The Winter Olympics And The BibleНамуна

Pauline Passage Helps Lyndon Rush Bounce Back From Olympic Disappointment

After finishing his collegiate football career at the University of Saskatchewan, Lyndon Rush wasn’t quite finished with his life as a competitive athlete. He entered Team Canada’s “Own The Podium” program, which was set up ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and quickly established himself as an elite bobsledder. 

In Vancouver, he and teammate Lascelles Brown were among the favorites to win the gold medal in the two-man race. After the first heat, things were looking good. Rush and Brown sat in third place and within striking distance of the top spot. 

Towards the end of the second heat, however, Rush made a mistake going into the 11th corner and never recovered. His sled crashed and flipped over as he crossed the finish line well out of medal contention.

“I was really devastated,” Rush said. “I was really mad. I remember laying in the sled when it was still upside down and had finally come to a stop.”

Rush didn’t stay disappointed for long. He decided to dwell on those things for which he was thankful and then move on to the next competition with his four-man team. After the first two heats, Rush and his teammates found themselves in a tight battle for second place. The next day, as he prepared for the fourth and final heat, he began paraphrasing Philippians 4:6 repeatedly in his mind to help ease the pressure.

Be anxious for nothing, but in all things, through prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God will grant you all understanding and guard your heart through Christ Jesus.

“As I said that over and over, the peace of God started to guard my heart,” Rush explained, “and it took the weight off and my request was that I do my best and that my guys would be safe. I knew He would do that for me.”

Rush’s team finished the fourth heat in second place, but a German team bested their time by one-hundredth of a second. Rush bounced back from the disappointing two-man performance with the four-man bronze.

“We weren’t even a medal favorite in that event,” Rush recalled, “but we just nailed it those two days and we ended up having an Olympic medal experience.”