Article February 3, 2014 Issue

Spiritual Olympians

Mark Sappenfield

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will open on February 7, and anyone who has ever watched an Olympic broadcast will be prepared for what is coming: Stories designed to play on the heartstrings.

Sometimes, the telling of these athletes’ stories with sweeping musical accompaniment can tilt toward marketable melodrama. But what television executives have perceived about the Olympic movement speaks to a deeper truth that resonates well beyond the world of sport and into the hearts of spiritual seekers.

The sacrifices of an Olympian, after all, are quite real.