An Imperishable Crown

“Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown,

but we an imperishable one.” 1 Corinthians 9:25

There have been several admirable stories of athletes who helped others finish in the same race. There’s Simon Cheprot who gave up a gold medal to help a fellow Kenyan runner who collapsed during the Okpekpe International 10-km Road Race in Nigeria. He stopped running to lift up Kenneth Kipkemoi and carried him across the finish line. 

When reporters interviewed him after the incident, he said, “My dad told me, ‘When you’re walking and you meet a sick person on the road, help him. Do not leave him’, so that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw my friend on the ground.”

In another race at the world athletics championship 500 meters heat, Braima Suncar Dabo of Guinea Bissao helped Aruba’s Jonathan Busby. He noticed that Busby was totally exhausted with 200 m left. Dabo helped him up, and with Busby’s arm around his shoulder, they both crossed the finish line. Dabo explained, “The main objective was to represent my country as well as possible and I'm happy I could help the other guy...My thoughts were to help him finish, that is the point of the race."

Then there’s Rob Gomez who did not win the $1,000 prize because he pulled up front-runner Jesse Orach who had fallen for a second time within sight of the finish line and held him upright the last 50 m. “They've put me on a pedestal I don't really deserve," Gomez told the Press Herald. “What people saw was just an example of the running community. It's not really special. It's just what we do."

We applaud these acts of sportsmanship, unselfishness, fellowship and kindness. We too are running a race. St. Paul says we race to win an imperishable crown. Let us follow the examples of Simon Cheprot, Braima Suncar Dabo and Rob Gomez, and run the race well, helping others along the way, encouraging them, supporting them, and bringing them with us to the eternal finish line.