Olympic Impact, Part II

This week I am in Atlanta, Georgia to assist my daughter as she prepares to begin her graduate studies at Georgia State University. Twenty-eight years ago this month, the 100th Anniversary of the Modern Olympics was staged in Atlanta. My office at CNN was in the center of the Olympic Ring, where many of the events took place.

Centennial Olympic Park, which just two years before the Olympics was a sight of blight in the downtown, as it was mostly vacant lots and abandoned or run-down buildings. When I began working as an intern for CNN Sports in the summer of 1994, I remember the sadness I had driving past this area, and could not imagine what it would look like two years later.

As I walked around Centennial Olympic Park Thursday morning, I reflected on the wonderful green space. The trees that line the perimeter of the park, just a few feet tall when they were planted, are now mature trees that provide beautiful shade, which is especially appreciated in the heat of the Atlanta summer. While the Atlanta Olympics were not without their issues, the legacy of the Olympics and its impact on Atlanta remains.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games is quoted as saying, “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” I can’t help but hear the echoes of II Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”

See you in church!