People the world over have their eyes on the Olympic athletes—men and women who work hard and strive to excel. The athletes are a source of inspiration for many. The Epoch Times asked people outside Olympic Park in London what the most inspiring moment has been for them thus far. By far the most common answer was Usain Bolt’s world-record-breaking gold medal win for Jamaica in the 100-meter dash. But, it is not always the best athletes people find most inspiring, there are many aspects of the Olympics that hold meaning for spectators.
 Bangalore, IndiaRonald D’Souza, 40, IT Supervisor The 100-meter dash, because a human being breaking [the] world record and being the fastest is amazing. Like I saw in the newspaper, he was called the “Rocket Man.” |
 Mexico City, MexicoJesus Carmona, 27, Student When they started the fire of the Olympic torch. Many people did it together, there were a few of them at the same time lighting the fire. Teamwork—that’s the point. |
 Manilla, PhilippinesAlex Pollo, 51, Catering Assistant I like boxing and I found it interesting how the spectators preferred the underdogs in boxing. The crowd shouted and liked it when the underdog made a hit. |
 Sydney, AustraliaHenry Huynh, 30, Finance The crowd that has been here, the events, and the Olympic spirit, just being here in person. |
 London, EnglandGrant Allen, 32, Furniture Designer Andy Murray winning tennis for Great Britain. An English player hasn’t won [Olympic] tennis since 1908 and we haven’t won a tennis medal since 1936. |
 Brampton, CanadaLileith Golding, 46, Administrative Clerk The 100-meter finals. The way [Bolt] got a blast from the starting line and accelerated to beat the other runners. |
 Istanbul, TurkeyAydin Karakuzu, 41, Surgeon [When a] heavy weightlifter lady dropped the weight on her face, [it made me think] sometimes people try so hard, but there is fate, destiny, and you can’t do anything about it. |
 Edinburgh, Scotland (Living in London)Brian Cattenach, 39, Repro Graphics The 100-meter dash, and also just seeing everyone enjoy themselves. |
 Milton Keynes, EnglandPurwita Susanto, 39, Arts Administrator I think just everybody getting together behind the teams. It’s just a nice atmosphere generally. |
 Barcelona, SpainCarla Sariol, 26, Barcelona Olympic Museum Worker |
 MexicoNayelli Vargas, 30, Stay-at-home Mom When Bolt won and he’s the fastest man on Earth. It’s incredible! |
 Amsterdam, HollandAnne Douque, 30, Business Owner Our Dutch swimmer won gold for both the 50-meter and the 100-meter freestyle wim. She knew she was going to win these two medals. She began the course to win them four years ago, and she did! It is so phenomenal. |
 Stony Point, New York, USADominick Posillipo, 50, Retired Autoworker When [Gabrielle Douglas] won the gold in women’s gymnastics. She wouldn’t be there if the other gymnast [Russian gymnast Victoria Komova] didn’t get knocked out. The favorite didn’t make it. Also, when Michael Phelps broke the record for number of gold medals. |
London, EnglandNeville Sequeira, 43, Finance [I think] The cauldron going up at the opening ceremony, full of tears representing every team. No one knew whether it would fall.
|
 Komlo, HungaryTibor Tillmann, 34, Driver When my country is winning, that’s the best part of it. [On Sunday,] we got into the quarterfinal in handball and we won two gold medals and a bronze. I went to see running and athletics—no wins for our country, but at least I was there. |
|
Look for the Global Q&A column every week. Epoch Times correspondents interview people around the world to learn about their lives and perspectives on local and global realities. Next week’s global question: “What kinds of judgments do you make about people based on their accent or dialect?” The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter. |
