Sorted's golden Olympic dream

As deputy editor of Sorted magazine, I have the privilege of reading every article and piece of text before it hits the pages. 

I also get to see it laid out using all the fancy techniques the design team has at its fingertips. Seeing as I’m not really the artistic type, I’m always impressed when the dry text turns into such eye-catching spreads.

So when I got my first glimpse of the printed Olympic edition a few weeks back I shouldn’t have been surprised at its quality; but I have to say that I was.



I may be a little biased, but I genuinely think it is our best issue yet. It’s packed with stunning images and layouts, but also offers something wholesome and informative that just doesn’t seem to be available from other men’s magazines.

But while it makes for a great read, there’s an even more important reason for it to be such a special edition. Sorted has an Olympic dream to distribute 250,000 copies of its special London Games edition across the capital as a fantastic evangelistic opportunity.

“Our goal is to provide a world-class giveaway and flood London with free copies of our special Olympic edition of Sorted,” said the magazine’s publisher and editor, Steve Legg.

“Our dream is to distribute quarter of a million copies through our innovative network of free distribution points: tube and rail stations, Eurostar carriages, Olympic campsites and tourist locations, including open-topped red buses. Plus free copies in the Athlete's Villages during the 2012 Games.

“The reality is, at this moment in time, we can only do 30,000, but we are believing and praying for support and financial provision to reach our original goal.”

This is the biggest edition ever of the magazine, featuring more than 100 pages and including exclusive interviews with Steve Redgrave, Jessica Ennis, Phillips Iduwo, Rebecca Adlington, Tom Daley and Victoria Pendleton.

Steve believes this edition of Sorted will really complement outreach events taking place this summer: “The London Games is a once in a generation opportunity and is too good to miss. Churches have opportunities to get involved with the national Torch Run, plus showing the Games on big screens at their own premises.

“Sorted is such a high-quality yet non-threatening giveaway that we are making available at super reasonable price (from just £1.25 a copy). Giving a magazine away is the easiest form of evangelism going, yet could have profound results.”

TV adventurer Bear Grylls, who is a regular contributor to the magazine, said: “This is the best Sorted issue ever. It embraces the courage of Olympians and the sort of faith that can help you run like the wind.”

To order your copies of Sorted or to donate to this Olympic outreach opportunity, visit the Sorted website today.

It don’t matter if you’re black or white...

Looking back at some of the world’s greatest Olympians-of-old, I was surprised at how obstacles many have had to navigate on top of the pressures of the sport: injury, drug abuse, gender issues, religious persecution and racism, to name but a few.

Take Jesse Owens, for example. One of the most memorable figures in Olympic history, Jesse was snubbed, bullied and intimidated because of the colour of his skin...

When coach Charlie Riley saw Jesse run for the first time, he immediately recognised the raw natural talent of the young man and invited him to run for the track team. At Cleveland East Technical High School Jesse became a track star, tying the world record in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.4 seconds.

But while he was at The Ohio State University, he experienced shocking racism. He was forced to live off-campus with the other African-American athletes and when he travelled with the team, he could either order takeaway or eat at “blacks only” restaurants. He slept in “blacks only” hotels.

This didn’t stop him from achieving the highest sporting accolades, though. In 1935, Jesse set three World Records and tied a fourth, all in about 70 minutes. Ironically, earlier in the week he had fallen down a flight of stairs, injuring his back. Imagine what he could have done if he’d been totally fit that day!

At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Jesse was triumphant in the 100-metre dash, the 200-metre dash and the broad jump in Berlin. He was also a key member of the 400-metre relay team that won gold. In all but one of these events, Jesse set Olympic records. He was the first American in the history of Olympic track and field to win four gold medals in a single Games.

He did experience racism again at the event, which Adolf Hitler had hoped to use to demonstrate superiority of the ‘master race’. This was somewhat undermined by Jesse’s success, and by the end even the German crowds were cheering him to victory.

But even after achieving such greatness, he returned home to more racism. “After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my hand or have me up to their suite. But no one was going to offer me a job,” he said. 

He added that although he felt Hitler had tried to snub him by refusing to shake hands with him, it was Roosevelt that really let him down. The US president didn’t even send him a telegram to congratulate him on his success.

Seventy-five years on, Jesse is remembered as one of the greatest Olympians of all time, but unfortunately he didn’t succeed in ending racism in sport. Headlines were made earlier in the year by footballers accused of aiming racist slurs at black players, and plenty of footballers have complained of racism at overseas games.

It baffles me that people can be so prejudiced and ignorant. I just hope the London Games succeeds in bringing people together whatever the colour of their skin! 

Read more Games-related articles in the next issue of Sorted - it's an Olympics special and is not to be missed!