The national athlete is the face of the new clothing line of the fashion retail giant.
With March around the corner, Penshoppe is also preparing for the official launch of its new line called Penshoppe Play, which aims to redefine activewear by making it stylish and adaptable to the lifestyle of different types of people.
Tapped as one of the two ambassadors for this new fashion line is pole vaulter Elijah Cole, who represented the country in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand and brought home a bronze medal.
In his interview, he discussed his life as a national athlete and his reaction and him being part of the Penshoppe family through the new activewear category.
To start, he was asked about how an active day in his life looks like outside of training and competition.
“An active day is getting a light breakfast in and then doing some movement first thing in the morning, whether it’s something on the track, going out to go jump, and then fueling right after that. Usually, it’s a nice good jump day and then we’ll do some sprints, which is like a good way to end practice. You always want to end with sprints,” the 27-year-old shared.
He furthered, “And then, yeah, go back home, fuel up, and then I have more free time in the day to go do whatever I want.”
Usually, Elijah said, he likes to spend his time by hanging out with his friends through another activity, such as skateboarding. “I try to use the most of my weekends and it’s usually to be outside, like go do something outside, whether it’s, you know, like skating, hanging out with friends.“
He also mentioned that having grown up as a Boy Scout in North Carolina, he has learned to do other outdoor activities outside of his sport like camping, sharing how the landscape there has plenty of beaches and mountains influenced him. “So, we’re outside a lot, especially growing up. Move. I’m empowered by the sun.“
The pole vaulter also shared that he hates being on his phone and would rather spend the day outside.
“I mean, I’m on my phone, but like if the sun is out, then I don’t want to be inside or on my phone. I want to be outside doing things with other people, if that makes sense.”
BEING AN AMBASSADOR
When asked about what he feels about being named as one of the two ambassadors of Penshoppe Play, alongside triathlete and fellow national athlete Kira Ellis, here is what Elijah said.
“I feel pretty lucky to be picked to do this but it’s like, this is a really cool thing to be a part of.”
He also said that he likes how the clothing line leans more on the casual side than “in-your-face” activewear. “I love that side of it. It’s more fashionable and more chill. It’s kind of representative of how I am,” told the athlete.
Training at a high level has been a usual part of his routine as an athlete, but with this collection, it targets regular people and lets them simply enjoy movement. He was asked: “Why do you think that there’s value in that as an activewear line?“
“I think, for me, (it’s) showing up to track meets, like people that are fully in track gear that (I find) just so aggressive. Sometimes it’s too aggressive and to me, it’s too much being into one genre that is too extra for me.”
He continued, “And so like I think something more casual, low-key makes you feel a little bit better and more comfortable and that’s how I like to compete. It’s a more comfortable feeling.”
Elijah said that in doing pole vault, he has to be relaxed and cool, thus why he likes the route where Penshoppe Play is going for.
Doubling down on that, he said that it is the reason why the product aligned with him and his personality.
“For sure, I love it. It’s just not intimidating as a good way to put it. Comfortable and it’s just chill. Pole vault’s all about being chill and having fun on the runway.“
Without giving away too much, Elijah revealed the itens that got him excited the most when he first saw and experienced the line.
“Everything that I’ve put on so far has been like, it feels right on my body… It’s one thing to be comfortable, but to feel like it it’s supposed to be on you… Especially, I think the singlet where it’s like that without the sleeves, that’s something I definitely was like, ‘it just feels right.’,” adding how the pieces didn’t feel unnatural and the colors are neutral and “easy on the eyes.”
“And that’s definitely my kind of style outside of activewear too. It’s more neutral. Sometimes, I wear all black… it’s something to be happy about. So (for me), that was like another thing. It’s like light colors make me just naturally feel happier. So that’s definitely a cool thing about the line so far,” he furthered.
As a pro athlete, Elijah also shared that it is something that he is very open to wearing it for his practice.
“Oh, for sure. I think there’s different levels to it, like for practice, this would be something that you would wear every day and you would jump, like I would jump in this like very casually [since] practice is not like the biggest (event), you don’t need to be dressed to the nines as a practice—it’s just whatever you’re most comfortable (wearing).“
He added that while some people wear full compression shorts, and tight jerseys, he prefers to wear the split shorts for the “loose kind of breathable feeling.”
Lastly, Cole also shared how he would approach someone who feels intimidated doing sports, may it be traditional ones or other sports, as the ambassador of the new Penshoppe line.
“I think, being someone that’s curious about maybe going into a new hobby or sport, you’re not jumping straight to the gun and wearing something… the pros are wearing because that’s just not who you are yet.”
He added, “I think this is good (for) someone who’s starting and it’s just like a good intro into the sport as well, with whatever sport that you’re doing.“