Janet Lynn - Skating with Joy

To Skate Like Janet

      One of the most popular sports in the Olympics is figure skating, held during the Winter Games.  There have been many great Olympic skaters.  Some are remembered for the beauty and artistry of their skating, some for their technical skill, some for their athleticism and jumping ability.  But one, above all, is remembered for the sheer joy and love that she communicated to the audience through her skating.  Her name is Janet Lynn.

      If you look down the list of Olympic gold medalists, you will not find her name.  And yet, many coaches today would want their skaters to skate like Janet.  But what kind of physical or mental training produces an athlete overflowing with joy and love?

Disappointment In Olympics

      In 1972, in Sapporo, Japan, Janet faced three days of Olympic competition.  On the first day, Janet stepped out onto the cleanly swept ice and carefully traced the required figures onto the slick surface.  The judges then came out onto the ice and studied the curves that Janet had etched there.  This was, in fact, how the sport of figure skating originated.  A skater came out onto the ice and skated, for instance, a figure-8.  It was like an artist making a painting.  One observed the finished work to judge it; one didn’t look at the artist as he drew it.  And so figure skating, in its earliest days, was not about the skater; it was about the curves left on the ice by the skates.

      Figure skating no longer includes this part of the competition, but in Janet’s era, it still counted for 50% of the total score.  It was not Janet’s favorite part of skating, but after the first day, she was in third place.

      On the second day, there were more figures to trace onto the ice.  The first figure went well for Janet, but on the next, she skated terribly.  Her scores were so poor that she went from third place to fourth, but worse than that, the margin between her and first place became insurmountable.  She returned to her room in the Olympic Village in tears.  She felt so confused.  Before skating, she had prayed that God would help her to win.  Now winning was impossible.

      That night she lay in bed for a long time, praying.  The next day would be the free-skate, which had always been Janet’s favorite part of skating.  During the four-minute program, set to her choice of music, Janet would tell a story with her movements.  It wasn’t carving figures into the ice; it was a dance.  It was what she was best at.  And now that she could not win, what did it mean anyway?

Filled With God’s Love

      The next morning, after practice, she prayed, “Lord, I’m going to forget about everything, and I just ask you to give me the right feelings at the right time.”  And then she waited for the evening to come, and with it, her four minutes on the ice.

      She was just about to step onto the ice for her skate that evening when, she says, “it seemed like God’s love just came down all over me like a blanket.  I’ve never felt anything so wonderful.  It was as if He was saying, ‘I love you and just be filled with My love and go out there and skate because you love it.’”

      Janet began skating and felt that she was pouring out God’s love to the audience.  Olympic gold medalist Chris Brasher watched her and later wrote that it “was one of those rare occasions when sport is lifted into the realms of art.”  Her skating was so full of joy – and then, as she went into a spin, she suddenly fell onto the ice.  She immediately got up and smiled, still full of joy.  When she finished, the judges gave her the highest scores of any skater; she had won the free-skate part of the competition.  It was not enough for a gold or silver medal, but she had the bronze.  And, of course, the number one question she was asked ever after was, “How could you get up and smile after you fell?”  This question was because her smile was not one of embarrassment to cover up her fall; it was pure joy that even falling down could not erase.  It made her skating radiant and, forever after, legendary.  And so it is that many coaches would want their skaters to skate like Janet. But what kind of physical or mental training produces an athlete overflowing with joy and love?  None – no coach can instill that in an athlete.

The Secret of Her Joy

      Janet’s skating reveals that there is a spiritual dimension to life, both to her life and ours.  When she was just 13 years old, Janet’s church brought her and sixty other youth her age to a week-long spiritual training camp.  There, Janet learned that God loves us, but we cannot experience that love.  This is because God is pure and without sin, whereas we are full of sin.  And our sin separates us from God.  That’s why we don’t feel God’s presence or his love.  Our sin cuts us off from him and there’s nothing we can do to change that.  Yet there is hope.  God has provided one way to remove our sins and allow us to experience his love.  God gave up his own Son Jesus Christ, sent him into our world to take our sins upon himself, and allowed him to die in our place.  This is the amazing sacrifice that God made for us in order to give us the gift of his love.  And all we have to do to receive this gift is to accept God’s own Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior.  This was the message that 13 year old Janet heard and believed.  Some people would say that Janet was too young to be taught about God.  But Jesus Himself said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them…” (Matthew 19:14).  At that camp, Janet prayed and asked Jesus Christ to come into her heart.  If we understand that God’s love came into Janet’s heart that day, then we know the secret of the source of all that love and joy with which Janet skated in the Games in Sapporo.