With the U.S. Women’s Freestyle Olympic Team Trials only days away, Erin Clodgo has a small window of time to buckle down and focus on making her dreams come true. Come April 22, Clodgo and the rest of the U.S. wrestlers hoping to make the Olympic team at 63 kg/138.75 lbs., will compete for a spot to go to the London Games. 

“I’m really excited about the Trials, and you can tell from everyone around here that it’s crunch time and its coming up fast,” Clodgo said. “I’ve waited for this moment for the past four years and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I’m so excited. But, at the same time, it’s like I’m running on a balance beam.”

The 21 year old has really ratcheted up her training, spending extra time on the mat and making sure she is fully prepared heading into the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Clodgo moved to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 2009. This past year she stopped taking college classes to fully dedicate herself to making the Olympic team. 

“This whole year especially, I’ve bumped up my training two to three hours a day,” Clodgo said. “I try to come in early and stay late, trying to mix things up and keep going hard. I try to learn as much as I can, get in and touch everything up and tighten everything up.”

Clodgo, who finished second at last April’s U.S. Open in Cleveland, Ohio is pleased with how she has been performing this season and hopes her progression will continue into the Olympic Trials.
Women’s National Team coach Terry Steiner has noticed Clodgo’s improvement as well, saying she has made big strides this year. 

“She has definitely developed a lot this year and has made a big improvement,” Steiner said. “I think last year she wondered if she belonged here, in this setting and I think she’s at the point where she realizes that she does belong here.”

Clodgo’s performances this year have certainly backed up the notion that she belongs among the best. In the 10 events in which she has competed since last April, Clodgo has finished in the top three six times, with a fourth place finish in another. 

Steiner noted Clodgo’s attitude and work ethic as a huge reason to her success and feels she will be right in the thick of things come Trials. 

“I think the greatest thing she has is her attitude. She comes in everyday with a smile on her face and ready to work. She gets frustrated sometimes just like everyone else, but she comes each day with a great attitude,” Steiner said. 

Clodgo, who says she hopes to one day go back to school to complete a culinary degree, will be competing against her fellow USOTC wrestlers for the lone spot at 63 kg to go to London. Most of them are the same people she sees each day at practice. 

“I think wrestling them each day can help and it can hurt you,” Clodgo said. “It can help you as much as you want it to help or it can break you before you even get there. I just try and learn as much as I can and enjoy it as much as I can.”

With the Olympic Trials less than 10 days away, the preparation for the Olympic hopefuls is both intense and calm at the same time. Anticipation for the big day is intensifying but Steiner and his coaching staff understands with only days left to prepare, there is little left to do but trust in the training and preparation.

“The work at this point is pretty much done and I don’t think much is going to change,” said Steiner. “The thing that the girls really have to grasp onto right now is the mental aspect. I think going back and getting that appreciation for what they are doing and realizing the opportunity ahead of them and not making it into a burden. Sometimes, with a competition this big and something they’ve been focusing on since childhood, all of a sudden when you get this close it becomes a burden and you really need to step back and look at this great opportunity.”

Clodgo is focused and confident in her preparation to this point and understands all her training will be put to the test in Iowa City. 

“I need to keep doing what I’ve been doing and get myself ready and excited,” Clodgo said. “And just trust everything that I’ve done has been right.”