Nathan Sorrell: Nike Olympics Commercial Provides Platform to Emphasize Fitness

The Olympics have introduced America to plenty of new stars in the past week, but there has been one emerging celebrity who has yet to reach his 13th birthday.

Meet Nathan Sorrell from London, OH.

The 12 year-old is the star of a Nike ad entitled “Find your greatness,” which features the 5’3’’, 200 pound middle schooler jogging down what seems to be an endless road.

Here is what’s said as Sorrell is trekking down the road in his sweat soaked shirt:

"

Somehow we've come to believe that greatness is a gift reserved for a chosen few... You can forget that... Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We're all capable of it. All of us.

"

It’s an ode to how athletes don’t have to have washboard abs or bulky muscles to inspire physical fitness. The Olympics are one of the most influential events of the entire year, and when other overweight kids see swimmers and track runner’s jet down the pool/track, some must feel like they don’t have a chance.

Then Sorrell’s commercial pops up, and the mentality shifts.

They see somebody that looks like them on TV running and suddenly exercise doesn’t seem so bad. It’s a “If he can do it, why can’t I?” mentality that is sure to get more than a few overweight teenagers off their couch and jogging down the road.

Sorrell has become a popular man and he has a variety of interests that remind you he’s your everyday 12-year-old. He told his home town newspaper the Record Herald that he likes Lil Wayne, The Hangover, Seinfeld, AC/DC and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He even admitted to throwing up during the shoot.

Sorrell is your average American kid in 2012 with a weight problem that so many others are also currently dealing with.

He has been anointed the poster boy for a movement, and one can only hope this won’t be his last Nike ad to appear on national TV.

Perhaps the next one will give us a glimpse of Sorrell’s frame after committing to running and dropping more weight.

Then the inspirational story will truly move a nation.

Follow Eric Ball on Twitter.