The opening ceremony of 2024’s summer Olympics was offensive, brash, and decidedly blasphemous, whether the organizers intended for it to be or not. However, since the opening ceremony, we have seen several athletes from around the world present strong displays of Christian faith.

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Some of these displays were covered on last week’s episode of Headline Prayer Live. We covered how a Brazilian teenager signed the gospel on camera, and how a Serbian tennis player proudly displayed his cross necklace. Now, a week later, we are still seeing brave displays of Christian belief.

In perhaps the most blatant display of Christian faith yet, Canadian skateboarder Cordano Russell recently shouted “Jesus is King” on live television. You can see the clip below:

Canadian Olympic Skateboarder, Cordano Russell said “Jesus is King!” live on television 🙌🏼#Olympics pic.twitter.com/Wkz1f2CpGF

— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) August 1, 2024

Russell, an outspoken Christian, is no stranger to putting his faith on display. According to the 2024 Paris Olympics website, he finds his identity in his faith:

“In devoting himself to all his passions there is also a sense in which Russell is fulfilling another part of himself: his faith. And with that soothed, the skater feels unassailable.

‘Honestly, it empowers me,’ he shares candidly. “I know where my true identity is, and that is in the Lord. So, I wanted to use my time, talents and treasures and ultimately be able to inspire others through that, through my faith, through who I am.'”

However, while the displays of faith above may be encouraging, the organizers of the games are also cracking down on faith elsewhere. In one instance, Brazilian surfer Joao Chianca was ordered to remove images of the famous Brazilian landmark Christ the Redeemer statue from his surfboards.

The opening ceremony wasn’t the only anti-Christian message sent to the world by the Olympic committee.

Two weeks before the games, Brazilian surfer Joao Chianca was ordered to remove the image of Jesus Christ from his surfboard, or be barred from competing.

Chianca commented… pic.twitter.com/FSZdAPTUOY

— DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) July 27, 2024

Supposedly, Chianca was ordered to do this to promote “true neutrality” since Christ is a religious figure. As others have pointed out, however, the Olympics seems like it is violating its own rules, outright mocking religion in the opening ceremony while banning it during the games.

We pray that God would change the hearts of those in charge and that more athletes would boldly proclaim and glorify Christ!

How are you praying about the Olympics? Share your prayers and scriptures with us below.

(Photo Credit: Like tears in rain – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151182739)