Olympic shooter Glenn Eller on how Army gives him extra edge
Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Eller has only improved with age.
While many Olympic athletes peak in their 20s, the 34-year-old shooter has not only the advantage of training with the U.S. Army but also the experience of competing in four Olympic Games — winning the 2008 men’s double trap gold medal in Beijing — in the back of his mind as he prepares for his fifth this summer in Rio de Janeiro.
“What's great about shooting is the older we get, the more experience we have and our bodies don’t break down as quickly (compared with other athletes),” Eller said. “So what we might lose a tiny bit in reflexes or something like that, we more than make up for in experience. I’ve been able to stay at the top of the game for the last 15 years.”
Double trap is a shotgun event where athletes attempt to break clay disks pitched into the air.
Eller, a Houston-area native now in Fort Benning, Ga., has won a gold medal in double trap at every major international competition, including World Cups and world championships. Last month, he won the bronze medal in double trap at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun in Rio.
As a shooter/instructor in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit — which allows soldiers to remain enlisted while training for the Olympics — Eller earned his ticket to Rio based on a points system, which athletes accumulate through international competitions. At the ISSF World Championships in Lonato, Italy, in September, Eller finished sixth, giving him enough amassed points to guarantee another Olympic appearance.
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More than anything else, Eller was relieved when he realized he automatically qualified for Rio.
Despite being deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 just after finishing 23rd at the London Olympics, he called the Olympic trials “the most stressful thing I’ve ever been though” and was thrilled to circumvent them.
But stress in high-pressure situations is, of course, something the Army trained him to manage.
In his first two Olympics, Eller finished 12th in 2000 and 17th in 2004. But when he joined the Army in 2006, he said he received stability and the structured training to make his shooting more efficient and elite. His winning results became more consistent, and he learned how to adapt to his body’s physical and mental changes under “extreme stress.”
“Under normal circumstances, a person can think of about seven things at once,” Eller said. “Under stress, it normally drops to about three, so being able to figure out the three things you need to do under stress, it applies to both being in the Olympic Games or being in combat.”
Without the Army, particularly his marksmanship unit, Eller said he definitely wouldn’t have an Olympic gold medal or be chasing that winning feeling at his fifth Games. But he makes sure to pay it forward.
Working with a coach only a couple days per month, Eller and the others in the marksmanship unit usually train on their own.
To give them an edge in competition, last fall, Eller built a computer box providing him with all the different shooting scenarios and targeting sequences he and his teammates need to practice. Despite not initially knowing anything about engineering, he built it in a little more than a month, and by December, the marksmen had a new and better way to train.
“He took his time to learn computer code, so it (speaks to) his skills,” said Maj. Carlos M. Cuebas, a public affairs officer. “Being a member of the U.S. Army is not just to shoot a weapon. It takes some brains to actually develop this computer system.”
Honoring his athletic achievements and military service, Eller will be recognized in Houston at the Astros-Mariners game Sunday in the 7th inning during a performance of “God Bless America.”
“You take great pride and honor representing the United States at the Olympic Games, and to me, it’s even more of an honor to be able to do that and wear the military uniform,” Eller said.