Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal quotes John 14:6 after winning bronze medal in Paris
While many Christians expressed outrage at what they perceived to be the mockery of Christian symbolism celebrated during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, Christian athletes like 16-year-old Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal are using their visibility to celebrate their faith.
After winning the bronze medal in the women's street skateboarding final at the Paris Olympics Sunday, Leal used sign language to quote John 14:6 to celebrate, according to a video shared on X by Dom Lucre.
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,'" the Scripture says.
While French Olympians are barred from displaying religious symbols while representing France due to the country's secularism principle, the International Olympic Committee insists that athletes in Paris can represent themselves, their faith and their country.
"For the Olympic Village, the IOC rules apply," an IOC spokesperson told Reuters. "There are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire."
Leal's star began to rise globally after skateboarding icon Tony Hawk shared a video of her on X when she was 7 years old doing "a fairytale heelflip" while dressed as a blue fairy princess.
"I don't know anything about this but it's awesome," Hawk wrote.
Leal became Brazil's youngest Olympian in 2021 when, at 13, she won the silver medal in the skateboarding street competition.
The Catholic skateboarder earned the second-highest score of the final of the competition on Sunday — a 92.88 — which was enough to lift her from fifth place in the rankings to third and put her on the podium.
"When I was very young, I dreamed of becoming a skateboard athlete," Leal told reporters. "And here I am, with a second Olympic medal from the games. Once again, thank God I won a medal. I'm very happy to be here."
Following the backlash from Christians globally about what many believed was a parody of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting depicting drag queens, a transgender model and a singer made up as the Greek god of wine, the organizing committee of Paris 2024 apologized and said there was no intention to disrespect Christianity.
"There was never an intention to show disrespect to a religious group," a Paris 2024 spokesperson told reporters during a press conference, according to The Wall Street Journal. "If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really sorry."
Paris 2024 CEO Tony Estanguet defended the segment as a proud display of Frenchness.
"The idea was to really trigger a reflection," he said in a statement. "Naturally, we had to take into account the international community. Having said that, it is a French ceremony for the French games, so we trusted our artistic director. … We have freedom of expression in France, and we wanted to protect it."
In an interview with French outlet BFMTV, Olympic and Paralympics artistic director Thomas Jolly rejected the claim that "The Last Supper" was referenced during the opening ceremony, Variety notes. Jolly said the aim was to "have a grand pagan festival connected to the gods of Olympus."
Christians like Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson, R-La., said the display was disrespectful to Christians globally.
"Last night's mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today," Johnson wrote on X Saturday. "But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail. 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.' (John 1:5)."
