A world champion in weight lifting, future priest Mykola Tkachuk, who will perform at an international sports festival “Arnold Classic” in early March in Columbus, Ohio (USA), is going to offer Arnold Schwarzenegger an icon of St. Nicholas as a present.
A world champion in weight lifting, future priest Mykola Tkachuk, who will perform at an international sports festival “Arnold Classic” in early March in Columbus, Ohio (USA), is going to offer Arnold Schwarzenegger an icon of St. Nicholas as a present.
According to the Information Centre of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the athlete was reported as saying this during a meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Onufriy in his residence at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
“I represent the national team of Ukraine on the most famous mass sporting event in the world. During a meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger I would like to present him an icon of St. Nicholas. Why exactly this icon? This is my heavenly patron saint who is a pleaser of God that helps all people and is revered not only by Orthodox Christians but also people of other faiths,” the athlete said.
Mykola Tkachuk will speak at an international tournament with two weights, 32 kg each. They shall be lifted the maximum number of times throughout 10 minutes. “It requires a lot of patience, because the weight is not easy and they have to be lifted as fast as possible. Such competition is always difficult, but if a man is a believer, it is much easier to overcome all sorts of obstacles,” said Mykola.
During the meeting with the Head of Church, the athlete received the blessing of His Beatitude to participate in competitions in the United States, where Mykola Tkachuk was invited by a famous bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
When blessing the Ukrainian weight lifter to participate in competitions, Metropolitan Onufriy wished him God's help.
According to the Information Centre of the UOC, Mykola Tkachuk is member the national weight lifting team of Ukraine, a multiple Ukrainian and world champion. He studies at the correspondence department of Kyiv Theological Seminary. Tkachuk will perform at the international sports festival “Arnold Classic” with the support of the Foundation of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is reported by UNIAN Religion.