The Tartan

By Theresa Pham

Carnegie Mellon’s lone representative at the Paris Olympic Games was head track and field coach Gary Aldrich. In Paris, Aldrich served as the men’s throws coach working with superstars such as Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs on their quest for Olympic glory. Aldrich is one of very few Division III coaches who get to coach at one olympics, let alone two. However, he may be better known as the spotter in Joe Kovacs’  (Rio, Tokyo, and Paris silver medalist in the men’s shot-put) TikToks — “There’s a viral video of me spotting Joe Kovacs benching 770 pounds and there I was as one of his spotters,” beamed Aldrich. 

Aldrich admits his journey to throwing was unordinary. As a high schooler, Aldrich played football and baseball, and was recruited for the former. He started the sport after Eric,  his AP biology classmate who was “the best runner in the school” per Aldrich, encouraged him to throw for the team his senior year. Aldrich stopped the sport upon arriving at Slippery Rock University where he studied physical education and played football. He restarted the sport on the intramural level in his freshman spring. Then, he took home the shot put title, catching the eye of the throwing coach who asked him to try out for the varsity team. Following the conclusion of his sophomore football season, Aldrich decided to focus on throwing, and eventually became the first athlete at Slippery Rock to use a fifth year of eligibility. 

Aldrich’s journey to the international level began when a friend asked him to apply for the throws coach position at a lower-level international team. Why? “My friend said they needed new blood. I responded, ‘I’m fifty years old. I’m not new.” The U.S. Track and Field Association was rife with internal politics at the time and eventually selected Aldrich (the new blood) for the team. After a successful meet, his friend encouraged Aldrich to apply again. Which he did. Again and again. “Eventually, I was selected for Tokyo. I thought it would be a one and done, because very rarely does a coach get one team, and even if they get two teams it’s never two consecutive teams,” he said.

“There was really no typical day at the olympics. Because, well, it’s the Olympics,” Aldrich remarked.  Having arrived in Paris a week before his athletes were set to compete, Aldrich spent 12-hour days at the U.S. High Performance Center (USHPC), the training home of volleyball, break-dancing, fencing, and track and field. Aldrich credits previous teams for helping him arrive at the Olympics with close relationships to his athletes and their coaches. “I knew Joe and his coach (and wife) Ashley. Ryan [Crouser] basically coaches himself, but his dad is around to help out if needed. I knew Deanna Price (women’s hammer thrower) and her husband JC (a throws coach at UIUC). My role with those athletes was mainly as a facilitator.” Aldrich was there to take care of the athletes. He “would monitor the circles, arrange weight room time, and make sure the athletes got treatment, and make sure things got done.” The coaching he does on the international level is drastically different from the coaching he does at Carnegie Mellon. “The only athlete I coached in a traditional sense was Joseph Brown, who basically coached himself onto the Olympic team. I didn’t know him before [he made the team] so I would watch and analyze videos with him, ask him about how he thinks about things, and help him break down little parts of his throw in a way that makes sense to him.” The time between making the team and competing at the Olympics was short, and for Aldrich, “the last thing you want to do is plant doubt right before the Olympics.”

The Paris games made headlines for the lack of protein and general lack of taste in the food in the village. Many athletes publicly complained about the food, even posting TikToks referencing the quality. “I’ll admit I’m a picky eater, but the food in Paris was bad,” said Aldrich in agreement, “the food in Tokyo was very good.” Aldrich says that his athletes mainly ate at the USHPC: “We were there all the time, so the meal times basically lined up”. Other athletes, he said, “weren’t so lucky, there was a rumor going around that the food was so bad the British had to fly in their own chefs and food.” Did Aldrich get a chance to try the iconic chocolate muffins? No. 

As for the comfort of the beds, he avoided the situation as the men’s staff were put up in hotels due to the lack of beds for all coaches. This was a major difference between Tokyo and Paris — “[In Tokyo] everyone stayed in the village. In Paris, some of us were in the village, others in the hotel.” The beds were much more comfortable in the hotel than in the village. “The cardboard beds in Tokyo were super comfortable, but they messed with the mattress in Paris. Those were uncomfortable.” USA Track and Field (USATF) purchased every athlete a mattress topper to support performance. After that, that was “the last I heard about it.” 

Aldrich’s biggest gripe about Paris? Not getting to walk in the now iconic opening and closing ceremonies. “I’ve been to two Olympics and I’ve never walked in the opening or closing ceremony.” The track and field governing body restricted non-athletes from walking in the opening and ceremonies. The justification behind this policy stems from track and field being such a big sport. “The skateboard coaches, weightlifting coaches, things like that get to go. Which in my mind is a bunch of crap,” Aldrich complained. Aldrich has since appealed the policy to the governing body, noting that USATF might be the largest delegation, yet “we bring in the most medals, viewership, money.”

USATF’s most successful throwing event at the Olympics was almost hindered by the lack of coach boxes in the stadium. The Stade de France was so crowded that Aldrich and his staff had to hop from seat to seat to get close enough to give instruction to the athletes. “People would show up and you say ‘oh okay’ and move over a seat or so.” It was a hassle, but for Aldrich it made for some of his favorite moments: “My favorite moment was just being there, and continuing to grow the relationships and watching the staff work so hard.” His family spent only a few days in Paris, “because they knew I would be busy.” However, they had the opportunity to watch the shot put finals, where Ryan Crouser continued his streak from Rio and became a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and Joe Kovacs also followed up his performances in Rio and Tokyo with yet another Olympic silver. For him that was one of the coolest moments: “I handed the flag to Joe and my wife and Joe met for the first time. Terri [his wife] asked ‘Can I have a picture, Joe?’ and Joe goes ‘yeah!’ I ended up getting a picture of my wife and Joe, and it made my wife very happy.” 

When asked about potentially coaching at the LA2028 games, Aldrich replied, “Maybe. I’m not ruling it out but by then I’ll be 68. My focus is here at Carnegie Mellon.” Catch Aldrich’s team in action at Carnegie Mellon Invitational for track on March 28 and 29. The invitational will be the only opportunity to watch the track and field team compete at home.