Man, I don’t know about you guys, but I just can’t get enough of the Olympics. Every year, I’m like “meh – I don’t really know anything about any of these sports, so I’m probably not going to watch any of it.” And, the next thing I know, it’s just Day 1 and I’m up at 2AM watching gymnastics highlights and screaming at my television like a maniac. Something about the event feels magical, not unlike the Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter. It’s only once every four years that we get the world together to watch our best and most capable athletes compete for absolutely nothing other than the pride of the countries…sorry, I think Olympic athletes should get paid. Anyway, that’s beside the point. My point is that the ceremony, the thrill of competition, and the stories that come out of the Olympics always suck me in, whether I content to being sucked or not. Just yesterday morning, we were gearing up to go to the Nashville flea market. Y’all know how that goes – you gotta get out there early before all the good deals are gone! But, I couldn’t move – I was frozen in time, watching the U.S. go up against Japan in water polo. I have no idea how to play water polo, but I put deals on hold to scream at my television “DON’T THROW THAT” and what have you. It’s amazing. And, on Saturday night, we just happened to be winding down for the evening and flipped on the tube to see Ahmed Hafnaoui pull of this amazing feat.
FROM. LANE. 8. Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia wins Olympic gold in the Men's 400 Freestyle.pic.twitter.com/9yTZfeYTJt
— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) July 25, 2021
Just brilliant stuff – this dude was “supposed to just be happy to be there.” He was the last to qualify, and it wasn’t too long ago that he was ranked 100th in the world. You want to talk about an underdog story? This was an underdog story. I was stunned to read that this was just the fifth gold medal for Tunisia in their history at the Olympics. But, I was reminded of something my fiancé said on Friday night as we were watching the parade of nations, or whatever the opening night ceremony is called during which each country and the athletes representing it wave their flags in succession throughout the arena. “This obviously means so much to these countries with smaller populations.”
Yeah! I think we Americans take for granted how special the Olympics can be for other countries. We keep up with the overall medal count and lose sight of stories like this one. Ahmed Hafnaoui is going to be a hero in Tunisia. What’s not to like about this story? A guy that barely eked into the field to begin with, faced 50-1 odds of winning, and then surprises the world to get the Gold for his country? That’s the kinda shit that Disney makes movies starring Kurt Russell about. It’s a firm reminder of just why the Olympics are so special, and if you don’t think this is a big deal, just watch the clip of Hafnaoui’s family watching him win this race.
18 year old Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui qualified last, had the swim of his life & took gold in the 400m- it was amazing watching it in the US. But watching his family watch it puts it over top- an alltime sport viewing moment for me! I’m here for the Hafnaoui Sports Network! https://t.co/1H5V6lQxUI
— Tony Reali (@TonyReali) July 25, 2021
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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