Brandon Slay, who won an Olympic gold medal in 2000, has been named as the Assistant National Freestyle Coach and National Freestyle Resident Coach by USA Wrestling. Slay, a Texas native, wrestled collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania"We are excited to take another step in building America's freestyle wrestling team," said National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones. "Brandon is an Olympic champion and has all the things we are looking for as a National Coach. He has character, passion and a strong work ethic. Brandon will be a great leader of the program and the athletes will enjoy working with him. As a former resident athlete, he understands the structure, demands, benefits and environment at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He exemplifies the holistic approach, which includes winning gold medals and representing our nation with dignity and excellence."
Slay won a gold medal at 76 kg/167.5 lbs. at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. He upset Olympic and World Champion Bouvaisa Saitiev of Russia in the pool competition in Sydney. Saitiev has gone on to win three Olympic gold medals.
Slay won the 2000 U.S. National Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., and claimed the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, held in his native Dallas, Texas. He was a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete for two full seasons when he became an Olympic gold medalist.
Among the international competitions that Slay won included the test event for the 2000 Olympics, the 1999 Five Continents Cup in Sydney, Australia. He won two University Nationals titles, and was also a champion at the Dave Schulz Memorial International. Slay won two Cadet World medals in Greco-Roman and also competed on a U.S. Junior World Team in freestyle.
He was a two-time NCAA runner-up competing for the Univ. of Pennsylvania, where he received a degree from the Wharton School of Business. Originally from Amarillo, Texas, Slay won three state titles for Tascosa High School, and was an all-district football player.
After the Olympics, Slay started an organization called Greater Gold, which assists youth in reach their full academic and athletic potential while planting Biblical seeds of truth. He is a board member and on the staff of the Dallas Dynamite, a non-profit wrestling organization in Dallas that trains and mentors young athletes. Slay is also a nationally respected public speaker and wrestling clinician.
Slay currently serves as the Director of Young Adult Community at the Watermark Community Church in Dallas. He previously worked with Stream Realty Partners, a commercial real estate firm.
"I am really excited about the opportunity to work with Zeke Jones, Bill Zadick and the new developmental coach to be hired as a team to develop the vision that will lead to success in 2012 at the London Olympics," said Slay. "I look forward to creating the coaching synergy to train U.S. freestyle wrestlers to win many more World and Olympic medals."
Slay's background as a past USOTC resident athlete will help him in his new position.
"I have a passion for the U.S. Olympic Training Center because I went through it as an athlete," said Slay. "I believe one of the main reasons I attained my goals was that I left the college environment for the USOTC. I was a 100% freestyle wrestler with 100% professional freestyle coaches. I know that the USOTC is not the only place where a wrestler can train to be an Olympic champion. Athletes can excel in other training situations. However, I do believe it is one of the ideal locations to develop champions."
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now