The first Olympics I recall watching was the 1972 Games in Munich. The Ulster Bank manager in my hometown had a colour TV that threw forth the spirit of that games. The blue pool, the all-American hero that was Mark Spitz; the lithe Olga Korbut.
We watched in awe at the achievements, listened to the tinny commentary sent down a telephone line. We admired the wonderful silvery architecture of the Olympic Stadium. A games that when now viewed backwards are dominated by the attacks that claimed 17 lives.
Back then, as for so many games since, we felt we were neighbours allowed to peer over the fence while everybody else helped themselves to the apples in the orchard. We looked on, the gawkers rather than the gathering. But we didn’t complain, because we knew that such a world was for those who had, while we, as a country, had not.
Now and again, a generational talent might come along to make a semi-final, to be worthy of a mention. Invariably we saw our team at the opening and the closing.
1956 seemed a long way back in the mists of time. Back then, Ireland did not even have a TV station, so whole generations were denied the wonders of Ronnie Delaney’s fantastic achievement.
How we have come on. Now our athletes talk about winning, competing. They do not fear the great outside. They are well prepared and confident.
At time of writing at teatime on Wednesday, Ireland has won a smattering of medals, our best haul.
In the space of a decade or more, our team has become one that justifies its place in the national psyche by being able to hold their own in a variety of disciplines. Our standards have risen and so have theirs. Their names have become household.
No longer are we dependent on generational talents, a freak ability that comes along once in a while. Now, we know the levels we have to achieve.
This Games will represent the most successful Ireland has ever had at any Olympiad. It is no coincidence that it comes after a period of investment in our sports facilities that create the young interest.
Our top stars still have to travel the US and elsewhere to pit themselves against the best, but at least now, we are creating the base of facilities that are needed to enable every Irish child to grow into the best version of themselves in a sporting sense.
The world has not been the most welcoming of places in recent times. The news of the day gives us a heavy heart more often than it just informs. It is to events such as this that we look to have our spirits lifted.
In recent weeks, Galway teams have qualified for All-Ireland finals, and so far have fallen just short. This Sunday, the senior camogie team will vie for the O’Duffy Cup when they play Cork at Croke Park.
To all of the squads and management, thank you for bringing us on the journey of possibility, for enabling fresh blood to flow at pace through our hearts by virtue of what you do on the pitch.
What you achieve is invaluable in distracting us from the otherness of life.
