Seth Udinski, FISM News

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The 2020 Tokyo Olympics came to a close on Sunday, after several years of preparation, one extra year of waiting, and two-plus weeks of competition.  There was much baggage that came with the 2020 Games – the COVID-19 lockdowns, calls for further delays, and several instances of pervasive secularism from the athletes.  Yet there was also much to rejoice for as several Christians used their high platform to give glory to God and praise their Savior in the 2020 Olympic Games.

One one of the best examples was US female wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who won the gold medal in the women’s wrestling competition.  She drew substantial media attention when she openly praised her home country in an era when many athletes and American media members are more quick to criticize America.  But she also said something that should be celebrated even more.  After a reporter asked her if she was surprised by her excellent performance, she said:

Of course I surprise myself. It’s by the grace of God I’m even able to move my feet. I just leave it in His hands, and I pray that all the practice…pays off. And every single time, it does.

The Fiji Men’s rugby team also used their platform to worship God.  After capturing the gold medal in men’s rugby, they sang a hymn in their own tongue based on words from the book of Revelation:

We have overcome, we have overcome, by the blood of the Lamb, in the Word of the Lord, we have overcome.

Captain Jerry Tuwai detailed the teams ritual, saying, “We always start with our prayers and songs, and we always end with our prayers and songs. That song says that our God is a loving God, and that while we always tend to go stray from what He expects from us, He still loves us, and gives us good things.”

US phenom athlete, Sydney McLaughlin, who set a new world record in the 400-meter hurdles, said she was “giving the glory to God” for her win in an interview following the race. In an interview following her Olympic trials race she went into even more detail:

I think I was growing into my own person. And I think the biggest difference this year is my faith, trusting God and trusting that process, and knowing that He’s in control of everything. As long as I put the hard work in, He’s going to carry me through. And I really cannot do anything more but give the glory to Him at this point.”

There were many other examples as well, including American gold-medalist Athing Mu:

God definitely took the battle for this one! So, thank you Lord! 🤍

— Athing Mu (@athiiing) August 3, 2021

Hopefully, more than the athletic glory, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics encouraged believers worldwide to give glory to God in whatever they do.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  – Colossians 3:17