Despite the French Olympic authorities having discouraged expressions of religious faith at the games, some Christian Olympic athletes continued to give thanks to God for their successes.
German shot putter Yemisi Ogunleye, for example, who secured a gold medal, used her post-win press conference interview to praise God. “Some time ago”, she said, “I was just praying and asking God what he wants to do with the Olympic Games. And He was like, ‘We are going to get gold.’”
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The Premier Christianity website reported that 6 athletes had publicly given God the glory for their Olympic success and spoken openly about their Christian faith.
The site explained, that, for many athletes, this was inevitable as “their faith is intrinsic to the way they approach their sport, providing them with peace, purpose and a sense of security outside of the fickle world of sporting success”.
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What do we think? Was it appropriate for Christian athletes to so publicly express their faith in God, or would it have been a better witness to line up behind the requirement that had been placed on them not to articulate their faith, as all French Olympians were required to adhere to secularism principles?