An Often-Overlooked Factor Behind Every Olympic Gold Medal

Every Olympic gold medalist has this. Every mature Christian depends on it. Are you overlooking it in your own pursuit of following Christ’s example?

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games brought together the world’s most elite athletes, who competed to showcase mastery in their sport and achieve the ultimate prize: a gold medal.

By the time athletes reach the Olympic level, most have surpassed the well-known 10,000-hour rule. This is the idea (based on research by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and popularized in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers) that mastery is seldom achieved without 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. 

In other words, Olympic athletes don’t achieve mastery by accident. Their success is the result of years of intentional training, sacrifice and discipline.

But is effort alone the full story behind their success?

Or is there an often-overlooked factor influencing their success?

What is mastery?

Before we address the often-overlooked factor behind Olympian success, we need to define mastery.

Mastery is not merely the display of great skill and technique; it is the product of discipline, consistency and perseverance over time. How does one achieve mastery?

Well, that depends on the goal.

An Olympian’s pursuit is mastery of a particular sport. 

For Christians, our pursuit is mastery of a way of life—learning to follow Jesus Christ’s example more fully each day. 

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). We are to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ, striving to reflect Him more and more each day.

Paul used the metaphor of a race to describe the Christian life: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it . . . Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

But here’s the critical question: How do you run in a way that actually wins?

Which track do you run on? How fast? And with what form?

These questions bring us to the most essential factor in both Olympic and Christian pursuits of mastery.

The overlooked factor

“Put me in, coach!” is a familiar phrase athletes use to indicate they’re ready to execute what they’ve trained for.

But how do athletes reach that level of readiness?

It’s easy to credit Olympic readiness to strict diets, disciplined schedules and intense physical training. But the most critical and commonly overlooked influence of success is the coach.

In saying this, it’s definitely appropriate to recognize the long hours and enduring sacrifice of each athlete. They’re the ones doing the hard work!

But how many Olympians have reached the pinnacle of their sport completely on their own—without coaching to shape their mental approach and direction on what to do and when to do it? From whom do they get their guidance in technique and training?

It’s safe to say that all Olympians have benefited from coaching and that it played a key role in their path to the Olympic Games.

Why coaches are essential

The Leadership Coaching Lab notes that coaching leads to “increased confidence” and clarity of purpose within an athlete, which “often co-occurs with greater effectiveness in skills or behaviors.”

But what happens if an athlete tries to achieve mastery on his or her own? Without a good coach, athletes may develop bad habits, plateau in their progress or even injure themselves.

Coaches are essential because they provide what athletes cannot give themselves.

Good coaches help identify weaknesses that athletes may not recognize. They adjust training to maximize performance and to prepare athletes mentally and physically. They know when to push harder and when rest is needed. While athletes focus on execution in the moment, coaches plan for long-term success.

Even the most disciplined athletes have days when motivation fades. In those moments, it is the steady presence of a coach that holds them accountable to the standards of mastery.

Just look at the head football coach of Indiana University, Curt Cignetti. He recently led his team, full of low-ranked players, to both an undefeated regular season and the university’s first national championship.

In short, behind every gold medal or championship stands a coach, or a multitude of coaches, who helped guide the athlete along the way.

How to be effective in becoming like Christ

Similarly, for us as Christians to be most effective in our pursuit to become more Christlike, we must fully depend on the direction and guidance of our Coach through prayer and Bible study.

Jesus taught us to pray each day, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

Praying for our “daily bread” keeps us focused on God as the true source of every good thing we depend upon. Just as the Israelites depended on God’s manna each day in the wilderness, we must recognize our complete daily dependence on God for everything we need.

For more on the meaning of Matthew 6:11, read “The Meaning of Matthew 6:11: ‘Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.’”

Through prayer, we open ourselves to His coaching. In prayer, we ask Him to reveal our weaknesses, show us where we need to grow and give us the strength to face the challenges ahead.

To learn more about what effective prayer looks like, read “The Key to Effective Prayer.”

And through Bible study, we learn God’s playbook for life. We learn His standards, His techniques and His long-term plan for our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Proverbs 3:5-6 stresses our need for total dependence on God’s coaching, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

We depend on God the Father and His direction in our pursuit of following Jesus Christ’s example.

The need to operate in total dependence on God

One of the greatest dangers we face is ignoring our Coach.

Jesus Christ was perfect—never once giving in to sin. Yet He said He didn’t do this on His own—He operated in complete dependence on God the Father. He never ignored His Coach.

Jesus stated, “I can of Myself do nothing” (John 5:30, see also verse 19).

He maintained consistent communication with God the Father and proclaimed, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me,” indicating that even His words came from the Father who sent Him (John 7:16).

And when faced with death, Jesus prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

This verse pictures complete dependence.

If Jesus operated in total dependence on the Father, how much more do we need that same dependence?

And what happens when we ignore our complete dependency on God?

We fall into a trap.

The trap of self-reliance.

For more insight on this trap, read “The Danger of a Self-Directed Life.” 

Biblical warnings against self-reliance

Scripture repeatedly warns against the danger of spiritual self-sufficiency, and the consequences are severe.

In Revelation, Jesus addresses the church at Laodicea with some harsh words regarding self-sufficiency. They believed they had achieved spiritual mastery on their own: “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). 

They thought they were spiritual Olympians, but Jesus saw them as completely destitute. Their self-reliance had blinded them to their desperate need for God’s coaching.

Christians who pursue spiritual growth without daily dependence on God will find themselves spinning their wheels, making little real progress. Though they may appear busy with religious activity, unless they fully rely on God, they will not become more Christlike.

Likewise, the congregation at Ephesus had correct doctrine, worked hard, persevered through trials—they had all the outward markers of success. But Jesus said, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4). They were going through the motions of training without maintaining their relationship with their Coach. 

The pattern is consistent throughout Scripture: self-reliance leads to stagnation and destruction, not victory. 

No gold medals await the self-reliant Olympian, and no crown awaits the self-reliant Christian.

Seek God’s coaching daily

Just as no Olympic athlete reaches the podium without a coach, no Christian can walk in Christ’s steps and inherit the Kingdom of God without total dependence on God.

When we commit ourselves to daily communication with our Coach through prayer, Bible study and the other disciplines of the Christian life, we are on track to receive our crown!

Lauren Johnson attends the St. Petersburg, Florida, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.