The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are over and while there was controversy, a number of athletes from around the world used the huge audience to share their faith.
Team Fiji posted a video of the team singing a hymn during a Sunday service they held at their lodgings. The Oceanic country is predominantly Protestant Christian, with many Methodists. After winning the gold in Tokyo, the men’s rugby sevens team sang the hymn “E Da Sa Qaqa,” with lyrics that translate to “by the blood of the Lamb, in the Word of the Lord, we have overcome.”
The worship went viral on Instagram, thanks to Australian water polo player Matilda Kearns, who has more 137,000 followers on the social media site and whose room in the Olympic Village was near the building hosting teams from the Oceania countries, reports Religion News.
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Shortly after winning Germany’s first Olympic gold in women’s shot put in 28 years, Yemisi Magdalena Ogunleye broke out into gospel music at a news conference. The 25-year-old shot putter sang a popular Kurt Carr song, “I Almost Let Go.” With her background as a gospel singer, Ogunleye shared that after her impressive 20-meter throw, she returned to her stadium seat singing “I’m alive today because of his grace.” The song’s lyrics recall a time where the songwriter was ready to give up but eventually overcame his struggles thanks to God’s grace.
Immediately after Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman ever to become a two-time Olympic champion in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, she praised God for her record win. “Honestly, praise God,” she said. “Was not expecting that, but he can do anything, anything is possible in Christ.”
The American evangelical track star won the gold medal in Paris with a time of 50.37 seconds. The Associated Press reported that she prays before every race with her coach, trainer and husband. The couple attends Grace Community Church, a non-denominational megachurch in Los Angeles under senior pastor John MacArthur.
“I credit all that I do to God,” she said. “He’s given me a gift. He’s given me a drive to just want to continue to improve myself. I have a platform and I want to use it to glorify him, and so whenever I step on the track, it’s always the prayer of ‘God let me be the vessel in which you’re glorified’ whatever the result is, how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform.”
Brazilian Rayssa Leal won a Bronze Medal at the Paris World Olympics and she allegedly was told she wasn’t allowed to praise Jesus Christ. Leal responded by saying ‘Jesus is the way, the truth and the life’ in sign language to protest.
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) July 28, 2024
And in perhaps the most iconic photo of the games, surfer Gabriel Medina, bronze medalist in surfing competitions held in Tahiti, pointed to his inspiration. Raising his index finger in a sign of victory while in the air, Medina shared the photograph on his Instagram account with the biblical quote “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice