This article was first published on my old bornagainbloke.com blog on 1 August, 2012.

Team GB could do with a few prayers to move them up the medals table at London 2012, and who better to ask for their prayers than the Patron Saints of some of the Olympic sports?

Here are some Holy sorts that could help them:

Athletics – Sebastian

Born in Gaul but raised in Milan by his Italian parents, Saint Sebastian was essentially a “double-agent” for Christians being persecuted by Rome. He kept his faith secret and entered the Roman army around AD 283, using his position to encourage the persecuted and convert other prisoners to Christianity. He is Patron Saint of athletes because of his energetic way of spreading and defending the Faith and his physical endurance: despite being shot through with arrows after his faith was discovered, he survived. He was later clubbed to death.

Cycling – Madonna del Ghisallo

Not a person; rather, a medieval Marian apparition on a hill in Magreglio, close to Lake Como in Italy. According to the legend, a local Count named Ghisallo was saved from bandits when he saw, and ran to, an image of the Virgin Mary. This apparition became known as the Madonna del Ghisallo, and she became the patron saint for local travelers. A church was built on the site of the apparition in the 17th century.

In later times, Madonna del Ghisallo (the hill) was made part of the Giro di Lombardia bicycle race, and in 1949 Father Ermelindo Vigano, a local priest, proposed that the Madonna del Ghisallo become the patron saint of cycling. This was confirmed by Pope Pius XII. The church is now a shrine for cycling, and in 2006 a cycling museum opened nearby. For more on the Madonna del Ghisallo church and museum, see this Bike Radar article.

Sailing – Brendan

Often referred to as Brendan the Navigator or Brendan the Voyager, he was an Irish monk born in AD 484 who built up many monastic communities in Ireland. Best known for sailing the Atlantic looking for an Eden-like “Isle of the Blessed” in the tale Brendan’s Voyage. At one point Brendan and his fellow monks stop on a small island, celebrate Easter Mass, light a fire – and then realise the island is an enormous whale!

Swimming – Adjutor of Vernon

Saint Adjutor – also known as Lord of Vernon-sur-Seine – was a Norman knight in the First Crusade in 1095, during which he was captured by Muslims who tried to force him to abandon his faith. He escaped, apparently swimming to freedom, returning to France and becoming a Benedictine monk at Tiron.

And finally…

…if the Gold medals are still proving pretty thin on the ground, there’s always Saint Jude…the patron Saint of desperate and lost causes!