Episode 58 of the Five Point Move Podcast features Ellis Coleman (67 kg, Army/WCAP), who on April 20 won the 2024 Olympic Team Trials, his second such career victory from the prestigious domestic selection tournament.
The circumstances are of course different for Coleman this time around compared to ’12 when he was an ultra-promising prospect with two Junior World medals under his belt. Although he emerged from the event two weeks ago as the owner of the 67 kg spot on the US Olympic Team, the 32-year-old still has to clear one more hurdle before booking a trip to Paris come late-July. On May 9 in Istanbul, Turkey, Coleman (along with fellow Olympic Trials champs Dalton Roberts and Kamal Bey) will take the mat at the World Olympic Games Qualifier where a top-3 placing is the objective. Coleman, as he says in his segment, did not take much of a rest after the Trials and instead got right back to work in order to adequately prepare for Istanbul.
As most might suspect, Coleman is an open book. In what is his fourth appearance on the show, the multi-time World Team member speaks to a variety of topics including the impact coaches Bryan Medlin and Mike Powell have had on his life, what it is like being coached by former teammate Spenser Mango, acclimating for the trip to Turkey, and what his training plan for Paris will entail.
A Few Highlights
Coleman on how he views the World OG Qualifier
“I think that, no matter what, if you win the ‘Last Chance Qualifier’, you’re going into the (Olympic) Games with a chip on your shoulder. And that was always my intention, anyway. I know that if I win the ‘Last Chance Qualifier’, I’m going to go to the Olympics and win.”
Coleman on Bryan Medlin and Mike Powell
“I wish that I could have been coached longer by those guys coming up. I think that I was grateful to have Dennis (Hall), Ivan (Ivanov), the coaches that I had, but I definitely wouldn’t have minded having Coach Medlin longer. Because, him and Coach Powell, they made me. They made me, and they never took away from my talents or made me fear anything that I was good at. They didn’t make me fear utilizing it just because someone else might have been good at it. To use what I had and only try to make it better.”
Coleman on being coached by Mango
“He knows I know what I’m doing. You can’t have someone in your corner who has doubts. You can’t have someone in your corner who is projecting their feelings or emotions on you as an athlete. It will hurt you. It will hurt or hinder you as an athlete. It makes me even more confident because I know Spenser, and he knows that he can count on me. He can rely on me to take care of what I need to take care of.”
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
Listen to “5PM56: Rich Carlson and Spencer Woods” on Spreaker.
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