Tim Ellsworth

Just a couple of weeks left until I depart for Beijing for the Summer Olympics. I’ll be covering the Games for Baptist Press, and may also be doing some blogging for the Jackson Sun. Over the past few days I’ve been doing some interviews with various Olympians, and I still have several more to do before I leave and while I’m in China.

I hope to be able to post updates and photos on this site. If you’ve been to China and have any advice to pass along, I’d love to hear it.  And I’d certainly appreciate your prayers for me and for my family while I’m away from home.

My hotel room is confirmed. My flight is booked. Beijing, here I come.

From AP:

The U.S. Olympic Committee is looking into reports that Bibles will be prohibited inside the Olympic village in Beijing next year.

A story posted on the Catholic News Agency Web site cited a list of prohibited items that was said to include Bibles.

That story said the Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that organizers cited “security reasons” for prohibiting athletes from carrying any kind of religious symbol at Olympic facilities. Those reports and others were producing active blog discussions on several Web sites.

But USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation had reviewed all the information the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee had provided about what is permissible in the Olympic village and found nothing to indicate the Bible or any other religious material would be prohibited.

I’m going to be following this story and may be doing a report for Baptist Press in the near future. I’ll be attending the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as a reporter for BP.

UPDATE: Evidently there are some conflicting reports circulating. The Catholic News Agency originally reported on Nov. 2 that Bibles would be banned in Olympic village. Now, in an updated report published today, CNA is saying that visitors to the Olympics are being told to take no more than one Bible. That’s a big difference.

Here’s the official policy from the Beijing Olympics site, where it clearly says that “Each traveller is recommended to take no more than one Bible into China.”

UPDATE #2: Here’s my story for BP.

The newly-unveiled logo for the 2012 Olympic Games in London has unleashed a flurry of international protests — and for good reason. Just look at the monstrosity.

Total medal count for the Winter Olympics:

Germany: 29
USA: 25
Canada: 24

Was there one moment that stood out as a favorite from this year’s Olympics?

Speed skater Joey Cheek has donated all of the winnings from his two medals, $40,000 total, to Right To Play, an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sports to help disadvantaged children.

Cheek won the gold in the 500 meters, which comes with a $25,000 bonus. His silver medal in the 1,000 meters earned Cheek another $15,000.

“I think we’ve had eight or nine companies or individuals match my original $25,000, and it looks like we’re over a quarter of a million dollars donated — and more keeps coming in,” Cheek said in an AP story. “I’m much more proud of that than winning a gold medal.”

My column this week is about Rebecca Dussault, a cross-country skier on the U.S. Olympic team. Dussault is a Roman Catholic, so I have some obvious theological differences with her. But the way she goes about her work is still something to be admired.

Bryant Gumbel made some disgusting remarks about the Winter Olympics recently on his HBO program:

“So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention. Try not to point out that something’s not really a sport if a pseudo-athlete waits in what’s called a kiss-and-cry area, while some panel of subjective judges decides who won … So if only to hasten the arrival of the day they’re done, when we can move on to March Madness — for God’s sake, let the games begin.”

So Gumbel isn’t watching the Winter Olympics. Not watching — kinda like what most people are doing to his show.

Hat tip: Drudge

I had the privilege to interview U.S. speed skater Derek Parra yesterday. Parra is going through a difficult chapter of life, including a divorce from his wife, but says his faith in Christ has sustained him.

Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla wrote about Olympic snowboarder Kelly Clark, and her faith in Christ.

“I love Jesus,” Clark said. “It’s more joyful knowing him than all that snowboarding stuff. And so being able to snowboard for him is amazing.”

On her last run in the halfpipe, in which she finished fourth, Clark rode to the song “O Praise Him” by David Crowder.

U.S. skier Bode Miller was disqualified from the Alpine combined event today for straddling a gate in his first slalom run. Miller held a commanding lead in the event at the time of his disqualification.

Did you see the nasty spill China’s Zhang Dan took during the pairs’ figure skating finals? If not, you can watch the video here.

I’m glad she’s OK, and it took a lot of guts to get back on the ice and finish the program — but there’s no way she and her partner should have won a silver medal after messing up like that. Just more evidence that figure skating is hopelessly screwed up.

I love the Olympics. I was hoping I’d actually be in Turin right now covering the Olympics for Baptist Press, but unfortunately the USOC didn’t come through with credentials for me. So now I’ll set my sights on the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

But I’m still enjoying the Winter Games nonetheless. I just wish NBC could air more than five consecutive minutes of competition before breaking for commercials.

An injury has forced Michelle Kwan to withdraw from the Winter Olympics. The gold medal she has chased for so long will forever be a “what if.”

My first Olympics story for Baptist Press was about Steve Sellers, a bivocational pastor in Canada who is serving as a chaplain in Turin and also as a coach for the Costa Rica cross-country ski team.

Yes, the Costa Rica cross-country ski team.

I have a few more stories I’m hoping to get, but no guarantees yet.