Breakfast of Champions

My wife and I recently went to a large antique store appropriately housed in an old barn.  Among the many interesting things that brought back memories of my past was an old Wheaties cereal box with the picture of Olympic champion pole vaulter Bob Richards. 

In my freshman year of college I was chosen as Christian athlete of the year for the school and was selected to attend a Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference in Ashland, Oregon.  Along with many other young men I had the privilege of meeting and listening to Bob Richards and other great Christian athletes speak of their faith and the qualities that lead to becoming a champion in athletics and in life. 

Bob Richards, who as a young boy was headed toward delinquency, was influenced by the casual remark of a Christian girl who said she would only date a good Christian boy. Bobby decided to give church a try.  He learned of Christ and he learned of repentance and of prayer and of self discipline.  

  

The man, Pastor Bob Richards,  spoke to us of the power of prayer and of relying on a power greater than ourselves in releasing the power within ourselves to achieve great things.  He told of a pole vaulter before his time, Dutch Warmerdam, who recognized the path of discipline, faith, and the power of prayer to become the first man to ever clear 15 feet, a feat many said would never be accomplished.  He did it 43 times in the years between 1940 and 1944—with a bamboo pole and the three principles mentioned.   Dutch Warmerdam was my track and field coach at the second college I attended, Fresno State, in Fresno, California.  Bob Richards later broke Coach Warmerdam’s records using the same three principles and an aluminum pole. 

Another sports hero both men spoke of in my presence was Glenn Cunningham.  As a boy Glenn was badly burned saving his brother from a schoolhouse fire.  His legs, especially, were so badly burned that they developed thick scar tissue and it was feared that he might not even be able to walk.  With time, patience, and faith in God he taught himself to walk again by walking behind a plow on the farm.  Utilizing the principles of discipline, faith, and the power of prayer he struggled to walk, then walked, then jogged slowly and then, over time could run until he became a world record holder and for some time one of the greatest milers who ever lived. 

 

I don’t know if these three men all ate Wheaties, but I do know that they were champions and that their example helped me with the direction I took in life at a young age.  They exemplified the motto of the Olympic Games—Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) to me.  Athletics, good examples, Christian faith and discipline have given me a good life that I continue to enjoy to this day. 

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)