Inspiring Winter Olympic Moments

Kelly Clark: Halfpipe Snowboarding

Kelly Clark called it “the fall heard around the world.”

She was joking, but within the snowboarding community it felt that melodramatic when a hard fall took her out of contention for the halfpipe gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. If Clark had taken a similar tumble four years earlier at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she admits it would have been devastating. Instead, the defending halfpipe gold medalist experienced an overwhelming measure of peace amid the disappointment.

“Just two years earlier, my identity was in snowboarding,” she explains. “That’s how people knew me and that’s how I knew myself. That’s where I got a lot of my self-worth. But that began to shift and I started to understand that I didn’t get my worth from people or from the things that I did.”

Clark won that first gold medal as a young 18-year old fresh on the scene. But her disappointing fourth place finish in 2006 was tempered by a newfound faith in Christ that continues to push her to excellence today. Clark won the bronze medal in 2010 and qualified for her fourth Olympics in 2014. In the meantime, she dominated the Winter X-Games with four consecutive superpipe gold medals.

But these days, Clark refuses to allow neither success nor failure to define her as a person or to dictate whether or not she has joy in her life. In fact, Clark says she has found true freedom since embracing a relationship with God. “I’ve brought that freedom into my snowboarding,” she adds. “It really does set me apart from a lot of the athletes. I get to do what I love with the One that I love.”

1988 Jamaican Bobsleigh Team: Against All Odds

It was a story made for the movies. In fact, the 1988 Jamaican Bobsleigh team would inspire the film Cool Runnings. The sports world couldn’t help be fascinated as these four tropical climate athletes defied the odds and qualified for the Winter Olympics.

Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White, and last minute replacement Nelson Stokes captured the imagination of the international community that had gathered in Calgary, Alberta. Although they suffered a violent crash during one of their four runs, the Jamaicans steadily improved throughout the competition and laid the foundation for teams their home country to compete at future Olympics.

Dan Jansen: From Tragedy to Triumph

At the 1988 Olympics, Dan Jansen was considered gold medal favorite in a long track speed skating. But on the day of his 500-meter race, Jansen learned that his 27-year old sister Jane Beres had lost her with leukemia.

Jansen struggled in his races. He fell in the 500-meter race that day and later that week again fell in the 1000-meter event.

At the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, Jansen made one final attempt on the ice. In the 1000-meter race, Jansen inspired the skating community with his first gold medal performance. He dedicated that medal to his late sister and took a victory lap around the rink with his one-year old daughter, also named Jane.

Scott Hamilton: World Class Overcomer

Scott Hamilton has spent most of his life overcoming adversity. At the age of two, the adopted Ohio native contracted a mystery disease that caused him to stop growing. At one point, Hamilton was given six months to live.

His troubles didn’t stop there. After embarking on a figure skating career, financial woes nearly stopped him from pursuing his dreams. Hamilton overcame that adversity to win gold in an inspiring performance at the 1984 Sarajevo Games.

Hamilton continues to inspire the world with his courage. He beat testicular cancer in 1997 and dealt with a benign brain tumor in 2004. Through it all, Hamilton has found strength in his Christian faith.

“God is there to guide you through the tough spots,” he says. “God is there every single time.”

Vonetta Flowers: Breaking the Ice

As an aspiring track star from Alabama, Vonetta Flowers fell short of her goal of competing in the Summer Olympics. So she turned to bobsledding instead.

It didn’t take long for Flowers to find success on the ice as a brakewoman. She qualified for the 2002 Games with driver Jill Bakken and made history by becoming the first black athlete to win Winter Olympic gold.

But throughout the historic experience, she relied heavily on her relationship with God to help her not only perform to her best ability, but to handle the attention that followed.

“I was living on faith not fear during the Olympics,” Flowers says. “I was able to relax, have a good time and focus on what I had to do.”