5 Christian athletes who made an impact in 2018

By Samuel Smith, Deputy Managing Editor Monday, December 31, 2018

Jennie Finch-Daigle

Although Finch-Daigle is best known for her time as a dominant force leading Team USA to a gold medal in 2004 on the softball diamond, the impact she made in 2018 came when she took a stand for her religious convictions while participating in the popular reality show “Dancing With the Stars.”

In May, Finch-Daigle did what some reviewers say was a first for the program. She refused to dance to a certain song. Finch-Daigle refused to dance to a new Janelle Monae song titled “Make Me Feel.” Some consider the song to be sexually suggestive and a “bisexual pop anthem.”

Finch-Daigle struggled with the song in rehearsals and finally called the producers to tell them she wouldn’t dance to it. The decision left her and her dance partner with only limited time to prepare with a new song for the show.

After hearing the lyrics to the song, Finch-Daigle knew she couldn’t in good conscious dance to a song that she wouldn’t want her own children to hear.

“I want to glorify God out there, and that just wasn’t a great choice for me to do that,” Finch-Daigle told Us Weekly.

She told reporters earlier that the song was “not something we listen to in our house.”

“And my fans, my audience, is young girls,” she said.