Having grown up around the Olympics and with many Olympic athletes as friends, coaches, mentors and associates, I have seen and felt the power that the Games bring into this world. And it is a wonderful thing.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, once noted that the Games are a celebration of the “springtime of humanity.” Every four years (or one "Olympiad") the world comes together in a renewal of hope and dreams to watch our best compete in an athletic spectacle that has no rival, one that is designed to promote one universal goal: peace.

Like you, I have my favorite moments from past Games, from watching these "heroes and gods" compete in cities like Los Angeles, Calgary, Lillehammer, Atlanta, and Sydney. The Games became much more personal when, after beginning bobsled in 1996, I watched friends and associates compete in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Beijing, Vancouver and London. As I let the wonderful spirit of the Games influence my life, I found myself aiming higher, dreaming bigger and hoping more.

With those thoughts in mind, here are (in my opinion) 10 Reasons Why We Love the Games

1. We Love to Cheer Our Athletes

2. We Thrill In Their Victories

3. We Feel the Agony of Their Losses