Wouldn’t you know it. Just when we were going to have a great time in the Grouch family living room watching the summer Olympics, old man covid-19 comes along. What a spoiler.

Remember the incredible performance of American Mark Spitz who won 11 medals in swimming and Michael Phelps who followed with 23 medals?

Remember the artistry of female US gymnasts Shannon Miller, Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Nastia Liukin, Mary Lou Retton, Dominique Dawes and Shawn Johnson who won 36 medals between them.

Miracle on Ice

During the winter games in 1980, many of us were at work when a bunch of US college hockey players upset the Soviet bullies.

We wouldn’t listen to the radio or read news reports until we got home. Without knowing who won, we watched on home TVs as if the Miracle on Ice was live. The suspense of the outcome and the thrill of the victory would have been blunted had we known in advance that they won.

Biggest of the best

To many of us the summer and winter Olympics are bigger than the Super Bowl, March Madness, the Stanley Cup or the World Series. The Olympics is a world

The Olympics is a world wide event with participants from what seems like more than a 100 counties. And the games occur only once every 4 years.

Cancel it and you deprive hundreds of athletes of a chance to participate.

In another 4 years many of them will be past their prime. Their dream of a lifetime will go out the window.

Welcome decision

The International Olympic Committee’s decision to postpone the Games until July 23, 2021 was a relief to 11,000 athletes expected in Tokyo.

Joshua Robinson and Louise Radnofsky of the Wall Street Journal reported that only 57% of the athletes had secured spots on their country’s teams.

Mountain biker Kate Courtney is an example. She spent years imagining standing at the starting line for the cross-country bike race in the 2020 Olympics.

Now her dream is postponed until 2021. Even though she believes this is the right decision, the news for her was devastating. The Olympics have the power to inspire athletes like Kate.

She remembered cheering for athletes who seemed like super heroes. Their achievements expanded her vision of what could be possible.

When she failed to make the US team for Rio, Tokyo became her obsession.

Kate plans to earn the honor of representing our country on the world’s biggest stage and win a medal.

Do you feel the IOC made the right decision? Should the games have been postponed only until the fall?

Please write me at ChronicleSports@yahoo.com.