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Silver medalist Matt Hemingway ready to walk through new doors


ATHENS (BP)–Prior to the Olympics, high jumper Matt Hemingway compared his performance to an artist painting on a grand canvas.

After winning the silver medal in the high jump, Hemingway feels like he painted a masterpiece.

“Things came together really well,” Hemingway told Baptist Press. “All the work’s really paid off. Anytime you go out and have a season-best on the biggest meet of the year, you can’t complain. I’m really, really happy about that.”

Hemingway cleared 7 feet, 7.25 inches. The gold medal winner, Sweden’s Stefan Holm, jumped 7-9.

“I’m ecstatic about winning the silver,” Hemingway said. “You don’t lose gold medals. People win them. I won a silver, and Stefan Holm won a gold. He did what he had to do. He’s the world’s number one jumper for a reason.”

Hemingway expected to be more nervous during the competition than he was and said he “felt a huge peace about everything while I was on the field.”

He attributes that to the immense prayer support he received from friends all over the world.

“There was just an army of people out there,” he said.

Now that his Olympic experience is over, Hemingway hopes his silver medal performance will open doors for him to speak. By doing so, he wants to be a model of Christianity for others to see.

“I’m hoping in a very appropriate way that people will see it’s consistent with who I am,” he said.
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    About the Author

  • Tim Ellsworth

    Tim Ellsworth is associate vice president for university communications at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists’ concerns nationally and globally.

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