Olympics reflections both sappy and snappy—and a sneak peek at our interview with a gold medalist

I'm an Olympics junkie. So, as of last Friday night, I've officially become a couch potato. But it's for good causes: world peace, stunning displays of sportsmanship, and those wondrously sappy "Olympic moments."

I watched the opening ceremonies at my friend Melody's place. She and I munched on Chinese takeout, her cleverly appropriate dinner suggestion, while we oohed and aahed at the eerily smiley drum corps, the world's largest LED screen, the gorgeously embroidered costumes, those crazy green Christmas light people. And Lin Hao, the nine-year-old Chinese boy who survived the Sichuan earthquake and then rescued two of his classmates. He made us cry.

The Parade of Nations was like a geography lesson and fashion show rolled into one. Melody and I scratched our heads over countries we'd never even heard of, let alone known what continent they were on. (Seriously, have you ever heard of Comoros?)

We openly coveted Team Netherlands' sporty shoes and Team Angola's brightly patterned skirts. We lamented that the Brits did prep sporty better than the U.S., whose outfits we'd seen on earlier coverage. We marveled at how European men can pull off capri pants—and wondered aloud if, when men sport those pants, they have another name: perhaps capros? And we snickered at Hungary’s apparent red homage to the Dalmatian. Those poor female athletes!

I cheered extra loudly when Team Guatemala entered the arena; my nephew and niece were adopted from there. And I applauded for Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Cambodia, where I've traveled on short-term mission trips. Seeing their athletes reminded me to pray for these nations, as well as for the host nation, China, where our Christian sisters and brothers still can't worship freely.

When the U.S. team entered the arena, I felt a delightful swell of patriotism. I know that the U.S. isn't popular in many corners of the world right now, that we're entrenched in a complicated war, that we're weathering a tough economic season, and that we've experienced a fair amount of division as we gear up for the presidential election. So it was refreshing to feel a sense of national pride and unity. I think we all need some of that right now.

When the cameras panned the U.S. athletes—all manner of fit, fresh-faced men and women—I was thrilled the cameras lingered on Laura Wilkinson. I had the privilege of interviewing Laura, a platform diver with an Olympic gold medal already to her credit, via phone several weeks ago. She was surprisingly down-to-earth as she talked about the way her faith has helped her conquer the many fears associated with platform diving. Here's a sneak peek at that interview:

How do you excel at diving despite being an unlikely athlete in this sport? I don't jump the highest. I don't spin the fastest. I don't have the best entry. But I'm pretty good at all those things. One of my gifts is being a copycat, simulating what other people do well. At the same time, I know diving is what God made me to do. For some reason, he took someone not the right build for diving and gave me success. I think that's cool—and says a lot about God and how he likes to use unlikely things and people.

Do you ever get scared up there on the platform? Yes. Fear is big in diving. There's fear of heights, of injury, of hitting the board. I have to do some difficult dives: a back three-and-a-half somersault pike and a back two-and-a-half somersault with two and a half twists. And the ten-meter dives I did at the Sydney Games I now do from the five-meter platform. That's how much the sport has advanced.

It sounds dangerous. Actually, I think that degree of danger helped draw me to the sport—because it gives me the opportunity to overcome my fear.

How do you cope with fear? Breaking things down helps. For example, there was the one difficult dive I didn't learn for years. So I built it up in my head as this monster dive I could never do. I finally sat down and asked myself what exactly I was scared of. I started listing everything: I'm scared of smacking my head on the board. Well, I told myself, I've done that before. It only lasts a few seconds. That's not a big deal. I'm scared of getting lost in my dive, of losing my sense of which way is up. That's a legitimate fear, I told myself. You've had problems with this in the past. But your coach taught you how to re-spot and find your bearings.

I systematically went through all my fears and put them in perspective. I also prayed about it and read a lot of Scripture.

Did that approach help? Thankfully, yes! I went to the pool the next morning and felt totally prepared. I got up on the platform and did three of the dives in a row, and they were great. Once I conquered that dive, nothing has been too difficult to try. Even though I do get scared to try new dives, I do it anyway. Now I know I can conquer my fear. That's very empowering. Just telling you about it makes me excited.

Check out the rest of this interview in the forthcoming September/October issue of Today's Christian Woman. And don't forget to watch Laura compete on August 20 and 21.

Until then, you can find me happily planted on my couch, where I'm cheering, sniffling, praying. And anticipating. Because I love the way the Olympics foreshadow heaven—people from every tongue, tribe, and nation gathered together in unity. Only then we won't be competing; we'll be singing praises to the heavenly Father of us all.

Blessings,

What are your favorite moments from the opening ceremonies, outfits in the Parade of Nations, sports to watch, nations to cheer for, memories from previous Olympic games?