‘Be Salt and Light’: Campus Ministry Leader Served as Track-and-Field Official at Paris Olympics

By Chris Moon

When most people were watching the summer Olympics at home on television, Mike Armstrong had a front row seat. 

Actually, he had better than that.

Armstrong – director of Christ on Campus at the University of Arkansas – was on the ground at the Paris Olympics as a track and field official. A longtime official for collegiate and professional track meets in the United States, Armstrong was one of a select group of officials picked to referee at the Olympics.

It was an experience many track-and-field officials dream about.

“Just a feeling of being blessed that God would give me that opportunity,” Armstrong told Christian Standard about the experience. “It’s not something I anticipated. There were a lot of people around the world that could have been given that opportunity.”

From OCC to the Olympics

Armstrong is a 1982 graduate of Ozark Christian College. He started Christ in Campus at the University of Arkansas shortly after graduation.

The campus ministry holds Sunday morning worship services and weekly small group Bible studies during the school year, along with mission trips and outreach efforts. Christ on Campus has a staff of five people.

Armstrong also is on the board of directors of Pioneer Bible Translators – and is chairman of the National Officials Committee for USA Track and Field.

That latter position might seem a bit surprising for a career-long campus ministry leader.

“It began because my insurance agent asked me to come help at a track meet,” Armstrong said.

Shortly after starting Christ on Campus, Armstrong said, he was asked to volunteer at a track meet hosted by the University of Arkansas. Armstrong said he had been a “mediocre” track athlete in high school in Kansas, but he had grown up as a fan of track and field.

Armstrong said he took up the offer to help out. He had been looking for a place to volunteer at the University of Arkansas. He saw volunteering as vital to a healthy ministry.

“God opened doors from there,” he said.

The Waffle Philosophy

Since that time, Armstrong has officiated at track meets across the country.

He also has officiated at 31 international meets, including world championships. Armstrong has been to five continents and 18 countries as a track and field official.

Armstrong said he regularly teaches his students at Christ on Campus the “waffle philosophy.”

Life is like a waffle, he said, and different areas of a person’s life are like little squares of the waffle, ready to be filled. Christians should fill each of those squares with Christ.

“Track and field has been one of my squares of the waffle,” Armstrong said.

Over the years, he said, he’s walked with people through trials and tribulations as he’s gotten to know them through track and field. He’s made connections with many university coaches and administrators.

And he’s been able to support his fellow officials in their times of medical hardship, the loss of spouses, and other difficulties.

Most people already know Armstrong is a minister.

“I just try to represent Jesus in the place where I am,” he said.

‘Just a Track Meet’

Armstrong was selected by World Athletics – the international governing body for track and field – to serve at the Paris Olympics.

The vast majority of the officials for the track and field events came from the local organizing committee in France. But World Athletics appointed 12 referees to the Olympics, as well as a handful of other officials.

Armstrong officiated the throwing events – mostly discus and javelin. And he helped out with some running events. 

In field events, the referee oversees the entire event. The referee gives instructions to the athletes, makes sure the event runs as smoothly as possible, and handles all competition protests.

For the Olympics, the referee also made sure the events ran on schedule and hit all the appropriate TV windows, Armstrong said.

Each of the throwing events fielded 32 athletes. The qualifying round reduced those to 12, who came back a couple of days later for finals.

Armstrong said he had no controversy on his watch.

“There really wasn’t,” he said. “Everything went very smoothly. The French officials did a good job. The goal is to provide a safe, fair environment so the athletes can do what they’ve been training to do.”

Things went well, but that doesn’t mean this was any ordinary event. About 80,000 people were in the stands at the Olympics, and hundreds of millions of people were watching on television.

“I try to tell myself it’s just a track meet, which I’ve done hundreds of times,” Armstrong said.

He said his prayer going into the games was God would give him patience and wisdom, and that Armstrong would represent God well.

“My prayer has never been to go to the Olympics. My prayer was to be salt and light,” he said.

Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colorado.