Leryn Franco bows out of Beijing Olympics

Speaking of the Olympics, could there be people out there who are not sports fans themselves? Be it a street basketball tournament, an inter-school athletic meet, or a nationwide sports competition, there is something about sports and the athletes that somehow catch our attention.

Not a few things have been said about sports and how they are able to touch lives, how many of life’s values are reflected when an athlete tries to do well and excel in his sport, even if the athlete falls short of a medal or the cash prize. For some, sports simply make witness of them to the thrill of victory.

In any case, sports are fun to watch. As fun to watch as it is to participate in any of them. Even for us with ordinary capabilities and mediocre talent who stand at longshot odds to qualify for a respectable tournament. It does not matter that Filipinos still have to earn respect in the world of international sports. The Olympics is still fun to watch.

But I repeat myself. My favorite Beijing Olympics sport is the athletics. No, make that the javelin throw event of the athletics. It involves throwing a javelin as far as one is capable of throwing it. That is pretty much all there is to know about javelin. Just go out there in the field, throw the javelin without hitting anybody, and the farthest one wins.

It sounds like a fairly easy sport, especially if someone like me explains it to you. It was only yesterday that I saw a javelin throw competition. It was only yesterday that I found out there was an athletic event called javelin throw.

But I like what I have seen. Javelin throw really puts to test the participants and to win it is like, I don’t know, besting a beauty pageant contestant to a game of strength. This Games got me hooked to javelin throw. I cheered for Paraguay because they look like Filipinos. Also they got Leryn Franco in their roster.

That is all her in the photo. But let in not fool you. Leryn Franco is a two-time Olympian for the national team of Paraguay. Her personal best throw is 56 meters, set in Fortaleza, Brazil, back in May 2007. At the 2004 Olympics, she placed 21^st in Group A and finished 42^nd overall. In this Games she finished second to last. Still, she can throw. A javelin.

That was a poor finish of course. But it was an Olympic-level competition and not many could do what Leryn Franco did. Especially if one has spent the time in between the two Olympics winning in a beauty pageant and jumpstarting a modeling career.

It was all right. I wish I could tell her this: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” Ms. Leryn, you captivated the hearts of sports fans across the globe. You won.