Olympic-Size Dreams and Sacrifice

July 30, 2024

The international, legendary Olympics are taking place in Paris right now. These games have a storied history. The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The games began in Olympos, which was the home of the greatest of the Greek gods and goddesses. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC when Koroibos, a cook from the nearby city of Elis, won the Stadion race, a foot race 600 feet long.

The Games were still being organized in the 4th century AD. In 393 AD, the Christian emperor Theodosius forbade the celebration of pagan cults, which he believed included the Games. But everything the Games represented was too good to hold back, and in the 1800s they came back to involve all countries, not just Greece.

The Olympics are back and better than ever. There is an impressive list of competitions ranging from ski shooting to the original footraces held at Olympia 3,000 years earlier. The competition is open to all people and is one of the highest honors an athlete can ever achieve – being chosen by your country to represent your people on the biggest stage in the world.

The games are split into the summer and winter, held every four years starting two years apart (summer Olympics, two years later winter, two years later summer, and so on). The Olympic Games have evolved into a healthy stage for the highest level of competition. The Games promote peace and healthy competition among other values. They have been extremely successful in their return and are a universally unifying event all people can enjoy.

The current Summer Olympics in Paris began on Friday, July 27, and will end on Sunday, August 11. The opening and closing celebrations are generally impressive, emotional, and joyful. The Olympic events themselves give way to tremendous stories of commitment and sacrifice from the Olympians over many years. They put their bodies through pain and suffering, they endure the crushing of disappointment over and over as they fight to be victorious, they learn to give their personal best, and they must become mentally strong and focused. They often even must give up distracting relationships to stay on track.

Hunter Armstrong from Dover is already bringing another Olympic gold medal back to Ohio after the 2024 Paris Games. He is a local champion, participating in his second Olympic Games, taking part in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4x100-meter relay, for which he won a gold medal in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Armstrong was a part of the 4x100 medley relay team that took gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing first by just under a second ahead of Great Britain. Armstrong also finished ninth in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2020 Olympic Games. Hunter Armstrong held the world record in the 50-meter backstroke. Then in 2022, Armstrong broke a world record. Armstrong secured the world record in the 50-meter backstroke on April 28, 2022, finishing the race in 23.71 seconds at the U.S. International Team Trials. Armstrong races in the 4x100 medley relay and the 100-meter backstroke at the 2024 Olympics. (At this writing, he has already won one gold.)

Hunter Armstrong was an accomplished Ohio State swimmer at Ohio State. The Dover, Ohio, native was the school's 2021-‘22 Male Athlete of the Year after he helped set 11 short-course records during the school year and won five titles at the 2022 Big Ten Championships, including the 50-meter and 100-meter. He also won five medals at the 2022 World Championships: two gold, two silver, and one bronze.

The thing that is true about Hunter Armstrong is true about all of the other Olympians. Long before they boarded the plane to the Olympics, they committed to saying a big YES – a YES to doing anything and everything to become an Olympian. That YES made it much easier to say a big NO to the things that would hinder or keep them from reaching their goal. They have an unclouded vision of their preferred future. They believe they can get that future if they are willing to pay the daily price. And they do. They did. That is why they are in Paris today.

Paul talked about the athletes who participated in the games during his lifetime: "You know that in a race all the runners run. But only one gets the prize. So run like that. Run to win! All those who compete in the games use strict training. They do this so that they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a fleeting time. But our crown will continue forever. So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something – not just the air." 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 ICB

He challenged us as followers of Jesus to run like the Olympians going for the prize. Every follower must engage in training, sacrifice, and hard work. The prize is not just for this life, as it is for the Olympians. The prize for Christ followers is eternal. It is so worth the sacrifice.

For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives – the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities]. 2 Corinthians 5:10 AMP

Paul gives us the picture of athletes who participated in the games, getting rewarded for our achievements and held responsible for our actions, purposes, goals, and motives, and how we use our time, opportunities, and abilities.

We’re not headed for Paris – we are working for something far more important. As you watch the Olympics and cheer on the ones who work and sacrifice for their goal, think of yourself. Press on for the prize of the high calling (Philippians 3:14).