Abbey D’Agostino would serve U.S. well as flag bearer
RIO DE JANEIRO — The United States will finish at the top of the heap in the overall medal table at these Olympics and way down the list in terms of international popularity.
That may not bother you and maybe it shouldn’t. The single-mindedness pursuit of success is a very American trait, albeit not a unique one.
One act, one gesture, won’t shift it, but there is an opportunity for the U.S. to sign off on its Olympic experience and leave a final image that is not bombastic, arrogant, parochial or insulting.
Make Abbey D’Agostino the flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
You probably hadn’t heard of D’Agostino before these Games and it’s possible you won’t hear a ton about her after them. She didn’t win a gold or get near the podium. She ran just once, in the heats of the 5,000 meters.
That was where she produced a moment of selflessness that makes her the perfect candidate to line up amongst a parade of global Olympians on Sunday evening as the world of sports bids farewell to the Games.
In stopping mid-race to help fallen rival Nikki Hamblin to her feet, D’Agostino unintentionally gave the event what should have been its most memorable moment.
If not for the sabotage done by a moronic group of swimmers who gained more headlines than anyone here, we’d remember D’Agostino more heavily — the way she assisted Hamblin, before getting just enough weight on her shredded knee to will her way around the track and complete the race.
So she doesn’t become nothing more than an overshadowed footnote, let’s fix it. Give her the honor, U.S. Olympic team. She won’t let you down.
America is not a likeable presence at many Olympics, and especially not at this one. NBC’s money means that event schedules are tinkered with in a way that gives little consideration to the convenience of fans that fork over their hard-earned money to attend. And even then, they don’t bother to show the darn thing live.
The flag bearer for the opening ceremony was one hell of an athlete, Michael Phelps, but he stuck around for just a few seconds before exiting stage right. The U.S. team whiffed back then by selecting Phelps for the role instead of fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who became the first U.S. athlete to compete in a hijab and is a passionate advocate for equal rights.
Phelps was superb in the pool, but was joined on the swimming team by a group of boneheads, led it seems by Ryan Lochte, who got drunk, acted up, then decided it was easier to sully the name of a sovereign country than own up to their stupidity.
Neither Brazil nor the rest of the world is enamored with the lies that were spun nor the way the American media swallowed them.
D’Agostino is the most likeable storyline to come out of a track team that has a pair of drug cheats, Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, as two of its most recognizable and loudest figures.
Let’s hope they get this right. America used to. There is already a change.org petition in favor of D’Agostino carrying the flag online, but a look at history should be enough.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics the U.S. selected speedskater Joey Cheek, who dedicated himself to inspirational charity works.
For the 1992 opening ceremony, it picked Francie Larrieu-Smith, a veteran distance runner who never won a medal but was renowned for her kindness to other athletes.
“It is the proudest moment of my career and possibly my life,” Larrieu-Smith told Paste BN Sports. “Every time I think of it, even now, it means the world to me. At the time I thought about what it meant to be American, and what we wanted to say to the world about our country.”
In 2008, it was Lopez Lomong, a refugee and former Lost Boy from Sudan, who was picked, and nervously carried the flag around the track.
“I don’t have any credentials or a gold medal or any accolades, but I was given that opportunity because my story as a refugee and as an immigrant is what America is all about,” Lomong said. “I was proud of everything I put out there and I represented my country in the best way possible. I was an ambassador, and I was fortunate to do that. It’s a beautiful thing, and that’s what makes us America.”
D’Agostino belongs in their company. She belongs at the heart of a ceremony where the Olympic spirit means something more than an arrogant belief that you can behave however you like.
She will walk, if she can, with pride. And if she can’t she will hobble and battle her way to where she needs to get to, just like she did when gutting her way around that track.
Sadly, she doesn’t signify what the U.S represented at these Games. But she does represent what they should have.
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