Rendell: USA shows off its wonderfully diverse athletes at Olympics

I REMEMBER being at the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and watching the parade of nations. As the host country, the United States entered last. I watched as the nations of the world entered in alphabetical order and it was fun seeing their pride and high spirits. And then finally the long-awaited American team entered. As I had done with the other teams, I watched our team through binoculars, and they were displaying the same joy and spirit the other teams did.

But one thing was different - where almost all of the other teams were practically homogeneous (they all looked the same), the American team looked like a joyful representation of diversity. We were of different ethnic backgrounds, different colors, different hairstyles, almost a happy-go-lucky collection thrown together for this challenge.

As I watched ceremonies from Rio on TV, the scene almost repeated itself, although I was happy to note that some other delegations had become more diverse, as well. I was expecting the American team to enter near the end, because United States starts with a "u" but had forgotten that in Portuguese, we are Los Estados Unidos. So we entered about one-third of the way into the parade, 555 athletes strong. The first thing I noticed about our team was that there were more women than men (292 to 263). Then it quickly became apparent that our team was more diverse than ever before, as fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad - the first Muslim-American Olympian to compete wearing a hijab - was part of the contingent. As the games unfolded, that diversity became even more apparent.

Start with our women's gymnastics team of Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman and Madison Kocian. What a wonderfully talented group of ethnically diverse young women! They were brilliant champions and represented the diversity that makes America such a special place. In swimming, the talented and charming young woman Simone Manuel stunned the world by winning the women's 100-meter freestyle, and later was part of our gold medal 4 x 100-meter medley relay team. Dalilah Muhammad won gold in the women's 400-meter hurdles.

Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram won a silver medal for the U.S. in mixed tennis doubles. Nico Hernandez won a bronze medal in flyweight boxing. Our men's fencing bronze medalist team sounded like a roll call at the United Nations - Miles Chamley-Watson, Race Imboden, Alexander Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt. There was also the story of 19-year-old Mexican-American boxer Carlos Balderas, from California, who was the first in his family to be born in the United States. And then there was U.S. Army Sgt. Hillary Bor, a Kenyan-born American competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase whose brother is serving in Afghanistan. When Ibtihaj Muhammad won the bronze medal, she looked at her teammates and said that this was the America she loved - the America that was inclusive and accepts people from all walks of life.

As the Olympics draw to a close, America is again proving its greatness when it comes to sports. We have won nearly twice as many medals as our nearest competitor, China. Our team is diverse, inclusive and encompasses Americans from every region of our country and from every possible background.

While I have enjoyed all of the success the team has had, perhaps the most enjoyable part of the Olympics for me is learning about all of the incredible life stories and backgrounds of our athletes. Though we still have problems, we are a great country with great people, and our diversity is one of the most important things that makes us great.

CC: Donald Trump

@GovEdRendell