Spc. Spencer Woods, a soldier from rural Alaska joined the Army to pursue his Olympic dream, nearly missing a chance at Paris.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Specialist Spencer Woods comes from the village of Shungnak , 148 miles east of Kotzebue . After years of training he set his eyes on the Olympics and just nearly missed his shot at competing in Paris .
As he continued wrestling he would eventually excel in the sport and would work is way into a division one wrestling team at the University of Maryland. That’s when his Olympic dream began. “Halfway through my redshirt freshman year, that’s when I told my coach that I wanted to pursue this Olympic dream,” Woods explained. “My coach at the time Kerry McCoy, he’s a two time Olympian, so he understood the dream, the drive and collegiate wrestling... it’s one of the Olympic styles,” said Woods.
In 2020, Woods went on to join the Army and was lucky enough to be accepted into the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program. “These guys they have the best coaches ,they have the best guys... every year they have six out of the ten guys going to the world championships, they’re always making Olympic teams,” said Woods. The Army’s World Class Athlete Program, commonly called WCAP, allows soldiers to train and perform at the international level, while also serving in the military.
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