Meet Your Army Olympians



Meet Your Army Olympians

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another meet your army episode on army Facebook live hosted by the U. S. Army’s office of the Chief of Public Affairs. My name is Hank many treasures and tonight I’m so excited. This is gonna be a great show. We are joined by soldier athletes of the army’s world class athlete program where W Cap as we call it because it’s the army and we love our acronyms. They are competing with Team USA in the 2022 winter Olympics and that is awesome for those who might not be aware. W Cap is an Army program that allows top ranked soldier athletes to train and compete throughout the year with the ultimate goal of competing in the Olympic games. Were excited to have three of these soldier athletes joining today’s discussion. So without further ado, let’s meet our Olympic panel members will start with Sergeant Justin Olsen. Sergeant Olson is a coach for both the bobsled and skeleton events at the Winter Olympic games. He’s originally from san Antonio Texas. Sergeant Nelson joined the army in 2011 and currently serves as a human resources specialist. He’s a seasoned Olympian as a 2010 gold medalist. That’s right. He is already a gold medalist, earned that in the four man bobsled event as well as a competitor in both the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic games. So a breadth of Olympic experience already for our coach. So Sergeant Olson, thank you for joining our discussion. Great to have you. Hey hank, delighted to be a part of the panel. Um thanks for having me and I look forward to our conversation and and here later this week. Getting china and getting to work. That’s right, let’s get it going, let’s get it going next. We have specialist frank Del Duca. Specialist Del Duca is competing in the bobsled event at the upcoming winter Olympic games. He hails from Bethel Maine, joined the army in august 2019, currently serves as an infantryman. His prior athletic achievements include winning gold at the 2021 and the 2018 USA Bob said Bobsled Push Championships. So again, some great experience. Their specialist del Duca, welcome to the show. I think it’s a pleasure to be here. I’m also looking forward to the conversation and yes, thanks for having us. I can’t wait to hear your story. This has got to be interesting. Finally, we have specialist Benjamin Loomis who represents team USA in the Nordic combined skiing event at the 20 to 2022 Winter Olympic games. He’s from oh Claire Wisconsin enlisted in the U. S. Army in 2019. He was a silver medalist at the 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games and the 2017 U. S. National championships as well as a member of Team USA at the 2018 winter Olympics. So again, some great experience, They’re going into this specialist Loomis, We are happy to have you with us tonight. Thank you hank. I’m really excited to be here and look forward to telling you all about W Cap heading into these Beijing winter Olympic games Hoo hoo! Well again, thank you all so much for being with here with us here today. We know that you are crazy busy as you’re getting ready to go to Beijing, especially right now. I’m sure last minute training travel. So again, appreciate your willingness to share your time and more importantly your stories here with us tonight. And that’s important because as we reach a larger audience, there are plenty of people out there who don’t even realize that we have soldiers who actually compete as actual Olympic athletes and metal and do very well. Um, as I say this every time we’ve done one of these episodes, you know, we’re really trying to show people what the army is all about and and how unique everyone’s adventure in the army can be. Um, there’s so many myths out there, you know, thanks to television and thanks to movies, which of course have to overdramatic size things, but you don’t know, soldiers are not walking around in their dress uniforms all the time saluting each other inside and outside and and screaming at each other and best of the best of the best. Yes sir, You know, there’s so much more to it and this is one perfect example of, wow, I didn’t know that soldiers could actually compete in the Olympics and the army supports them. So let’s get right into it. First question is really for all of you and we’ll just go right down the line. Each of you will have a chance to answer. I know the churn the journey to becoming a soldier and an Olympian has looked different for each of you. You’ve each had different experiences. So how did you personally come to join the army’s world class athlete program? How did you hear about it? What was your process and how is it different from other Olympic training programs that you’ve been a part of? Let’s go ahead and start with Sergeant Olson, I think. Thanks. The, My journey started back in 2008 after doing a year of bobsled and I fell in love with the sport. I, I I knew that it was gonna be a challenge to move away from home and dedicate my life to something if I wanted to be good at it. And my very first roommate at the Olympic training center happened to have his uniform in the closet. And as soon as he got back to the room, I sat down, I said, tell me about that uniform. I mean, how are you here? How are you doing that? So I kind of got the first-hand experience, um, you know, straight straight from the horse’s mouth if if you want to call that. But then I’ve seen, I realized that we had a couple of soldiers on the team. And so I started asking them about their experience and and what kind of an opportunity was was Debbie Cat and they said it’s an amazing opportunity. I said well you know how do I join? Well it’s not that you know it’s not that difficult first. You got to be in the army so you got to sign a contract and and then you apply for the program. So um yeah I got started first in the sport, made the national team. I had already competed in my first Olympic games and had some success before I had the time to go to basic training and A I. T. And learn my mls interesting, interesting. So I’m sure it wasn’t a difficult process. You know you walked into the recruiter’s office, you had all your your paperwork and you you enlisted the normal way and then you found the W cap program and then was it like an audition process? Well there’s an application and it’s a little bit different for every sport and it’s outlined on on our website at www dot dot com. And you can just say uh you know what’s it take to to be successful in this sport and for for bobsled specifically uh competing in Olympic games or competing in world championships or being a member of and the national team or having potential to do those things will kind of get you get you in the door and allowed for you to be a part of the program. You know the program is not very big. So you’re gonna have to be a special soldier athlete to come on in. That’s very interesting that you were the athlete first and then became a soldier and then went off to do it. I’ve I’ve talked to others and in past Olympic games that were soldiers first and then applied and became an Olympic athlete. Like the USA taekwondo team is a big one that uh that we used to highlight every year. So that your story is very interesting. Very very interesting. I can’t wait to get into a little bit more about that. Um I did have one question for you. It says bobsled and skeleton. Could you explain for the audience what the skeleton part is? Because I I don’t know what that is. Yeah. So skeleton is a solo sport. It’s it’s not a team sport like pops it is. And you were going down the same track. Their sleds a little bit lighter, it’s about ¬£60.75 pounds. And they lay on their stomachs and first before you’re a braver man than me for doing something like that. My I’m just coaching a bank. I don’t think I would uh be daring and get onto a skeleton sled. Yeah, that’s gonna take a special special amount of courage. Alright, good. Thank you for that specialist Del Duca over to you. What’s what’s your story? How did you get involved And and what’s it been like for you? I was an athlete first as well. I was on team. USA bobsled and we had I had teammates and coaches who were in the program, the army world class athlete program. And I was drawn to them for for several reasons. I thought they lead by example and they always seem to have their stuff together and be prepared and they just really led by example. So I I kind of spoke with them and just said, hey, what’s the process for for getting into this program? Do I qualify? What can I do to qualify and what has your experience been like? So I spoke to a handful of athletes and coaches and I really liked what what they had to say. I liked what the program was doing for the army and for the team. So what I could see was something that was was right for me. So I enlisted in 2019 I went to basic training and I had world class athlete program in my first contract. So this is this is my first assignment and my first military contract. Oh, that is nice. That is so perfect. Well, let me ask you a question because both you and Sergeant Olson had mentioned that you were you had already been accomplished athletes before joining W Cap. Again, I’m a layman. I’m just kind of, you know, going by what I see when I watch television. But I would imagine that like your civilian counterpart athletes, you know, they’re having to chase down sponsors all the time or their management team is probably to try to fund, you know, all of their training, all of their equipment, all of their gear. Does having joined the army, does that take care of a lot of that stress? Because you’re getting a paycheck, you’re getting benefits? Um, and you’ve got a team behind you. Is that, is that pretty much how it goes? That is exactly how it goes. I think there is a, there is a common misconception that team USA athletes are, are well funded and we have salaries and all these things and it’s just not the case we we all operate on our own savings and, and you know, there are people up at the top of the endorsement chain that are probably doing pretty well, but for those of us, most of us were all self-funded and yeah, we’re going out, we’re getting dropped in the off season and we’re working remote or we’re fundraising. So for me, I switched to driving this, this Olympic quad. I’m able to give all of my focus to my job and that is right now on assignment at the lake placid Olympic training center with the team. So I don’t have to stress about how am I gonna pay for this or how am I going to do that. The military has supported me too, do the things I need to do and get the equipment, I need to get for success. So I’m very, very appreciative forward and, and I owe much of my success to the support of the army and the world class athlete program. Well, I imagine as an athlete, you know, just with any sport, you know, injuries happen and you go to an army doc and they fix you up and there’s no stress about how am I going to get medical care that’s just off the top of my head as an old guy. Uh, that’s got to be comforting to you. Oh, absolutely. You know, the just having the support and the benefits as well. It really is. It’s just create, it really helps us so much. And in a sport where yes, injuries happen and it’s kind of almost not if but women because we’re pushing ourselves so hard when something comes up, you just know it’s taken care of and you’re in good hands and you have the support you need. That’s an interesting aspect that I bet a lot of people don’t think about interesting. Thanks for sharing that specialist. Loomis over to you, tell me your story and, and, and really I’d like to hear like how you balance the responsibility of um, you know, being an Olympic athlete as well as being a soldier. Yes, certainly so similar to Sergeant Olson and specialist Del Duca, I was an athlete previous to entering the army and in 2017 my team brought on a coach who was previously in the world class athlete program. So he introduced myself and then my fellow teammates specialist Good, who was also in the world class athlete program. He introduced us and following the 2018 Olympics, we took a hard look at W cap and it was a good fit for both of us. We enlisted together and entered into the world class athlete program together. Excellent. And you’ve been loving the experience ever since. Oh, it’s been a great experience and marrying what these guys have said. It’s really been much easier to focus on the sport and it has allowed me to commit to Monica, mind skiing and really take the next step in my career. How did you get started? Did you get started as a youngster or you know, when did the, when did the sport bug bite you and you decided, hey, I’d like to be a professional athlete. I started skiing from a really young age. I was two years old when I started cross country skiing and then five years old I started ski jumping. So it’s always been a family sport for me and something I’ve grown up doing. I had an older brother who I followed around in the sport And really when it took a turn for me when I was 15 years old, I moved from Oakland Wisconsin to park city Utah and that was a big change for me, really allowed me to focus on training. I attended a sports school that gave me time off in the winter to travel for competitions and proceeding that I’ve made the national team a couple years later and it’s been game on from there. That’s pretty awesome. I’d like to talk a little bit about your sport in particular because as, as a youngster myself when I used to watch ABC wide world of sports, you’re way too young to remember that program. But that would coast Cell was on there and he would, he would always talk about the ski jumpers and you’re talking like flying through the air at like A million miles an hour, 300 ft up in the air. How do you do that? It’s definitely an extreme sport. You know, we’re going around 60 mph down the ski jump and flying upwards of 400 ft in the air. So it is an extreme sport but it’s really controlled and you start from a young age, progress your way up to bigger and bigger ski jumps and the Olympic sized ski jumps are about where they topped off in terms of size. So it’s a long and gradual progression in the sport. What’s what’s been your biggest jumper, Your longest jumper. However, you measure like this was my best. My longest jump is 143 m. So that’s over 400 ft. And then Just recently I had my longest jump in a competition of 138 m, Holy moly that’s amazing to me. That’s just simply amazing to me and my hat’s off to all three of you because you’re doing things that, you know, us mere mortals only dream about or, or, or we play, what is it, what do they call that recliner quarterback or couch quarterback? Oh yeah. Well, if you would have done this, but man, you guys are out there doing it. That’s just so amazing to me. I’m very excited to be talking to you guys. Um, all of you have great stories. Um, let’s get back to the, the whole responsibility of representing your country, both in uniform and at the Olympics. A couple of you’ve talked about having met previous world class, world class athletes and, and how they presented themselves, impacted you and gave you a perception I’d like to hear. We’ll start with Sergeant Olson, you know, what’s that responsibility like for you? Well, I think the, the underlying the reason why I do this is to inspire our, our nation’s youth or, or, and, and even in our sport, I mean, you really don’t get started until you’re an adult. So even if we are aspiring young athletes and when I say young, you know, your rookie year is your youngest year. You don’t have to be five years old. So, um, you know, serving as an inspiration to them that all things are possible through hard work, dedication and, and and a positive attitude because when I came into the sport, I mean my eyes were big and I thought there’s, there’s no way, I mean look how fast these guys are, look how strong they are, How am I going to do that? And then I started to slow it down a little bit and, and, and I found my role models on the team and most of them were soldiers just like they were when I was growing up, I have always admired the men and women who made that choice to serve. And so you know what drew me to the program was, uh, all right. I’d say to the army was I always wanted to serve and I always wanted to compete at that elite level. But um, it means more your legacy means a lot more and, and you know, somebody might watch and and see your performance or your actions through a little bit different lens and, and all I can hope for is that you believe that nothing is impossible. If you, you know, If you get the right team behind you, you make a solid plan, you work your tail off and you’re 100% all in. That’s really all you can ask for it. Not, you know, not every team is going to win, but you’ll be a better person for, for going out there and and not being afraid to read. You know, set some goals that are, some might say that’s a little farfetched, wow, that inspiring words. I love that. Don’t think that anything is impossible attitude. Um again, having interviewed many, many professional athletes, that’s sort of a a common theme there and and it really is true my kudos to you. Again, I just I just can’t believe that that we get a chance to talk to you guys. Specialist Del Duca. How about you? The responsibility of representing your country, both in uniform at the Olympics? What does that mean to you? Well, it means a lot were wearing two uniforms but it’s for the same team. It’s for U. S. A. And in this wonderful country. We don’t take that lightly. I’m now part of that group of people that I looked up. Two of these people that carry themselves with with respect and and being selfless towards those around them and making sure that their actions are for the betterment of the team. And I’m learning from them. I’m growing from them. And and it really is just, it’s such an honor and I’m very grateful to be a part of of the the army and then athletic program. Outstanding Specialist Loomis, what does it mean to you to represent your country, both as a soldier and as an Olympian. It’s a true honor. And I’m really looking forward to these games. Following my, my Olympic experience in 2018 I was when I enlisted following that. So this will be a new experience for me going in as a soldier as well, and like I said, I’m truly honored and just to give a bit of a back story when I was in basic training, uh, no one really knew for a while that I was an athlete or that I had intentions of going into the world class athlete program. But then eventually word spread and people found out, and I was shocked by how supportive people were and they all loved it loved the idea, so it’s really cool to me to have that support and for everyone to be encouraging of this opportunity. Oh, that’s awesome. I was gonna ask you about that because when you go to Army basic Training, it’s a different world, and for a very good reason, you know, turning civilians into soldiers and, you know, there’s a lot of intentional stress put on you as you’re going through our basic combat training to build your character, you know, break it down and build you back up, make you stronger than before. And in the back of my mind, I was like, what was it like when the drill sergeant found out like, oh, we got a hero over here, he’s an Olympic medalist, What’s going on, I mean? But it’s it’s nice to hear they were very supportive, very cool. Um let’s move along now, let’s talk a little bit about your military occupations, um you all have a separate mOS uh you know, one of you was able to get W cap in your enlistment contract. That’s, that’s outstanding. Um, but I think our audience might be wondering how are you able uh, during, during regular times to, to sort of balance the responsibilities of your training so that you keep up your athletic ability and also perform your duties as a soldier. Sergeant Olson, let’s kick that over to you first. Well I can say that that juggling the two is, you know, earlier we talked a lot about, we were 100% of our time is is into training and and that is our, our job. But at the same time we, we are, we are soldiers and we have to perfect our craft and and stay up up to speed on that. So um one of the opportunities that you know before Sochi a actually before 2014 I got to go to B. L. C. Before I became, and it wasn’t the time that I had hoped it was going to be, it was in September and we were leaving in October, we all come to each other and said, hey, this is what we signed up for. So let’s go out to Colorado and let’s try to get the distinguished honor Grad. I mean all of us are going to be fish out of water. You know, we’re not uniform we wear every day. Is, is this one right here. You know, we’re not wearing, were not wearing oh, cps and and showing up to formation. Uh, you know, quite as often as everybody else to our daily lives look a little bit different. But I think what was really cool about it was, um, we got out there, we learned as fast as we could, we knew we were gonna make mistakes, but you just have to be resilient and you have to say, hey, I’m ready for the challenge and I know this is going to be uncomfortable because it’s not what I do every day. Um, But now that I’m a coach, I do a little bit more of my mos is 42 alpha and I try to serve as a, you know, administrative liaison to all of the soldier athletes that we have up in like plastic and it can become stressful at times. But I think if you just strive to be the very best version of yourself and, and you know, ask questions of your, your mentors and your platoon sergeants and say, hey, you know, what can I do better and how can I better serve these soldiers? That’s really what it’s all about because the army is about growth and leadership and, and people are going to make mistakes. It’s what you decide to do with those mistakes. So uh, it’s, it’s not easy, but, but you just gotta be ready to be a fish out of the water every once in a while and give everything you got sure, sure, you know, either be buried by your steak or you’re going to learn from it and grill become a better soldier, better leader, so good on you for that. That’s interesting that you had to go to B. L. C. Right before. That’s that would have stressed me out again kudos to you. You guys are definitely a special breed specialist, Del Duca. What’s been your experience with having to balance both? I think you said that this was already written into your contract and this was your first assignment. So how’s that been going for you? Yes, that’s correct. So I went to Fort Carson to in process into the little class athlete program and then I actually flew straight to the bobsled race. So it was, it was basic training in processing Douglas lead, let’s go race. So we were always representing the army. We are, we’re soldiers, but we’re athletes as well. So sometimes we have to, we’re wearing the same uniform, but we’ll switch the hats. So that week I was, I was the boss later I was, it was all bobsled. But when I’m not traveling on tour with the team and training and competing, I’m doing my military obligations. Will that be schools or trainings or whatever we whatever we have on our plate, we just make the time to do it and it takes a little more forethought a little planning and. And because right now we’ve been on tour competing for, for several weeks, even months at this point. So you have to make sure you’re getting your obligations done with the military and then also performing at a high level with team USA. So once, once, you know, we’ve all prepared for Beijing, we’re gonna go over, we’re gonna do our absolute best. Then when I come back I’ll probably do more military stuff and, and bob said, well, kind of be over for a little bit. I’ll focus on my military obligations, Make sure I’m continuing to learn and grow in the, in the military sector and then I’ll go back. Um, you know, by this time next year we’ll be training and competing with the box later. So you kind of do both. That’s really cool that what we, what was your basic training experience? Like, did they find out that, you know, you were going to be a world class athlete? You know, what was the environment like if that happened? I think I lost you on the audio. My apologies. No, that’s okay. I’ll repeat the question. What was your basic training experience like? And did they find out like they did with with our other Olympian, did they find out that you had joined up to be a world class athlete? If so what was that like with, with your platoon basic training was was actually a great experience. Um, it was, I likened it to more of my experiences as a team, You know, you’re going through something as a team and there are some good days and yes, there are intentional stressors put on you, but you know, really when you’re a part of a team and you have those, um, those skills to, to work together there and and find what we need to do and how to do it. It really, I, I enjoyed basic training and I missed the guys I met there, you know, we stay in touch and it really was a great experience. I didn’t, I didn’t tell anyone I was doing bobsled or the world class athlete program just for me, I was focused on what we’re learning and doing and it, it didn’t seem to applicable at the time, but as you know, as the stressors tend to get a little less towards the end and you start talking a little more and opening up to people. I, I told a couple of guys and a couple of people found out and yeah, it was very um, there was well received and the drill sergeant said, hey, you know, good going, we’ll be rooting for you and, and that’s cool, you do that. And some asked some questions and I was almost taken aback because at that point you’re not really having those types of conversations with the drill sergeants, but they were like, hey, tell me about this, this sounds cool, what’s what’s going on? Yeah, well that’s awesome, That’s awesome. I’m glad it was such a good experience for you. Um it’s amazing the amount of support that, that you’ve been getting out there even from your very first days in the army. So that’s outstanding. Really, really cool specialist Loomis. How about you balancing responsibilities of being a world class athlete along with being a soldier. What’s that been like for for you? Yes. So starting off with basic training, it was a break for me to take from skiing. I’ve been, I’ve been doing it for so long and I’ve never taken that long of a break from training and from skiing. So that really left me very motivated to get back into skiing as well as pursuing my career in the army and unfortunate that W CAP has been so supportive and it can certainly be tricky to balance and the obligations, but it’s very worth it. I’ve been thrilled with the experience and the support from W CAP as well as the Utah National Guard where I’m based has been immense and it can be a challenge for sure, but it’s very rewarding as well. Well, you three are breathing some rare air as they say, you know, when this is all said and done, There aren’t that many soldiers who can say that they were a professional athlete, they were world class athlete, they were Olympians and soldiers. Very few of you can say that. So you know, if anything, 20, you know, a million years from now when you’re bouncing your grandson on your knee, on your knee, dad, what did you do in the army or grandpa, what did you do in the army? You can probably say I was an Olympian. That’s pretty outstanding. Um, what I’d like to do is talk a little bit more about the upcoming Olympics. We’ve got your back stories. Now, let’s look ahead. This week, you’re gonna be in Beijing For the 2022 Olympic Games. Sergeant Olson, What are you looking forward to? Well, number one, I’m, I’m looking forward to the performances of these, these athletes, both civilians and soldiers. You know, I’ve been for the last two years now, working with them almost every day and just seeing their journey, I mean, I know that that specialist El Duque and I had a conversation in September and he said, this is what I’m going to do, and I said, let’s hear it. And he outlined his map to making the Olympic team and it was not uh, what everybody else was going to do. And I said, hey, that’s what, you know, that’s what I’m talking about, Go out there and get it because that’s what is the plan. So, and I’m looking forward to, to, you know, watching all of our soldier athletes compete, but uh, you know, most importantly as a coach, I I my role is to support and to make sure that they have what they need and there aren’t any distractions and and I know that when we want when we want our gold medal and when we raced in 2014 and 2018 our coaches provided an immense amount of support. Like we didn’t know that we were at the Olympics, we didn’t know that there was all this other stuff going on because it’s just, hey, we need to stop over here for a few minutes and and answer these few questions and then, you know, you’ll be on your way. So I look forward to the performances. I look forward to the, you know, the amazing moments that team USA always provides. You know, I I think uh oh, here comes Diggins was probably the one of the biggest phrases 2018. And um just getting to see people that I mean now, you know, now Del Duca and Loomis and and all the other W Cap soldier athletes get to be a part of that family. You know, once an Olympian, always Olympian, but but just like being in being in the military, you’re a part of something much bigger than yourself and so you share you share those victories together we go through it together and and I can’t wait. Well, you bring up a couple of interesting points. So two questions for you. Number one, uh, you’re the coach. So, so how many W Cap athletes total? And number two do you guys get to stay in Olympic village like everybody else. And do you ever mingle with the other athletes from other countries and other sports? Are we talking about just our delegation for 2022 or the total program? Um just the delegation for 2022. So we’ve got nine soldier athletes including our coaching staff. Um five athletes for coaches. And then uh yep we’re just like everybody else were we stay in the Olympic village, you know, we uh many of our teammates are civilian teammates and and we just like I mean Specialist Del Duca said it perfectly, you know you wear multiple uniforms, different hats, it’s here and it’s there and and uh just just like everybody else. We just we also have to remember that we’re soldiers too. Roger that I get what you’re saying. Cool. Thank you very much. Uh Specialist Del Duca over to you, What are you looking forward to once you hit the ground in Beijing it’ll be my first Olympics. So I just want to take it all in, you know, take a moment to I don’t even know if I’ve done it yet. Just take a moment to be like wow this is you know this is happening and and it’s a dream come true and just continue to prepare and and enjoy the moment but then I’m excited to compete. I absolutely love competing and I’m a racer at heart. So now that I’m driving and I get to compete on the world stage and be representing the army and team U. S. A. And my support system, friends, family, it really is just it’s a dream come true. So I’m I just can’t wait to compete. I just, I’m envisioning like being on the start line, hands on the on the push bar and I’m just ready to go and I just can’t wait to do it. So but yeah, like I said, I want to take it into and and be a part of of the team and kind of share this experience together because it’s it’s several of my friends and teammates first Olympics and then a handful of them have said it’s their last. So we’re all a part of of the same journey but we’re on different timelines and I just want to experience that with the team and and be there for my teammates and then go out there and compete with all. I’ve got visualization, you hear that a lot whenever you talk to athletes, they’ll spend time visualizing just like you said, I mean down to the minute detail, hands on the bars, doing this, doing that, standing on the first place podium, getting that gold medal, keep that vision going and I’m wishing you the best of luck. That’s awesome. Specialist Loomis, how about you? What are you looking forward to when you hit the ground in Beijing this week. Well first and foremost this being my second Olympics, I I feel like it’s my first Olympics again going in as a soldier for the first time. So I’m most excited about that as well as getting to meet and see a lot of my fellow W Cap teammates will be really cool and it’s also going to be a very different and new experience for all athletes. Going to china is not somewhere that most athletes compete regularly, so it will be different and puts everyone on a level playing field in a sense of there’s not a lot of local athletes or there’s not a lot of local competitions held there previously. So it’ll be really exciting to get to the new venues which all look spectacular and show what we can do as team USA and world class athlete program. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. I’m so pumped for you. You have no idea. As a follow up. I want to go back to Sergeant Olson both as a coach and as someone who has not just competed but has gold medal in an Olympic games. What advice are you giving um to the delegation and what advice specifically have you given to our panelists? Well, I think the opening ceremonies, if we choose or were permitted to partake in that, take it in. You know, I remember that was really the only moment I left my, I personally let my guard down and said, wow, I mean my heart was racing and I couldn’t believe that I was in a stadium, you know, sitting shoulder to shoulder with some of the best athletes in the world. Um and then a couple days later I I put the blinders back on and, and I remember that I’m here to, to complete the mission and I’m here for a reason. Um so you know, I didn’t come to the Olympics to be a spectator, I could be a spectator at home. I came to the, to the Olympics to represent my, my family, my friends do this alongside my teammates and and not forget who you are. You don’t have to be anything more than who you are because that’s what got you to this Olympic team. So we don’t need to, don’t need to overreach, we don’t need to, to go the extra mile, the work is done, we need to keep doing what we have been doing to be successful to this point and really just come out there on race day and execute to the best of our abilities, that consistency and then that focus. I I totally get what you’re saying, I’ve been in advance myself where you walk in and you’re like and you become star struck and they’re like, no, wait a minute, I’m here for a reason, focus, breathe in, breathe out, concentrate and let’s get this done. So good on you for doing that. That’s a good point, very good point. Alright guys, let’s switch it up a little bit, we talked a lot about Beijing, We’ve talked a lot about your stories. Um We’d like to uh always inform our audience or or introduce our audience to uh soldiers and their hobbies and their lifestyles because again, we are all from different parts of the country, different regions, different backgrounds. Uh So let’s get to know you just a little bit. We’ll go down the line. I’ll ask a question and if the three of you can just shotgun answer it on your own, that’d be great. Um What would you be doing if you were not a soldier athlete? Fire away when fire away when ready. I’d be a soldier. I’d be competing against my peers. Trying to be number one there. Alright. Specialist Del Duca. I’d probably be out racing cars. Or ski racing or or just trying to go fast somewhere. Going fast somewhere. Racing cars. That’s a man after my own heart. Um Specialist Loomis, how about you? What would you be doing if you were not a soldier athlete? That’s that’s pretty hard to say for me. I think skiing and being in the army are my two biggest identities. So I really can’t say what I would be doing right now. And it’s it’s hard to imagine life without those two things. Gotcha back over to Sergeant Olson. Most recent movie you watched? Um Well, most most recently watched Ozark. I caught up on the new episodes of that before we went to Beijing and what a crazy show is, all I can say. So that is a crazy show and side note, A very good friend of mine, we were both 46 Romeo’s together. A long time ago. That was broadcast journalist. Uh, Dave MacDonald stars in that show. Another soldier that has gone on to do other things that you would not associate with being sort of army ish. Just like you. That is really cool. Great show though. Absolutely. You’re right. Specialist Del Duca last movie or show you watched? I watched Rush. It’s a, it’s a movie about two famous Formula One drivers and uh, it’s a great movie about racing and, and life in general and some two very different characters racing against each other and being fierce rivals but also respecting each other. So it’s a great movie. Probably my favorite, yep, no, the movie well as as a racer. Absolutely great movie. You’re absolutely right. Alright. Specialist Loomis most recent show or movie you watched? I watched the latest James bond movie, No Time to die. I believe it’s called. I watched it yesterday on the plane. It’s a great movie. A little bit sad. Yeah, yeah, no, I, lifelong bond fan saw the movie mixed feelings about the ending. So I’m not sure what Barbara broccoli is going to do with the franchise, but I’ll be interested to see. Very cool. Okay, back up to Sergeant Olson favorite book, The Hot Zone we were required to read that in high school. I think that’s the first book that I read the entirety from open to close Ebola Zaire virus. Yeah, I was, wow. Okay. I’m writing that down as a book to read. I’ve not read that one. Specialist Del Duca Favorite book. What’s crazy? I read it in middle school and I’ve yet to find a book that captures uh my emotions like this. It’s called High Heat. It’s a it’s a book about baseball and a young kid going through some adversity and and really just an incredible, incredible storyline. High heat. Nice. High heat. Also writing that one down and specialist Loomis over to your favorite book. Um I will say I just got a new book today called Dope Sick that I am looking forward to reading really. So side note, Dope Sick was made into a miniseries on Hulu starring Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson. And you’ll see me if you look really hard. I was an extra in that. Uh so yeah, the book is really good. The miniseries also very, very good. Um All right back up to Sergeant Olson favorite season, summer or winter summer for sure. Growing up in Texas, It’s pretty much summer, 12 months of the year. Well that’s and that’s another part of the story right there you are from san Antonio Texas. And how did you get into bobsledding? I don’t see a lot of snow down there. What’s up with that. You know, I was in between playing football at at uh was getting ready, getting ready to walk on at Texas A and M. And see if I could make their football team. And my mom said, why don’t you try out for the bobsled team? There’s gonna be a tryout down at com land the stadium. And I said, mom, nobody tries out for bobsled in san Antonio whatever your word is, a lie. And then a couple of weeks later she said, hey, did you give it any more thought to that bobsled tryouts? And I said, mom, are you for real? You’re really still talking. I mean if it’ll make you happy, I’ll drive out there and I’ll see what, you know, see what the fuss is about and I mean, I couldn’t really ask for a better story, but I, you know, I kind of turned that and just say not everything good that your parents tell you to do is is it’s gonna be the best because as pre thinkers, we like to think we’re in control of our own destiny, but you know, this one time and many times thereafter, I heeded her advice and look where it landed me. I mean, I I knew what bob said because I never thought that I would be good enough to make the team. Mhm. But yeah, here you are gonna win. That’s really cool. Thanks for sharing that specialist Del Duca summer or winter for you. Summer? Yeah, I’m with you as a winter athletes still it’s I love the sports and winter but I love the climate of summer. Well you can do more racing in the summer right in your car. Exactly. Right. Excellent specialist Loomis summer or winter for you. Did we lose him? Oh I’m very much in between. I like the spring when I can ski in the morning and it’s nice and sunny and warm and I can go back in the afternoon. That’s why I love living in the mountains and love those spring days. Ah Best of both worlds. That’s that’s right that’s it right there. Very good. Sergeant Olson run or rock. I’ll rock any day I get I get out ran on the regular. Yeah dude. Same thing here when I was in the army, not the fastest runner. Always passed my run. Never had a problem past the two mile run. But you strap that rock on my back and tell me I need to go 12 miles. I got it all day long. I can do it drop of a hat. Let’s do it. I’m with you on that one. Specialist Del Duca run or ruck rock all the way. Heck yeah. Okay now we’re talking I struggle with the two miles. I do struggle with the two miles. Oh do you Really? That’s interesting. That’s interesting. Yeah. Just everything we do is such short bursts of speed and power. That. Yeah that’s Meanwhile I mean I do okay, but just relative to everything else I can strap a rock on and just go, ah, that’s interesting. That is interesting. Yeah, I’ve talked to people who athletes who are like sprinters, you know, 200 m 400 m two miles was difficult for them, but they could really knock out that short burst stuff quite easily. Um maybe it’s more an aerobic than aerobic. I’m not sure what I’m not a professional, but uh yeah, what you just said brings true to me from what I’ve talked with other professional athletes, specialist looms over to you run or rock. Uh seeing as I’m in the minority here, I’m definitely taking running. That’s uh part of my training and something I can always excel at in the army. Very good, very good. There’s, there’s always gotta be one like me doesn’t want to be like everybody else got to be in the minority. That’s awesome. Fantastic. Well, guys, those are great answers. A little bit of fun, kind of peeking into your personal lives and and getting to know your personality is a little bit um, one last question, as we wrap things up. This has been a great conversation. We talked a lot about being driven both as an athlete and a soldier. The things that motivate you. Um what are you looking forward to after you return from the Olympics and you’re able to kind of reset after all these months of training, Sergeant Olson over to you. Well I’m looking forward to to really getting into the nitty gritty of my military career and you know challenging myself as a leader and as a soldier and and hope hope to go to sts as soon as possible and and go to that board and and be accepted. And and maybe one day I get to come back to boxing as a coach. But you know I finally feel like it’s okay for me to to to step away and and you know for a long for the longest period of time. I was so so focused on being the best in the world at bob said I couldn’t imagine you know spending more than six months away. I mean I I did basic in a. I. T. And three days later we had pushed championships. I flew straight from Fort Jackson and I don’t even think that I had done a sprint yet. But I we had world championships at home that year and I said I’m not gonna miss out on the opportunity to to win world championships again. So uh I can’t wait to uh to come home and accept that new challenge. I I don’t know much of what it’s gonna be like. I know it’s probably gonna be hard and it takes time. But uh yeah I’m ready for it. Excellent. Well I wish you all the best in in applying to and being accepted for officer candidate school. That’s it’s a brilliant brilliant goal to have and with all the leadership experience you have up to this point not just as a non commissioned officer but having been an Olympic coach. Having to sort of lead and mentor and guide a team that will serve you well as an officer in the United States army. I wish you all the best with that you betcha Specialist Del Duca. How about you? What are you looking forward to after the Olympics? Well I’m looking forward to taking some time to catch up with family and friends and spend some time with my wife and yeah just catch up with with family and spend a little time together. We do get very focused and and devote all of our time to to this and so catching up with them is great and then I’ll have some time to devote back to my military career and and see what I can and do with the military and yeah just kind of put on put on the other hat switch uniforms and uh get back to work, switch gears, get back to work and love it. Specialist Loomis, how about you? What are you looking most forward to once you get back from the Olympics? So pretty soon after the Olympics still have few competitions to finish off the season. So I’m excited to keep that rolling and keep skiing through the winter but proceeding that I’m looking to attend B. L. C. Here in the next year. So I’m excited for that that and keep progressing in my military career and get back in touch with my local unit here in Utah a little bit more. So it’s gonna be a busy year coming up and I’m excited for it. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you so much. Thank all of you by the way, uh, all the time we have for our show tonight. I want to give a special thank you to each of our panel members for sharing your experiences and your story with us. This has been so great. I hope that you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have and I know our viewers and listeners have as well. And, and for those of you who are watching, um, you can also check them out at their website. If you have questions about the world class athlete program, ask them in the comments section. We’ve got folks who are online who can answer your questions about how to join the program, what it can do for you, what are the qualifications and the requirements. And we also want to give a special shout out to everyone who has joined us virtually for this, meet your army episode. We want to thank you so much. We hope you enjoyed the event and to learn more again about W cap visit army W Cap dot com. That’s A R M Y W C A P dot com and follow along on social media for live updates during the Olympic games at U. S. Army W. Cap again. Thank you everyone gentlemen. Best of luck to you. You’ve got our full support go team USA and for all of us here at the office of the Chief of Public Affairs. Thanks for watching. I’m hank many trees. We’ll see you next time and that’s a wrap. Thanks everybody. That was great. Yeah, really, really good. I’m looking forward to uh, to to uh seeing you guys do well over there later. Hey guys, joe Adams, that was fantastic. We really appreciate you taking the time and sharing your stories and we had quite a few participants and lots of likes, shares and comments. So really good. Really good session. Thank you for doing this and best of luck moving forward. Hank well done my friend. Hey, this was a lot. This was a lot of fun and joe. I just want to thank you because you know, you’re always reaching out giving me the opportunity to moderate these. I’m happy to do it. I love doing it. I just want to thank you for the opportunity. Um, 33 years of broadcasting and I’m still at it. Thanks to folks like you who believe in me. So thank you very much. My pleasure, my friend and and victor and nick. Thanks for everything. I think we appreciate everything you guys are doing to make this pull us all off. So, um, I think we’re clear guys again, thanks very much for doing this and best of luck moving forward and if we can ever do anything, you know, please reach out. Sorry, nelson as far as you want to pursue the the officer thing. Um, we got some hooks and we’ve got some folks who can help you down that path. Yeah. Don’t, don’t, please don’t lose my name. Sergeant Olson. I’ve, I’ve already helped one, one soldier get through. Docs get accepted. So you know, look me up and happy we write something for you. Okay. I appreciate that. I I’ve only glanced it a little bit. I had my packet kind of together and then I broke my neck and my commander said, you kind of got to hold off on that whole application. You know, since you have a profile. So I wanted to see this through, go to the Olympics, support these, these men and women and, and uh, take some time to better myself too. Yeah. Get, get yourself cleared by med. Get, you know, get the docs to sign off on it, then look me up. Okay. I’m serious. My day job. I work in the army G one, like the top personnel. So look me up. I’m serious. Okay, before you guys go. We, we talked a little bit about fitness run rock a CFT. Have all you guys taken it. And what are your thoughts now? I like it. It’s a slippery slope, but huge pivot for the army. I mean it’s uh we’ve been doing the same pt test for you know, 246 years. Um And this is clearly a new direction. Um I think if we did a one mile run people like uh specialist Del Duca and myself because we, I remember in 2011 we were doing trials for this a CFT. We didn’t really know what we’re doing at morning morning pt. But you know, I don’t know if if there’s a record for the medicine ball toss but I’ll go for it. And you know, we it’s kind of right up the alley of how you train to be a bobsled athlete is these plyometrics and the shuttle runs and the the little Carrie and we just really struggle at the two mile because our our muscle fibers are not like specialist Loomis. I mean we couldn’t much different from each other in that regard. So I think it’s wonderful. I can’t wait to take it. Um mm hmm. Someone from Korea was just, you know, how far do you think you can throw that ball? And I said, well I’m gonna find out here pretty soon after the Olympics. Nice. Yeah, it’s it’s you know, I I served for 27 years and I just remember on, you know pt test a sometimes it was a struggle just to get enough mats and get it organized. So now the resources and all the stuff you need to execute an A. C. F. T. A little bit different. Um You know not everybody’s been doing dead lifts the whole life and and so now you’re incorporating all these different movements and I think there’s goodness in it. Um But I also think you know in order to be good at dead list you got to do dead list it’s just it’s more wear and tear on everybody’s joints and it’s just not taking the test two times a year. It’s everything you need to get ready for it. Um And we all know there’s enough grind in the army. And then my concern is that a long term well being the force. Um I think it’s a great test but I think it comes with a certain cost as well. Um So my two cents luckily the dead lift is a hex bar. So luckily yeah if it was a better yes if it was a barbell dead lift a lot of people would be popping their backs. Um Yeah because the reality is you know I mean there’s millions of cross fitters across the army but there’s also millions who have never done anything like that. And you guys have all I’m sure done the dead lifts and you just round your back a little bit you get in a bad position and you’re gonna get hurt. So I guess you know I keep thinking about this we’ve been we’ve been grappling with this holy CFT thing for a long time. Um and you know as a CrossFit guy, you know who has who has had bilateral hip replacement, you know, I think we all know the kind of the but we’re and tearing the grind of some of those exercises. So but I guess that’s where we’re going in April so we shall see. Hopefully um you know, leadership or personnel can really show proper form and I think me personally, I think it’s a little more applicable to what you might see a CFT combat fitness and you’re still getting the Two Mile Inn. But now you’re you’re moving weight because if you need to move someone out of harm’s way. You know, now you’ve trained to kind of move move, you know, a couple ¬£100 around and I don’t think it’s gender neutral, I believe. So you know, the dead lift is not, it is without question. And I think they’re all functional movements, you know that they absolutely makes sense given a lot of the tasks and requirements that we have in the army. Um I’m excited because I’m a bigger person. So it’ll be nice to see uh you know, if if I were to go down in combat or something like that, see if if somebody can drag me out because it’s my take to you. Yeah, you know my guide or my my main position all along is I thought the marines kind of get this right. You know, pull ups, push ups, sit ups, three mile run, you can’t fall out of bed and do well in a three mile run pull ups, you gotta move your own body weight, you know, there’s no hiding from that. So I always thought that was just better in terms of functionality. They don’t let you, they don’t let you enlist unless you can do a pull up on the spot. Right. I don’t know what the latest of a lot. You know, I know when I was at a MRG, we used to activate the national events all over the country and I go out there with these $7 million trailers and all the high speed stuff. Marines would show up with the same shirt every time three marines and a pull up bar, that was it. So when I was on recruiting duty, that’s exactly what they did. You know, the army were passing out, you know, t shirts and swag and the marines are out there challenging people to pull up contests. Things never change. Okay, gents again. Thanks very much. We appreciate your time and looking forward to it. Yes, Good luck to all of you. And I’ll be watching. Absolutely. Thanks a lot. This is great. Thank you. Thanks, Good night everybody. Thanks everyone

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