Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're in
Speaker 1: New York City for the Business of Women's Sports Conference,
Speaker 1: trying not to totally fangirl Chelsea Clinton and Laurie Hernandez.
Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, April twenty second, and on today's show, we're
Speaker 1: skipping the need to know and jumping straight to my
Speaker 1: interview with the American mile record holder and twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four Olympian, Nicky Hilts. I caught up with them last
Speaker 1: week to hear how things have been since our last
Speaker 1: visit pre Paris Olympics, chat about why they joined the
Speaker 1: inaugural season of Grand Slam Track, get a peek at
Speaker 1: the behind the scenes competition between competitions, and talk about
Speaker 1: the impact of music and pop culture on their training.
Speaker 1: That conversation's coming up right after this. We've got a
Speaker 1: repeat champ here joining us for a second time here
Speaker 1: on Good Game. They're the American record holder in the
Speaker 1: mile and the two time reigning US outdoor fifteen hundred
Speaker 1: meter champion. At the US Olympic Track Trials last year,
Speaker 1: they clocked the second fastest time ever recorded by an
Speaker 1: American in the women's fifteen hundred meter race and went
Speaker 1: on to take seventh and the fifteen at the Paris Olympics.
Speaker 1: They're part of the inaugural season of the Michael Johnson
Speaker 1: founded Grand Slam Track and at the first event in Kingston,
Speaker 1: Jamaica earlier this month, they won the eight hundred meter
Speaker 1: race with a personal best. They competed collegiately for Oregon
Speaker 1: and Arkansas. They founded the Pride five k charity race.
Speaker 1: They've done the Charlie XCX Apple Dance on a bigger
Speaker 1: stage than any of y'all, and they should not be
Speaker 1: trusted with the vouvuzela. It's Nicky hilt.
Speaker 2: Hey Nikki, Hey Sarah, how's it going good?
Speaker 1: I think you've got enough charisma and enthusiasm that we
Speaker 1: do not need to hand you a horn. Based on
Speaker 1: your Instagram and the voove azelas in Jamaica, I think
Speaker 1: that was a bad idea for whoever did that.
Speaker 2: I know I didn't they were loud. I didn't know
Speaker 2: they were going to be that loud. But no, that
Speaker 2: was so fun. I love that thing. I still have it.
Speaker 1: Actually, do you do you remember? Are you old enough
Speaker 1: to remember that there was a World Cup that they
Speaker 1: started banning them because it was so annoying.
Speaker 2: Oh I didn't know that, but that makes total sense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Like during the soccer games, it was
Speaker 1: the entire crowd was using the and it made it
Speaker 1: like insufferable to watch and they ended up banning them
Speaker 1: from being in the stands. So somehow they slipped back
Speaker 1: into the track world, at least in Jamaica, which I
Speaker 1: guess makes sense. So we spoke to you before the
Speaker 1: Olympics last year. You were one of our first guests
Speaker 1: on the show, and I just want to start there.
Speaker 1: How has life changed for you? That felt like, you
Speaker 1: know phrasing, but a coming out party for you on
Speaker 1: the national and global stage of a different kind. How's
Speaker 1: life been since then?
Speaker 2: Oh it's been great. I mean definitely was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: Paris was incredible. It felt like a ten day fever dream,
Speaker 2: you know. But yeah, I think I definitely kind of
Speaker 2: hit the post Olympics like I wouldn't say depression, but
Speaker 2: just like low, like whoa like. And I think it
Speaker 2: was because so much of last year was spent thinking
Speaker 2: about the Olympics and then it happened and then it
Speaker 2: was like what do I think about now? You know?
Speaker 2: But it's been good. I mean I made some changes.
Speaker 2: I have a new coach, which is awesome, but a
Speaker 2: lot of things have stayed the same. Just it's like
Speaker 2: I feel like, yeah, I'm entering a part of my
Speaker 2: career where I'm really excited to compete more globally now.
Speaker 2: And you know, I was seventh at the Olympics and
Speaker 2: that was awesome for me. But I want to just
Speaker 2: keep improving as athlete and I want you know, the
Speaker 2: medals or are right there, and I want to within
Speaker 2: the next four years the next Olympics cycle will be Yeah,
Speaker 2: have kind of my eyes on the medals, so kind
Speaker 2: of making the changes and little tweaks here and there
Speaker 2: to kind of element my game a little bit.
Speaker 1: We love all of our guests here, but I have
Speaker 1: to admit you're definitely one of our favorites. And I
Speaker 1: don't think it seemed like anyone was having more fun
Speaker 1: at the Olympics than you. Like you obviously were ready
Speaker 1: for your race and prepping, and you went out of
Speaker 1: you know, the area of Paris to train and make
Speaker 1: sure you were in the right head space. But once
Speaker 1: you got back, like just the selfies with everyone in
Speaker 1: the dancing and everything, you really managed to bring your
Speaker 1: whole self and your unique style to it instead of
Speaker 1: getting too like tight, which was so fun to watch,
Speaker 1: But that letdown is really common say that about things
Speaker 1: like their wedding or things like the Olympics. Right when
Speaker 1: there's that giant build up? Do you reset goals for yourself?
Speaker 1: Because that dream of making the Olympics is such a
Speaker 1: big one. Now is it about finishing a certain place
Speaker 1: or continuing to just get better? Like what what have
Speaker 1: you reset post Olympics?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think the way I set goals, they're very
Speaker 2: like process focused and like not really focused on the outcome.
Speaker 2: Like my my goals for Paris were to number one,
Speaker 2: have fun, and I think you saw that ye nailed it,
Speaker 2: and then number two was run three fifteen hundreds that
Speaker 2: I was proud of, Like that was just like my goal.
Speaker 2: So it's not like I want to medal at the
Speaker 2: Olympics or I you know, like it's kind of more
Speaker 2: things that I can do. And so I think I
Speaker 2: still have that same framework. Now it's just like a
Speaker 2: new season and there's no Olympics on the line, but
Speaker 2: we still have a World Championship and this fall in Tokyo,
Speaker 2: and so yeah, I think just similar like I just
Speaker 2: want to keep having fun. I want to grow and
Speaker 2: I want to you know, get better. And like when
Speaker 2: I think, like for me, when there's an area i'm
Speaker 2: weak at or like there's room for improvement, I get
Speaker 2: really excited because I'm like, oh, cool, I find master that,
Speaker 2: then maybe that's what's gonna help getting to the next level.
Speaker 2: Like I get really excited about kind of where I
Speaker 2: can find inconsistencies or room for growth.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because then it's like, oh, I'm going to unlock
Speaker 1: something new and maybe do something else. You posted recently
Speaker 1: just such an unhinged distance runner thing. You were like
Speaker 1: when the thing you love doing is also your self care.
Speaker 1: So I probably just needed a hug, but instead I
Speaker 1: ran twenty two four hundred meters. It grows ghost but
Speaker 1: obviously that's that's what makes you great. Okay, So tell
Speaker 1: us about Grand Slam track. How did you get involved?
Speaker 1: Was it like a phone call from Michael himself?
Speaker 2: I wish no. It was an email from Kyle Murder
Speaker 2: and he's the he's the one that like signs all
Speaker 2: the athletes and.
Speaker 1: The lesser representative.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Chris, you know, but I was shocked. I mean
Speaker 2: because I knew the format, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: I hope that one of them I could be a challenger,
Speaker 2: you know. But to get that email to be like
Speaker 2: do you want to be a racer? Was like awesome,
Speaker 2: and I my agent, you know, emailed it to me.
Speaker 2: It was like he knew that there was something that
Speaker 2: I really wanted and I was just it was just
Speaker 2: immediately yes, like yes, I want to be a part
Speaker 2: of this league. And yeah, that was back in like
Speaker 2: I think it was October, so a couple months after
Speaker 2: the Olympics, and I was I was just on board
Speaker 2: right away.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us about the format the racer versus
Speaker 1: challenger in the two events?
Speaker 2: I think a good way to explain it is that
Speaker 2: this Michael Johnson says this, but it's like the Olympics
Speaker 2: is the best going head to head once every four years,
Speaker 2: and Grand Slam track is the best going head to
Speaker 2: head four times a year. And so the racers are
Speaker 2: people who are signed on for all four of the
Speaker 2: Grand Slams, and there's four per event category and then
Speaker 2: each Grand Slam four new people will come in as challengers.
Speaker 2: So the one we just had in Kingston, you know,
Speaker 2: the event group that I'm in is the short distance,
Speaker 2: and so we all run an eight hundred and a
Speaker 2: fifteen hundred, and then you know, challengers of racers race
Speaker 2: each other and then the combined score the highest points wins,
Speaker 2: and so I was I won the eight hundred, and
Speaker 2: I was third in the fifteen hundred, and so that
Speaker 2: was enough points to get second overall in my event
Speaker 2: category and which was awesome. Like, so that's kind of
Speaker 2: I think the breakdown. I feel like if you follow
Speaker 2: Grand Slam Track on social media, they have a lot
Speaker 2: of ways where they break it down that's probably probably
Speaker 2: like more well spoken than I am, but that's like
Speaker 2: the gist of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's great for folks like you that can
Speaker 1: excel at multiple distances. Do they have any plans for
Speaker 1: the field event folks that aren't multi events, because you can't,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're a shot put or you're not
Speaker 1: just gonna like randomly throw a Jav'm planning on just
Speaker 1: keeping it on the track for now.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, I know right now this
Speaker 2: season is it's great slam track, like it's very track focused.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I do think in the future there's there's
Speaker 2: definitely like a possibility to get field events involved, because
Speaker 2: you know, that is the beauty of track and field,
Speaker 2: like we have both. But yeah, no, I think I
Speaker 2: think just now the focus is on on racing on
Speaker 2: the track.
Speaker 1: So you're saying there's an opening for Grand Slam field axactly,
Speaker 1: all right, there's an opportunity obviously. You know, this is
Speaker 1: one of a couple things that have started up in
Speaker 1: the track space. Michael Johnson a name that people will
Speaker 1: follow and people will get on board with. Did you
Speaker 1: look up to him growing up or did you mostly
Speaker 1: stick to watching and idolizing the middle distance folks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I obviously knew of him, and yeah,
Speaker 2: the legacy that he has in our sport, and I
Speaker 2: think it's just really cool, Like I feel like he's
Speaker 2: really brought whatever made him a good athlete, you know,
Speaker 2: an Olympic gold medalist like multiple time. Like he's bringing
Speaker 2: that same intensity and focus and drive to Grand Slam
Speaker 2: and like it's just cool to see a fellow athlete
Speaker 2: like and a lot of the people on you know,
Speaker 2: the leadership of Grand Slam track are former athletes as well,
Speaker 2: and it's just like, oh, this is why this is
Speaker 2: so well done. You know, these people are good at
Speaker 2: their craft and they're you know, maybe to some extent
Speaker 2: like perfectionists or whatever it is that makes someone a
Speaker 2: good athlete, Like they're bringing that same intensity to it.
Speaker 2: And I really really admire his not only just like
Speaker 2: entrepreneurship and like we're gonna do this, but like after
Speaker 2: our inaugural Grand Slam and Kingslam, he tweeted, like, hey,
Speaker 2: give us feedback, like how can we be better? And
Speaker 2: it's kind of like what I was just talking about
Speaker 2: of I just I just think that's a really admirable
Speaker 2: quality of like where is their room for growth and
Speaker 2: how can we do it? And I think that you're
Speaker 2: gonna see Grand Slam evolve and grow because of that,
Speaker 2: and like because of the athletes in charge. They just
Speaker 2: like they just care so much and they know what
Speaker 2: they're doing, you know well.
Speaker 1: And there's obviously exceptions where the ego gets in the way,
Speaker 1: but I think in general, across a lot of spaces,
Speaker 1: that's a through line for athletes is give me feed
Speaker 1: back and make me better. And so they're going to
Speaker 1: apply that to themselves, like you said, where you're looking
Speaker 1: for little things you can fix in your own racing,
Speaker 1: and they're going to apply that after they're done competing
Speaker 1: to whatever business they're in. So not only is he
Speaker 1: bringing the excellence that he brought to the track, but
Speaker 1: also now he wants to, like an athlete, be coached
Speaker 1: up by everyone and hear how to make things better. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you talked about the format. One of the most
Speaker 1: striking things about it is the money. A total of
Speaker 1: three point one five million dollars in prize money was
Speaker 1: awarded just at that Jamaica event. Last place in every
Speaker 1: event there took home as much as the regular season
Speaker 1: Diamond League winners in the past. A couple Diamond League
Speaker 1: events are paying a little bit more this year, I
Speaker 1: think because Athlos kind of gave him a nudge and said, hey,
Speaker 1: spend more money on the winners. But still the opportunity
Speaker 1: to go to races like this and make a ton
Speaker 1: more money than you're making elsewhere. Even if your last
Speaker 1: no wonder you said, I'm in right away to be
Speaker 1: a racer, right, that's four guaranteed paydays if you if
Speaker 1: you compete right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, exactly. The money is definitely a huge draw
Speaker 2: for the athletes, especially in a sport like track and
Speaker 2: field where we're not football players. Or basketball players like,
Speaker 2: we don't make these huge incomes and so prize money. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's incredible, and the prize perse is it's hard to ignore.
Speaker 2: And I think you're gonna see a lot of athletes like, shoot,
Speaker 2: I want to be a part of this. I feel
Speaker 2: like I think I was talking to Kyle murber A Browde.
Speaker 2: He's like, I want really good athletes to be watching
Speaker 2: at home and then be like, oh, I could have
Speaker 2: won that, and then they come be a challenger the
Speaker 2: next time, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Miami is the next one. It's happening in May.
Speaker 1: Will you run the same races there? Are you a
Speaker 1: racer in your two events for the entire circuit?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a racer for the short distance event category
Speaker 2: for the whole thing. There's a few athletes like Gabby
Speaker 2: Thomas who can kind of jump event groups. You know,
Speaker 2: she can run a one to two and a four.
Speaker 2: Right now, she's in the two four event group. But
Speaker 2: I think for some she'll switch to like the one too.
Speaker 2: But for me, yeah, I don't. I don't want to
Speaker 2: move up. I don't want to be a part of
Speaker 2: the three K five G group.
Speaker 1: No, And that was an interesting element of that first
Speaker 1: event was and I'm forgetting the guy's name, but he
Speaker 1: had such a lead in the first race that by
Speaker 1: the time he got to the second he just had
Speaker 1: to finish like top five or something to win. So
Speaker 1: he coasted a little bit. And we're used to seeing
Speaker 1: that in maybe like the Tour de France, where there's
Speaker 1: multiple stages, maybe not so much on the track. So
Speaker 1: something to think about in terms of the excitement. Also,
Speaker 1: if you're better at the first event than the second,
Speaker 1: it's harder to celebrate when you win the first one
Speaker 1: because you still don't know how many points you might
Speaker 1: need in the second one to win, Whereas if you're
Speaker 1: leading in the first and then you perform well in
Speaker 1: your second event, you kind of can celebrate the win.
Speaker 1: How did you feel about that? That feeling of I mean,
Speaker 1: of course you're going to celebrate your race and your time,
Speaker 1: but when you finish being like, I don't know, was
Speaker 1: that enough to get me enough when I get to
Speaker 1: the next race. It's you don't usually pair things up
Speaker 1: like that in racing totally.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a brand new concept for a track, but
Speaker 2: I really like it because I think it keeps the
Speaker 2: focus on competing and not like oh, let's chase these
Speaker 2: pace lights and run a fast time, like it's about
Speaker 2: just head to head racing and like, Okay, what do
Speaker 2: I have to do to be the overall champ? What
Speaker 2: do I have to do in this race? What about?
Speaker 2: You know, like who do I have to be? And
Speaker 2: I think it's just people picked it up pretty quickly,
Speaker 2: like yeah, you're talking about Grant Fisher, like he won
Speaker 2: the five k and then I think he only had
Speaker 2: to be third in the three k to secure the win.
Speaker 2: And I think it's I think it's fun. I think
Speaker 2: it's a new stratagy. It's something new for track, but
Speaker 2: it's not new at the same time, it's just racing.
Speaker 2: And that's the whole thing I think. You know, you see,
Speaker 2: there's so many in all sports, but like track right now,
Speaker 2: there's so much development in like technology, like the shoes
Speaker 2: are insane. There's like we just have more knowledge than
Speaker 2: ever on how to recover and like the training. Because
Speaker 2: of the shoes, you can put in a lot more
Speaker 2: training and recover quicker, like and so you're seeing and
Speaker 2: the tracks are better surfaces right, like you're seeing the
Speaker 2: fastest times we've ever ran. Of course, we are, like,
Speaker 2: we're setting world records because we have the best technology.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of like I hate that that's kind
Speaker 2: of been the focus for the past few years of like,
Speaker 2: you know, who can run the It's like, guys, the
Speaker 2: point is racing. You don't ask the Olympic gold medalist
Speaker 2: what time did you run? You're like show me your medal,
Speaker 2: you know, Like, and I think that that's why I
Speaker 2: was so attracted to Grand Slam, because that's how I've
Speaker 2: always approached it, Like you can't compare our era to
Speaker 2: like even ten years ago at this point because it
Speaker 2: was so different than technology. So let's just stick to
Speaker 2: the basics of like who in this era is competing
Speaker 2: against each other and kind of just yeah, keep the
Speaker 2: focus on competing, not chasing fast times.
Speaker 1: Well, and that's like what racing always starts at is
Speaker 1: in the backyard on the school track, Like who's faster
Speaker 1: than who? That's what it is. Yeah, right, and you
Speaker 1: get to have that feeling again. Also, by the way,
Speaker 1: as a heptathlete, we've been doing that whole did I
Speaker 1: do enough in this event to have to do enough
Speaker 1: in this event? To do enough in this event? The
Speaker 1: entire so now you guys are just understanding what it
Speaker 1: feels like for us, For me, for instance, to suck
Speaker 1: at the eight hundred and be like, it's all right,
Speaker 1: I did enough in the javelin, I did enough in
Speaker 1: the hurdles. What about the other racers. Obviously there's a
Speaker 1: family of people you train with, people you see at
Speaker 1: World Championships, Olympics. But is it a nice feeling to
Speaker 1: have more of these events during the regular, like off
Speaker 1: season of those major internationals so that you can hang
Speaker 1: out with them. Are there racers that you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm so excited they signed up. I really wanted to
Speaker 1: meet them or get a chance to hang out with them.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean the racers in my event category are
Speaker 2: the like the best in the world, and it's really
Speaker 2: cool that I get to go up against them four times.
Speaker 2: And you know, Jesshole is someone that I've competed against
Speaker 2: for a very long time. We were I think a
Speaker 2: year apart in college, and so you know, my senior year,
Speaker 2: her junior year, she won and I was second by
Speaker 2: like point oh two at the NCAA Championship. So we've
Speaker 2: had like a long career of like, yeah, just going
Speaker 2: head to head racing and and you know, Mary Morrow
Speaker 2: is world champ in twenty twenty three, you know, in
Speaker 2: the eight hundred, so it's really cool to I'm going
Speaker 2: to be racing eight hundreds against a world champion in
Speaker 2: that event, Like that's really special. Well, Tedgi is a
Speaker 2: twenty two year old Ethiopian who is like just coming
Speaker 2: into her own and she's you know, she's competed. I
Speaker 2: think she's the only one that's competed out of world
Speaker 2: champs in both the eight and the fifteen. So it's like,
Speaker 2: I'm in really good company and I'm I really really
Speaker 2: am excited that I get to race them, and then
Speaker 2: the challengers that are going to come in are also
Speaker 2: world class, so I'm just excited, Like this is just
Speaker 2: what I love. And the people I think they're only
Speaker 2: going to make me better because I'm I'm trying to
Speaker 2: beat them and I'm like, well, shoot, I gotta get
Speaker 2: better if I want to win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we got to get like remember the old Mike
Speaker 1: versus Mike. We need like a Hall versus Hilts. We
Speaker 1: need like people to know your stats and how many
Speaker 1: times you've raced and who's got the lead in the
Speaker 1: heads ahead. We need to start marketing those rivalries the
Speaker 1: way that we used to in the old days. Even
Speaker 1: though I guess that one or was it Dave versus
Speaker 1: Dan that was the one I'm thinking of, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think Grand Slamchack has made a couple
Speaker 2: graphics of those key matchups for sure. So yeah, we'll
Speaker 2: see if there's a Hilts first whole one coming out.
Speaker 1: So well, tail of the tape, if you will. The challengers,
Speaker 1: are they different every race or might someone come around
Speaker 1: in Kingston then be back again in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: I think for the most part, they'll be different for
Speaker 2: each Slam, but if someone comes in and wins the
Speaker 2: Grand Slam, then they get invited back if they want to.
Speaker 1: We got to take a quick break more with Niki
Speaker 1: right after this. So Grand Slam Track, as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: not the only circuit that has been added to this
Speaker 1: elite racing opportunity world. We saw Alexis O'hanian's Athlos event
Speaker 1: just for women and sprinters last year. Meg the Stallion
Speaker 1: was performing you want to Tiffany Crown as part of
Speaker 1: the winnings, like they made it really kind of a
Speaker 1: cool event. And then Grand Slam Track arrives and for
Speaker 1: such a long time. The Diamond League was like the thing.
Speaker 1: Can you speak to how the pro running space has
Speaker 1: changed and what that means for elite runners?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's really exciting. I love what Athlos did.
Speaker 2: I think, you know, they raise the bar in prize
Speaker 2: money and then also, hey, we could have like a
Speaker 2: really cool musical performance, like you know, why not have
Speaker 2: Mega selling there? And I think it's it's a really
Speaker 2: cool that that track is like finally I think having
Speaker 2: its moment and growing. Yeah, and it just makes me
Speaker 2: really grateful to be an athlete during this time. And
Speaker 2: I think it's only going to keep growing. Like we saw,
Speaker 2: you know, the Olympics, Like I don't know the exact
Speaker 2: stat but what twenty four million people tuned in to
Speaker 2: watch tracks something like that. A lot of people tuned
Speaker 2: in to watch track at the Olympics, and like, so
Speaker 2: clearly there's a market for it. Clearly people want to
Speaker 2: watch this sport. It's just like you ask people, hey,
Speaker 2: when's the next time you're going to watch track, and
Speaker 2: a lot of them will be like, oh, probably in
Speaker 2: LA in twenty twenty eight, and it's like, no, we
Speaker 2: have track all year round, every single year, like let's
Speaker 2: just start getting some eyes on it. And I think
Speaker 2: all those people, you know, at the people behind a flows,
Speaker 2: people on Grantslamtrack understand that and they're they're feeling that
Speaker 2: need of Hey, people like track and we have it
Speaker 2: like watch it?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It feels like that's been a narrative for such a
Speaker 1: long time though, and there hasn't been enough movement on
Speaker 1: until this year and last year. I mean, the Diamond
Speaker 1: League could have done this right with better sponsorships, with
Speaker 1: more money, with some innovation and creativity that it's been
Speaker 1: around since I think twenty ten, right, and you know,
Speaker 1: there's only one Diamond League event that will be available
Speaker 1: on TV in the US this year, the Prefontaine. Everything
Speaker 1: else you have to find on flow Track. They don't
Speaker 1: make it easy to find, and they haven't made it
Speaker 1: kind of cool and flashy the way that Athlos and
Speaker 1: maybe Grand Slam have. Does it feel like a missed
Speaker 1: op opportunity for the Diamond League that they already had
Speaker 1: this established circuit and if they had just made some
Speaker 1: tweaks and then up the prize money using sponsors effectively,
Speaker 1: they could have been getting some of the They could
Speaker 1: have just owned it in a way that other like
Speaker 1: the NHL, MLB, NFL they own that sport in this country.
Speaker 1: Diamond League could have done that probably right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, and I think they still can. Like I
Speaker 2: think there's room, like you said, like at the start
Speaker 2: of this podcast, like they did up their prize money
Speaker 2: this year for a first place, which is great. I
Speaker 2: think what's tricky about the Diamondees that from my understanding,
Speaker 2: there's each meat on the Diamon League circuit has a
Speaker 2: very different like meat director and like it's not one
Speaker 2: cohesive thing. It's like I think that that's an issue
Speaker 2: for them. And then yeah, I don't want to like,
Speaker 2: you know, hate on the Diamond League. Like there's a
Speaker 2: time and place where and it's his own thing. And
Speaker 2: like I was saying earlier, they are very focused on
Speaker 2: running fast like and they're you know, at all their
Speaker 2: Diamon leagues. They have pace lights and they have pacers
Speaker 2: who come in and you know, run the first half
Speaker 2: of the race and then step off to get the
Speaker 2: thing going. And that's great, and I think that's awesome
Speaker 2: and it's it's its own thing. But it's just I
Speaker 2: don't know, I think there's room for both and all
Speaker 2: of it, and but yeah, I do think that they're
Speaker 2: kind of like, oh wow, these new ventures are coming
Speaker 2: in and these new meets and these new leagues. Huh,
Speaker 2: Like maybe we do need to step up our game.
Speaker 2: And I think it's kind of challenging them. I think,
Speaker 2: like a rise what is it like, It's not a
Speaker 2: zero sum game.
Speaker 1: I think Rising Tide the cell ships, yes.
Speaker 2: And I think Grand Slam and Athlos are the diamond
Speaker 2: it's going to help them.
Speaker 1: And yeah, well and I think also we always get
Speaker 1: really excited about the flashy new thing and it needs
Speaker 1: to be sustainable, right, Like it was just the very
Speaker 1: first event for Grand Slam Track, but the crowds in
Speaker 1: Kingston were super disappointing. In fact, Athlos and the Diamond
Speaker 1: League both kind of took shots at the Grand Slam
Speaker 1: Track launch, Like on the day of Athlos was taking
Speaker 1: a subtle dig by posting about the crowds they had
Speaker 1: at their event, and Diamond League announced their places the
Speaker 1: most elite set of a and the one that's been around.
Speaker 1: So there's a little bit of rivalry there, which to
Speaker 1: your point, could be very good. It could inspire more
Speaker 1: money and some changes. Is there any chance they'll cannibalize
Speaker 1: each other. Is there a point where some athletes will
Speaker 1: be at one event, some athletes will be at another,
Speaker 1: they won't compete at the same and then it will
Speaker 1: feel like you're missing out on the opportunity to have
Speaker 1: this really high level competition that has all the stars.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you kind of maybe see that a
Speaker 2: little bit happening now, Like people you know are choosing
Speaker 2: the Diamond League over Grand Slam or vice versa. I'm
Speaker 2: definitely choosing Grand Slam over Diamond League this year, Like
Speaker 2: I'm only going to do one, whereas like if Grand
Speaker 2: Slam wasn't a thing, I probably would go to Europe
Speaker 2: and race a lot more. But I don't know. I
Speaker 2: think I hope that My hope is that, yeah, Grand
Speaker 2: Slam just continues to grow because I think that model
Speaker 2: is like what we need to get back to. It's
Speaker 2: like head to head racing, pure racing. Like there's sure
Speaker 2: if you want to go chase a world record, go
Speaker 2: do it. But like this is a league and like
Speaker 2: this is there are people, we all have contracts to
Speaker 2: be a part of this league. Like we want this
Speaker 2: is like other sports, right, Like we want to grow
Speaker 2: the sport, and I think this is I don't know,
Speaker 2: I just I'm biased, but I think Grand Slam is
Speaker 2: the way to grow it. But I don't Yeah, I
Speaker 2: don't want to say, like, let's burn down all the
Speaker 2: other leagues, you know, Yeah, I don't know. I think
Speaker 2: there's room for both for sure.
Speaker 1: It also feels like maybe a little time and place,
Speaker 1: like you still want to get your best numbers, your
Speaker 1: fastest races, you still want to hit those marks, but
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of like tapering or training. We're
Speaker 1: working on things that you can do at Grand Slam
Speaker 1: where it's about winning and not numbers that maybe feels
Speaker 1: like less of the goal at other events. And so
Speaker 1: this allows you to keep competing and having the head
Speaker 1: to head and having it be as much about the
Speaker 1: win as it is about the number, and then time
Speaker 1: and place for when it goes back to like this
Speaker 1: is this is the goal and this is what everyone's
Speaker 1: going to be talking about. Okay, So last thing, when
Speaker 1: we talked to you last time and you were prepping
Speaker 1: for the Olympics, a lot of Taylor Swift, a lot
Speaker 1: of Charlie XCX, we saw a lot of TikTok dances.
Speaker 1: Is what are we working on now? Do we have
Speaker 1: any new dances in the works. Do we have any
Speaker 1: music that's pumping through the headphones as we're running?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I no, I mean I saw I
Speaker 2: obviously didn't go to Coachella, but I feel like my
Speaker 2: TikTok was all Aboutella and I heard Charlie XX like
Speaker 2: her like that set was incredible, and then I Lady
Speaker 2: Gaga set was also great. I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm so basic. Whatever's like, I'm into pop, you know,
Speaker 2: whatever is popular, and so I don't know. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: just waiting for the next new I guess dance trend.
Speaker 2: I wish I had a better answer, But no.
Speaker 1: No worries. Nothing is broken through yet because it's not summer.
Speaker 1: We're all pale and cold. We're waiting for the song
Speaker 1: of the summer to hit so we can learn the
Speaker 1: dance and get basic with it.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: Have you listened to a lot of the New Gaga album?
Speaker 2: Yes, like well like here and there, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because if you like pop, she's just like. There's
Speaker 1: actually a podcast I would wack commend called Switched on Pop,
Speaker 1: and one of the recent episodes is all about Gaga's
Speaker 1: new album, all the references to our own work, all
Speaker 1: the references to other people's work. There's a song on
Speaker 1: her album that's very Taylor Swift coded, which is kind
Speaker 1: of shocking. It's Gaga doing Swift like definitely would recommend.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna just shout out that podcast because it's such
Speaker 1: a fun listen. So next time you're going for like
Speaker 1: a long casual run and you want to like learn
Speaker 1: while you're running, listen to the Gaga episode. They'll take
Speaker 1: you through the whole new album. We always love catching
Speaker 1: up with you. So excited that we get to see
Speaker 1: more of you in these Grand Slam events. So we're
Speaker 1: looking forward to Miami, and thanks for checking in.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Nikki for taking the time. We
Speaker 1: have to take another quick break when we come back.
Speaker 1: That feeling when audio forms collide. Welcome back, Slices. We
Speaker 1: love that you're listening, but we want you to get
Speaker 1: in the game every So here's our good game play
Speaker 1: of the day. Follow Nicki and follow Grand Slam track
Speaker 1: on social media. We'll link to the accounts in the
Speaker 1: show notes. You know, we always love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: So hit us up on email. Good game at wondermedianetwork
Speaker 1: dot com, and don't forget to subscribe. Rate and review
Speaker 1: It's easy. Watch Switched on Pop rating ten out of ten.
Speaker 1: Holy shit, this is interesting. Review you heard me tell
Speaker 1: Nicki about it. Super cool podcast called Switched on Pop
Speaker 1: that dives deep into one artist, one album, sometimes just
Speaker 1: one song. There are so many good ones, but start
Speaker 1: with the three to eighteen Lady Gaga episode, then the
Speaker 1: two twenty seven and four to two Cowboy Carter Beyonce episodes,
Speaker 1: the eleven nineteen Fleetwood Mac episode, and then the shockingly
Speaker 1: interesting twelve twenty Santa Claus Is Coming to Town episode
Speaker 1: Just trust Me. And if you can't get enough musical
Speaker 1: deep diving, check out the Netflix show Song Exploder. There
Speaker 1: are only eight episodes, but start with lin Manuel Miranda's
Speaker 1: Wait for It and then The Killers When We Were Young.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn. Rate and review. Thanks to listen,
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow, Good game, Nikki, Good Game, Grand Slam
Speaker 1: Track prize money you trash bags on the street, Get
Speaker 1: your literal shit together, New York. I know, I know,
Speaker 1: it's just how they do it here. Yet another reason
Speaker 1: Chicago is Superior. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,
Speaker 1: and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and
Speaker 1: I'm Your host Sarah Spain