Speaker 1: Hey there, I am Felicity Harley and you're listening to
Speaker 1: an extra special episode of Healthy Ish, your podcast from
Speaker 1: Body and Soul. Yes, this week we're celebrating our superstar Olympians.
Speaker 1: On this episode, we're joined by Tina Rahimi, our first
Speaker 1: Muslim female Olympic boxer, to chat about how she's handling
Speaker 1: the pressure of Paris. It is, after all, her first Olympics.
Speaker 1: Now keep in mind Tina popped into the studio a
Speaker 1: few months before she flew out to Paris. Oh, you know,
Speaker 1: be inspired by this chat with her. If you do
Speaker 1: want more from Tina, make sure you're listening to extra
Speaker 1: Healthy Ish, where she shares how she finds courage to
Speaker 1: not give up and catch that where we get your podcasts. Tina,
Speaker 1: Welcome into Body and Soul.
Speaker 2: HQ.
Speaker 3: How are you good. I'm doing very well this morning.
Speaker 3: How are you?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm good and you know what, congratulations well done
Speaker 1: on making it to Paris. How does it feel?
Speaker 2: It's I get asked this all the time, and I
Speaker 2: think it's I think getting closer and closer it's really feeling.
Speaker 2: I think it's a bit nerve wracking. I would say
Speaker 2: it's exciting at the same time. But yeah, I guess
Speaker 2: I'm just feeling really excited.
Speaker 1: I would say as an athlete, I mean, visualization is
Speaker 1: a big thing with a lot of athletes. Do you
Speaker 1: imagine yourself being in the middle of the podium.
Speaker 2: I think that's what my mind is set to, Like
Speaker 2: I can see myself just standing at the on the
Speaker 2: podium and just winning a gold medal. I think it's
Speaker 2: just you've got to manifest it, like I believe if
Speaker 2: you truly believe it, And this is like what I've
Speaker 2: been doing with everything that I've achieved. I've got to
Speaker 2: make sure that I'm one hundred percent certain that I
Speaker 2: will get.
Speaker 3: My goal and that i will achieve it.
Speaker 2: And I think if you have that mindset then and
Speaker 2: you've worked hard for it, then what's impossible?
Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, yeah, well it's absolutely possible. Is
Speaker 1: there one thing that you're most excited about when it
Speaker 1: comes to Paris?
Speaker 3: I think it's just the whole process.
Speaker 2: Like just even now two months out, I think just
Speaker 2: you know, being able to travel and have all these
Speaker 2: competitions and preparation leading to that is just all really exciting.
Speaker 2: I think I'm just looking forward to just finally being
Speaker 2: then having that real and raw emotion once I'm there,
Speaker 2: I think I'm just excited to be representing my country.
Speaker 2: I would say, to be you know, in our green
Speaker 2: and gold and our new uniforms, it would just be
Speaker 2: I would just know that I'll have just a great
Speaker 2: feeling and I'll just be full of excitement.
Speaker 3: So I'm looking forward to it. Well, we're also excited.
Speaker 1: And the other thing I'm actually excited about is, you know,
Speaker 1: I've interviewed a lot of female athletes in my time
Speaker 1: as a journalist and back when I was editor Women's Health,
Speaker 1: but I've never interviewed a female Muslim boxer. You're going
Speaker 1: to be the first Australian one at the Olympics.
Speaker 3: How does this sit with you? I think it sits
Speaker 3: really well. I think it's just this really.
Speaker 2: Opens up new opportunities for a lot of women out there,
Speaker 2: not just Muslim women. I think it just it shows
Speaker 2: that we are us. Women are capable of anything, and
Speaker 2: we can have our own beliefs, stress how we want
Speaker 2: to and you know, at the end of the date,
Speaker 2: it's not going to perform, it's not going to affect
Speaker 2: our performance, So why can't we just you know, showcase
Speaker 2: our skills and not really worry about what we believe
Speaker 2: in or how we dress. I think I don't look
Speaker 2: like a typical Australian and I don't mind that, and
Speaker 2: I think it just I think it really opens up
Speaker 2: more opportunities for women and I'm glad to showcase that
Speaker 2: I have. I feel included and I'm you know, inclusive
Speaker 2: in a sport.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, well, well thank you for kind of flying
Speaker 1: that flag as well. What does your training look like
Speaker 1: in the lead up to Paris?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I, like I was telling you before, we're
Speaker 2: literally going to be home. I'm going to be home
Speaker 2: for I think two weeks now it's two and a
Speaker 2: half months out and I'll only be home for two
Speaker 2: weeks period. So we're going away and we're going to
Speaker 2: compete and then in Netherlands. Once we're back, I'm straight
Speaker 2: to Brisbane. Straight from Brisbane to Germany where we have
Speaker 2: our final preparation and then there we are in Paris
Speaker 2: getting ready to prepare and fight.
Speaker 3: What does your prep look like like?
Speaker 1: What do you talk us through exactly what you do
Speaker 1: the training in the gym versus do you have mock
Speaker 1: matches or what goes on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so a lot of time when we travel and
Speaker 2: we do these international camps, we have like a lot
Speaker 2: of competitive sparring that are exactly like fights. You have
Speaker 2: the referee in there. And then our training is pretty
Speaker 2: much well, when we're with our national coach, it's two
Speaker 2: to three times a day, so you know, you've got
Speaker 2: your strength, you're running, and then you've got your boxing
Speaker 2: and partner work, and then on other days you'll have
Speaker 2: your your competition sparring and then like now we're going
Speaker 2: overseas and I've got an actual proper fight as well.
Speaker 3: So that's all.
Speaker 2: Prepil until the Olympics, which is fantastic, and that's something
Speaker 2: that we need to know what we're what level at
Speaker 2: and to you know, tune everything that we need to, yeah,
Speaker 2: to finally step in the ring.
Speaker 1: Do you get nervous going to those preparation fights, Like
Speaker 1: where's your head space at? I mean, it's not the
Speaker 1: big event, but is there still nerves?
Speaker 2: And yeah, I think for me now, like before, there
Speaker 2: used to be a lot of pressure. I think I
Speaker 2: used to put a lot of pressure on myself stepping
Speaker 2: into the ring and I used to say, oh, I
Speaker 2: need to win this fight and if I didn't win,
Speaker 2: I would cry and I think it's just a normal reaction.
Speaker 2: But I think now I tell myself, you know, you
Speaker 2: this is not the major event, like you need to
Speaker 2: take out everything that you need out of this fight.
Speaker 2: Like my goal is to go in there make sure
Speaker 2: that I win. And that's what I you know, I
Speaker 2: don't slack off or anything in competition, but I just
Speaker 2: like to sort of ease myself and don't have that
Speaker 2: because when you have that pressure you want it, you
Speaker 2: overperform and then you don't do well.
Speaker 3: That's what I That's how I felt in the past.
Speaker 3: I just try too hard, I would say.
Speaker 2: So I like to just sort of, you know, take
Speaker 2: it as an experience and say like this is like
Speaker 2: another sparring session. Yeah, you know where you're relax and
Speaker 2: I usually do really well with my spas, So I
Speaker 2: don't like to get to my head too much.
Speaker 3: And yeah, what about.
Speaker 1: At the actual event, I mean, what's your mindset? Light?
Speaker 1: Because there is pressure, there's the whole of Australia watching.
Speaker 1: How are you gonna approach that in terms of mindset? Well,
Speaker 1: not to put any pressure on you. Yeah, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: that's fine.
Speaker 2: I think, Well, the most pressure that I had was
Speaker 2: at the Commonwealth Games. I think I was nervous one
Speaker 2: week before the fight, before I even knew who I
Speaker 2: was fighting, Like I was so so nervous, like I
Speaker 2: would wake up and have butterflies in my stomach. I would,
Speaker 2: and it was just like I knew I had so
Speaker 2: much support from home, and I knew so many people, yeah,
Speaker 2: t you know, you better win us a metal like
Speaker 2: I know, like yeah ye, or like you'll have so
Speaker 2: many people messaging me like oh, you're an inspiration. I
Speaker 2: really hope that you win. And then I was like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, like I'm doing this to, you know,
Speaker 2: just prove for myself what I'm capable of. But then
Speaker 2: I have so much pressure of people expecting me to
Speaker 2: win or wanting me to win and really encouraging me
Speaker 2: as well. So I think it just becomes really really hard,
Speaker 2: and I think I think I'm just going to ride
Speaker 2: the wave. I think you'll just see how we go.
Speaker 2: Like recently I haven't been as nervous, but I think,
Speaker 2: come on to steal Olympics. It's going to be on
Speaker 2: Channel nine and there's gonna be all eyes on me.
Speaker 2: So I think it's just going to be a lot
Speaker 2: of pressure, but I'm going to give it my all.
Speaker 1: And yeah, the cop Games was like a prep run
Speaker 1: in some ways, wasn't it. So you have been there,
Speaker 1: you know kind of what you know eighty percent of
Speaker 1: what it might be like.
Speaker 2: I think it's just going to be one hundred that
Speaker 2: Kom Games times one hundred. Yeah, but yeah, I think
Speaker 2: it's just going to be I think it's going to
Speaker 2: be exciting.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now on your Instagram, there's a great quote from Mike
Speaker 1: Tyson the temptation for greatness is the biggest drug in
Speaker 1: the world. What does greatness look like to you?
Speaker 2: I think I love this quote past, Yeah, I absolutely
Speaker 2: love it. I think I've actually wrote this on one
Speaker 2: of my posts after I qualified for the Olympics. I
Speaker 2: think it was and it was just me being more
Speaker 2: hungry and hungry to achieve more more greatness. I think
Speaker 2: it's just it definitely is like a drug. Like the
Speaker 2: more you achieve, the more you want to keep achieving,
Speaker 2: the more that you want to prove to yourself that
Speaker 2: anything is possible and you're capable of doing more than
Speaker 2: what you said you're going to do. So I think
Speaker 2: like for me qualifying, I never thought that that would
Speaker 2: be something that would be possible, Like, come on, I'm
Speaker 2: an Olympian, Like people would dream and die to go
Speaker 2: to the Olympics, and I've achieved that, and it's like, okay,
Speaker 2: what's next now, Like okay, I want to I want
Speaker 2: a gold medal now. And it's just like it's like
Speaker 2: a drug. Like you're like, when am I going to
Speaker 2: be satisfied? And I think a lot of athletes struggle
Speaker 2: with that, so it's like a constant battle and you're like, okay,
Speaker 2: I when do I stop? Like I just want to
Speaker 2: keep getting better and better and better, and it's just
Speaker 2: like a drugs drug, like give me success.
Speaker 1: Well, we wish you all the success in Paris, and
Speaker 1: thank you for stopping by.
Speaker 2: And I'm healthy, thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: What does greatness look like to you? Well, I hope
Speaker 1: you are inspired by Tina and all the other athletes
Speaker 1: will be flying the flag for us in Paris. Anyway,
Speaker 1: I hope you did enjoy this chat. Jump on and
Speaker 1: tell us if you did or not. We welcome more feedback.
Speaker 1: You can rate and review it of course, our subscribe
Speaker 1: to this podcast, share this app with a friend. We
Speaker 1: do have a special Paris hub on the Body and
Speaker 1: Soul website to celebrate the Olympics. Jump on there and
Speaker 1: take a look around. You can follow us on social
Speaker 1: media or grow a print edition which is out in
Speaker 1: your local Sunday paper. And until tomorrow, go Aussie and
Speaker 1: stay healthy.