I can’t leave the Olympics without talking about teamwork. The story of the Austrian cyclist was thrilling, but she is an anomaly. Many events require not only great individual athletes but also athletes that can play together. The US sends some of its best basketball players, for example, but they don’t always do well as a team, especially in the beginning. This year the US team lost several of its warm-up matches before the Olympics and their first game in the Olympics to France before getting its act together and winning the gold medal.

In some events, you don’t get a second chance. The 4 x 100 relay race, for example. The American sprinters are always among the world’s fastest – not so much the Chinese. But in the first qualifying heat, the Chinese team won, and the US team came in 6th, out of the running for the final. Why? Because the Chinese team knows how to pass the baton, and the Americans don’t. It’s as simple as that. You don’t have to know much about relay racing to know that this is a really bad exchange.

You can see the entire coverage of the race here:

The Americans throw a team of fast guys together and hope for the best. The Chinese pick their guys in advance, and then they train – not just sprinting – but the baton exchange. In the 4 x 100 there is no room for error.

The Message captures beautifully this idea of teamwork:

…moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. (Ephesians 4.13, MSG)