If Crying At The Olympics Was A Sport, I'd Win Gold

I already know my eyes will water and my lip will quiver when I watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony on Feb. 6, and that I’ll continue sobbing until the final torch is extinguished on March 15. Do I know anything about skating, slalom, or skeleton? Absolutely not. Will I cry the entire time a stranger competes in one of these events? You better believe it.

I’ve been this way my whole life. While other people are clapping and cheering as they watch the Games, you can find me ugly-crying in the corner — often locked in as if I’m the one vying for a spot on the podium.

It makes sense to get chills when a smiling ice skater lands a perfect triple axel, but I get just as emotional when a helmeted figure slides in a bobsled. And by the time they look up and see a promising score? I’m absolutely done for. I feel so proud of them, almost as if they’re my real-life best friend who accomplished a career-defining dream.

At each event, I think about how the athletes have trained their entire lives for that exact moment, even if it only lasts 60 seconds. I feel a swell of emotion when I hear the crowd cheering them on. And if I’m lucky, they’ll pan the camera over to a mom — one who likely drove her kid to practice every day for 15 years. The love? The dedication? Heck, I’m about to cry just writing this, and I know I’m not alone.

The Crying Olympics

On TikTok, other people have been gearing up to weep their way through the 2026 Winter Games, like @itsemilysklar. “The Olympics make me weak, I tell you! Weak!” she sobbed in a Jan. 14 post while burying her face in her hands. And I immediately understood.

Her tears came after watching fan edits for the Team USA figure skaters who will be competing this year, like Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn. Liu, 20, is returning to the ice after retiring in 2022, while Glenn, 26, is coming in hot with something to prove after navigating injuries and mental health hurdles.

Of course, this tradition isn’t limited to the Winter Games. “All I’ve been doing is crying,” creator @amandaagy said in 2024, pointing to a story about Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade who couldn’t afford a bus pass to go to practice, and often walked there instead. Despite that, she went on to win six Olympic medals, including two golds. I mean, come on! What a story.

Here Come The Waterworks

Empathy and excitement aside, my happy tears could be due in part to a phenomenon called “collective effervescence” — the spike of emotional energy that occurs when you’re experiencing something meaningful, says Lisa Chen, a licensed marriage and family therapist.

“It's that goosebumps or tingling feeling when your nervous system sees connection, awe, and triumph all at once,” she tells Bustle, adding that some people are more prone to crying than others. Even though it’s through a screen, you know you’re witnessing intense effort, vulnerability, and years of discipline all coming together in one moment, like the crescendo in an orchestral performance.

“Our brains are moved by what's possible for humans.”

Outside of sports, collective effervescence often hits at concerts, graduations, and events where it feels like “we’re all in this together,” Chen says. “Our brains are moved by what's possible for humans.”

So when you see Liu land a dazzling jump or Brenna Huckaby race downhill on her snowboard, just know I’m at home crying on my couch — and enjoying every minute of it.