U.S. Olympic Swimmer Hunter Armstrong recently helped Team USA secure its first 2024 Olympic Gold Medal in the 4×100 meter men’s relay. Despite finishing first among the world’s best swimmers, Armstrong emphasized the importance of keeping God first.
“That’s the first thing I want people to see and know about me,” he explained to the Baptist Press. “As we grow, we have to make sure we have our priorities in line. I keep God as a priority. I can’t really live without him. I can live without swimming or being an Olympian or any of that stuff.”
Like many Christians, Armstrong illustrated how believers can sometimes fall away from God during their walk in faith. “I feel like in past years I’ve been sort of on the edge of it,” he said. “When I’m in competition, I’ll pray, and that will last for a little bit. Church camp, same kind of thing. But as soon as I didn’t need him anymore, it would fade.”
However, the swimmer noted a couple of painful experiences that drove him back to solidifying his relationship with the Lord. “That was my first real relationship. I had a proposal planned out. I was already pre-ordering the ring,” he said. “I was certain that I was going to marry this girl, and I quickly watched it all crumble.”
During another challenging moment, Armstrong had to endure the death of his grandfather. “The biggest catalyst for change in life tends to be pain,” he stated. However, Armstrong pointed out that God will often speak to people in their lowest moments, bringing them back to faith. “Sometimes God will put you in a position where you have no other choice than to turn to Him. He continued, “That’s been the biggest change that I’ve made this year. I promised at [world championships] that if He would help me get out of this, then I would embrace it.”
During a previous podcast appearance, Armstrong explained how he gives glory to God when competing in his sport. “Every time I swim, I point up to the sky because it’s God first. Like none of this matters without Him, and you know, it got to the point where…it became a habit, just part of the pre-race ritual, and I didn’t like that,” he said.
The Christian Tribune has reported on numerous American athletes who have thanked God for their success at the Paris Olympics. U.S. Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles, who recently won the men’s 100-meter dash in a photo finish. The 27-year-old sprinter could be seen mouthing “Thank you, God” after he wo the race.“I had to find my own journey with God and a lot of that came through track because there were a lot of times where I thought I don’t know if I can do this. God if you really want me to do this, give me a sign. He gave me a sign and I said I’ll never doubt you again,” he later said.
Featured image credit: INVMANMOM, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunter_with_Medal.jpg