This morning the news headlines on NPR about the end of the Olympics mostly focused on the medal count, with the US setting the record for the most medals won by a country in any Winter Olympics. The Daily Beast ran a similar news blurb. Hearing this (and hearing my nine-year-old going over and tabulating the number of medals, how many golds, what happened in the final hockey game, etc) made me think: why is this the final story on the games? The focus seemed to be almost exclusively on who did the best and who got the most medals, rather than anything about the effort it takes to pursue athletics at this level, the incredible skill and talent of any athlete who makes it to an Olympics, and the larger goal of the Olympics, which I always thought was for nations to come together peacefully and showcase human beings at their best. Maybe I’ve made that purpose up? Then my son went on to say that Shaun White left right after his event. I’d read in the newspaper yesterday that he trains on his own on a halfpipe that Red Bull funded for him. His own little private halfpipe, fueled by Red Bull. Again, I thought, this is not the intention of this competition and what’s the message to kids about being on a team? collaborating with others? good sportsmanship? sticking around and watching and supporting your fellow athletes from all over the world? It was thrilling to watch the Olympics with my children, and I did see lots of support from many athletes for each other; however, the final emphasis on medals and winning and who accomplished the most took some of the awe out of it for me. I don’t want my kids to think that the only worthwhile efforts are those that end with gold medals (or A’s on tests or whatever other marker there might be). I’m looking forward to reading Wendy Mogel’s new book (out in October): The Blessing of a B-.