"I jump into a sand pit for a living"

Jonathan Edwards, World record triple-jumper

2019 travels

Press conference in the Yokohama stadium

2019 has been a busy year so far. In May Stuart was in Tokyo for three days, with two meetings with local Christians who would be involved in ministry around the Olympics – one of whom he had got to know when in Toyko for the football World Cup in 2002. He also met the Olympic Committee to talk about chaplaincy and spent a morning looking at possible hotels to stay in during the Olympics. The meeting with the Olympic Committee went well. Stuart was there on behalf of the Major Sports Event Chaplaincy Committee of which he is secretary. They seemed to recognise the expertise and credibility of the committee and seemed to be keen to work with us. However, they stopped short of asking Stuart to propose chaplains to them. They said they would give us a decision on that by the end of June.

The Olympic Stadium is still a building site

The Olympic Village is a work in progress

The mixed hurdles shuttle was a big success. Devon Allen was a winner with USA

The Jamaican 4 by 200 relay team

Stuart then went to Yokohama – a separate city but just 20 minutes by train from Central Tokyo – for the two-day world relays event. The event was on Saturday and Sunday and the athlete Bible study on Friday evening. 15 athletes attended. Athletes were asked if anyone was interested in meeting on Sunday morning – the event was only Sunday evening – and there was interest. On Sunday, 13 athletes plus three management people attended for what was probably our best ever Bible study in terms of participation, discussion and numbers.

This was followed by three Diamond Leagues in Stockholm, Rome and Oslo. Athlete Bibles Studies were held at all three events. In Rome Stuart also had two meetings at the Vatican with the two people responsible for the Vatican's engagement with sport.

The Olympic Stadium Rome has the most artistic warm-up track

The mixed zone in Stockholm is part of the stadium terraces

The famous Bislett Stadium in Oslo was sold-out

Action Photos: Roger Sedres for IAAF

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