{"id":2521,"date":"2012-06-22T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=2521"},"modified":"2012-06-25T17:12:24","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T21:12:24","slug":"a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison"},"content":{"rendered":"

To the average onlooker, archery might seem to be one of the most tedious if not strenuous sports at the Summer Olympics. But to Arizona native Brady Ellison, pulling back the string and aiming at a target roughly 75 yards away can be as peaceful as bow hunting in the great outdoors.<\/p>\n

In this Inspiring Athletes conversation, the three-time Pan American Games gold medalist talks about how he got into the sport and how his faith fuels his competitive drive:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: At what point in your life did you decide to pursue your Olympic dream?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Brady Ellison (Photo by Teresa Iaconi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brady Ellison: I started training full time for the Olympics in January of 2006.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How did you get into archery and what about the sport do you most appreciate and enjoy?<\/p>\n

Ellison: I got into the sport through hunting. I think it is a beautiful sport to watch when done right. I like the level of precision it takes to be at the top.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are some key principles that you\u2019ve relied upon throughout your Olympic pursuit?<\/p>\n

Ellison: Having the will to keep driving no matter what and knowing that God and my family are behind me supporting me no matter how I do.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How did you become a Christian?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Brady Ellison (Photo by Teresa Iaconi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ellison: I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was little. I never knew what that meant. I believe that God saved me from dying in a horrible car accident in Vermont, and from there I started to take my faith a little more serious. I met a man named Jansen Asbill and he really opened my eyes to the Lord. And then my wonderful girlfriend and family helped change me for the better.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How has your faith in God specifically helped you deal with the challenges you\u2019ve faced as an Olympian?<\/p>\n

Ellison: Philippians 4:13 says, \u201cI can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.\u201d Once I put winning in God’s hands, I stopped worrying about that. I just went to tournaments and shot with no fear, doing only the best I can do and leaving the rest up to God.<\/p>\n

Read more about the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in the July issue of Charisma Magazine<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And check out Chad Bonham\u2019s latest book Glory of the Games<\/a> that features 18 past and present Olympians such as Shannon Miller, Tamika Catchings, Josh Davis, Ryan Hall, Dave Johnson and Kevin Durant discussing various biblical principles that have helped them succeed as elite international athletes.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can also find a wealth of great information about the Olympics and the US Olympians by visiting NBCOlympics.com<\/a> and TeamUSA.org<\/a> including photos, videos, bios, news stories, results and much more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To the average onlooker, archery might seem to be one of the most tedious if not strenuous sports at the Summer Olympics. But to Arizona native Brady Ellison, pulling back the string and aiming at a target roughly 75 yards away can be as peaceful as bow hunting in the great outdoors. In this Inspiring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1015,3,578,382,5],"tags":[847,1016,923,102,34,957,15,922,344],"class_list":["post-2521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archery","category-christian-athletes","category-olympic-athletes","category-qa","category-sports-features","tag-2012-summer-olympics","tag-brady-ellison","tag-dave-johnson","tag-josh-davis","tag-kevin-durant","tag-london","tag-ryan-hall","tag-shannon-miller","tag-tamika-catchings"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To the average onlooker, archery might seem to be one of the most tedious if not strenuous sports at the Summer Olympics. But to Arizona native Brady Ellison, pulling back the string and aiming at a target roughly 75 yards away can be as peaceful as bow hunting in the great outdoors. In this Inspiring…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-22T12:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-25T21:12:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/05\/Brady-Ellison-2-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chad Bonham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison - Inspiring Athletes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison - Inspiring Athletes","og_description":"To the average onlooker, archery might seem to be one of the most tedious if not strenuous sports at the Summer Olympics. But to Arizona native Brady Ellison, pulling back the string and aiming at a target roughly 75 yards away can be as peaceful as bow hunting in the great outdoors. In this Inspiring…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html","og_site_name":"Inspiring Athletes","article_published_time":"2012-06-22T12:00:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-25T21:12:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/05\/Brady-Ellison-2-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"Chad Bonham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html","name":"A conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison - Inspiring Athletes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/05\/Brady-Ellison-2-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-22T12:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-25T21:12:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/05\/Brady-Ellison-2-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/05\/Brady-Ellison-2-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-u-s-olympian-brady-ellison.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A conversation with U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/","name":"Inspiring Athletes","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Chad Bonham","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1","name":"Chad Bonham","description":"Chad has been working in mass media for over 20 years. Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2521"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2653,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521\/revisions\/2653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}