{"id":3391,"date":"2014-02-12T15:30:38","date_gmt":"2014-02-12T20:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/?p=3391"},"modified":"2014-02-12T16:16:13","modified_gmt":"2014-02-12T21:16:13","slug":"a-conversation-with-four-time-olympic-snowboarder-kelly-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2014\/02\/a-conversation-with-four-time-olympic-snowboarder-kelly-clark.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with four-time Olympic snowboarder Kelly Clark"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2014<\/a>When an 18-year old Kelly Clark won the snowboarding gold medal at the 2002 Olympics Games in Salt Lake City, the action sports world was literally at her feet. And while the next few years brought unprecedented success, Clark struggled with insecurity, loneliness and depression. She was empty inside and didn\u2019t know how to fill the void in her heart.<\/p>\n

But everything changed 10 years ago when she prayed to accept Jesus as her Savior. Now, the four-time Olympian, three-time Olympic medalist and five-time Winter X Games gold medalist has found true purpose in life and greater freedom in the pipe.<\/p>\n

In this Inspiring Athletes conversation, Clark talks about how she found Christ, how her faith inspires creativity, and how she wants her platform to be a blessing to others:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: Tell me about your spiritual journey.<\/p>\n

Kelly Clark: Snowboarding was everything that I knew. That\u2019s what I did and I poured everything I had into it. I thought that being successful and achieving my goals would go hand-in-hand with being happy. But by the time I was 18 years old, I had achieved everything that was in my heart to do and at the same time I wasn\u2019t finding the fulfillment I was expecting to get from it. All of the experiences were incredible and I wouldn\u2019t trade them for the world, but it wasn\u2019t fulfilling me. I went through the motions for a few more years, but I was looking for something more. When I was 20, I was contemplating quitting. I was at the first event of the season and I overhead a conversation between two girls. One told the other, \u201cGod still loves you,\u201d and that caught my attention. Later that day, I caught up with the girl and asked her what she meant. Before then, I\u2019d never really thought about God. But there was an undeniable stirring in me and I couldn\u2019t ignore it. I thought being a Christian was about following rules and going to church and being good all the time, but this girl helped me understand that it\u2019s about having a relationship with God. That was where things shifted for me.<\/p>\n

Bonham: After winning the gold in 2002, how did your new faith in God help you deal with the disappointment of finishing fourth at the 2006 Games?<\/p>\n

Clark: By then, my identity had started to shift. Before that, my identity was in snowboarding. That\u2019s how people knew me and that\u2019s how I knew myself. That\u2019s where I got a lot of my self worth. That began to shift and I started to understand that I didn\u2019t get my worth from people or from the things that I did. It was from Christ. If I hadn\u2019t had that shift in my life, I think my world would have come crumbling down.<\/p>\n

Bonham: You\u2019ve been on tear since the last Olympics with four straight Winter X Games gold medals in the super pipe event. Can you explain what has spurred on the recent success?<\/p>\n

Clark: These have been the most successful years I\u2019ve ever had. I\u2019ve been placing well in the contests but more importantly I\u2019ve been enjoying them. I think those two things go hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Snowboarding is known as a youth-driven sport, so how have you been able to stay relevant for so long?<\/p>\n

\"2014<\/a>Clark: It’s funny. I competed against a 13-year old girl at the Winter X Games. I looked down at her birth date and it said 2000. I was like, \u201cHuh, I wonder if she even knows what Y2K is?\u201d But I guess I\u2019ve just been able to build a foundation. The foundational skills of snowboarding are what pay off in the long run. That\u2019s something I\u2019ve been able to build over time and that\u2019s benefited me a lot. With my age and looking at my career, perhaps I\u2019m more comfortable in my own skin than I\u2019ve ever been. I\u2019m not trying to snowboard for other people anymore. That just kind of comes with age and growing up. That\u2019s helped me a lot. Some of that started right after the last Olympics (in Vancouver). I was having a conversation with one of my teammates and she asked me, \u201cAren\u2019t you so glad it\u2019s over? We don\u2019t have to compete anymore.\u201d I thought that was a strange comment but in that moment I realized that I was doing it for the right reasons. I wasn\u2019t looking at the Olympics to define me. I wasn\u2019t to arrive somewhere by performing well in a contest. So after those Games, I continued to compete that season and the year after that. I really had the goal of being intentional. I didn\u2019t want to do big tricks because it was an X Games final or an Olympics final. I wanted to call my own shots. I started to do that and I started to have more fun than I ever knew I could have.<\/p>\n

Bonham: The last time we talked, you spoke of how you found a greater sense of freedom in the sport when you first entered into a relationship with Christ. Is this recent success a continued expression of that defining moment in your life?<\/p>\n

Clark: I think so. It\u2019s definitely got to be a daily thing. There\u2019s no formula to walking with God. There\u2019s no formula to having success as an athlete. It\u2019s about relationships and it\u2019s a daily thing. You\u2019ve got to revisit things and you\u2019ve got to be willing to work on things all the time. You\u2019ve got to fight for that connection with God all the time no matter what you\u2019re going through in life. I\u2019m growing up. I\u2019m maturing. But I definitely think that the backbone of this is the freedom and creativity I have without the fear of failing. If I fail, what\u2019s going to happen? Nothing. I\u2019m not looking for my self-worth in the sport.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are some of the stabilizing forces that help you to maintain that desire to stay in a relationship with Christ?<\/p>\n

\"2014<\/a>Clark: People ask a lot about how I can be a believer in a culture that perhaps is counter cultural to what you believe in. I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that I\u2019m able to be in this culture and in this industry and fruitful because I don\u2019t look to my circumstances to determine what I believe to be true about God. I don\u2019t look to my situation to determine what choices I make. I\u2019ve developed a good sense of values and beliefs. That\u2019s my reality. No matter where I am, God is still good. No matter where I am, nothing is impossible. It\u2019s those sort of principles that really anchor me. Over this past four years, I think I\u2019ve done a pretty good job of not compartmentalizing my life. I take my core values and I live them out at home like I would in my snowboarding like I would at church with my friends. I\u2019m willing to explore what that\u2019s supposed to look like. I want to be intentional. I want it to show up in my life every day. I really try to live out my values and be consistent. Another things that has helped has been staying connected to a community of believers. It\u2019s important to be around others that share your beliefs and share your values and people that can encourage you. We\u2019re not meant to do it on our own. We\u2019re meant to do life with God and with each other. I\u2019ve been fortunate to have friends that are willing to invest in me even on the days when I\u2019m not able to invest back into them. I\u2019m thankful for people that have that selfless attitude and have helped me become a successful person and a successful athlete.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Has having a platform within the snowboarding culture been a burden, a blessing or, at different times, both of those things?<\/p>\n

Clark: I\u2019ve always lived a life where what you see if what you get. I\u2019ve never wanted to live two different lifestyles. The initial transition for me was perhaps the most difficult. It wasn\u2019t easy communicating what I believed and what my values were. Establishing that as a young adult was interesting. I was 20 years old when I got saved. But now I\u2019m more comfortable with my beliefs and with who I am. I honestly don\u2019t think about it that much. I just try to live my life and I try to love people. I try to love God well and I try to love people well. Those are my main objectives.<\/p>\n

Bonham: And that keeps it from becoming a burden.<\/p>\n

Clark: Yeah, one of my approaches with my community, my friends, the companies I represent, has been to take the attitude of what I bring instead of what I can get. What can I give? Instead of thinking about building up my image or building up my brand or building up my career, I\u2019ve turned it and taken the approach of focusing on what I can give instead of what I can get. It\u2019s been a very enjoyable process for me. That\u2019s more of a heart position that I\u2019ve taken. It\u2019s been one of the greatest things I\u2019ve ever done.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Have you had opportunities to speak other athletes\u2019 lives like that one that spoke into your life 10 years ago?<\/p>\n

\"2014<\/a>Clark: I feel like there is great purpose in a lot of my endeavors. I\u2019ve seen God in the middle of them. I\u2019ve seen Him be faithful in those things. But I strongly believe in that saying, \u201cPeople don\u2019t care what you know until they know that you care.\u201d That\u2019s been my goal and objective\u2014to love people well. That\u2019s something I can bring to this community. As I\u2019ve been open with my faith, there\u2019s a consistency that almost disarms people. They know what they\u2019re going to get when they see me. They know what they\u2019re going to get when they talk to me. If there ever is a need or if anyone\u2019s hurting, I\u2019m the person they come to because they know what they\u2019re going to get. They know I\u2019ll pray for them. They know I\u2019ll encourage them. It\u2019s amazing that I get to be there for people. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll hear later on how God was working in it all, but for me, it\u2019s really about loving people well.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What does being a four-time Olympian mean to you?<\/p>\n

Clark: I never planned to be at the height of my career when I was 30 years old and going to my fourth Olympics. I watched the 1998 Olympics when I was 14 years old. That\u2019s what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I might have a shot at three Olympics max. This is way beyond the parameters of what I set out to do. Right before they named the (2014) team, I stepped back and I allowed myself to realize what I had accomplished. I got overwhelmed and the tears came pretty quickly. It\u2019s an honor to represent my country again and to represent my sport to the world and to hold it down for all those 30-year old athletes out there.<\/p>\n

Follow Kelly Clark and Team USA by clicking HERE<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: NBC Olympics\/USOC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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