A Conversation with U.S. Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Coach and Former Olympic Champion Brandon Slay

At the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Brandon Slay reached the pinnacle of his sport with a golden performance. But it was just a year earlier when the freestyle wrestler had to come to grips with a harsh reality—he was a phony Christian. So when that medal was placed around his neck, Slay was better prepared to handle the glory that was coming his way and life’s ups and downs that were certain to follow.

Now the Assistant National Freestyle Coach and National Freestyle Resident Coach for USA wrestling, Slay is working with the next generation of Americans. In this conversation, he talks about his humble beginnings in the sport, how he became a Christian, and how his wrestling career has brought him closer to God:

Chad Bonham: Tell me about your interesting introduction to wrestling and your early struggles with the sport.

Brandon Slay: I was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. My dad was a wrestler at the University of Alabama. He started taking me to the YMCA when I was six years old. That’s when I started wrestling competitively. That first year, I went 0 for 20. I got pinned almost every single time and I cried every single time. My second year, I had seven wins and 15 losses. My third year, I finally broke even. At the end of my third year and going into my fourth year, that’s when I started tasting success and getting my hand raised on a more frequent basis. That’s when I started to fall in love with the sport.

Bonham: How did you become a Christian?

Slay: My mom and dad got a divorce when I was three. I had to move in with my grandmother when I was five until I was about 13. My grandmother was a Baptist Sunday School teacher. We went to church Wednesday nights, Sunday mornings and Sunday nights. She got me enrolled into a Christian school. I went to a Christian school from kindergarten through sixth grade. I had that Christian upbringing from church to school to being at home with my grandmother.

In high school, I got addicted to myself and to success on the football field and on the wrestling mat. Sports became my god. I believed in God. I believed that Jesus died on the cross, but I didn’t have that genuine relationship with the Savior. I wrestled at Penn in Philadelphia. I was living a rebellious lifestyle. I wasn’t taking a stand for God. He wasn’t the most important thing in my life. Success was. Being a world champion was.

I finished second at the NCAA tournament twice and then moved to Colorado Springs to train for national team. God used that time to work on my heart. I went from living in West Philadelphia and a busy lifestyle to Colorado. That really slowed my life down. When I opened my blinds of my window every morning, I was facing Pike’s Peak. That’s where God wooed my heart. I knew in my heart that God created that. When you start thinking about Creation, you start thinking about how you’re living compared to God’s truth. It was about 1999 when I realized that I was a phony. I wasn’t living what I said I believed.

Before I had my Matthew 10:39 moment, my all-in surrender, it took me doing some soul searching. I researched other religions. If I was going to go down that path of seeking after God, I wanted to know what other religions believed. After doing that for a few months, that’s when God impressed upon my heart that Christianity was the only religion that had a Savior. All I’d been trying to do was save myself. But we needed someone to die for our sin and our rebellion. We needed someone to pay for that wage of sin. At that point, it didn’t just make heart sense. It made logical sense to me. It was more than just believing what my grandmother believed.

Bonham: What is a significant spiritual lesson that God has taught you throughout your career?

Slay: A local pastor in Colorado Springs sat down with me one morning and asked me, “What do you think your purpose is?” This was before I had surrendered my life to Christ. I told him, “My purpose is to work out, lift weights, wrestle hard, go win a gold medal, retire from wrestling, get married and have some kids, work until I’m 60, retire from work, go fishing with my buddies and then I’ll go die.

He didn’t argue with me. He just walked off and encouraged me to chew on that. I was so mad. That couldn’t be my purpose. There had to be something greater than that. At the same time, God was stirring my heart. Now I understand that my purpose is to know the Savior and to make Him known. In doing so, you can wrestle. You can get married. You can have kids. You can work until retirement. You can go fishing with your buddies. But that’s all about underneath the purpose of knowing the Savior and making Him known.

Bonham: What’s your message for the athletes you train or any other athletes out there trying to fulfill their dreams?

Slay: Reaching your Mt. Everest doesn’t fulfill you. Not reaching it doesn’t destroy you. You may that think that becoming the state champion or the NCAA champion or the Olympic champion is some sort of euphoric moment that’s going to be with you for the rest of the life. But it doesn’t fulfill you. It’s just a thing. It’s just an accomplishment. It’s just a climb to the top. Yes, you can enjoy the view and it’s really pretty when you get up there, but eventually you have to come back down. You can’t stay at the top of Mt. Everest for more than 30 minutes. You’ll end up dying due to oxygen depravation. Eventually you have to humble yourself and you have to come back down. You’ll die up there. Spiritually, you will die.

That’s what happens to a lot of young adults. They buy into the lie that they will be fulfilled by accomplishments. All you have to do is ask anyone who has been to the top and they’ll tell you that it doesn’t fulfill you.

But you still go for it with everything you have. You use he gifts that God has blessed you with to the best of your ability. He’s given you these gifts to glorify Him and to honor Him. You go for it with everything you have. It’s totally okay to go for the gold. But you’re doing it with the understanding that you’re doing it to try to fulfill yourself. You’re doing it to glorify God. If you get there, it’s going to be awesome and you’ll be thankful for it. But if you fall short, you’re still better because of it.

The Holy Spirit through God’s Word and others revealed to me that having that attitude frees you up. I was putting all my eggs in one basket. Winning the gold medal wasn’t my everything. So when I went up on that mat, I was able to give my best and let God take care of the rest.

Pick up Chad's book Glory of the Games, featuring inspiring stories from 17 Olympic athletes (past and present) such as Shannon Miller, Tobin Heath, Laura Wilkinson, Josh Davis, Michael Chang, and Kevin Durant, by clicking HERE.

Photo courtesy of US Olympic Team.

A Conversation with U.S. Freestyle Wrestler Tervel Dlagnev

Tervel Dlagnev was born in Bulgaria during the reign of a crumbling Soviet Union. So in 1990, his parents moved from Eastern Europe to East Texas in an attempt to escape the hard times that were ahead. As a junior in high school, Dlagnev decided to give wrestling a try, and turns out, he was pretty good—so good that he earned a scholarship to Nebraska-Kearney where he won two individual Division II titles and a team title.

Now a naturalized citizen, Dlagnev is competing in his second Summer Olympics for Team USA in the 125kg division. But more importantly is his commitment to putting God first in all areas of his life. In this conversation, he talks about his unique upbringing, how he became a Christian, and how he applies his faith to his wrestling career:

Chad Bonham: Tell me about your upbringing and how that impacted your faith journey.

Tervel Dlagnev: Religion was regulated in Eastern Europe. My dad was an atheist. I think he enjoyed shocking people in the Texas area by saying he didn’t believe in God. As I got older, my parents took a hands-off approach to spirituality. But God used wrestling to reveal Himself to me. Wrestling is such a hard sport and it’s so personal. I started to become introspective and I tried to manage my thoughts and my feelings. I had a lot of fears and doubts. So I started to ask questions about my nature.

One of my high school teammates shared the Gospel with me at a national tournament. I didn’t take it seriously at first but it planted some seeds in my heart. Once I got to college, I was surrounded by good people and some believers who had been following God for a long time. They took me to a lot of Bible studies and that’s when I started to understand the character of God. The Bible revealed to me a lot of the reasons why I was like the way I was. It was after my freshman year when I gave my life to Christ.

Bonham: What’s a biblical principle that has guided you on this Olympic journey?

Dlagnev: God will give you what you need. He’s always there for anything. But when I try to control things or the times I stress out, those are the times when I feel like I’m the least comfortable with my circumstances. But I’m most content when I’m taking time to pray and I’m seeking His face for answers. Christian athletes talk about doing things for the Lord. But for me, God has put that to the test, like when I just fell short in the Olympics in 2008. I had to rely on the fact that He is sovereign.

But He’s also loving and just. Sometimes I compartmentalize God, but there’s the revelation that He is a complete God. What’s happening to me is absolutely in His plan and it’s for my good. It’s going to turn out in the favor of justice. Understanding the fullness of God really comforts me in my circumstances. Athletes are always going to have struggles. Sometimes, their will won’t line up with God’s will. They might get angry or get frustrated and try to control the situation. But when you trust God, you can turn the control over to Him.

Bonham: What message do you hope your story sends to other wrestlers?

Dlagnev: Wrestlers at all levels deal with control. The flesh tugs at us. But don’t forget who God is and understand that if you put it all on yourself, it can get pretty stressful. There are so many links to the chain of wrestling. There are so many bases you can cover and you’ll just burn yourself out and stress yourself out to the point of having performance anxiety. That can cause you to back track in our development.

Work as hard as you can and have fun with the sport and use wisdom to recognize the things you need to get better at technically. All of those things are important, but you always need to have confidence in the fact that the result is ultimately in the hands of God. It will take a huge amount of fear and doubt and anxiety out of you.

You can't sit on the couch and expect to become an Olympic champion. You have to give all that you have and use your talents and abilities. But it’s refreshing to know that everything you have comes from God and He will use it. If you offer it up to Him, He will use it however He wants to use it in a sovereign, good and just way.

Pick up Chad's book Glory of the Games, featuring inspiring stories from 17 Olympic athletes (past and present) such as Shannon Miller, Tobin Heath, Laura Wilkinson, Josh Davis, Michael Chang, and Kevin Durant, by clicking HERE.

 

Photo courtesy of US Olympic Team.