Cordell Tinch
Cordell Tinch had turned his back on athletics and gone into the working world, trying various jobs before being employed by US Cellular. He reflects on his alternative journey and going from tending to people's mobile phone needs to becoming a 110m hurdles world champion.
How did life for you working away from athletics begin?
It originally came down to a bunch of miscommunications within the athletic and academic department – about passing certain classes for my GPA to be eligible to go into the next season as an athlete. But the academic advisor left off a class and so I was not eligible. I’ve never been much of a school person so being told I wasn’t going to be allowed to practice and be with the team – that led to my decision to go home. To fix the other semester I was told it would be $2000 to cover the fees and tuitions. But that bill ended up being $6000 and that left me in a spot. So I went home and got working to pay if off. After a while I was thinking why pay $6000 to go back to school where I don’t want to go. And so I thought I’d be working in Green Bay for the rest of my life.
What was the career path then for you?
Initially when I first came home my dad got me to work with him with Georgia-Pacific paper mill company (making toilet paper). He said: 'The job sucks but the pay is fantastic.’ His advice was to do it for six months to a year, save money and have a good foundation for what I wanted. I did that and it was way too long shifts and way too frequent shifts – like 12 hours on and 12 off. That wasn’t for me so I left that and helped one of my dad’s friends with a moving company. Then I applied for Spectrum, went through the entire training and ended up losing the job as during training I had the choice to attend my best friend’s graduation, which I always told him I’d be there for. I lost that job but such is life, you live and learn. Then ended up at US Cellular and thought I was going to be there for a while.
So that was the job you settled on. What did it entail?
It was just my personality and how I am when it comes to things. I was surprisingly really good at it. The thought process was that, within the family, with technical problems people would ask me what to do. And that's what a phone store really is. The store I worked in had an older population with no clue how to use their technology – not just new phones and iPads but they couldn't find pictures of their grandkids to send. Helping them was something that I took pride in – how they could use technology to make their lives easier.
Was there an itch to get back to track and field then?
The thing is the itch never came from me. I was completely content with working my way through the US Cellular totem pole. But the boys I ended up going to school with, there were maybe six to eight of us all close, and one of our old group chats got some life again and they said go to Pitt (Pittsburgh State University where he had studied and trained) and give it another shot. I ignored it until I got a call from Jesse (Miller), the jumps coach at Pitt. I didn't feel it at all, and felt track and field was over for me. I listened to him and my friends, talked to my parents, and they said they were supporting me regardless of what I did. I told my mum: 'Well, worst case I spend a semester, don't like it, and come back home.'
It was a crazy trajectory from there wasn’t it?
In the January, I moved out there. I competed in my first track meet in February, I set a PB in the long jump and hurdles instantly, and it carried on from that. By June, I was pro. Last time I competed was June of 2021 and this was January 2023. It’s not like in that time I was training and getting ready for it, it’s just on track magical things happened. I couldn’t explain it. People would ask ‘what did you do?’ If I’m being completely honest, nothing. I worked Monday to Friday and every other Saturday, and then went partying with my friends. Ok, maybe I played basketball two or three times a month, but if someone had followed me in December 2022 and January 2023 they wouldn’t have believed it was the same person. I was putting in personal bests where a month ago I was at bars having fun with my friends.
Were there any setbacks at all?
I got to Budapest in 2023 and the World Championships that year but I wasn’t running well. I just ran out of gas because I had no base at all. We’d ridden this high and it had gotten us to where we needed to be and then we worked out what we needed for the next season. My coach Kyle (Rutledge) had one other professional hurdler so he used some of the things that worked for him. Some things worked and some didn’t. That’s why 2024 was a bit of a decline plus three other dudes ran sub-13 at the US Trials. The feeling of pain of missing the team fuelled everything in me.
So what was the goal for 2025?
Our No.1 goal was to not miss that team for the Worlds. Sure, I was looking for a medal. I didn’t win US Trials and people asked if I was upset but I’d rather be world champ than US champ – that was the truth. Then my boys supporting knew nothing was going to stop me from winning that gold medal.
Then you became world champion. That old WhatsApp group must have blown up?
It definitely blew up. After I spoke to my mother, sisters and dad, it was a group call with the boys and it was a loud one! Tokyo was so special as so many people never lost sight of me in this fight when I didn’t know what I could do.
Are there stories of old customers telling stories about the world champion that fixed their phone?
It’s funny you say that as my sister and I went back to the store and there happened to be a lady in there that was quite regularly looking for help with this and that. She said I looked very familiar and her husband said I was the world champion. So it’s definitely happened once and I’m from a small town so it’s probably happened more than once.
Your story reads like an American dream, doesn't it?
I wouldn’t say American dream in and of itself. This was about a dream of mine becoming reality. When I came back, I wouldn't have done so if I didn’t believe that I could be gold medallist or world champ or Olympic champion.
Do you get time to reflect on the remarkable journey you’ve been on?
I definitely reflect a lot for the simple reason of the tough practice days where I say to myself: ‘I don’t want to do this, I know what I could be doing instead’. That keeps me focused and grounded for my track and field journey. Having real-world perspective shapes how you look at the entire thing.
Do you think your career path can act as motivation to others?
I think people have seen the interviews of the phone salesman winning the world title, and they’ve responded and reacted to that. People who might not watch track and field have said they heard the story and it motivated them to get back doing this or that. I do believe that my journey can be a catalyst for that but also to inspire people to lean on others around them. I’m only as good as the people around me. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t have that break and be working jobs I didn’t want to work.
