*** Note to the media – video from today’s press conference is now available for download from our FTP site***

For Immediate Release

August 17, 2012

Contact: Gavin Lang (gavin.lang@okstate.edu)

Oklahoma State’s Olympic Medalist Shares His Experience

Coleman Scott, John Smith look back on London games.

STILLWATER – Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler and former Oklahoma State star Coleman Scott met with the media Friday afternoon alongside coach John Smith to discuss his Olympic experience and his plans for the future. Some of the highlights:

Coleman Scott

On the support he received in the U.S. while he was competing at the Olympics:
“Everybody’s telling me that everyone was focusing on the matches. That’s part of the reason of what makes it so easy to go out there and compete. It’s because of people and fans like this around here and all around the country and that’s who I was doing it for.”

On his mindset:
“Every tournament you go into you have the mindset of winning. I came up a little bit short there in the semi-finals. I was hard on myself right after. I felt like I left something out there on the mat and Coach kept preaching to make sure that doesn’t happen. I was upset with myself for that. But after I thought about it, I guess coming back with a medal is better than fifth. That’s the mindset I went with, that I wasn’t going to be denied. I wanted to save face and bring something back with me. It’s not the color I wanted or the outcome, but it’s something to build on. It was the first world team I made. A lot of people thought I’d do alright but they didn’t think I’d medal because I wasn’t the top seven or eight in the world. But I thought I was and I just had to prove it to them.  I just learned to build on that and I’m really motivated right now I want another shot at that kid and wrestle him again this year if he stays at 60 kg. That’s the plan and I’m just going to move forward from here and keep building on this for the next three or four years and make another run at this thing.”

If he plans on competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics:
“Yes.”

On the bronze medal match:
“That match was almost identical to the one with the kid at the World Cup. I lost the first and won the second and was losing the third with short time left. It was almost identical. I think I took him down with 10 seconds left at World Cup and it was about the same here. I wasn’t nervous. I looked over at coach and he just told me to shoot and it was almost like I psyched myself out. I just told myself to go get it.  I don’t know why I waited so long. But I guess it worked out in the long run. I wasn’t nervous at all. I had this confidence that I was going to go get it. This whole year has been if I needed a take down I’ve gone and gotten it. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but it’s worked in my favor recently. I think that’s where my confidence came from at that time.”

On what he remembers about the moment that he won:
“I don’t know if I remember much. I just know it got real loud and I looked up and saw the fans in the shirts and Coach jump up. I didn’t realize how short the time was so I looked over and there was only a couple seconds left so I started celebrating a bit. It was great a great feeling that I did come back and get the medal. Coming back in fifth-place probably would have been the worst feeling ever.”

On the U.S. wrestling team’s interaction with the U.S. women’s gymnastics team:
“It was the first day we were there and we were walking out of the café and we saw them walking in that direction. All five of them. They’re only 16-year-old girls but it was our whole team. So the kid who went up to them was Jordan Burroughs, the reigning world champion and the face of wrestling. He went up and was like ‘hey, can we all get a picture?’ and they said no and just walked on by. It’s sort of embarrassing to get stood up by 16-year-olds.”

On his relationship with John Smith:
“I came here as an 18-year-old kid all the way from Pennsylvania. When I made the decision, I knew it was the right one just by the way I felt around him. I trusted him and I knew I’d be in good hands and my parents knew I’d be in goods hands which was a big deal. Nothing’s ever failed. Anything I need, I go to to him. I need advice and I talk to him and listen to the answers. It’s more than just in the wrestling room and on the mat for me. We go to church every Sunday and see him and his family there every Sunday. Little things like that when I was coming through that I looked up to. To have that strong leadership and morally he does everything right and that’s the way I want to be. I want to be trustworthy and stuff like that and he has all of those characteristics.  He’s so easy to follow when I’m around him.”

John Smith

On the London Games:
“What an exciting time, the Olympics in London. I’ve been a part of several of them since 1988 and this was probably my favorite one from the standpoint of how well it was run and the excitement around the village and the excitement around the events. They packed every event in every sport. They just really came out, the people of London. That’s what makes the Olympics great, the people of the city. These people went out of their way to make sure that the athletes, the coaches and the visiting people just had a good time. Just a wonderful, wonderful city and a wonderful event. Then of course bringing home a medal and being a part of that with Coleman, that makes it even better - great experience. We were over there for about 20 days, between there and Belarus it was a great experience for everyone involved.”

On watching the medal count as the Olympics progressed:
“For us, we were watching the medal count. It’s something that keeps us motivated. When we win a medal they post it up immediately and we know who won or what medal they won. Chasing China right at the beginning and then to catch them and them put the foot down right at the end, that was exciting for everyone involved. It was a statement that we’re not ready to give that medal count up. And we took great pride in that wrestling took part in it and in freestyle won three medals to add to the medal count.”

On Jordan Oliver and his role in Coleman Scott’s Olympic training:
“Jordan had an opportunity. Coleman chose him as his training partner. Once he actually made the team he got to choose a training partner that would be with him for the next 30-45 days. With this, it was 45 days. It started back in June when we went to camp and Jordan has been a part of the process. He went over to London and Belarus and spent the whole time with him. He was there for Coleman when he set the workouts that day. Hopefully it’s an experience that he feels. He got to see it. He watched guys that he wrestled with in Junior World Championships win medals. It’s a little bit of an advantage for him to build that passion to make one of those teams or to medal. It was a good experience for him. He went through the whole experience. Hopefully down the road it will make a difference. “

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Gavin Lang

Oklahoma State Media Relations

gavin.lang@okstate.edu

Office: 405-744-3875

Cell: 405-612-9274

Twitter: @glang1

www.okstate.com