Blog Vol.II, # 14. Olympics: I
see! I won!
I can remember back in 2016 at
the closing ceremonies of the Rio Games, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo
Abe, led us through a spectacular animé production that transported us to Tokyo,
home of the 2020 games. It was
definitely something to look forward to. Fast-forward five years… and the world
just witnessed the most digitally streamed Olympics ever. The Covid pandemic
had a lot to do with this, of course, as there were no spectators allowed at
the events. As always, the level of athletic achievement was amazing.
As an optometrist, I was impressed
with the visual accuracy and the eye-hand co-ordination that was on display
over the 16 days. I was streaming a
volleyball match in the preliminary round between the men of Brazil and
Argentina, always excellent drama when these two sides meet. During the game, one of the players had to
take a time out for a trainer/eye doctor to remove, clean, and re-insert a
contact lens. Sports like volleyball, table tennis, tennis, baseball, archery,
shooting (ten different events at this games), and countless others require
superb vision and co-ordination. When it
comes to the games, there is much mention of the dedication of coaches,
parents, and support staff; I would like to give a special shout out to all the
sports vision optometrists who make this level of excellence possible.
Eye protection was also in
much use at the games. I could not help
but notice that our own André De Grasse, who took home medals in three
different sprinting events, was sporting a pair of pretty nice sunglasses in
his races. How cool was that? Not only did he look good, but he also had glare
control and sun protection. How about
the swimmers with their tiny goggles? I
could not help but notice that Canadian, Maggie MacNeil, was wearing goggles
when she won gold in the 100 metre butterfly.
Did you notice that when she finished her race, she removed her goggles
and had to really scrunch up her eyes to see if she won? She was wearing prescription
goggles. (Contacts lenses should not be
worn under goggles.) Then, when she was
receiving her medal on the podium, she showed up wearing glasses for her nearsightedness. The games through an optometrist’s eyes.
Even us regular people need
eye protection when participating in athletic activities. Swimming and
protective goggles all are available with prescription lenses as are sunglasses.
In fact my wife and I are getting my son a pair of prescription swim goggles
for his birthday, shh! Don’t tell.
Til next week,
the good doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Optometrist
