For Part 1 of the "We Can Be Heroes" Olympics series, click here
For Part 2 of the "We Can Be Heroes" Olympics series, click here
For Part 3 of the "We Can Be Heroes" Olympics series, click here
For Part 4 of the "We Can Be Heroes" Olympics series, click here
For Part 5 of the "We Can Be Heroes" Olympics series, click here
For Part 6 of the "We Can Be Heroes" Olympics series, click here
 

The Epilogues
 

THE DAY BEFORE the Olympics ended, I went to a small circus: one ring, one clown.  Teenage boys turned back-flips on a sagging trampoline. A girl tumbled through the grass — and I thought, how far away from London. And how not far at all. A performer stumbled on the Wheel of Destiny, and the audience gasped. One teen did 52 consecutive flips, to cheers. Is it that different? After the show, there was another show, another, then the big tear down: rolling the tent, stashing the rigging, and driving, off to another town, another show, another attempt. Keep driving, keep going — maybe that, after all, is winning.

— Alison Stine, Swimming
 

— Lynn Melnick, Synchronized Swimming

FOR THIS YEAR'S medalists, maybe a few days and weeks of glory first. But soon, for all, including athletes slow by seconds, sidelined by injury, and those who will never compete, 2016 is what matters. In poetry, and in sports, it is difficult to not revel in success and languish over failure. A botched dive causes anger. A magazine’s rejection results in frustration. Yet all that matters is your next race, breath, and poem. The real game is being able to look backward and forward without stumbling over the present.

 — Nick Ripatrazone, Track and Field ...