Three-time Olympian Nathan Adrian was the star of one of Modelo’s “fighting spirit” commercials aired on television Monday night.
You can see the extended version of the ad on YouTube:
The Mexican-based brewery company has a “fighting spirit” series that features people who have overcome obstacles to achieve success. For Adrian, he described his diagnosis with testicular cancer in the winter of 2018, mid-Olympic cycle.
After undergoing treatment, Adrian was cleared to train under supervision in February 2019 with his sights still set on making the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team. He shared that his PET scans came back negative for cancer cells in April.
“I do feel like I got stronger going through this. You don’t know how you’re gonna react to learning about your mortality until it honestly happens.
“Having a fighting spirit means doing everything that you possibly can do in order to give yourself the best chances of winning. When I sit down and look back and say ‘did I do everything that I possibly could have done to achieve my goal, to achieve success?’ I get to look myself in the mirror and say ‘yeah.”
While Modelo is not one of Adrian’s sponsors, he has worked with the company before. He teamed up with them earlier this month to raise money for first responders who have been at the forefront of fighting the coronavirus pandemic:
Please join me in saluting our medical community in a big way today. Share a raised glass or thank you with #CincUp and @ModeloUSA will donate $1 for every public post (up to $500K) to #FirstRespondersFirst! Thanks for helping and I hope you all have a safe & happy Cinco. #ad pic.twitter.com/FZoCMuSVLs
— Nathan Adrian (@Nathangadrian) May 5, 2020
32-year-old Adrian has made three Olympic teams and is getting ready to compete for a spot on his fourth U.S. Olympic team, pending the results of the U.S. Olympic Trials in mid-June. The 8-time Olympic medalist has earned a total of 5 Olympic gold medals throughout his career so far. He won bronze in both the 100 free and 50 free at the Rio 2016 Olympics alongside gold medals in the 4×100 free relay and 4×100 medley relay.
Does anyone else see the irony? Alcohol is a carcinogen.
Notice how the commercial does not mention the US Olympic Team. It only states “he qualified for his country.” More “woke” trash.
Lol no it’s because they’re not an Olympic sponsor, and the USOPC/IOC are very aggressive in their lawsuits toward non-Olympic sponsors using the word “Olympic.”
yeah i work in that field, so unless you are an official sponsor you cant say olympics, team usa, go for the gold, etc. It’s wild how much power they have.
Now I know what beer to get while watching the trials. Cheering for you, Nathan!
Was watching the NBA Playoffs and went to the kitchen and heard them say “Nathan Adrian” and I ran back to the TV and was so happy. It’s so great to see such an inspiring individual have his story told with such a popular brand
Legend
Nice message, but would have preferred to see it come in the service of a different type of sponsor particularly given that Nathan Adrian is represented by the same agency as Michael Phelps.
articulate
A man with good taste that’s for sure