2004 Olympics: Other Sports

Athletes in Action director focuses on Olympians' spirituality

08:39 PM CDT on Thursday, August 26, 2004

By THOMAS HUANG / The Dallas Morning News

ATHENS, Greece – Reid Lamphere, an All-America wrestler in college, missed making the U.S. Olympic team by one point in 1976. But he's been back to several Olympics since then, thanks to his job with Athletes in Action, a Christian athletic ministry.

Lamphere, 55, the ministry's global events director, is one of several chaplains in the Olympic Village, where he coordinates Bible study, worship sessions and Sunday services. He works in the religious center, which has spaces for the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths.

Spiritual support is important for many athletes, he said.

"The Olympics is the highlight of their lives, a culmination of what they've worked for," he said. "Their dream has come true. Everything they come across will have a large influence on them. We're hoping the spiritual aspect of their lives will become special to them.

"We also hope they receive comfort," he said. "About 50 percent or more do not give their personal best at the Olympics. The pressure is a real thing. For them to get together with Christians and get God's perspective – they find peace and sometimes can perform even better."

High-profile athletes who have talked about their Christianity include archer Jennifer Nichols, diver Kimiko Soldati and triathlete Barb Lindquist, he said.

Lamphere, who grew up in suburban Minneapolis, started wrestling as a high school freshman. At the University of Minnesota, he was runner-up in the Big Ten conference championship three times. He placed fourth in the national championship in 1969.

During college, "I asked the questions: What is it all about? Why am I here? I was doing a great job in athletics and at school," he said. "But I couldn't figure out what was missing."

He committed himself to Christianity and joined Athletes in Action, which fields national and international teams in several sports, including wrestling, basketball and track and field.

After graduating in 1971, Lamphere traveled with the ministry's wrestling team in the eastern United States, competing with and sharing his faith with other college athletes. In 1972, he had a shot at making the U.S. team for the Munich Olympics but placed sixth in the Olympic trials. He went to the Games anyway, as part of the ministry. It would be the first of 10 summer and winter Olympics he's attended.

In 1976, he was the first alternate on the Olympic team. Three years later, he moved to work as Athletes in Action's Eastern European director.

After living in Vienna, Munich and Prague for 15 years, he returned to the United States to organize the ministry's outreach at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He's lived in Atlanta since, with his wife, Carolyn.

Athletes in Action has 50 staff members from 24 countries doing outreach at the Athens Games. Only nine have been accredited to work at the Olympic Village, and they are not permitted to proselytize on the campus, he said.

"Every year, there's more hype and excitement," he said. "In Atlanta, we stole the centennial Olympics from Athens," which hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896. "But Athens is a perfect place."

E-mail thuang@dallasnews.com