Balancing faith and sport in an Olympic year

MICHELE MARR

As her bike crossed the finish line of the Olympic women’s road race

on Sunday, Aug. 15, German cyclist Judith Arndt took the race’s

silver medal.

She also, it appeared, momentarily failed to remember the Olympic

Oath: “In the name of all the competitors, I promise that we shall

take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules

which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory

of sport and the honor of our teams, committing ourselves to a sport

without doping and without drugs.�

In her moment of glory, Arndt raised her right hand in a

well-photographed, obscene gesture. Some reports say it was directed

at Sara Carrigan, the Australian cyclist who hugged Arndt’s back

wheel for most of the final lap of the race, then sprinted by her for

the gold. Other reports say the gesture was meant for the German

Cycling Federation, which had kept her friend and teammate Petra

Rossner out of the race.

Whatever the reason, it was not exactly a sign of “the true spirit

of sportsmanship,� and it hardly honored her team.

Both Carrigan and Russian Olga Slyusareva marked their

medal-winning finishes with different signs. Carrigan raised both

arms above her head in victorious jubilation. Slyusareva crossed the

finish line in third place, 39 seconds behind Carrigan, and then she

crossed herself.

Twice -- from head to breast, then shoulder to shoulder, right to

left -- in the manner of Orthodox Christians, Slyusareva made the

sign of the cross, by which she silently said, at least to other

Orthodox Christians and God: The cross is my inspiration and power,

the purpose of my life.

In a nation where Orthodox Christianity is the state religion and

97% of the population’s 10-million people are said to belong to the

church, Slyusareva’s gesture looked at home.

As I listened Aug. 15 to commentators speculating on the reasons

for so many empty seats at Olympic venues, not one of them mentioned

that it was Sunday and also the Feast of the Dormition (Falling

Asleep) of the Theotokos (Bearer of God) -- a holy day that

commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ’s

mother, Mary.

The feast, which is also known as the Assumption, is a testimony

that Mary has been assumed into the heavenly kingdom, raised from

death by her son, to take part in the eternal life of paradise in an

incorruptible physical and spiritual existence. It also testifies to

the belief that this is the eventual destiny of all who, like Mary,

dedicate their lives to hearing and keeping the word of God, brought

to the world in her child Jesus.

It is a major religious feast for all Orthodox Christians. In

Greece, the faithful often return to their hometowns, as is common at

Easter, to keep the feast with their extended families, in a

neighborhood church.

An Orthodox worship service, known as the Divine Liturgy, and

processions in which an icon -- a sacred depiction of Mary -- is

carried are also part of the day. In many churches, flowers are

blessed and, following the Divine Liturgy, the faithful break a

two-week fast that proceeds the holy day. Many make pilgrimages to

sacred sites associated with Mary.

It has been the same for centuries.

As I watched Slyusareva make the sign of the cross as she finished

her race, I wondered what it was like for her to compete on such a

day. Given her display of gratitude to God after she crossed the

finish line, I imagined she must have considered it.

Since the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, there have been

two Christian athletes who decided they could not in good conscience

compete on a Sunday.

The first, in 1924, was Eric Liddell, a runner immortalized in the

film “Chariots of Fire.� When his heat for the 100-meter Olympic race

was scheduled for a Sunday, Liddell chose not to run his best event.

Later in the week, he took the bronze medal in the 200-meter sprint

and won the gold medal in the 400-meter event, two races he wasn’t

expected to take a medal in.

Before the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, South African hammer

thrower Chris Harmse made the same choice as Liddell. When the finals

for his event were scheduled for Sunday, Harmse didn’t go to Sydney

and began to plan instead for the 2004 summer games in Athens.

Incredibly, the finals for his event again fell on a Sunday this

year and Harmse told Athletics South Africa and the South African

Olympic Committee that, if he participated in the games and qualified

for the finals, he would not be able to compete. The committee chose

to leave Harmse home.

Jonathan Edwards, a triple jump champion from England, once opted

not to compete on Sundays as a way to honor God as well, but later in

his career he saw things differently. Jumping for him now is one way

he can give glory to God, even on Sunday.

I suspect Slyusareva and several hundred Greek Orthodox Olympic

athletes may see their efforts the same way.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].