Many of us watched the thrilling highs and lows of the Winter Olympics in Russia in February. Have you ever stopped to think about the dedication and perseverance it takes to make it to the Olympics? Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at a Women’s Enrichment Weekend, which had the theme of perseverance, about the story of a former Olympian who goes to our Church. His name is Terry Monaghan.

Mr. Monaghan attends the Portland congregation. But his roots are in a land across the Atlantic Ocean. He was born in Wales and is known as Wales’ most successful long-track speed skater. So successful, in fact, that he broke world records and made it to the 1962 Olympics. But his story began as simply as most of ours.

When he was just a little kid, he loved his roller skates (back then he had the kind that you had to screw onto your shoes). Later he moved to inline roller skates. All of that was just about a kid having fun. But in 1941, he saw the movie Sun Valley Serenade, fell in love with Sonja Henie at 8 years old and decided that he wanted to go to Norway and ice skate. His interest developed from there.

His dad died when he was a young teenager, so when his mom found out he loved skating, she bought him a season pass to the ice rink. She wanted to keep him off the streets and away from hanging out with the wrong crowd.

He would get warmed up with figure skating and then would work on speed skating. Though he had no coach, he was racing all over different towns in England and Scotland with the Bournemouth Speed Skating Team. You were supposed to be 16 to be on the team, but he was skating at ages 14 and 15 since he was big for his age.

When he was about 16, he jumped over a fallen skater in a race and was told he was skating dangerously and was expelled from the skating club for two weeks. That put him out of the running for the championship half-mile race in which he was the favorite. When some others heard what had happened, they got together and sent him up to Wembley to the half-mile championships of Great Britain instead of the local championships and he made the finals. He learned that despite difficulties, things can work out for the best (Romans 8:28).

After he got out of the Royal Air Force at age 20 he would go to Norway every winter to train as soon as the lake ice was thick enough for skating.

At that time God was starting to work with him, albeit in a subtle way. He used to listen to the top 20 music program from Radio Luxembourg at 11 p.m. He often fell asleep during the music program so the radio stayed on through the next radio program, which happened to be The World Tomorrow. Today he thinks he must have absorbed some of Herbert Armstrong’s teachings because they came back to him later when he came into contact with the Church.

Looking back, he sees many spiritual lessons developing during his training and competing years. He would train on his own and would improve by watching the other skaters who were better than him, just as we learn from spiritual mentors in our families and congregations (Titus 2:3-5).  

Mr. Monaghan competed in long-track speed skating internationally from 1956-1962 (ages 23-29).

He told me many stories. But my favorite, which was also the biggest race for him and one where he could remember every detail, was a race for the European Championships in Oslo, Norway, in 1958. He and his competitor were evenly matched. He knew his competitor (Dutch skater Gene Vandenburg) wouldn’t quit. Every time they came past the finish line in a race with 25 laps, they were at exactly the same pace despite each trying to break away. With three laps to go, the guy who is supposed to turn the board over showing how many laps were left forgot to turn it over for two whole laps, but they were still neck in neck. After they had done 25 laps, they knew they had actually finished the race but looked at each other and both kept going because the crowd was still shouting and the final gun hadn’t gone off. The next time around the track they both waved at the guy to change the lap board, and he turned it over to two more laps to go…so they went three extra laps! Talk about perseverance! Afterwards, Gene put his arms around Terry and collapsed on him and said, “Let’s go find that guy and kill him.” They had given everything they had for 10,000 meters and then still had to give more. In the end they had absolutely drained themselves. Again, he learned a deep lesson that translates spiritually—we’ve got more in us than we think we have. God knows what we can do far better than we do (James 1:2-4). There was also clearly a bond between speed skaters, even competitors, because of shared experience. The same thing can be said in the Church. Wherever you go in the world, if you’re with Church members, there is a deep camaraderie that overcomes many political and linguistic barriers (1 Corinthians 12:12).

Throughout his training and competing, he faced many challenges that he simply had to push through. The first time he fell over in a race it was at the very beginning of the match, and he ended up having to chase his competitors for the rest of the race. He was gradually catching up but realized he would never be able to catch up before the end of the race. But then they all fell over! In the end, he won the race. He learned the race is never over until you cross the finish line (1 Corinthians 9:24).

Mr. Monaghan had to maintain mental focus every day. He would skate at speeds around 30 mph in below-freezing temperatures, so the chill factor was difficult to handle. Ultimately, he knew it was mind over matter, but he also had to know himself and his limits. For years he had three fingers that were white and stiff and almost frostbitten from the hand he used to shield his mouth while skating in order to protect his lungs from the cold and ice. He even fell through the ice three times while training on thin lake ice. Yet he kept going because he had a goal to pursue, just as we are able to soldier on when we keep our eyes on the Kingdom (Hebrews 12:1).

He competed for Great Britain in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. He was age 26. Great Britain had only two competitors that year in four events, Mr. Monaghan and another man, for four different lengths of speed skating.

Before the Olympics, he had focused on developing his adductor muscles in his legs. He was stronger (because of tons of weight training) than a lot of the other skaters, but they had a faster style and would pass him on the corners. He learned he needed to allow the weight of his body to perform the necessary motion. He points out that there’s a spiritual lesson in this too—we can go on our own strength but it’s not enough. It takes God’s Spirit and allowing God to work in us to be able to succeed (Ephesians 3:16).

He remembers the opening ceremonies of the Olympics vividly. While he was standing there they released hundreds of doves, and while they circled over the heads of the athletes and spectators assembled, he just thanked God for letting him be there and achieve his lifelong ambition. He knew he wasn’t going to win but was thankful to be there for the experience. Looking back, he believes God blessed him abundantly as a result of his prayer of gratitude.

His 10,000 meter time at the Olympics beat the world record at the time (but four other men skated faster so he did not get to be record holder in the end). At the closing ceremony, he thanked God again for helping him excel and do better than he expected.

He decided to stay in the U.S. for the summer. As a result, he was in Squaw Valley during the first Feast there in 1961 working at the ice arena and as a ski instructor. He thought the name Radio Church of God rang a bell and told me he had “heard it in his dreams” from falling asleep during Mr. Armstrong’s radio programs. He started talking with some Church members, and they seemed nice so next he talked with a minister and started purposefully listening to The World Tomorrow.

He had a lot of plans for his life, but as he was being called that all changed to being led by whatever God convicted him to do. He points out, when God is leading you, trust Him in faith even if you don’t understand or it doesn’t work out right away (in the long run it always does).

Mr. Monaghan came into the Church in 1963 and was baptized. Ultimately, he said he had to give up speed skating because it was his idol. It had been all-consuming for him—everything he ate, studying health and nutrition, anatomy and physiology—and would have left no time for God. Everything regarding skating was about the physical. He had to change over to the spiritual instead as God opened his mind. He didn’t even pay attention to any news about skating championships for the first few years.

Everything he learned from his experience he applied spiritually. We can all identify with that—everyday experiences often turn into spiritual lessons when we meditate on them.

I was curious to find out if he still skates. And yes, he still has his roller blades—around five years ago (at age 76 mind you) he was skating on coastal roads and came down a steep Oregon coastal road.He was going so fast he had to spread his legs apart and crouch down in an attempt to slow down. It didn’t work. He came to the bottom of the hill and couldn’t stop so he went right through a stop sign, praying all the way! He said it was a lot of fun…but that was the last time he skated.

Though his is an uncommon story, many in the Church have similar stories of physical and spiritual challenges faced and accomplishments achieved with God’s help. Seek out the stories of others, you’ll find they offer much sound advice for facing the challenges in your life. Though Mr. Monaghan’s story may be an incredible and unique one, it’s really a story that all of us can relate to—one of perseverance to the end as we all journey to the Kingdom together.