By Mallory Mattingly
Former Olympic figure Skater Scott Hamilton doesn’t care about his material successes and suggests you shouldn’t either.
“Chasing a material item that will one day end up in a junk yard is not worth it,” the Olympic gold medalist said in an Instagram post. “We may all want to reconsider where we put our time and treasure.”
“Chasing things that won’t last will always leave you wanting more. Real wealth is found in how you spend your time, what you value and the legacy you’re building. Choose purpose over possessions,” he added in the caption.
Related: Scott Hamilton Highlights Vital Bond Ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics
This advice is a pertinent reminder for followers of Christ. Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 9 that the trophies don’t matter. Winning really doesn’t even matter. What really matters is chasing after the “eternal prize.”
“I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings,” Paul writes in verse 23-25 of the chapter. “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”
Hamilton secured his Olympic gold in figure skating during the 1984 winter games. He’s returning this year as a host for the Milano, Italy, games, which begin Feb. 6.
“This just in, I’m going to be covering the Olympics with NBC in Milano this next February and I could not be any more excited,” Hamilton said in an October Instagram announcement. “It’s my tenth one — ties Dick Button as the most for any figure skating commentator. I’m honored. I’m thrilled. It’s going to be a competition like no other.”
As the athletes put in the work to compete at the highest level in the world, Hamilton reminded his followers that hard work
“matters when the reward is earned, not given.”
“We live in a very different society than the one I grew up in, where you fall, you fail, you get up,” he said. “We live now in a place where we don’t want anybody to get hurt, so either we’re not going to keep score or we’re going to give everybody the same trophy.
“I don’t have a problem with participation trophies as much as I really feel like, if someone is victorious, they deserve some special recognition, and that inspires people to go after something with a little more intention and a little bit more passion and intensity,” he continued.
While all eyes will be on the world’s No. 1 athletes in just a few months, we should remember that the best reward we could seek is Christ’s eternal prize.
Read Next: How Scott Hamilton Overcame This Crushing Fear
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