{"id":36055,"date":"2023-01-12T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T15:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/overconfident-people-try-to-beat-worlds-best-sprinters\/"},"modified":"2023-01-12T15:44:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T15:44:00","slug":"overconfident-people-try-to-beat-worlds-best-sprinters","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/overconfident-people-try-to-beat-worlds-best-sprinters\/","title":{"rendered":"Overconfident People Try to Beat World\u2019s Best Sprinters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Christian Coleman is the reigning world champion in the men&rsquo;s 100 meters. From time to time, strangers approach the 26-year-old Atlanta native with a proposition. He said, &ldquo;People will look at me, like, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re Christian Coleman. Hey, you want to race?&rsquo; And I mean, like, we&rsquo;re in the middle of the mall. It&rsquo;s like, obviously not.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>It&rsquo;s a remarkably common occurrence, top sprinters say. Against all odds, overconfident average citizens size up these singularly skilled and sculpted specimens and think they have a chance to win. The urge appears to be universal, spanning national boundaries and identities.<\/p>\n\n<p>Karsten Warholm, the 26-year-old world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, works out at an indoor public facility in Oslo, in his native Norway. Mr. Warholm recalled a training session when a man, not dressed in running clothes, asked him to race.<\/p>\n\n<p>Mr. Warholm said, &ldquo;I was like, &lsquo;Sure,&rsquo; because I was going to do another run either way. Of course, I smoked him, obviously.&rdquo; At the finish line, the man insisted he had a bad start. He wanted to race again, Mr. Warholm recalled, chuckling.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[446],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3436,3650,3656,3848,3959,4704,4909,4911,4913,4917,4918,4924,4925,4927,4933,4936,4937,5102],"tax_ctp_topics":[384,401],"class_list":["post-36055","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-arrogance","tax_ctp_tags-competition","tax_ctp_tags-conceit","tax_ctp_tags-ego","tax_ctp_tags-fame","tax_ctp_tags-pride","tax_ctp_tags-self-centeredness","tax_ctp_tags-self-confidence","tax_ctp_tags-self-deception","tax_ctp_tags-self-esteem","tax_ctp_tags-self-exaltation","tax_ctp_tags-self-importance","tax_ctp_tags-self-indulgence","tax_ctp_tags-self-love","tax_ctp_tags-self-value","tax_ctp_tags-selfish-ambition","tax_ctp_tags-selfishness","tax_ctp_tags-success"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Overconfident People Try to Beat World\u2019s Best Sprinters - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/overconfident-people-try-to-beat-worlds-best-sprinters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overconfident People Try to Beat World\u2019s Best Sprinters - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christian Coleman is the reigning world champion in the men&rsquo;s 100 meters. From time to time, strangers approach the 26-year-old Atlanta native with a proposition. He said, &ldquo;People will look at me, like, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re Christian Coleman. Hey, you want to race?&rsquo; And I mean, like, we&rsquo;re in the middle of the mall. 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