Editor’s Note: Christi Scott knows Woods’ family having also grown up in Cincinnati. She recently interviewed the US coach over Skype.
Story highlights
Woods is a strength and conditioning coach
Working with China's Olympic team in Pyeongchang
Coaching China's short track speed skater
If you dream of going to the Olympics, you’ll quickly learn there’s no comfort zone.
That was certainly the case for Dustin Woods and his wife Allyse in 2011 when faced with the opportunity to pack their bags and train Chinese athletes in Beijing.
They never could have imagined all that China would have in store for them.
The fast track to short track
Even so as a self-professed homebody with a young family and a fresh career at Ignition Athletic Performance Group, it wasn’t a decision that came easy for him.
What would it look like to take that leap of faith?
Fortunately for China, Woods did not have much time to question the alternative.
One resume, two interviews and three weeks later, the Ohio native found himself in Beijing as the head strength and conditioning coach of Team China’s short track speed skaters.
Three years of intense training later, they were bound for the games in Sochi.
The 2014 Winter Olympics were very fruitful for Woods and Team China – two gold medals, three silver and one bronze between the men and women’s teams.
While China didn’t take home the most gold medals, they did return with the most medals in their sport.
Little did Woods know that his China adventure was only just beginning, even if regular life in Ohio resumed after he and his wife came home to the US.
He resumed working for Ignition APG as a trainer for elite athletes and the couple welcomed their daughter Zoe in the summer.
All signs pointed to growing their family stateside, but the couple quickly felt the calling to return to Beijing.
“We did not plan on coming back for the second round,” Woods said, “but obviously things worked out.”
“I sent a coach [to China] from Ignition to the Chinese team for a year trying to get him to stay on, but the head coach continued to ask us to come back during that time.
“We had some really deep connections with a lot of the athletes here. That was essentially the reason we came back. We just felt led to come back again, like we did the first time.”
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