Sunday, August 10, 2008

Mormon Olympians Ready to Compete in Beijing

When 12-year-old Melanie Roach told her family that one day she would compete at the Olympics, no one really doubted her, according to her mother, Bonnie Kozoff, as reported in the Tacoma News Tribune.

Roach, now a 33-year-old mother of three living in Bonney Lake, Washington, has been carrying a very heavy load the last few years as she has been preparing to compete at the Beijing Olympics in weight lifting.

In addition to raising her three children, Ethan, 7, Drew, 5, and Cami, 3, she supports her politician husband, Dan, runs a gymnasium center and advocates for Autism Speaks. Her son Drew was diagnosed with autism in 2003.

Roach is a Mormon and will join a number of other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Beijing to compete at the 2008 Olympics Games.

Fellow Latter-day Saint and steeplechase athlete on the United States Olympic team, Josh McAdams, credits his missionary experience as a turning point in his athletic career and his life.

He told The Plain Dealer, “I thought running was everything my freshman year in college, and if I had a bad workout, that affected my attitude and mood the whole day.”

The Plain Dealer report continues, “That was in 2000, and later that year, he left Brigham Young University for a two-year Mormon mission in Thailand.”

“When I came back from my mission, I realized I had life goals and more of a perspective, and I knew what values I have and what is most important in my life. I have learned not to limit yourself,” he told the newspaper.

Other Latter-day Saint Olympians on the U.S. team include Lacey Nymeyer, 100-meter freestyle and 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay; Lindsey Anderson, steeplechase; Ryan Millar and Rich Lambourne, volleyball; Jake Gibb, beach volleyball; and Tairia Flowers, softball.

Jill Camarena, who recently underwent surgery for a herniated disc, will compete in the women’s shot put.

Niklas Arrhenius, who will represent the Swedish national team in the discus, is one of several Mormon athletes from around the world.

Steeplechase competitor Anderson says the Church’s health code — which advises against the use of alcohol, tobacco and other harmful substances — helps her to stay away from drugs and to run her best.

Anderson’s philosophy is shared by many other Mormon Olympians, past and present.

Peter Vidmar, who won a gold medal as a member of the United States gymnastics team in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as well as an individual gold medal on the pommel horse, where he scored a perfect 10, explained in a book titled Why I Believe: “I never experimented with drugs or alcohol. As an athlete I valued my health, but more important, my faith taught me to avoid all of those things.”

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About Me

我是在1996年12月29日受洗加入耶穌基督後期聖徒教會. 我在此留下我對這復興的福音的見證,我知道約瑟斯密確實是神的先知; 藉由約瑟斯密,神復興了耶穌基督的教會即耶穌基督後期聖徒教會; 摩爾門經是耶穌基督的另一部約書,與聖經共同見證耶穌是基督.而我們今日仍有一位活著的先知,多馬孟蓀會長 I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on December 29, 1996. I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is indeed Another Testament of Jesus Christ. We have a living prophet today, even President Thomas S. Monson.

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