Athletes prove golden examples

It turned out to be quite the golden summer for two Newport Harbor

High products. Beach volleyball player Misty May and swimmer Aaron

Peirsol return from Greece as gold medalists.

May, with partner Kerri Walsh, captured the gold with a flawless

run at the rowdy beach volleyball venue. The duo finished 7-0, didn’t

lose a set on the hot Grecian sand and earned the United States’

first gold medal since women’s beach volleyball became an Olympic

sport in 1996.

And they did it before an international television audience. May

and Walsh appeared on prime-time television repeatedly, raising the

profile of their sport, along with their own. Few who watched won’t

know their names. No one who saw the team’s joyous celebration after

capturing the gold can argue that their enthusiasm, talent and

commitment to their sport exemplify what the Olympic Games are

supposed to be about.

Peirsol’s swim to his three golds -- in the 100- and 200-meter

backstroke and in the 400-meter medley relay -- was perhaps even more

dramatic, though not quite as smooth. He set an Olympic record in

winning the 200-meter event but only after he had been disqualified

and then watched as the international swimming governing body

overturned the disqualification.

In winning the race, he became only the fifth swimmer in history

to win both the 100- and 200-meter back events in the same Olympics.

He also set a world record in the medley of 53.45 seconds, helping

the team break the world mark in 3:30.68.

Like May, Peirsol performed on center stage of the world’s biggest

athletic event. Swimming was a mainstay of Olympic coverage -- in

part because of Peirsol’s teammate, Michael Phelps, who was trying to

equal or break the record seven gold medals U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz

won in 1972. And Peirsol’s curly hair and shy smile, we’re sure,

captured countless fans.

We count ourselves among his and May’s fans, even more so than

before they left for Athens, if that’s possible. We admire them

because, along with their U.S. compatriots and the rest of the

athletes competing, they offered us a glimpse of what we’re all

capable of achieving if we commit, focus and dare to try: greatness.