There are 11,551 athletes competing at these Olympics, all striving for that elusive gold, silver or bronze medal. While Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles have won multiple gold medals, around 10,500 of the athletes will go home without a single medal of any colour.
After years and years of training and sacrifice, that is devastating for some. But they and others still will take home lessons and emotions that are nearly as important as any medal.
“The Olympics to me are permission to continue wanting things that I may or not get,” distance runner Alexi Pappas said.”Because I see so many people around me trying so hard as well. It’s motivating to be around that. The Olympics are permission to keep believing in yourself because hundreds of other people believe in themselves, and they want something. And it’s a scary thing to want something but it’s less scary to be in a whole village of people who want something they may or may not get.
“There’s an element of it being a celebration. People want to do big things here but everyone recognises that it’s an achievement to be here and that the competitions themselves are celebrations.”
Of Greek-American lineage, Pappas grew up in the Bay Area and attended Dartmouth. She competed here for Greece in the women’s 10,000 meter run, finishing in the top half (17 out of 37 entrants) with a personal best time of 31:36.16. Like so many Olympians, there is more to know about her than just her time in a competition.
She also is a writer. And an actress. And a filmmaker. And a poet. She writes poems for Women’s Running Magazine, including a recent one titled “Before, Olympics 2016,” about such pre-competition preparation as knowing “where bravery hides” so she can draw it out.
“Every word matters in poetry,” Pappas said. “That helps me as a writer to appreciate words, and it also helps me as a runner. Because in poetry there are certain limitations but there also is a lot of creativity within it and I think that running is similar.”
Pappas and her longtime boyfriend, Jeremy Teicher, co-wrote and co-directed the recently completed film “Tracktown,” which is set in Eugene, Ore. (a.k.a, Tracktown U.S.A.). Based on some of her own experiences in the sport, the movie is about an intensely focused runner, played by Pappas, who competes at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene. The film also stars SNL’s Rachel Dratch and Andy Buckley of “The Office.”
She eventually wants to become a full time filmmaker – “I would like to make things with Jeremy for the rest of our lives” – but she also wants to run as long as she can.
A top runner and vibrant personality in the states, Pappas could have competed for the U.S. but she chose to run for Greece instead — she was able to because of dual citizenship due to her grandmother being from that country. She said it was an easy decision.
“Everyone at the Olympics is among the best, not just the ones who win gold. There is a remarkable energy to be around.”
“My goals are to compete at the highest level which you can do regardless of where you run. But also to have an impact on the sport,” she said. “I’m doing that already in the U.S., but I think I can extend it to a place where distance running was born. But Greece has never had the leadership or role models in distance running. This was an obvious opportunity for me.”
