Sheila Burrell: An Olympic Journal
August 23, 2004 - Well, as many of you know by now, I got Fourth. Fourth place at the Olympic Games is nothing to be down in the mouth about and I am not. I'm disappointed, but not discouraged or dismayed.
Thank you everyone who supported me with prayer, words of encouragement, and money to train and travel this year. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate and needed all of you in the various ways you helped. Go Team Shebe Gold!
About three weeks before the competition the USA Track and Field coaching staff had questioned whether or not they were going to allow me to compete in the Games because of an unspecified injury in my foot. They gave me a deadline to show proof of "fitness" (whatever that means) and I know that it was with much prayer by myself and many of you that it was never a question of whether or not I was going to compete because God did not bring me all the way to Athens to let me fail.
The medical staff diagnosed me with a stress fracture bone in my second metatarsal a week and a half before the start of competition.
You know how much I wanted to be on that medal stand and how clearly I felt I was capable of achieving my goal, but things happen, and without coming up with excuses about not being able to train or competing in pain, I am very proud of myself and what I accomplished given the circumstances.
In every event I went into it believing that I was going be on that stand. I even took my awards suit to the track the second day fully believing that I was going to be there despite being in 12th place. I gave it my best effort and by the end of the whole thing I finished fourth.
I ran that 800m as if I was running for the gold. The experience was one of the hardest experiences I have had in my competitive career. I gave it all that I had both physically and mentally. I remember a friend of mine from Chicago telling me once that sometimes God just wants to see if you will be a "yes man" or in my case a "yes woman." He wants to know that if you do all that He has asked you to do and the thing that you are believing for doesn't happen the way you "planned and expected", will you still say "yes God, I still trust you?"
I can't begin to tell you how many people watched my performance this past weekend and congratulated me as if I had won because of the courage and conviction I displayed during the entire process. I may have cried a few times but never did the thought cross my mind that I was going to give up. I believe it is impossible to fail unless you quit. Healthy I am on that medal stand, but that wasn't God's plan for me. But I can tell you that I may not have gotten a gold, silver, or bronze medal but I have made a mark and an impression on a whole lot of people who didn't think I could do what I did and still say to God be the Glory.
"Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Pet 1:6-7
My faith is not a consolation prize for not winning a medal, it is THE PRIZE. Some people have experienced greater disappointments than getting fourth at the Olympic Games, some of you probably have, so be excited for me because I am. I am walking around with my head up feeling like a champion. The rest of the time here I am going to enjoy Athens and eat a whole lot of junk!!
August 18, 2004 - A friend of mine just sent me an e-mail to let me know that she has been praying for me and that it has been reported in the newspaper that I have been having some problems with my foot. I would like to share a portion of that e-mail and then share a little bit about what it is like to be at the Olympic Games, coming face-to-face with a moment that you have dreamt about for four years, and deal with the adversity of it.
Hello, dear friend,
I’ve been thinking and praying much for you this week. I have especially thought of
, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”No matter what you are going through, Paul related.
says, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”I know that in the eternal plans and purposes of God, plans for glory to be brought to His name and purposes for many to know Him, His plan is being worked out in the midst of your life today and will be tomorrow and the next day and for all eternity!
(I was at the dentist yesterday and Elaine, Tina, etc. said to be sure to let you know they are praying for you --word has been in the papers about your foot.)
There are many people reading this journal who don’t know who I am or what I am really about. Whether I am a “real Christian” who actually walks her talk, or if I am one of those athletes who believes in God but doesn’t know the Word and if you heard me talk outside of church you might question my religion. Was I allowed to write this journal for CBN because I have said, “I would like to thank God” for this or that in an interview or two?
Well, I am not one of those athletes. I do know the Word, and I am real about my relationship with Christ. I have said all year, and even on The 700 Club, that I would rather be saved than win a gold medal. Some days, like a few days last week, I wonder why I even said that, and then there are most days when I know exactly why.
I have been having some issues with my foot that have been like a thorn in my flesh for the past couple of months. It was nothing but God that got me through the Olympic Trials as the champion. Here we are five weeks later and the doctors still don’t know for sure what is wrong or what they can do to help ease the pain.
My event starts August 20. The heptathlon is seven different track and field events competed over two days. The most famous heptathlete to date is Jackie Joyner Kersee. The first day is the100-meter hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, and 200 meter. The second day is the Long Jump, Javelin, and the 800 meter (1/2 mile). So, as you can see, my event is one of the hardest events contested in track and field.
I have had considerable success in my career, becoming the first American to medal at an international championship since Jackie Joyner Kersee, and winning the national championship five out of seven years. All that being said, here I am at the Olympic Games and things aren’t perfect. I’ve already cried; I’ve already sought sympathy; I’ve already examined all my excuses for not doing well. And here is where I stand with as much conviction as I can pull out of my spirit.
Here is my response to my friend's e-mail:
Both riches and honor belong to God. Power and Might are in His hands, and it is up to Him to make great and give strength unto all. He said to Zechariah of Zerubabbel, “Not by power, not by might, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” I may be a wounded foot soldier right now, but the battle is not mine. It is the Lord's, and the Lord is strong and mighty in battle.
This is a faith thing. My words to the Lord all year have been, 'I would rather be saved than win a gold medal.' His promise was that I would see myself victorious in these games. So contrary to the report of the doctors and the opinion of my coach, I will believe the report of the Lord. Don’t feel sorry for me or even feel bad for me. I am going to be okay, and whatever happens, I walked in a champion and will walk out a champion. I am not discouraged or dismayed… anymore… the Lord is on my side.
You see, you know me and you know how intense I can be, but God is all up in this, and I know He is. Can He trust me to continue to abide in His Word even in the face of the circumstances at hand? Yes He CAN!!! Because my confession is, 'now unto him who is able to keep me from falling and present me blameless.’
As you pray, pray prayers of agreement with whatever the will of God is for me during this trial. Agree with what you have heard me say God has said. I believe Jesus, and these are not just words that I am writing on a page because they sound good. I believe that God is in control and He did not bring me here to leave me. Everything is wrong right now, but I still have peace.
So I praise God and give Him the glory in advance because it is in His hands to give power and might. I have no choice but to trust Him because in my own strength I cannot even finish the meet, but in my weakness I believe what the Word says, 'that God will show Himself strong'.
August 12, 2004 - Greetings from the Island of Crete, directly south of Athens. It’s absolutely beautiful here. The Mediterranean Sea is our backyard beach, and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets are glorious reminders of God’s concept of time, slowed down to a moment by moment visual of this thing we call life.
That may sound over the top, but that is truly what it is like. I have been dreaming of going to the Olympics since I was 12 years old, and here I am at my second Olympic Games. It is pretty amazing.
My roommate and I were looking on the maps in the backs of our Bibles to see what route the Apostle Paul took when he sailed by Crete through the Mediterranean Sea. We are going to try to visit Fair Haven this week.
I’ve been in Europe for almost three weeks now. I spent a week and a half in Great Britain, competing in a track meet in Birmingham and traveling with the team to London for another competition that I didn’t compete in. One of the things that was very interesting to me while traveling with the group was how many of us are Christians and how many of us don’t really know how many of us there are. We started having daily Bible studies once we got to London. It started out with about five of us, and by the time we got to the end of the week we had about seven. One of the 400 meter runners is a youth pastor back in Atlanta, so he led most days and I taught one morning. As we talked about the Word and the opportunities that God had given us through track and field, we all agreed that God has placed us in these positions for a reason and none of us were, as they say, “on our jobs” during this trip. What I observed was that even though we were all Christians, we didn’t fellowship with each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord until we began the Bible study. It was like a breath of fresh air, and you could tell that the five to seven of us that showed up regularly didn’t feel alone anymore.
Everyone there expressed the same concerns regarding their faith --- standing out in the crowd and being different. To some degree or another, each person in that room was worried about what others would think about them if they expressed their faith. I am not talking about saying the name Jesus or God in a conversation or acknowledging their belief in God; I am talking about walking and talking like a believer, encouraging one another or admonishing one another in the spirit of our Christianity.
I must admit that the first few days were hard for me. I began to pray that God would begin to cause boldness in those who truly call upon His name to basically come out of the closet.
I start competing in exactly one week. I am not nervous yet, though I have had a bit of a setback this past week with an injury to my foot. I can either look at it as a setback or a setup. God has already spoken to me that I will compete in these Olympic Games not by my power, nor by my might, but by His Spirit. There are times like today when practice didn’t go well because of my foot and I sat there and cried, but the moment I began to think about and remember what the Lord had spoken to me in my spirit, I was reminded, “not by my power, nor by my might, but by His Spirit, says the Lord.” - Sheila
