Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Over 52,000 people paid anywhere from $300 to over $800 to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Olympic Winter Games Friday night in Salt Lake City, Utah. This ceremony had the most security of any sporting event ever. Security outnumbered athletes 5 to 1. It was also the first time that a U.S. president opened the Olympic Winter
Games. When President Bush was asked if there was ever a time since the September 11 tragedy when he thought these games would not take place he responded with "Absolutely not! That would give the terrorists a victory." It was evident that terrorism was not victorious when the flag that survived the World Trade Center attack was carried into the stadium while the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang our national anthem.

As we all know, athletic games were an important part of festivals in Greek culture. The Olympic games originated in ancient Greece around 776B.C. and continued until A.D.393. There had been some attempts to revive the games through the years but all were unsuccessful until French educator, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, helped organize the first modern Olympic games in 1896 and then it just took off from there. The purpose was to encourage world peace, friendship, and a healthy sporting competition. The first Winter Games were held in 1924.

The Olympic flame symbolizes the light of spirit, knowledge, life, and peace. The Olympic symbol of the 5 interlocking rings was created in 1913 and represents these continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and America. The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius" which means "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

The Greeks may have had their chariot races, foot races, wrestling, and discus throws but these Winter Games are a thrill seekers delight. A sport must be played in at least 25 countries on 3 continents to be considered for an event. It's hard to believe that you could get 25 people to do some of this stuff much less 25 countries. Snowboarding is sort of like skate boarding on snow. Skeleton is a lot like luge. People steer a sled down an icy curved course as fast as possible. Except in skeleton the athletes go down headfirst. Freestyle skiers launch themselves up 50 or more feet above ski slopes and perform "whirly-bird" type contortions in mid air. Remember when your mom said, "If your friend jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?" Well evidently a lot would. It makes you wonder if a couple of guys didn't get plastered one night and decide to ski off a cliff. As they groped in mid air trying to save themselves it looked like they were doing tricks. Other people saw it and the rest is history.

The top 3 winners get medals and a diploma. The next five get only a diploma. The first place winner gets a gold medal. Well, actually, it's a silver medal covered with gold but we won't tell them that. The second place winner gets a silver medal. Well, actually it's a bronze medal covered with silver. Not really. It's a silver medal. And third place gets a bronze medal. We all remember the winners. Names like Jean Claude Killy, Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Boitano, Peggy Fleming, Eric Heiden, and Bonnie Blair live on in our minds. We don't remember who lost.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 asks, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?" It speaks of how hard we strive after a corruptible crown or medal. One gains self-discipline, strength, and skill in this striving. But how much more should we strive for the incorruptible crown? The nice thing is that in order to "win" our race for an incorruptible crown we only have to finish. We don't have to be in first place to receive the reward. (1 Timothy 4:7-8) Keep that in mind as you struggle through life and let the games begin!

©February 2002

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bydahlgren@aol.com.