Lifestyles

The 2008 Olympics were incredible, and created a lot of memories. However, in the midst of all the gold medals and championship moments, the event I remember best is Nastia Liukin's silver-medal finish in the uneven bars.

On the night of the uneven bars final, I was impatiently watching the commercials, waiting for them to end. Nastia had just completed a beautiful routine. She had to have a score of at least 16.725 to pull ahead of the Chinese gymnast He Kexin, who had gone first. I personally felt sure that she would get the required score. I am an ex-gymnast, but hardly a qualified judge of women's gymnastics. Nonetheless, her routine had looked phenomenal, even to my untrained eye. "She's got it," I thought excitedly. "She's going to win it. I don't think anyone else could match that."

The commercials ended and the numbers appeared at the bottom of the screen. Her score: 16.725. I was surprised but thought, "OK, they're tied. They'll both get gold, then." Then the screen showed the standings. Nastia was ... second? I was shocked. How could that be? She had the same score as He Kexin. The competition ended. He and Nastia were first and second, respectively. The broadcasters gave an explanation of the tie-breaker proceedings that I didn't follow at all. I watched Nastia. She appeared to be fighting tears, and I wouldn't have blamed her if she had cried. I know I would have. I wondered whether she was feeling the same emotions I would have in her place: confusion, resentment, sorrow.

Perhaps she felt all these and more. But she held back tears and smiled as she took her silver medal. I was impressed by her self-control, and thought no more of it that night.

The next day, I opened the paper to read about the competition. I was of the very strong opinion that He was underage, and wanted to see whether this subject had been broached by Nastia. I would not have blamed Nastia for questioning He's age. I certainly would have questioned it. However, I was in for another shock. She said that "[He]'s an excellent athlete no matter how old she is ... and she deserved that Olympic gold medal today."

Amazed, I set the paper down. Her response was so different from what mine (and probably most people's) would have been. She had congratulated her opponent and refrained from what probably would have been a justified complaint about what had happened. Her sportsmanship and charity is my most enduring memory of the 2008 Olympics. She acted with maturity and dignity that I have not seen in many adults, let alone 18-year-olds.

It would have been so easy for Nastia to take the silver medal with a sullen face, to avoid mention of He's great performance, to complain about the system that robbed her of a gold that seemed well-earned. Yet she smiled on the podium, and spoke highly of her opponent's performance. There was much more to be learned from her conduct than self-control. She exemplified the ideal of sportsmanship that is spoken of by athletes everywhere. Her silver medal is far from being the most inspiring story of these Olympics. But it is the one we could learn the most from.

Maggie Flynn, 16, of Valencia, is a junior at Aquinas Academy.

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