Among his athletes was also Ayumu Hirano, the Japanese wunderkind of the Sochi and Pyongyang Olympic games in 2014 and 2018,
in which he earned silver both times.

"Coaching him was different with the language barrier, but he could express himself just fine," Elijah said.
"And as a coach my job is to make things straightforward and simple anyway. I know what needs to be done and I just give the advice. In the end it's up to them to decide."