Earth to Dave! (E2D!)

If you’re one of the millions of people, like me, who watched the 29th Olympic Games closing ceremonies last night, you’re probably feeling like you’re completely informed and up-to-date on the most notable of performances seen during these Summer Games. Sure, we know about Mark Phelps, the famous swimmer who won 10 Gold Medals. Yeah, yeah, so the U.S. men’s basketball team, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, won silver. Okay, so Hussein Belt from Jamaica won three rowing competitions. Big Deal.

Only the savviest of Olympiad spectators, like myself, dug deep and found the true heartwarming stories of Olympic competitors who, despite all odds, persevered and did their very best. While they may not have been part of a “Dream Team” or won the umpteenth Gold medal for their country, their stories are nonetheless truly inspiring.

So in the spirit of the Olympic Games, I’d like to tell you about one such competitor: Paulette Hunt from the United States.

Paulette Hunt was born in Pekoopskie, Michigan, the daughter of hard-working blue-collar parents, Dear and Turkey. Growing up, Pauletta was often described as “slow” and was a bit clumsy. To add to her difficulties, her parents refused to change their names, resulting in Paulette being the object of much ridicule. Also, Paulette could never be honestly described as “attractive”. In fact, she was down right ugly. Many times she was mistaken for a boy! In an effort to help their daughter gain confidence, Dee and Turkey enrolled their daughter in gymnastics.

Initially, Paulette struggled with her gymnastics, often her routines being described as the “blue mat face plant”. Undeterred, Pauletta continued to practice day and night. Her “face plant” routines became not only routine, but somewhat entertaining. In short time and by word of mouth, Paulette became somewhat of a local celebrity. In an effort to be more credible as a competitor, she changed her name to Paulette Huntinova, because every good gymnast had a weird name that was hard to pronounce, she figured.

Soon Paulette was winning competitions across the country. She was, however, still mistaken by many, including commentators, as a male gymnast. Paulette, however, did not let this bother her. She was often quoted as saying “I are let my gymnastics do the talking, so me not worry”. At some events, where the judges and commentators could not fathom that she was a girl, she’d use the name “Paul Hunt”. It didn’t matter…as long as she could display her gymnastic prowess, that was all that mattered.

Paulette had found herself. She enjoyed thrilling audiences at gymnastic meets with her amazing ability to survive horrendous impacts with mats, poles, balance beams, bars, viewing stands, drinking fountains, other gymnasts and even the judges tables. She was a star! Deer and Turkey were quite proud.

There was only one thing alluding Paulette’s storied career: an Olympic medal…or, at least, an Olympic performance (Paulette learned to set realistic goals.)

After many years of competition and much blood, sweat and tears (mostly blood, actually), she made the Olympic Gymnastics team. Her dream would come true in Beijing.

While Paulette Hunt’s Olympic performances did not capture her a medal, she was able to demonstrate her unique abilities to the world. Her performances not only captivated the audience, they caused a few hearts to stop beating for a moment…Paulette’s performances were…well, a bit unusual.

As a service to the Olympics and my audience, I have a few video clips to share with you. These are the three events that Paulette participated in. Note that even the Olympic commentators, while obviously enjoying Paulette’s performance, still mistook her for a male gymnast.

Here’s Paulette’s performance on the balance beam, a very challenging event:

Now watch as Paulette demonstrates incredible use of the floor during her floor exercise:

And lastly, here is Paulette’s uneven bars routine…simply spectacular, with unusual use of the support structure for the bars—ingenious!

As you can see, Paulette’s athletic abilities speak for themselves. I bet you didn’t see that on the highlight reels, did you? Obviously you need to rely on trustworthy news and research organizations to find these things for you…like Earth to Dave! Don’t thank me. That’s what I’m here for.

As I’ve shown, it’s clear that you cannot adequately experience the Olympic Games by viewing a few highlights or watching the closing ceremonies. Yes, if you dig deep and beyond the headlines, you will find the truly heartwarming stories that more accurately portray the Olympic Spirit, without all the “flash” and “pizazz” of the “professional” athletes with all of their endorsements.

So next time you hear about Mark Phelps and his 6 Gold medals in fencing, or Michael Jordan’s part in the USA Basketball team’s capturing the bronze in Beijing, just remember there are true athletes, like Paulette Hunt, er…Huntinova, the unsung heroes of the Olympic Games.