Like most who hang their hat in Texas, I generally give the Winter Olympics a collective yawn every four years.  Even growing up in Ohio I didn’t develop much of an interest in the Games until Lake Placid in 1980.  That’s when the Miracle on Ice brought hockey to my world and a guy named Eric Heiden momentarily attracted my attention to long track speedskating.

A few years ago, I was working for a news channel where I did sports when I put together a story on a local kid here in Houston who was shocking the winter sports world by successfully making a transition from inline skating to the ice.  Chad Hedrick lived just around the corner from my house.  His parents run a roller skating rink where my kids are skating right now as I write this.  So it had some additional appeal on a personal level.  Chad was cocky & brash which was not uncommon for the elite athletes I interviewed regularly.

Four years ago, I was producing Olympic segments for the NBC station here in Houston before the Torino Games.  Chad was in full character as the arrogant outsider who was crashing the Olympic party. Even some of the other Olympians we were interviewing at the same time were taken back by his over-the-top persona.  His actions in Italy were received in similar fashion by the rest of the world as he captured gold, silver & bronze medals.  Frankly he was obnoxious and tough to like at all even while winning.

Hedrick slid to the recesses of my mind until this past fall when I noticed fellow Champion Forest Baptist member Laura Wilkinson (3-time Olympic diver and a gold medalist herself) conversing with Chad on Twitter.  They were discussing the impact of Christ on their life in a competitive environment.  Having interacted with Chad in the past, I had a tough time believing this could be the same Chad Hedrick.  This new Chad was talking about his daily devotionals and his love for his wife & daughter.  But as often is the case, a personal relationship with God has resulted in major changes in Chad’s life & personality.

Chad was baptized at my church in November.   Just a week later, he won gold over his archrival & American teammate Shani Davis at the World Championships in Calgary.  The Houston Chronicle ran a feature on Sunday that explains his dramatic transformation:

“God gave me this talent and the drive to go out and be the best I could be, and I did it without ever acknowledging him or ever once thanking him. I thought I was happiest when I was winning races and going out afterward, and then I had to find myself as a person and learn that it wasn’t how fast I skated or what place I got, that speedskating was what I did. It wasn’t who I was.”

With a new role as a husband & parent since Torino, Chad was picked up by Pampers to be a spokesperson.  With a young daughter and another child on the way, he was natural fit for pitching diapers.  But just a couple of weeks ago, Chad’s wife Lynsey suffered a miscarriage.  But even with this devastating turn of event, Lynsey told the Chronicle that the couple is still trusting God with all their hearts.

“It was a shock. It really was. But we didn’t play the ‘Why me, why is this happening to me?’ card. He played the same role that I played: ‘We don’t know why this is happening, but we need to hold on to what we know, and that is that we are only going to be able to find peace through our God and comfort each other as much as we can.’

“It’s an opportunity for us to show that even with Chad in the position he’s in and the position our family is in before the games that when disaster strikes, we don’t come unglued. We don’t come unraveled. It’s hard for people to understand that in the dead center of tragedy, you can find peace, you can find joy and understanding and strength.”

That brings us to Vancouver today where Chad has checked into the Olympic Village and is waiting for his family to join him for three weeks of racing before he hangs up his skates forever at the end of the month.  You can follow @chadhedrick each step of the way on Twitter.  He is very open with his feelings and about the tremendous opportunity he has over the next couple of weeks to share Christ with the world.  Here is a sampling of his recent tweets:

• I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to show millions this month how God has changed me!
• Heading out into the city on my day off- just got off Skype with my girls and Hadley said DADA for the first time! What a cool feeling!
• Going to bed after a great day in Vancouver! Looking at a pic of my daughter as I lay in bed. Man I’m one blessed man- Thank you Lord!

This week, the church where Chad has been attending in Salt Lake City released a video of their pastor interviewing Chad about his testimony.

Suffice it to say that my family will now be watching the speedskating competition over the next couple of weeks strongly in the Hedrick camp.  Unlike Torino where he was a big favorite, he is faces some tougher challenges in Vancouver.  But whether God blesses him with victory or defeat, I will be anxious to see how Chad uses the platform to share the Gospel.

Courtesy: Smiley N. Pool of Houston Chronicle