This week the eyes of the world have been focused on Sochi, Russia, and the Winter Olympics being held there. Watching the athletes, you see the exhilarating excitement of victory and the agonizing pain of defeat. So much depends upon a split-second during an event even after years of intense practice and training. Canadians, both those who have travelled to Russia for the events and those here at home watching on television, have been enthusiastically cheering on their team.

The dedication of athletes to their sport is remarkable and a good example for us all whether they have won a medal or not. There have been two events that, in significant ways, eclipse the efforts of all athletes – even those who won medals.

A Canadian cross-country ski coach, Justin Wadsworth, exemplified true Olympic spirit when he saw Russian cross-country skier, Anton Gafarov, struggling. Gafarov, who was a medal favourite, had crashed and broken a ski. Wadsworth observed him dragging himself (not skiing) toward the finish line. Since the Russian coaches were not doing anything to help Gafarov, Wadsworth took a spare ski he had brought for a Canadian racer, ran onto the track, pulled Gafarov’s broken ski off his boot and replaced it so that the Russian could complete the race.

Another very special event occurred when Gilmore Junio gave his spot in the 1,000-metre speed skating event, to Denny Morrison. Morrison had fallen in the Olympic trials and failed to qualify. Of course, as they say, the rest is history. Denny Morrison went on to win the silver medal for the event – but mainly because his teammate sacrificed his own opportunity to skate in the Olympics!

Watching the Olympics is very compelling, but it has been made better by seeing the selfless acts of competitors. As Christians we need to do that more in our own lives. A guide toward that is available in our new booklet entitled, Tools for Spiritual Growth, which can be found at: http://www.ucg.ca/booklets/tools-for-spiritual-growth.

Anthony Wasilkoff