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With the Olympics raging on, a hero has come to light. Four-year-old Beacon, a golden retriever, has been serving as the “first official therapy dog” for the Olympic gymnastics team. Beacon dons an official tag, giving him the formal credentials of the “goodest boy”.
Under the goodest boy role, he is expected to comfort both athletes and coaches with both licks and being pet. He can sense the stress of an individual, and will immediately gravitate towards that person and give them attention. His handler, Tracy Callahan Molnar, told ESPN that, “Therapy dogs absorb the stress of the people they’re relieving the stress off of…
So even though he might be lying still for two hours, he’s wiped out afterwards.” She described him as an emotional sponge. During the trial event, he helped gymnasts through both the stress of competing in a high-pressure sport at an elite level, and the strife of injuries.
At the end of the Olympic trials, Simone Biles, Sunni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezley Rivera made the Olympic Team. In an Instagram post, Sunni Lee celebrated her success at the trials, captioning her post “thank god for Beacon.”
Unfortunately, Beacon was not able to attend the Olympics, but he is certainly in the hearts and thoughts of our Medal winning gymnastics team in Paris.
Featured image credit: Beacon with Gymnastics GOAT Simone Biles (goldendogbeacon & duncanstraussta)
