Thrills, Agony, and Calling at the Olympics

Before there was streaming, and before there was cable TV, there was ABC’s Wide World of Sports. If you wanted to watch athletes in lower profile events such as power lifting or skiing, you tuned into Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons. Each week the show began with the same tag line: “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat…”

This year’s Winter Olympics have delivered plenty of thrills, and plenty of agony. When Norwegian skier Atle Lie McGrath threw away his ski poles and stomped off the course after missing a gate in the slalom final, I initially thought he was being a poor sport. Then the announcer informed me that McGrath’s grandfather had died on the opening day of the games. As the camera zoomed in on McGrath lying in a snowbank at the edge of the woods, my heart went out to him.

My heart goes out to slalom gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin in a different way. When she broke a 12-year drought in the Olympic slalom competition, Shiffrin stood motionless for a good long time. In 2020, Shiffrin’s father had died from injuries sustained in a fall. The skier told reporters that when she came across the finish line a winner, she felt at peace about her father’s absence for the first time, so she took a moment to be silent with him.

These and other stories remind me of a fascinating Olympic story from a century ago that was brought to life in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. The movie dramatizes the experiences of two British runners at the 1924 Paris games, Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian, and Harold Abrahams, a Jewish Englishman. Abrahams must overcome prejudice to achieve his potential, while Liddell must allay his sister Jennie’s concerns that he is neglecting God’s call by pursuing a running career. (Liddell was born in China to missionary parents.)

In a memorable scene, Liddell explains, “Jennie, you’ve got to understand. I believe that God made me for a purpose—for China—but he also made me fast! And when I run, I feel his pleasure. To give it up would be to hold him in contempt.”

Liddell’s dream to win gold for Britain is seemingly thwarted when the 100-meter heats are scheduled for a Sunday. Despite pressure from the British Olympic Committee and the Prince of Wales himself, Liddell refuses to break the sabbath by competing. Another British competitor, having already medaled, gives up his place in the 400-meter race to Liddell. In the 400 final, held on a weekday, Liddell won gold, while Abrahams won gold in the 100.

After the events memorialized in the movie, Liddell did return to China as a missionary. During World War II, he was interned in a Japanese concentration camp. In the camp, he won the respect of all the prisoners for his tireless efforts to serve them and ensure a just distribution of food and medicine. He died of malnutrition and a brain tumor five months before the camp was liberated.

Liddell’s life witnesses to the Protestant belief that God can be glorified in secular life as much as in ordained or clerical ministries. Liddell also believed that the pursuit of a secular vocation should be governed by obedience to God’s commandments. Christian disagree about what should and should not be done on the sabbath, but then and now, people respect Liddell for not compromising his principles.

As you watch the final events in this year’s Olympic games and witness new thrilling and agonizing tales spun on the ice and in the snow, remember Eric Liddell’s quote, and fill in the blanks for yourself:

“I believe that God made me for a purpose, for _____, but he also made me _____! And when I _____, I feel his pleasure.”

Complete those two sentences, and you’ll know without any doubt what your calling is.

Image credit: By Alexandquan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91164821