Thoughts on Emma Raducanu

Up until about a week ago, I’d never heard of Emma Raducanu. That is not surprising. I’m not a huge sports fan, and tennis less than most sports. But that’s not really the point of this blog.
I just read an article about how she has fans in many nations, is sort of a cross cultural icon and, as such, a harbinger of a future where people of all races, languages and nationalities mix with each other and get along and dance happily barefoot in the meadow together, among the waving flowers on a warm, spring day.
Fair enough. She was born in Canada, calls England home, her mother is Chinese and her father is Romanian, and she speaks both of their languages in addition to English. She is not as completely unique or groundbreaking as the article suggested – they love Tiger Woods in Thailand, even though he didn’t grow up there, and in world football and ice hockey almost every player has fans both in the city where they play, and the country they are from.
Nonetheless, the article made a good point and I was glad to see it.
I’d also like to raise another point, though. With athletes as with musicians, and other people doing amazing things, we can be proud of them just because we are fellow human beings, and they are doing things that raise the bar, elevate the game for all of us.
Sports transcends borders. Music transcends borders. Great literature, or great art, transcends borders. Brilliant scientific discoveries and technological innovations transcend borders. All good and beautiful things transcend borders.