Redemption by Bryan Clay

While I have not been an avid watcher of the Olympic Games, sometimes an athlete will catch my attention.  Now after reading about the journey of gold medalist Bryan Clay, I am looking forward to watching him compete in August 2012 in the decathlon with hopes of winning a third medal.  Bryan hopes to use his success to share about the faithfulness of God is his life and to give hope to others whose start in life does not seem to pave the way for success.  This book is the story of two journeys in his life: the journey of an athlete to the Olympics, and his journey of faith.

I knew nothing about the decathlon until picking up this book, but now have a greater appreciation for the event and what the athletes have to go through to succeed.  The sport is physically demanding, but also requires a lot of mental focus.  I like that Bryan openly shares his successes and failures both on a physical and emotional level.  He learned from past mistakes and learned to turn to God for his strength when he felt like giving up.  Sometimes the details were a little more than I needed, but I think a track athlete or fan will appreciate them.

Another thing I liked about this book was the way Bryan used his sport and his faith to fuel each other.  He was able to set his priorities and apply lessons from his physical training to his spiritual training.  His comparatively small size and troubled youth made him an unlikely champion, but he overcame, and he gives glory to the One who made it possible.

This is a great book to read before the Olympics!  Enjoy!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.