The Olympics has me thinking about medals

One of the things that I was really looking forward to, while training for my last triathlon, was winning a medal.  Unless you finish among the top three (and most likely not even then), triathlon medals are not made of gold or silver or even bronze.  They are just a symbol of an accomplishment and I SO wanted one.  Though I completed the entire tri, technically I don't think that I qualified for a medal, since it took me so long to finish, but the guy running the race said that I could have one as long as I finished the race, no matter how long it took me. So when I crossed the finish line I got a medal.

I was so proud.  I wanted to wear it to the victory dinner, but I let my coach talk me out of it.  I, however, put the medal in my purse and slipped it on and off all of  that evening and the next day.  The next afternoon, as we boarded the plane to go home, I put my finishers medal around my neck and sat down in my seat.  The group of us sat in the same section of the plane and joked back and fourth amongst ourselves.  A guy in front of me noticed our banter and asked the typical plane questions:  "Where are you guys from?", "What were you doing in Tennessee?"...  I explained to him that we were all on the same triathlon team and were returning home after competing in a tri in Knoxville.  He asked how we did.  I explained that we all finished, and my teammates did well, but I was actually the winner.  That is why I am the only one wearing a medal.  I had him fooled.  :-)