Thomas Gilman: The Braveheart who lives, eats and sleeps wrestling

If there is one thing a wrestler needs the most, it is a heart of a lion and Thomas Gilman has it in plenty. After all, it is this “braveheart” attitude that helped him reach Tokyo and become an Olympic bronze medalist despite losing the first match. His conviction drove him. It also helped him land a memorable fight against eventual Olympic champion Zaur Uguev. Ask him where he got this attitude from and Thomas Gilman will take you on a trip down memory lane.

“I've been working for this my whole life, you know, for 20 years. In this sport, it's something I've always wanted and always kind of dreamt of, and, and put my goals and aspirations towards, and it just kind of, it's kind of surreal to sit back and think,” he says nostalgically.

Though a well-known face in the wrestling circuit today, Thomas Gilman has never found himself in the spotlight in the 57 kg weight class. He has been in the shadows of Russia’s two-time world champ Uguev, India’s Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya and 2019 world silver medalist Atli Suleyman for the past four years.

Even in Tokyo, he was not the favorite and was instead dubbed as an underdog, despite his achievements on the national and international stage. However, he does not mind all this. All he believes in is standing up against people who doubted him and proved them wrong. Incidentally, this is what he has been doing for the majority of his life.

Thomas Gilman was introduced to wrestling at the age of six by his father, who himself was once a practitioner of the sport. The 27-year-old says, when he first saw the kids roughhousing each other, it was like a higher calling for him. He felt right at home coming close to the mat.

“I started at six years old in the sport of wrestling. I got into it with my dad. He was a wrestler too. And then he just kind of got me into it took me to one practice, and I kind of liked it. The roughhousing and you guys beating each other up, I thought that was pretty cool. I was right up my alley. And wrestling was just kind of a natural fit for me because I was always a smaller, smaller kid,” he says.

Another reason he took up wrestling was because the ancient sport helped him stand up against the bullies. Thomas Gilman was not the most athletic personality at Skutt Catholic High School in Omaha. He was small and did not play more popular sports like baseball, football or soccer. Through wrestling, the “rough and rowdy kid” would help kids who would get bullied by much stronger boys.

“I was too small for sports like football, baseball or soccer. I probably would have gotten hurt against big guys in these sports. I just wasn’t super athletic. But I was never scared of anybody. Wrestling was just like a perfect sport for me. It was just all on me and the individual. And then I was a rough and rowdy kid. I was bullied a little bit as a kid. But I was always the guy that stood up for the kids who would get bullied. So, I used wrestling training and my techniques to stand up for those that were being bullied on,” he recalls.

And rightly so.

He developed a reputation as a takedown machine, an approach that led to four state titles at Omaha Skutt Catholic, three All-American titles for Iowa Hawkeyes, world silver medal. These same tireless techniques also helped him finish at the podium in Tokyo.

He was drawn up against Uguev, the pre-tournament gold-medal favorite. Not many would want to go up against the Russian missile in the first round, but Thomas Gilman was ready for the challenge. In fact, he almost pulled off an upset.

Uguev was tested to the limit in the six-minute bout and clinched a narrow 4-3 win to survive the United States whirlwind. In Gilman’s words “it was a hard match for him (Uguev)”.

He recalls how Uguev would come and just lie on his back trying to recover for the next bout in the training area. Gilman knew that only the Russian could revive his Olympic campaign.

“The entire episode was kind of stressful. You know, I really took it out of him in the conditioning aspect. He was laying down on the back. I looked at the board, and he was up in three matches. I said, oh no, I hope he recovers because he proved he is the best. But we knew that he could beat Uzbekistan (Gulomjon Abdullaev) guy. And then a couple of hours before the semi-final against Iran (Reza Atrinagharchi), they were very tensed. I was just really worried about his recovery. And luckily, he pulled it out,” Gilman narrates excitingly.

Once the US wrestler was back in the game, it was all business again. The belief, he says, that an Olympic medal is now possible had suddenly become real. He resumed training to cut down his weight before the repechage bout against Abdullaev. For Gilman, it was like any other bout where he just had to be his rowdy self. He played that role.

He defeated the Uzbekistan wrestler 11-1 on a technicality and followed it up with an overpowering victory against Atrinagharchi to win bronze.

“I just kind of started getting my weight down and went back for the semis and watch that. When Uguev beat the Iranian and then you know, it was one more workout session to get my weight down. And then back to business. I had a feeling that I was gonna get pulled back in. I told myself ‘you're, the job's not finished'. I'm, if I'm not the best guy, then I'm the second-best guy. So I got to come back and really dominate these guys. That's what I did. I just came back and took care of business,” he says while taking care of his dogs.

Incidentally, the weight cut for Thomas Gilman is not as easy as one might think.

Weight cut is the first thing any athlete who competes in a combat sport needs to master. If the weight cut goes wrong, it can harm health and also cost crucial matches.

At the Tokyo Olympics, weight cut was one of the biggest issues with wrestlers. A lot of grapplers including India’s Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dahiya and USA’s Kyle Dake complained of it going wrong, which affected their recovery.

For Thomas Gilman, it was even tougher. His usual weight is around 65-67 kilograms and he cuts a massive 10kgs to be eligible to compete in the 57 kg bracket. He understands it is not easy and needs a lot of discipline. But also adds that this is what wrestling as a sport is all about. According to him “one needs to have these small triumphs before having the big one (at the Olympics)”.

“It takes time. It doesn’t just happen in one week. It takes months to do it. You just do a little bit at a time. And it's, it takes a lot of discipline in your everyday life and, and eating the right foods and exercising. When you do it slowly and disappoint like that your body doesn't really notice, you know, it doesn't go into shock and freak out.

"So it is difficult and maybe is unhealthy. But the way that we do it, the way that I do it is probably the best, the healthiest way that you can do it. Making an unnatural weight is just not healthy, period, but that's the sport of wrestling. It's just it's part of the sport, it's part of the culture,” he says.

Braving weight cuts is not the only thing Thomas Gilman has done in his life.

From Hawkeye WC to Nittany WC: Thomas Gilman’s second innings

In 2020, after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed, Thomas Gilman, in his words, made one of the biggest decisions of his life. He decided to move 286 miles (460 km) away from home to Pennsylvania to join the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. For him, it was to take his career to the next level. The decision for him worked wonders in many ways.

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Penn State Nittany Lion WC is one of the best wrestling academies in the United States. For perspective, it is equivalent to what Chhatrashal Akhada (wrestling school) is in India.

The NLWC housed some of the sport's biggest names. It had 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder, world and current Olympic champion David Taylor, three-time Olympian Franklin Gomez and Olympic bronze medalist Bekzod Abdurakhmonov; all training under one roof.

Thomas Gilman says, training there was certainly a “leap of faith” but the best decision of his life.

“I mean, when quarantine started, I was in a kind of weird spot with my wrestling career. I knew I needed to make a change in my training. But I just didn't know what that change was. So I knew some of those guys. And if you're, if you follow wrestling in the United States, you know, Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling club, they have it going on. It's the real deal.

"You know, they had three Olympic Olympic medalists, actually four if you include Bekzod. And so that was something I was really looking for was kind of that camaraderie and teammates to kind of, kind of push me every day in practice and learn new techniques through them. I just took a leap of faith and I went out there and, and it was the right decision in hindsight,” he says.

Training at NWLC changed him as a wrestler and a person. The transition forced him to develop mental fortitude that he did not have previously. He is still the same ornery guy that Hawkeye wrestling fans knew and loved, but he has dialed some of that back. In his words, he is now spiritually and emotionally a lot stronger than he was before.

“I developed some new techniques and solidified some of my old techniques, and my mindset is different and better. And so the biggest thing, why I moved out there was one having the teammates that were wanting to do the same thing and accomplishing the same things as me and two, I just wanted to get better at the art of wrestling and, and just improve not only my wrestling but my mind too,” he added.

The newfound peace helped Thomas Gilman bring out the best version of his physically imposing wrestling style.

During the US Olympic Trials, earlier in April, his bracket included a world bronze medalist, a junior world silver medalist, two NCAA champions and three All-American. He outscored every opponent. He then thrashed Cornell wrestler Vito Arujau in the best-of-three finals, all with a torn lisfranc ligament.

Thomas Gilman says it all has to do with being mentally strong.

The mental aspect in sports

The mental aspect in sports, which has been the talk of the town ever since US gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of the all-around events at the Olympics. Recently, India’s world medalist Vinesh Phogat also talked about not being mentally ready for the competition.

Gilman says, while the physical aspect will always be there in sport, it is the athlete who is mentally stronger who create history.

“Yeah, I think that the mental aspect is huge. And as I get older the more I realised that it's probably over 50%. At this level, everybody has good technique, everyone has good skills, but are they able to perform those skills under the stress of competition. When the lights are on, when the guys are putting pressure on you, that's the difference at this level. I think that's the biggest thing I've learned between 2017 and now, to take care of my mind and my brain too.

You can train as much as you want but you can only do as much. But if you kind of leave your mind behind, and if you don't train your mind, as well, to be sharp and clear and kind of just calm, it's gonna be very hard to compete. The difference between a good wrestler and a great wrestler is their minds. There are a lot of champion wrestlers that aren't great,” he says.

Thomas Gilman, who now carries one of the most decorated resumes amongst wrestlers, is now back to his quiet and mundane life. His Olympic bronze medal has ensured him few things.

For one, a nice payday under USA Wrestling’s “Living The Dream Medal Fund”, which awards stipends for podium finishes at the Worlds and Olympics. He has also earned an extra $25,000 for his third finish (Olympic gold gets $250,000 and silver nets $50,000).

Two, he automatically earns a Team USA spot in 57 kg for the 2021 world championships slated for October 2 to 10 in Oslo, Norway. Thomas Gilman is back at work and says his job is still not finished. He has sets sights on the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I'm for now as long as a God allows it and my body is telling me I'm gonna be wrestling. So I'll be in Paris, long term, short term, Oslo, Norway,” Thomas Gilman says proudly.