7. Brody Malone (gymnastics)

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A two-time Olympian, Malone narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at Tokyo, finishing fourth on the horizontal bar. He won gold on the horizontal bar at the 2022 World Championships. 

After qualifying for the Olympics this year, he wrote on Instagram: “‘Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your faithful love, because of your truth.’ Psalms 115:1”

He added, “After taking a few days to reflect on this past weekend, my mind keeps going back to this verse. As soon as my injury happened, I was flooded with a lot of different emotions. Pain, regret, confusion. While lying on the stretcher, I remember saying to God, ‘I don’t know why you did this, but I guess it’s part of Your plan.’ I immediately felt at peace about it and knew that He was going to somehow use my injury to display His glory. That peace kept me from being upset it happened, and allowed me to focus on what good would come from it. I am incredibly grateful to be representing the team.” 

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Ezra Shaw/Staff