Growing up in the 1990s, I didn’t have photos of movie stars on my bedroom wall — I had Joan Benoit Samuelson. Sprinting to victory at the first women’s Olympic marathon, she looked confident and joyful and tough. I read about the sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the 20th child of a Tennessee railroad porter. She wore metal leg braces as a girl but grew up to be an Olympic champion; I taped her photo to my wall, too. Later I watched a number of champions on my television: Venus Williams in tennis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee in track, Misty Hyman in swimming.
How to Love the Olympics Despite … Everything
