During the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing, China, the favourite, American Olympian Lolo Jones, was competing in the 100-meter hurdles and on her way to a gold medal, when she clipped the second last hurdle.

That one mistake resulted in her finishing seventh.

In an interview with the Christian Post, Lolo said as she huddled on the ground in tears, God spoke three simple words, that changed her life.

God said:

“But you’re here.”

As disappointing as it was, the world had not ended. She said that God was telling her that this defeat would try to break her, but that she was still standing, and she needed to fight on.

At the moment she realized that her identity was not based on her failures or even her victories, her identity was in God.

And she would go on to compete in two more Olympics and even won a gold in bobsledding at the world championship in February 2021.

READ: Olympian Lolo Jones shares 3 life-changing words God spoke during ‘biggest failure’ of her career