursday, the world has turned its athletic eye to the country of russia as the olympics began.  the opening ceremonies on friday night were spectacular and set the scene for the 22nd celebration of the winter games.

here is the short list of things i love about the olympics:

the olympic fanfare (i’m listening to it on repeat as i write right now)

the opening ceremonies

the lighting of the olympic flame

bob costas

team usa’s outfits (i especially want one of the sweaters from this year)

learning about new sports

listening to competitors’ names from foreign nations

watching the winners bite their medals

the olympics are such a special occurrence.  whenever they are here and i have the chance, i always turn the tv to them to see amazing athletic feats.  i usually watch in amazement as these competitors overcome physical obstacles that i can hardly imagine.  i especially love the winter games because i myself have never tried out a winter sport, unless snowball fights and sledding count.  this year i have been able to watch the moguls, long-distance ski events, and lots of ice skating.  and although curling is not my favorite, i’ve tuned in for a couple of rocks to be thrown.

something i finally looked up these games around was the different meanings of those olympic rings.  why are there five?  what do their colors represent?  i’m so glad you asked!

the five rings represent the five inhabited continents from which competitors come, with europe and asia being treated as a single continent of eurasia.

no one color of the rings represents anything in particular, but the combination of all the colors, blue, yellow, black, green, and red, on the field of white are inclusive of all colors on all nations’ flags competing at the games.

i have always revered the olympics, finding myself in awe of its mission to join people of many nations, cultures, perspectives, and beliefs; to almost stop the rest of the world’s happenings to honor the God-given talent of earth’s finest competitors.  go world!  go team usa!

p.s.  i also learned that these games in russia have mascots!  who knew?

p.p.s.  i really like the sochi logo for these games!