Skating With Faith
It is refreshing to find that faith still holds dear to many athletes of the Sochi Winter Olympics this year. Yuna Kim is a model not only for her ice skating talent, but also for her confidence in prayer and worship.
"A seminarian for the Archdiocese of Detroit and blog writer Evan Pham exclaimed that he was struck by Kim's simple act of praying on ice during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver" writer Addie Mena said on the National Catholic Register.
With such faith comes some great inspiration. Pham said that he and his family were struck with awe by Kim's undeniable devotion to her faith, going so far as to make the Sign of the Cross on camera and before her biggest performances.
Pham continued, "[Kim] was not scared. She just wanted to pray: She didn't care who was watching."
Kim holds world-record scores in the ladies' skating short program, free skate and combined score, and has even broken 11 world record scores to present day.
But, as she admits, her success would not have happened if she did not have utmost faith in God. Kim's fame has served as an opportunity for her to share her Catholic faith and to encourage others to do the same. Alongside her mother in 2008, Kim converted to Catholicism after they both came into contact with Catholic nuns and organizations through her personal physician.
For her baptismal name, Kim took "Stella" after Mary, Star of the Sea. She then told a diocesan paper that during the baptismal right she felt "an enormous consolation in my heart." She also made a promise to always pray to God at all times, and especially before competitions.
If you're not already sold, then you'd be pleasantly surprised to know that, coupled with showing her obvious devotion to God by praying before skates, she also has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Salesians of Don Bosco to help support the missionary brothers in South Sudan to establish Catholic schools.
We know that showing your faith in the public eye is difficult, but we think Kim's effort is "God as Gold!"