BALTIMORE — At just 10 years old, Kenny Monday knew he wanted to compete at the Olympic level.
In 1988, he competed for the first time in the Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, and won.
"To be able to make history as a first in anything is substantial but to be the first Black man to win a gold medal in the Olympics was pretty special," says Monday.
Monday was also a silver medalist in the 1992 Olympics and placed sixth in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
After his Olympic days, he began coaching the sport.
Decades later, he came to Morgan State University, bringing back the wrestling program that was shut down in 1996.
"It was really heartbreaking to see the program be dropped and knowing that it was one of the only HBCUs that have wrestling," Monday said.
Now, as head coach, Monday can create his way of teaching the sport, and he says the program is more than just about wrestling, and it's why he makes it his mission to instill key principles in these young men's lives.
"Being responsible for your life, being responsible for your classes, you know, being a good student and really kind of balance out your life as you go forward. So, that's kind of the things that we teach and we try to implement in the program," says Monday.
But he is not just teaching this group of young men, Monday and his wife Sabrina also wrote a book together called The Gold Standard, teaching people how to win at life.
"My world and his world, people would always ask questions, how do you blend it all? How do you balance it all? How do you raise successful children? How do you travel and find time for each other? how do you do it all?" says Sabrina Goodwin-Monday.
Sabrina says the answer to those questions is what inspired the book.
"Just taking life and doing all that you can with it. Not settling in life, not sitting down because someone told you to sit down, but stand up and go fight for what you want and believe in. So, that's our legacy, chase your dreams until you catch them," she says
"And so it's always about accountability, it's about discipline, it's about sacrifice, it's about love, and it's about passion," Monday said.
The Mondays say they hope to be an inspiration to other young Black people who are looking to be the best at something they love.
