Take a look at the following article.... it's so inspiring when Christians use their fame as a platform for reaching the unsaved. I'll warn you now.... the articles a bit long.... but it's a good one! I love how Cindy followed God where He led her.... and ended up doing amazing things! It makes me happy to see that she is still so grounded and aware that God is in control, and is willing to go with whatever He has planned for her next. People like Cindy Klassen make me so proud to be Canadian! ^-^
Cindy Klassen speeding for His sake
By Shirley Byers
SHE LOVES classic literature, good music, great art, and visiting new places. She loves God and her family. And she loves to compete on the ice. Following in the skate grooves of Catriona LeMay Doan -- once known as the fastest woman on ice -- Cindy Klassen sped her way to a bronze medal in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and came within a hair of two more. Surprisingly, however, the Winnipeg native didn't even consider speed skating until she was 18 years old. She still dreamed of making it to the Olympics, but as a hockey player.
Klassen has held a hockey stick since the age of five. In 1996, the 17-year-old power-house was playing defense for Canada's National Junior Women's Hockey team. Then, in 1998, she was invited to try out for Canada's Olympic team.
"I did my best, and was pleased with my performance," comments Klassen. "I was fairly certain I had made the team."
She was at home with her parents when the devastating news came. Klassen hadn't made the team. "I felt hurt and angry, sad and confused all at the same time." She recalls.
Still reeling from her disappointment, Klassen received a call from the National Women's Hockey Team, encouraging her to move to Calgary. Although she wouldn't be on the team, Klassen could still train with them.
She complied, joining her former teammates in Alberta. However, she admits: "I couldn't handle being around all the players who had made the team while I had been cut."
So, soon after she'd arrived in Calgary, Klassen gathered her things and went home with the intent of playing on a recreational hockey team. Following her transition home, Klassen's parents -- who urged her to speed skate as a child -- broached the subject again.
Klassen had never been thrilled about what she termed "those skin-tight outfits and strange, long-bladed skates," but because her mother could get a discount on the equipment, she agreed to give it a try.
"It was so hard to even stand on the skates. I had a lot of trouble learning the technique," explains Klassen. "All of my training for 13 years had been geared to hockey and this was so different.
"There were still those weird outfits . . . For the better part of my first year in speed skating, I went against the grain, and wore very baggy clothes," Klassen laughs.
"But at the same time, I was finding that I loved doing an individual sport -- because what you put into it, you get out of it."
And Klassen put her whole self into it. She trained six days a week, her daily schedule consisting of two and a half hours on the ice in the morning, lunch, a nap and two hours of either cycling or weights in the afternoon. Her strenuous work paid off, as Klassen competed successfully in the World Championships and World Cups.
Then her lifelong dream was realized when she made it to the Winter Olympics.
"The World Championships can be pretty amazing but the Olympics takes this to a new level," says Klassen.
"For a time in Salt Lake, the pressure was getting to me," she admits. "I wasn't sleeping, I couldn't eat. I was so nervous."
She registered to compete in four events -- the 1,000, 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters. When the time came for the 3,000-metre race, her anxiety skyrocketed.
"But that very day," she recalls, "I received an e-mail from the students at my old high school (Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute). [It] was packed with notes of encouragement, telling me they were cheering [and] praying for me." "And that's when it hit me," Klassen continues. "This is just another race. [God] knows the outcome. All I can do is use what He's given me. All I can do is do the best I can. So, that's what I did."
Suddenly it was all over, and Klassen found herself standing on the podium. Her "best" had been rewarded with an Olympic bronze medal.
Since then, the geography major has only continued to improve, and in 2003 she became the first Canadian in 27 years to win the overall title at the World Speed Skating Championships.
Klassen now recognizes that, despite being rejected by the Olympic hockey team, "God was leading me. This was his plan all along. I learned by getting cut."
As a believer in Jesus Christ, she adds, "even when you want things . . . if it's not in God's will, it's not going to happen. I've learned to go along with that.
"Right now in speed skating I'm having the time of my life, but I have to be ready to move on if He wants me to do something else."
Klassen desires to be as open about her faith as former teammate and gold medalist, Catriona LeMay Doan, who told City Light News, "It's my relationship with Jesus that gives me true significance."
Inspired by Doan's boldness, Klassen says, "I want to use the publicity I've gotten through my success for His glory. I go back to my old high school and talk to the students. I . . . let people know I'm a Christian."
She adds, "I've won a medal, but that's nothing compared to the crown I'll get in Heaven. I see a lot of people in sports who think when they reach a certain level they've got it made, but really, you can only find happiness in the Lord."
-- courtesy of Living Light News
