I couldn't believe just how emotional I was about the London

There are moments when the heart awakens unexpectedly, moved by stories, symbols, and the shared human pursuit of greatness. Tessa Virtue, reflecting on her experience during the London Olympics, said, “I couldn't believe just how emotional I was about the London Olympics. Before the Games even started, I was reading a newspaper sitting in a hair salon and my mom looked over at me and I was just sobbing, because something about seeing the rings and hearing the athletes' excitement and just kind of knowing exactly what they were going through.” In these words, we witness the profound empathy of one who recognizes the sweat, dedication, and vulnerability of others as intimately their own.

Virtue’s emotion was not born of mere spectacle, but of shared human endeavor. The Olympic rings symbolize the unity of effort, discipline, and dreams across continents and cultures. They represent the countless hours of training, the sacrifices, the fears, and the triumphs of athletes who strive not only for medals, but for the realization of their own potential. To perceive this, even before the Games began, is to acknowledge the invisible burdens carried by others and to feel them deeply.

The tears she shed in a hair salon speak to a universal truth: that greatness and struggle can evoke compassionate resonance. Ancient Greeks celebrated the concept of pathos—the ability to feel the emotions of others, to enter into their experience and respond with empathy. Virtue, though herself an athlete, embodies this principle, understanding that the journey of any competitor is simultaneously personal and collective. Her sobbing is both private and connected, a testament to the profound power of human identification.

History provides many such examples of shared emotional insight. Consider Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian marathoner who ran barefoot to Olympic gold in 1960. Those who witnessed his feat felt exhilaration and awe, but also the weight of his perseverance, poverty, and determination. Empathy transforms spectatorship into emotional participation: one does not merely see the achievement, but enters into its journey, experiencing its joys and trials as if lived firsthand. Virtue’s tears mirror this timeless phenomenon.

There is also a lesson in anticipatory emotion, in feeling deeply before an event occurs. Virtue’s reaction—sobering at a newspaper before the Games—illustrates that preparation, imagination, and understanding can evoke profound empathy, even in advance. The mind and heart are capable of experiencing the struggles of others, preparing the soul to honor, celebrate, and support the efforts witnessed. This is the essence of human connection: to feel with others, not merely for oneself.

Her observation reminds us that symbols—the Olympic rings, the torch, the ceremony—are more than aesthetic designs; they are vessels of collective aspiration. They encapsulate effort, perseverance, and human striving across nations. Ancient civilizations understood the power of symbols: the laurel wreath of Greece, the Roman fasces, the sacred banners of dynasties—they all invoked emotion, meaning, and shared identity. Virtue experiences this same effect: the rings awaken recognition of sacrifice, and the athlete’s excitement becomes a mirror of her own humanity.

From this reflection, a universal lesson emerges: allow yourself to feel deeply for others, to enter imaginatively into their struggles and triumphs. Compassion is strengthened not only by proximity, but by acknowledgment of effort, resilience, and shared humanity. By opening oneself to these emotions, we cultivate empathy, humility, and reverence for the journeys of others.

Thus, Tessa Virtue’s memory guides us toward both awareness and action: witness greatness, celebrate dedication, and feel with the heart of one who honors struggle. Let the symbols of effort, like the Olympic rings, remind us of the sacrifices behind every triumph. In doing so, we awaken a profound sense of connection, discovering that to share in another’s journey—through empathy and imagination—is to live more fully and to honor the collective striving that defines humanity itself. The tears of understanding become the measure of true compassion and engagement.