A while ago I wrote a post about how to be a gracious interviewee on NPR or other media. When a host thanks you, you should never, ever say "You're welcome," at least in my opinion. You should say something along the lines of, "Thank you for having me." Gracious. A little humble. You could be the coolest most laid back person on earth, but if you say "You're welcome" you start to look pompous.
And now I've found that the same rules apply to winning a gold medal at the Olympics. After watching several medal ceremonies, here's what I've decided you do (because I'm now the manners person I guess):
#1 Shake hands with the people winning Silver and Bronze, and smile at them. But not too enthusiastically. They did just lose, don't make them feel like you're lording it over them.
#2 If you don't sing along to your national anthem, at least mouth the words. Otherwise it looks like you don't actually belong to the country you just won the medal for. And there's something wrong with that.
#3 Tears are good. At least a little mistiness around the eyes. There's nothing wrong with working your ass off to achieve a dream and then actually achieving that dream and having it all hit you while you're standing on the podium. This applies to men and women.
There you have it, my official medal receiving guide.
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