Paul Oberjuerge header image 2

Track and Field, Sleep Deprivation and Rio 2016

August 20th, 2016 · No Comments · Olympics, Rio Olympics

What will I stay up all night to watch on TV?

Not much.

Not the NFL. Not the NBA. Not even Major League Baseball.

The World Cup? Maybe the Super Bowl.

The Summer Olympics?

As it turns out … absolutely … if the track meet is going on.

Did it again tonight.

Stuck with the Brazil-Germany men’s soccer final … till I passed out, around midnight in France … but then I was brought around again when the announcers began shouting, during the shootout, and I saw Neymar score the decisive penalty in the shootout.

Nodded out, but was back again an hour later for three hours of track and field (last day!), until about 4:30 a.m. … and then stayed up to watch the BBC talk about how wonderfully Team Great Britain has performed … and it was 6 a.m. before I was in bed.

This has been going on more and more, during Rio 2016, because I will stay up to watch the track meet — but I will not stay up for the swim meet, which was the late programming in Week 1.

This has led to a weird stay-at-home form of jet lag. Discombobulated

Waking up jittery. Nodding out at strange times. Wide awake in the middle of the night.

Because of Rio 2016 and the track meet.

(How about that Matt Centrowitz in the 1,500? First U.S. gold in the event since 1908!

(How much more over-the-top can the Brits go over Mo Farah? Any more, and they will be further north than Iceland.

(The 5,000 and the 10,000 are turning into bumper cars, with lots of contact. Maybe cut down on the size of the fields?

(How curious that a 37-year-old woman won gold in the high jump.

(How about a German guy winning the javelin for the first time since Berlin 1936?

(So, the U.S. can hold on to the baton in a relay — well, in the 4×400 relays, anyway.

(How interesting that Belgium showed up for the men’s 4×400 with three brothers making up 75 percent of their team … and missing a medal by a matter of inches!)

I can watch this stuff all night … and I have.

The weird part of this? I pay only passing attention to track and field whenever it is not the Olympics. But when Olympic gold is up for grabs, I’m there.

The good news? The late-night track meet is over. One more night of Closing Ceremonies and that’s it for Rio.

And I can go back to sleeping at nights … at least until Tokyo 2020.

Tags:

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment