For God, family and country!

"Why do people from all over the world want to come to America? Because when they see people like Tamyra, Sydney, and Simone, they see a part of our American exceptionalism. The best of the best. Well done ladies - you make us proud."  

Okay. I am on the bandwagon again. Which one? The Olympic bandwagon. I was turned off at the very beginning by the purple haired America hater taking a knee. That plus other things, caused me to turn the channel quickly. Based on the ratings, I was not the only one. We had her, the "X" gal with green and purple hair, and the gal who before the games even began, turned her back on our National Anthem. But that is the bad news. Now for some good - no, I mean GREAT NEWS!

"I freaking love living here!", said Tamyra Mensah-Stock. Now that we have talked about the classless in the first paragraph, time to talk about the classy. This young lady, is nothing short of amazing. Watching her, and listening to her, made me stand about 3 inches taller as an American. "I won this gold for God, family, and country." Wow, again. 

Tamyra is the first black female wrestler EVER to win an Olympic medal. She did not start to wrestle until she was 15. She was so good, she got accepted to Wayland Baptist College, and also wrestled there. Her father was killed in an auto accident coming home from one of her high school wrestling meets. After she got married in college, out of respect for her deceased father, she took his last name, and hyphenated it with her married name.

How about that Sydney Mclaughlin? She won the gold medal in the 400 meter hurtles. Not only did she win it, she beat her previous record. First female ever to run it in under 52 seconds. How did she do it? She credits God for her success. Not one bit shy about her faith, she is very open about thanking God for her athletic ability and the success it have giver her. Is Sydney a classy young lady? Absolutely! Just as classy as Tamyra is.

I can't finish without a word about Simone Bile. Even though these Olympics did not yield the success she had at the last Olympics, she showed another side of her which is admirable. She had to withdraw from some of her marquee events, because she developed the "twisties". For a gymnast, to not have the coordination between mind and body, during an event, serious injury could result. I mean, Simone was the odds on favorite to win a hand full of medals again.

She felt she had the "twisties" under control enough to compete in the balance bar. She did, and won a bronze medal. Because of the circumstances, this was huge. Many a gymnast would have thrown in the towel and not competed anymore. I mean, after the last Olympics with all the success she had, she had nothing more to prove. But she toughed it out, and won a medal. This was classy, but in a different way than the other two young ladies I wrote about.

What is the bottom line to me about these three young Olympians? They are winners, all. Not just because of the medal they are bringing home, they are part of our American fabric which we are proud for the world to see. Why do people from all over the world want to come to America? Because when they see people like Tamyra, Sydney, and Simone, they see a part of American exceptionalism. The best of the best. Well done ladies - you make us proud.