[imagesource: YouTube / Rory Pearson]

Winning an Olympic gold medal, after all the years of hard work and sacrifice, must be an indescribable feeling.

I shudder to think how bonkers I would go the moment I realised I had bagged a gold, and that joyous moment is shared with friends, family, and the entire country you represent.

Oh, and let’s not forget the coaches that have helped along the way, like Dean Boxall.

He watched on whilst Ozzie swim star Ariarne Titmus won Monday’s women’s 400m freestyle gold, and he was, to put it mildly, rather chuffed.

Fun fact – Boxall was born in South Africa, and grew up idolising American wrestler ‘The Ultimate Warrior’, which is where the inspiration for his pelvic thrusting celebration comes from.

Take it away, Dean:

Just in case you need a reminder of The Ultimate Warrior’s trademark celebration:

Boxall travelled to the Olympics with a squad of six Australian swimmers under his guidance, and three have already won gold.

After his celebration went viral, he spoke about his reaction, reports IOL:

“It just came out … When I saw the race unfolding I couldn’t keep it in,” he told Australia’s Seven network…

“Arnie [Ariarne’s nickname] executed it to perfection. So when I saw it starting to build, I thought ‘here we go’,” he said.

“I need to apologise, I took my mask off by mistake and it just ripped. I just lost it in the moment.”

We can forgive you. It’s Olympic gold.

Our second reaction comes via Tunisia, and the unlikely gold medal for 18-year-old Ahmed Hafnaoui.

He wasn’t even expected to claim a medal, having scraped into the final, but he powered past pre-race favourites Jack McLoughlin and Kieran Smith to secure his place in Tunisian sporting history.

His family, watching on, went totally bonkers, as they should.

I would heed Stephen Fry’s advice and turn the volume down, but this is what the Olympics is all about:

The one thing the world could use right now is an explosion of joy so complete, intense and overwhelming that there is enough for us all to share in it … (cover your ears: the shrieks of excitement are WILD) pic.twitter.com/QDcmmLbSXH

— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) July 25, 2021

Love it.

So you’ve just hopped out of the pool after taking gold, like Kaylee McKeown, who also broke the Olympic record in the women’s 100 metres backstroke final.

What would you say to your family back home?

“What would you like to say to your mum and your sister?”
“Fuck yeah oh shit… Woooo 🤙”

Congratulations to the legend Kaylee McKeown for the🥇and this perfect #Olympics moment pic.twitter.com/tgHOCzD0lD

— Jeremy Story Carter (@jstorycarter) July 27, 2021

Again, cannot fault it.

To finish, here’s a bunch of Alaskan schoolkids watching Lydia Jacoby win gold.

She’s the first person from Alaska to ever win a gold medal, and she’s just 17.

Those schoolkids are her classmates:

One of the best #Olympics moments so far has been these kids in Alaska absolutely losing it over Lydia Jacoby’s gold. pic.twitter.com/ZmGSBnaVKh

— Pro-Vaccine Queen🌙🦇 (@TypicalTahdig) July 27, 2021

Magic

South Africa already has two medals in the bag (at the time of writing), and I’m feeling that Olympic spirit.

[sources:iol&huffpost]