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Check It Out: Get into Olympic spirit with these reads

By Jan Johnston

Published: July 31, 2016, 6:05am

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You know how I know that time is fleet of foot? Because the Summer Olympics are starting in less than a week. It feels like the Winter Olympics took place just a short time ago, but it’s been two years already — two years! Why is it that the past two years zoomed by like a bullet train when a single day — usually a Monday — can grind on like I’m riding a square-wheeled bicycle through fields of mud? One of life’s great mysteries, I suppose.

I know I won’t get bogged down watching the Olympics. No matter how many times I’ve watched an opening ceremony, I still get a thrill out of seeing the athletes march into the stadium, and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. With participants from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, it is truly an event for the world, and even the threat of the Zika virus, or Russia’s unfortunate doping scandal, cannot diminish the Olympic spirit.

While preparing for this column, I browsed the official website for the Rio Games, www.rio2016.com. Several fascinating tidbits caught my eye:

Did you know that a mother and son will be competing in the same event for the first time in the history of the Olympics? Check out the shooting events to catch this Georgian duo(that’s the country of Georgia, not the state!) in action.

What sport is appearing in the 2016 games for the first time in 112 years? If you guessed pickleball, you are incorrect. If you picked golf, you just made a hole-in-one.

Who never competed in the Olympics, but is 1) one of the most iconic and revered athletes of all time, and 2) lives in Brazil and recently welcomed the Olympic torch to his hometown of Santos? Think soccer, and you’ll be thinking right. Yup, Pel?.

To help you get into the Olympic groove, I’ve put together a selection of titles for your reading and viewing pleasure. The official 2016 Summer Olympics slogan is “um mundo novo” — a new world — so perhaps one of these titles will open up a new world for you.

• “Brazil: with Monty Python’s Michael Palin,” (DVD) BBC.

Michael Palin is a splendid travel guide, and watching this DVD is a perfect way to travel across Brazil by way of your television. Comfy couch required.

• “Cat Nap,” by Toni Yuli.

OK, this title has nothing to do with the Olympics … or does it? Astound your friends and family with this information: Rio 2016 partnered with NGO World Animal Protection to ensure the safety and well-being of urban wildlife during the Olympics. As a result of this partnership, a cat shelter was established for Rio’s street cat population. Stray kitties will receive food and medical care, and some of them will be offered for adoption once they’ve been spayed/neutered and vaccinated. So, there — cats and the Olympics do go together. Sprint to the library to check out this super cute picture book, and you’ll be a champion.

• “Chariots of Fire,” (DVD) Warner Home Video.

If you haven’t seen this 1981 film about two runners competing in the 1924 Olympics, I recommend adding it to your viewing list. It’s considered one of the top 100 British films by the British Film Institute, and it won four Academy Awards. Plus, it’s based on a true story. Don’t know the story? See below.

• “For the Glory: Eric Liddell’s Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr,” by Duncan Hamilton.

Now that you’ve watched “Chariots of Fire,” you undoubtedly need to know more about Eric Liddell. Well, it just so happens that the library can help you out. This recently published biography is described by its publisher, Penguin Press, as “the untold and inspiring story of Eric Liddell, hero of ‘Chariots of Fire,’ from his Olympic medal to his missionary work in China to his last, brave years in a Japanese work camp during WWII.” Now you want to watch the DVD again. See above.

• “London 2012, Gymnastics, Going for the Gold: Games of the XXX Olympiad,” (DVD) Ten Mayflower Productions.

Did I hear you say that you wish there were more gymnastics events at the Olympics? We must be sympatico because I agree! Check out this DVD, and you’ll feel much better.

• “Why Soccer Matters,” by Pel?.

Yup, Pel?. When it comes to soccer, he’s the man. He is so synonymous with the sport that the game might as well be called Pel?. Gooooaaal!

Jan Johnston is the collection development coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org.

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