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August 20, 2008
Quiver full o' Jesus.
Today's NY Times has a story about Kisik Lee, coach of the U.S. Olympic archery team and super-devout Christian. How devout? Well...
Two weeks before leaving to compete in the Olympics, the archer Brady Ellison waded into a pool not far from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and was baptized in the Christian faith.In the water with him was Kisik Lee, the head coach of the United States archery team and a Christian who has become a spiritual guide for Ellison, 19, and the larger group of athletes who train and live full time at the Olympic Training Center. He has also served as a sponsor in the baptism of three other resident archers.
“I give him six tasks a day, including reading the Bible and education,” Lee said. “And he’s doing it.”
Can you imagine the shitstorm of protest if Mr. Lee happened to be a similarly devout Muslim? Teaching archery?
Of course, were he a Muslim, he'd probably never have passed the job interview when the U.S. Olympic Committee went shopping for an archery coach:
Lee, 51, came to the United States two years ago as part of an effort to revamp the archery program after Americans failed to take home any medals in the 2004 Athens Games. His arrival was greeted with excitement because Lee served in the 1980s and ’90s as the national coach of his native South Korea, helping the team win eight gold medals. In 1997, he moved to Australia and was that team’s coach for the Sydney Games when Simon Fairweather won a gold medal.
Setting aside the issue of whether it's unseemly to recruit Olympic coaches from other countries, Mr. Lee's behavior is creepily reminiscent of the stories coming out of the U.S. Air Force Academy in the past few years. And just like at the Academy, the guy selling the religion also wields real power:
As the national coach, Lee helps distribute grants for high-level archers and select resident athletes, as well as those named to the junior development team. For athletes who live at the center, Lee evaluates their progress and helps decide whether they can continue in the program.
Is it really much of a mystery that his prayer group is so well-attended?
Unfortunately for anyone expecting supernatural results from Mr. Lee's hiring, the gods apparently want him to wander in the wilderness for a while:
None of the American archers won a medal in Beijing. Khatuna Lorig had the strongest finish, placing fifth in women’s individual.
But my favorite quote of the story (which the writer saved for the end, clearly loving it as well) has to do with the mental calm that Mr. Lee claims his athletes can find in the religion he sells so hard:
To be an effective archer, Lee said, athletes must learn to clear their heads and focus. “If you are Christian,” he said, “then people can have that kind of empty mind.”
