NaIRONMAN Quintana

Nairo Quintana is all that and a bag of chips.

True story man, winning the Giro D' Italia with a lead of almost 3 minutes, Nairo became the second Colombian ever to win a Grand Tour, following Lucho Herrera with his win of the Vuelta a España back in 1987.

Nairo Quintana in Boyaca

Born and raised in Colombia's mountainous department of Boyaca, Nairo's physical combination of having a small body, a robust heart, and a couple really muscular legs give him just the right qualities of being the most tenacious escarabajo* around.

And it's actually super cool to have a new and young national hero rise up from the trenches of poverty and capture the heart of this whole country.

Here in Colombia we like to think of his victory as simply being the precursor for all our high hopes of success in the World Cup.

Winners unify us, they inspire us, and they give us a reason to celebrate, which, if you know much about Latin culture - is something we're always trying to find a good reason for (or any reason for, honestly).

...But in researching Nairo's races in the Giro D' Italia, I've really honed in on his saucy performance in stage 16 where, starting the day in fifth place, he cleverly took advantage of a confusing situation in really wet and nasty conditions, and managed to chase down the lone breakaway rider in a perilous descent when many thought they were supposed to slow down.

Nairo Quintana taking the lead

Then, 2 km into the final 20 km ascent, Quintana attacked and caught up to the leader, finally surpassing him and finishing the day in the lead with the pink jersey.

Colombia celebrated, and four days later Quintana became a national icon as he took the stage as Giro D' Italia's overall first place winner.

...I read a few articles about Nairo, but there's one specifically that really annoys me, and it comes from the most important cycling news website in the world: cyclingnews.com, and in it, the author describes Quintana as "defiant."

I have a problem with that, because words are important to me, and Quintana was not defiant. Defiance is associated with open rebellion or bold disobedience, and there was nothing in Quintana's performance throughout the tour that denoted such things. He was audacious, yes. He was unrelenting, unabated, uncompromising, persistent, and tenacious - absolutely... but he was not defiant.

Lance Armstrong

Defiance is winning 7 consecutive Tour De France titles with the help of any kind of undetectable doping method possible, all the while swearing to the whole world that you've never taken any sort of Performance Enhancing Drug whatsoever. That's what defiance is - it's being a cheat, it's being a fake, it's being a fraud, it's being a sociopath; but being defiant is not being clever or bold enough to take a calculated risk that is completely legitimate even while everyone else is slowing down or falling asleep at the wheel.

...As a missionary I either live or die depending on the words I use to communicate the gospel; and not only that - I have to use them in such a way that captivates people's attention and stirs them to action.

I have to use words appropriately, without manipulation or hypocrisy, or otherwise I'm cheating. At the same time, I should definitely use words correctly, sincerely, persuasively, and attractively so as to save both myself and my hearers (1 Tim 4:16).        

In 2 Timothy 2:5, in Paul's final appeal to his most beloved disciple to carry on in the work of the Lord, he reminds Tim that "...anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules."

Nairo Quintana winning the victor's trophy

The example of one who doesn't (such as Lance Armstrong), serves as a crude reminder of how easy it is to become a fraud, even for someone like me; who has such an obviously Christian profession... However, I believe that the example of Nairo Quintana who legitimately (albeit provocatively), won the Giro D' Italia; serves as an even greater example for us all, of one who "pushed his body and made it his slave," in his drive to be a champ; just like I want to do as well, so that "after I have preached to others; I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27).  

Most defiant and arrogant picture in the history of Twitter

Paul says that at the end of the day, "everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever" (1 Corinthians 9:25), and so I hope that we who know about this "crown" would be all the more *verracos in legitimately fighting for it.

*(an escarabajo is a nickname given to Colombian cyclists who perform extremely well on mountain stages of bike races).

*(a verraco is a word we use here in Colombia to describe an extraordinarily valiant person who is always up for fighting through the toughest jobs).

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Works and Pictures Cited:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-defiant-in-the-face-of-giro-ditalia-stelvio-fall-out
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/jun/06/nairo-quintana-giro-ditalia-richard-williams
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/01/nairo-quintana-giro-ditalia-victory-stage-20
http://www.radiosantafe.com/2013/07/06/nairo-quintana
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/cycling/cyclist-lance-armstrong-posts-twitter-1430955