Sunita Williams enjoys Olympics from space

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams, along with five others living aboard the International Space Station for last two weeks, is enjoying the Olympics from space.

“Watching Olympics from here has been motivating and has turned us all into very good athletes,” said Williams, who was into sports during her days in the US Naval Academy. Williams, 46, sees no reason why being stationed on the International Space Station should keep her from a good race.

Williams plans to participate in the August 12 seven mile Falmouth Road Race as well as the September 15 Nautica Malibu Triathlon, with Dr Sanjay Gupta of CNN.

Williams is no stranger to space racing, having become the first orbiter to complete the Boston Marathon on her last trip to ISS in 2007.

Nasa astronaut Joe Acaba, an avid sports fan, describes being able to catch some of the exciting events while in orbit. “Even with all the work we had to do, we found time to get together and watch the Olympics,” Acaba wrote in a post to his blog “The Great Outer Space” on August 7.

“Of course everyone knows there is something special about the Olympics and that feeling is not lost in space.”

Acaba and his crewmates were even able to tune in for some of the history-making moments from the 2012 Olympics, being held in London. “We were able to see Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympian and Gabby Douglas’ nerves of steel as she won the individual Gymnastics gold medal,” he said.

Acaba added that his unique surroundings drove home the significance of the Olympics.