Soldier athletes work to earn Olympic spots

Army News Service

WASHINGTON - Motivation. Drive. Spirit. As Soldiers with the World Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colorado, push themselves, they have one goal - to qualify for the summer Olympics and Paralympics.

The WCAP coaching and high-performance team consists of former Olympians and experts in strength and conditioning, athletic training, nutrition and massage therapy. They work with the active, Guard and Reserve Soldier athletes to keep them in peak performance.

Nutrition

When each athlete comes into the program, nutritionist Maj. Kelly Kaim runs a full blood panel and goes over their diets.

"Nutrition can be a huge factor in winning or losing, and each individual needs to be treated differently to maximize their success," Kaim said.

Track and field athlete Sgt. Anthony Rotich said it was a game changer for him.

"I found out I was anemic and was told I shouldn't be running," he said. "I took an iron supplement for two years and really started performing. It really made a difference."

He said nutrition, training and recovery were all important. Rotich is an 11-time NCAA All-American and achieved the Olympic standard in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase event with an overall finish time of 8:13:74.

"Protein helps me to stabilize the blood sugar levels," said Sgt. Colett Rampf, radiologist specialist. "You have to implement protein because at the end of the day, for running, the first thing your body burns is muscle mass."

Rampf is a 7-time NCAA All-American and also runs the 3,000-meter Steeplechase. She hopes to make the Olympic team at the trials June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon.

Kaim said nutrition is important not only for the athletes but for all Soldiers.

"Soldiers should get adequate protein to protect muscle mass and have a good strength training program in place," she said. "The longer someone serves, the more time and money is invested in them, so education is crucial for the continuation of our military readiness."

Coaches

With more than 20 years of experience, Lt. Col. Jason Barber acts as the strength and conditioning coach for the Soldier athletes. He's also an Olympic weightlifting coach and USA Track and Field coach.

He said it's vital for the coaches and support team to travel with the athletes as they compete at the elite level.

"It's vital to be embedded not only into the WCAP program but with the teams as they travel," he said. "They know that not only are people routing for them, but they have people there who know them, care for them every day, train them and are in the fight with them. That concept gives us the edge over our competition both in the U.S. and overseas."

Staff Sgt. Samuel Kosgei qualified for the Olympic trials in 2020 and won the Marine Corps Marathon in 2014 and 2016. He coaches the track and field team.

"My job is to motivate them and encourage them to accomplish their mission to make the Olympic team. It's an honor to work with these guys," he said. "They know my job is just to remind them that we're here for one mission, to make the Olympic team. We are a team, with the Army, we work as a team."

Camaraderie

Though the WCAP Soldier athletes are competitive, they work as a team to motivate each other to earn their respective spots on the Olympic team.

Kosgei said the runners work as a team because they have a lot of volume in training, sometimes running 100 miles a week.

"If you work individually, you'll be exhausted," he said. "But if you have your battle buddy helping you, pushing you on the weekdays you feel like you don't want to do it, you know your battle buddy will keep you going."

He said his goal is to build them, motivate them and get the job done, help them pick each other up and check on each other. He said one runner does 25 miles a day while the others do 16 miles. The team runs with him for those 16 miles, and then he does the rest on his own.

"I was only doing 30 miles until I came here, and then I started running 90 miles," Rotich said with a smile. He said he wouldn't be where he is today without the support he receives from his teammates, family and support team.

Staff Sgt. Leonard Korir, motor transport operator, said training with the team helped him secure his spot on the 2024 Paris U.S. Olympic team and the 2016 Rio U.S. Olympic team. He earned a bronze medal at the marathon Olympic trials in Orlando April 3 and was announced as an official member of the marathon team for the Paris Olympics June 6.

He said during their 4 X 400 repeats, they switch. In track, the 4 X 400 is the meter mileage athletes will run and then recover as they perform each lap around a track.

"I can take the first one, you take the next one, we do like that and before you know it, we've done 25 laps," he said. "It's about teamwork. We train with each other. If we ever see someone falling back, we encourage them. We check on them. We stay together. If you're not feeling good, you can run together with the team, get motivated and before you know it, you've finished the race."

With coaches motivating them and the nutritionist and strength and conditioning coaches there to keep them in top form, the Soldier athletes can focus on the final upcoming trials to qualify for the summer Olympics in Paris.

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