More than a half dozen of the athletes competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics soon in Pyeonchang, South Korea honed their skills at East Tennessee State University. They trained at ETSU's Olympic Training Site.
"I think this year was the most special out of the four Olympics that I've been involved with in the fact that out of the seven athletes going, a lot of them are homegrown, so to speak," Brad DeWeese, the site head coach said.
Seven athletes are headed to the Winter Olympics under the direction of DeWeese. They are competing in bobsled, luge, and skeleton events next month.
They include Steve Langton, John Daly, Hakeem Saboor (UVA-Wise), Chris Kinney (ETSU), Chris Mazdzer for Team USA. Lachlan Reidy will represent Team Australia. Sean Adigun will represent Nigeria.
DeWeese said, "A lot of the sports depend on how strong and fast you are, so that's our job to do everything off the ice. We make them strong through the weight training. We work on their speed development. We also oversee their nutrition and their recovery tactics."
The athletes spent April through August in Johnson City training with DeWeese and graduate assistant coaches at ETSU's facility.
"Anybody who is in this field wants to have the opportunity to work at the highest level of competition and these athletes are absolutely at the top of the game, so to be able to have the opportunity to see what a true high-performance atmosphere looks like at that level is an invaluable experience," graduate assistant Alex Whetmore said.
The athletes then split their time at other olympic training centers, including Park City, Utah and Lake Placid, New York. They consistently share progress with coaches by video.
"With the training Dr. DeWeese prescribes is making sure that the athletes are consistent day to day and we're working on quality, not necessarily quantity of the work," graduate assistant Taylor Portman said.
Even though it has been four years worth of work, the shining moment is still to come.
DeWeese said, "I think the way I think about it is like taking my child to kindergarten for the first time. I don't have any control, but you trust that the athletes have bought in and they know they're supposed to treat the competition at the Olympics like any other day of practice."
You can watch the Olympics on WBIR. The opening ceremony is Feb. 9.