One Family, One Sport, One Day, Two Golds!

Share This Post

Gold Trophy

Welcome to Three-Peat Tuesday!

Each weekly blog will contain three P’s: Pillar, Principle and Practical, all geared towards nourishing you on your personal and spiritual growth journey.

Pillar: One Prize

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”-1 Corinthians 9: 24

Principle: One Family

I never heard their names before. Now they’re hard to forget. Hifumi Abe and Uta Abe made history mere days ago as they became the first Japanese siblings to win Olympic gold in two individual events on the same day!

The sport was judo. The country was Japan, the Olympic hosts for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. A few days into these Games and the domestic mood has still been ambivalent, given the continuous rise in COVID-19 cases in Japan.

Yet, somehow, this brother and sister put everything behind them, even for a short while, to focus on pursuing their goals. They alone will know what the primary motivator was for pushing themselves. Was it their love for judo? Did they want to make their country proud? Is it that their close family bond trumped all else?

One newsletter from the International Olympic Committee quoted Hifumi Abe as saying back in 2018 after winning at the judo World Championships: “My target, more than winning consecutive titles, was for us to win as brother and sister. “ In like manner, Uta Abe said this: “I couldn’t have made it this far without my older brother.”  Beautiful.

As cited by the apostle Paul above, in a race only one gets the prize. Everyone wants the prize, but only one gets it. What race are you in today? How are you running? Are you living each day with commitment or complacency? The results do not lie. If you have been lagging behind spiritually, professionally, relationally or personally, it is not too late to get back in the race.

Practical: One Goal

No matter how you started the marathon of life, finish strong and finish together.   

If you were inspired by this blog, please consider sharing it with one other person today. To learn more about these and other related themes that promote the cultivation of an integrated inner self, read UNBEATABLE! which is now available on Amazon in print and as an e-book.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Caroline

    Truly inspiring and a timely reminder that “wishes” without focus and effort and work remain only “wishes”

  2. J.Tyrone Marcus

    So true, Caroline. Thank you.

Leave a Reply

Subscribe To My Blog

Get updates and learn more about Personal Excellence & Leadership

More To Explore

I'm different but still valuable
Athlos

I’m different, but still valuable

Welcome to “Athlos” a weekly blog which examines pillars of personal excellence and regularly brings together the worlds of Christian spirituality and sport. Differences “Recognizing

Unashamed to ask for help
Athlos

Unashamed to ask for help

When someone exposes their true inner condition and allows the world to see the extent of their internal struggles, it is hard not