"An unknown athlete who was a last minute write in...
hammers the time trial course in the Negev Desert"
Blessings to you from Israel! It has been a very emotional and exciting past 24 hours for me here in the 18th Maccabiah Olympic Games. Early yesterday morning we awoke in the shahar blackness of the pre-dawn hours and assembled our racing gear and headed to the starting line for the 1st ever Olympic Cycling Time Trial event in Israel’s history! The competition was held in the Negev just a few kilometers from the Gaza border with top Jewish cyclist from around the world.
(Pre-race briefing) |
(Team USA prepares for battle) |
(Canada, Mexico, and USA mingle) |
The atmosphere was filled with such excitement as we were led to the starting ramp and released like arrows out of months of dedicated preparations and training. I must say that the solidarity and fellowship with other Jewish athletes, coach’s, and racing officials was so delightful and issued out of the prophetic oracle of Psalms 133! And in the backdrop of the Western Negev next to the Gaza Strip where just 6 months earlier we were in a major war of kassam rockets raining down on these Israeli communities is so remarkable! I love to see terrorism stifled and our people continuing to thrive here in the Promised Land!
(Here I’m released out of the gate) |
(Building speed…) |
(And building…)
(And building) |
The race conditions were extremely hot even in the early morning hours and I knew that I would have to dig deep and push myself before dehydration started to creep in. Once I was out of the starting gate and pedaling up to racing speed (43+ KPH), I was praying that Abba would send a little windward help to push me along so I could have some type of intro testimony to share later with the competitors. Abba was again so faithful as He sent a very short but supernatural breeze out of nowhere on the most difficult stretch of the course to give me just enough encouragement to keep hammering it! I actually felt the breeze come out of my belly and then enveloped me and the bike just long enough to push me along faster, knock out the lactic acid cobwebs, and cause me to laugh in the Joy of His strength. I suddenly now began to have the strength to pass other riders that had started out before me and I did not know it at the time, but one of the Elite champions of Israel was behind me passing the same folks and trying strongly to catch me…but could not! We later had a good time discussing with him why he could not overtake me even though he won the medal for this race! (hint, hint)
(Final Sprint to the Finish line) |
(Tired but happy) |
Once back at the staging area I was very happy to find out I placed in the top 10 in my category and was able with my strong time to help the USA team win the silver medal! Though I did not reach the podium for the individual results it was however, so fitting in the Spirit of Psalms 133, to be able to be the 2nd fastest on the USA team and help us get a team Silver medal! Glory to God! I’m just so filled with holy laughter because you should see all of these top Cat. 1 and professional cyclists faces when I tell them I did not know how to ride a bike or even race 11 months earlier! Again…Glory to God!
(Women’s Olympic medalists) |
(Men’s Olympic medalists) |
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