I am thoroughly disappointed at the unpatriotic criticism of our athletes as second class. Even though the U.S. leads all other countries for the most medals and continues to break world and Olympic records, Tribune headlines and stories continue to portray American athletes as near failures.
Tuesday’s headline–“Phelps’ shot at mark is history”–is it normal to label someone’s efforts as “history” for failing to obtain eight gold medals? Isn’t it already a feat that he has qualified for so many events and is attempting to race them all for the gold?
I’m tired of this pessimistic, at times sarcastic, commentary. It seems we have forgotten what tremendous pressure our athletes are under, and how they have dedicated their lives to their sports and to representing our country. Everybody wants to win a gold medal, but simply qualifying for the Olympics is an enormous accomplishment. We should commend all of our athletes and highlight their triumphs rather than their failures.
