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Speaker 1: Like most winter athletes, Jackie Narricott fell in love with

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Speaker 1: winter sports after watching the movie Cool Runnings. But unlike

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Speaker 1: most other athletes, Jackie grew up in Queensland, Australia, a

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Speaker 1: place literally called the Sunshine State that rarely sees snowfall.

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Speaker 1: So it was actually a chance encounter with the Australian

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Speaker 1: bob sled team that led Jackie on her journey to

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Speaker 1: discovering skeleton racing, a sport she describes as going down

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Speaker 1: an icy water slide with no brakes and let's just

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Speaker 1: say it was love at first slide. Welcome back to

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Speaker 1: the Female Athlete Project. I'm Sophie the producer here at

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Speaker 1: teathat and this week Chloe sits down with Jackie Narracott,

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Speaker 1: the first Australian to earn an Olympic medal in skeleton racing,

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Speaker 1: after recently announcing her retirement. Jackie chats with Chloe about

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Speaker 1: the highs, lows and slippery slopes of her career, including

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Speaker 1: an almost career ending concussion. Jackie shares what it was

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Speaker 1: like to finally achieve a life form dream of becoming

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Speaker 1: an Olympian and getting to do that twice. We hope

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Speaker 1: you enjoyed this episode.

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Speaker 2: Jackie, Welcome to the Female Athlete Project.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 2: I'm really looking forward to having a chat with you.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for making the time. Can you

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Speaker 2: kick us off with Jackie as a little kid, two.

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Speaker 3: Very different sides to my childhood. Initially, as a young kid,

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Speaker 3: I was super girly, super shy into ballet and dance

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Speaker 3: and all those kinds of things. And then kind of

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Speaker 3: grade four hit and sport came into the picture, okay,

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Speaker 3: and conboy from.

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Speaker 2: That on, Oh that's quite a dramatic change.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I kept dancing until I was twelve, okay, and

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Speaker 3: then it kind of there were a choice between going

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Speaker 3: to States for athletics or doing funnel rehearsals for end

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Speaker 3: of year a recital and States one.

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Speaker 2: And how interesting I because I did ballet as a kid.

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Speaker 2: I don't think I was very good, but I so

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Speaker 2: clearly remember I wrote, Mum made me do it. It

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Speaker 2: made me so anxious as a little kid. I had

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Speaker 2: to write a card to my ballet instructor, teacher whatever

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Speaker 2: they're called to say that I was choosing to like

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Speaker 2: play other sports, which I guess whatever you've got to

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Speaker 2: call it. But it's such a clear moment. I remember

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Speaker 2: of like stopping that and then going down another path.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I remember kind of like I mean the last

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Speaker 3: definitely the last year of doing ballet and your forms

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Speaker 3: of dance, going to dancing. Was it getting to be

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Speaker 3: more of a struggle?

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Speaker 2: Right? Nah?

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Speaker 3: I want to run, That's all I want to do.

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Speaker 2: And why was it running?

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Speaker 3: Partly history with Uncle Paul, but then also seeing Sidney

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Speaker 3: because that all kind of happened around about the same time,

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Speaker 3: and running was just fun. Yeah, I was good at it.

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Speaker 3: I liked it. Yeah, it was just as nice to

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Speaker 3: just been a big barefoot and running as fast they could.

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Speaker 2: Why fair foot on the track?

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Speaker 3: Grass tracks? Okay, okay, I was just gonna get hurt.

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Speaker 3: Tartan tracks and Beffy not go hand in hand. I

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Speaker 3: will want that enough times. But yeah, barefoot on the grass?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Right. And talk to us about your relationship with

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Speaker 2: your uncle because he was a winter and Summer Olympian. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: First I was to go to both the Summer and

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Speaker 3: the Winter Olympics. Yeah, it's good. It was always good

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Speaker 3: to have his backing and his support. He's in Camber.

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Speaker 3: I'm busy, and then around the world. So there we're

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Speaker 3: not soily as close as what we could be, but

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Speaker 3: he's always at the other other end of the phone.

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Speaker 3: And from the very beginning when I switch, it was right,

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Speaker 3: you can do this. But when it stops being fun.

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Speaker 2: That's it. It's good advice, very good advice. Yeah, and

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Speaker 2: so athletics. Bit of footy in there, Solcker, Yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 3: That started as a ideally going to be midfielder striker

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Speaker 3: to keep fit for athletics got out. I was only

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Speaker 3: one crazy enough two going goals that have balls kicked

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Speaker 3: at me. Yeah, and then yeah, mum saw a ad

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Speaker 3: in the paper for Qas's talent. I D yeah, tried

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Speaker 3: that and got into that and that kind of escalated

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Speaker 3: the the footy side, but still doing athletics on us

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Speaker 3: on the side is my main sport, one that I

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Speaker 3: loved and still love.

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Speaker 2: I find the talent I D things very interesting. What

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Speaker 2: characteristics did you have that they id'd something?

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Speaker 3: I think, uh, the the ability to read to read

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Speaker 3: the ball, which is funny because my death perception was

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Speaker 3: out and we'll get to that. That was that was

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Speaker 3: that was a concussion learning right, But it's my my

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Speaker 3: reaction in the ability and the willingness to throw myself

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Speaker 3: around and through silly things probably.

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Speaker 2: Helped, which probably makes sense about the career that you

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Speaker 2: ended up in. How honest did you end up doing

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Speaker 2: skeleton in the Winter Olympics? Like where did that all start? Uh?

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Speaker 3: I think it's it started probably younger than I realized,

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Speaker 3: like growing up obviously like a pauling and the bob

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Speaker 3: sledting side of things. But then watching Core Runnings love

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Speaker 3: I can still quote Core Runnings really oh yeah, one

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Speaker 3: of my favorite movies growing up. It was really bad

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Speaker 3: when you go into bobsled, like the way they portray Calgary,

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Speaker 3: which is the track in the movie is completely none

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Speaker 3: of the corners make sense, which until you've slid it

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Speaker 3: you don't kind of right get that. But then also

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Speaker 3: watching Lydia Lasla and Jackie Cooper and Alyssa do their

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Speaker 3: cool things and seeing them win Crystal globes and all

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Speaker 3: those kinds of things on TV. Women doing amazing stuff. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: got to uni. By that point I knew I wasn't

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Speaker 3: going to be an Olympian as this printer that should

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Speaker 3: be well and truly sailed. Yeh, we're not making state

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Speaker 3: in national teams at fifteen sixteen seventeen, not really going

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Speaker 3: to happen. Yeah, okay, and right plays the right time

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Speaker 3: to try bob sled which we are training with a

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Speaker 3: briateman and they need to a spare. So Tom's on

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Speaker 3: a plane convinced Pum and Dad that it was a

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Speaker 3: good idea for me to go to do bob sledding.

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Speaker 3: Spent two and a half months traveling around Europe in

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Speaker 3: twenty eleven after I had done my final exams at UNIE,

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Speaker 3: dumped on a plane, missed graduation and all those fun things.

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Speaker 3: But before it even set foot on ice, our skeleton

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Speaker 3: coaches saw me. We were out of what carp and

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Speaker 3: they took one look and said, you're too small to

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Speaker 3: be a bobsletter right what skeleton?

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Speaker 2: So before you'd even done anything.

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Speaker 3: Yep, wow, which is true. Like I'm I'm more mostly

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Speaker 3: now than what I was bobsledding. Yeah, and my dead

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Speaker 3: lift improved just from picking up sleds. It was I was.

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Speaker 3: It was not strong enough to be a be bobslter

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Speaker 3: at the time. Okay, and even.

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Speaker 2: Now, and are we talking like like glue cord strength

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Speaker 2: to get that initial push.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but also just picking up being able to move

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Speaker 3: the sled and pick up sled and sixty.

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Speaker 2: Yelow whoa yeah, like move it and pick it up

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Speaker 2: like before you start racing or like. So that's just

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Speaker 2: like a part of what you have to do is

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Speaker 2: being able to just pick it up all the time. Yep,

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Speaker 2: because I guess it's not something I would have ever

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Speaker 2: thought about.

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Speaker 3: No, some teams have wheels to move the bobs let

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Speaker 3: around to make it a little bit easier, right, but

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Speaker 3: you've still got to flip it to get it up

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Speaker 3: onto the stands so you can change runners and then

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Speaker 3: from bucket the way to get on the track, move

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Speaker 3: it to get it off the track. Yeah, onto trucks,

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Speaker 3: off trucks. The skeletons so much easier, most waste thedtic ulo. Okay,

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Speaker 3: so much nicer.

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Speaker 2: Okay, we're going to get to the skeleton part, and

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Speaker 2: there's a lot in that. I want to just go

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Speaker 2: back to what you talked about, that idea of being

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Speaker 2: realistic that you weren't going to go to the Olympics.

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Speaker 2: In sprinting, what do you think the balance is like,

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Speaker 2: because I think for a lot of young people they

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Speaker 2: kind of get caught in like do I persevere in this,

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Speaker 2: or do I change and kind of risk it and

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Speaker 2: try something completely new.

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Speaker 3: I think it's individual and whether you want it enough.

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Speaker 3: I knew I wanted to be an Olympian. I didn't

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Speaker 3: care what sport it was. Yeah, would have preferred to

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Speaker 3: have been a sprengeman on summer Olympian. Yeah, But as

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Speaker 3: long as they got there and got the rings on

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Speaker 3: my chest, they didn't really care. I think you know

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Speaker 3: intrinsically too, whether you're doing well enough, particularly as you

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Speaker 3: get to late teens. You know from from piers, whether

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Speaker 3: you're close enough. And being elite at fifteen doesn't mean

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Speaker 3: you're going to be elite at that senior level quite

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Speaker 3: a bit, it's the reverse of that. But you've still

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Speaker 3: got to have some decent level of talent to then

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Speaker 3: make the transition into being a senior athlete. And I

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Speaker 3: wasn't close enough running I think girls running maybe twelve

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Speaker 3: nine for one hundred. If I was being possibly quite generous,

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Speaker 3: it might've only been thirteen. But that at fifteen is

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Speaker 3: nowhere near good enough. The top girls are running twelve

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Speaker 3: to one. So the big difference between what is going

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Speaker 3: to become elite and what's just fast.

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Speaker 2: Got Yeah, Okay, yeah, I like that. I like that perspective. Okay.

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Speaker 2: Skeleton Bears, who's my co host on the rap Our

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Speaker 2: Weekly podcast, often calls it sliding face first on a

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Speaker 2: Maca's trade down.

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Speaker 3: She's pretty close.

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Speaker 2: Can you give it an actual insight? I mean it

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Speaker 2: kind of seems.

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Speaker 3: Accurate, right, It's very accurate. So the way I describe

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Speaker 3: it is basically, take a book board, make it steel

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Speaker 3: and fibloss, okay, and take a running like a running top,

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Speaker 3: and I've head first done an iced water slide. That's

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Speaker 3: basically the gist of it, without any breaks. My feet

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Speaker 3: are my brakes.

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Speaker 2: Yes, the nome breaks part. I can forget about that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so do I wow?

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Speaker 2: Okay, so you the coaches see you and they're like, no,

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Speaker 2: not big enough to do. Bob said, Skeleton, this is

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Speaker 2: it what goes through your head in that moment.

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Speaker 3: I want to try, Bob sled first. This is what

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Speaker 3: I came across to do. Yes, I've been here for

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Speaker 3: about forty eight hours at this point. Let me get

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Speaker 3: in the back of a sleds se if I like

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Speaker 3: even like going down the track full stop, very different

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Speaker 3: thing going down when you can't see what so when

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Speaker 3: you can see, but that's that's still a feeling of

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Speaker 3: going down, basically a roll across stuff with your eyes shot,

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Speaker 3: and it's a it's a unique feeling and either love

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Speaker 3: or you hate it, but it's fun. I didn't want

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Speaker 3: to let them down either. They put it put a

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Speaker 3: favorit of faith in me to kind of come over

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Speaker 3: and help team and get them through.

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Speaker 2: And because is that because you're the brakeman, you can't

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Speaker 2: see anything? What about the person at the front.

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Speaker 3: Oh, they can see other pops of the pro can

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Speaker 3: with this, they can see heaps. Okay. We were to

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Speaker 3: give you an example of that. We were standing in

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Speaker 3: Beijing with one of our other ladders. Bree watches the

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Speaker 3: Bop ladder, and we're talking through thirteen of the Olympics

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Speaker 3: and we were standing there and she's like, oh, they've

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Speaker 3: changed their signing on the exit at the corner. This

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Speaker 3: corner is like is long?

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Speaker 2: Oh what do you mean?

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Speaker 3: You can see that far? I can see kind of

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Speaker 3: like maybe ten minutes ahead of me, and you can

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Speaker 3: see all the way run there. Yeah, okay, the big

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Speaker 3: different from what you can see. Put some good vision.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, okay, that's good to know. I like that.

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Speaker 2: So what how do you if they say you need

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Speaker 2: to do skeleton, how do you get to the point

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Speaker 2: of running and propelling yourself onto the eyes? I don't

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Speaker 2: imagine they say all right, off you go, go and

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Speaker 2: do it not quiet.

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Speaker 3: So we had a development camp in March of twenty

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Speaker 3: twelve in like Plasted in the US and kind of

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Speaker 3: got back and got home from Bob's letting, got back

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Speaker 3: in touch with them and said, yep, I'm Keane. What's

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Speaker 3: the steps from here? Yeah, they let me join their camp.

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Speaker 3: Went across the US. And how sliding works for everyone

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Speaker 3: is you start from a halfway on the track. So

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Speaker 3: for us it was quant to nine ah, and they

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Speaker 3: say light, they don't move. Yeah, they pushed you off

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Speaker 3: and someone catches you at the bottom.

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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 3: Cool that's how you start. Yeah, I love that.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 3: Then we were going about I think we maybe we

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Speaker 3: get sixty k an hour max, which is really fast. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: it is, and it feels fast. And then you start

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Speaker 3: doing track walks and looking at where we were we

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Speaker 3: were going around the bottom of the corner and looking

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Speaker 3: at where we would eventually be going right like five

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Speaker 3: meters higher in the air. That's full on looking at

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Speaker 3: me and like, what do you mean I'm going to

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Speaker 3: be stopped to a wall up here? And it takes

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Speaker 3: takes a bit to get get your head around.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what was the fear like? Knowing what was coming?

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Speaker 3: I couldn't wait?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 3: Yeah I did. I did one run, got off and

250
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Speaker 3: went that's it. I'm switching sports. Let me add it. Wow,

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Speaker 3: It's just it was so much fun. I love the

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Speaker 3: fact that I could see where I was going, that

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Speaker 3: I was in control. I think that's probably big one.

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Speaker 3: And being an individual athlete, the whole way through I

255
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Speaker 3: was in control, and longer term that that then meant

256
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Speaker 3: when I crashed with the Morton fault. Okay, when I

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Speaker 3: went fast because I went fast, Yeah, a bit more

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Speaker 3: and turning the control of it over the outcome.

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Speaker 2: And do you remember the first time you did the

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Speaker 2: full run I start to finish. I don't, actually I remember.

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Speaker 2: That's the one thing from that camp I don't remember.

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Speaker 3: I remember going. The next step up was from entrance

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Speaker 3: to the corner three and we were there for about a

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Speaker 3: week and I CoA just ended up using us with

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Speaker 3: bawling balls to try and have the best start time.

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Speaker 3: So the start ramp from corner three is kind of

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Speaker 3: like that. It's a loose start ramp. Yeah, and because

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Speaker 3: we were doing well enough that they kind of trust us.

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Speaker 3: They were running down the start ramp with us holding

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Speaker 3: our feet, trying to give us, trying to give us

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Speaker 3: the prep to go up to the next start, but

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Speaker 3: also because they can have some fun.

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Speaker 2: And.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you get have some fun.

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Speaker 2: That's awesome.

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Speaker 3: Very bruised for the first couple of years. It's from

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Speaker 3: hitting walls.

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Speaker 2: And how frequently do you crash?

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Speaker 3: Thankfully, not all that often. Okay, my first year I

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Speaker 3: crashed maybe three times, like actually off the sled, not

281
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Speaker 3: just like running into the wall, running to the walls

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Speaker 3: up unt all time. It's just the speed and the

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Speaker 3: intensity of which you hit a wall that kind of changes,

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Speaker 3: right ow. Yeah, particularly when you're hitting the same a

285
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Speaker 3: spot that everybody else is hitting. You then start hitting concrete.

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Speaker 2: There's not because the ice breaks down. Yeah, it's not good.

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Speaker 3: It's not an It hurt, but usually it's the sled

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Speaker 3: hits the concrete and then you hit the ice.

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Speaker 2: Okay, but it's still pretty yeah.

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Speaker 3: Sorry. The best example I've got of that is my

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Speaker 3: first full season. We were in Calgary and going around.

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Speaker 3: We have corners called core cradles. This one's two seventy degrees,

293
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Speaker 3: but some of them are up to three sixty. Yeow,

294
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Speaker 3: just the way it works.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, my head's going to like a freeway entrance when

296
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Speaker 2: you're like spinning around pretty much.

297
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Speaker 3: Yeah, some of them you'll start here and then kind

298
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Speaker 3: of finish underneath. That's usually how it goes. It's just

299
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Speaker 3: whether they drop a lot of whether they're fairly flat right. Yeah,

300
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Speaker 3: it came around that, and that one can be a

301
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Speaker 3: bit tricky because there's not a lot of oscillations in

302
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Speaker 3: its movement in it, which makes it harder to steer,

303
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:01,840
Speaker 3: how to feel where you are right, which is a

304
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Speaker 3: rookie it doesn't rode well. For year four Muscles that

305
00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,520
Speaker 3: came out and just slammed the left wall every single run.

306
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Speaker 3: It was black and blue from my shoulder under my ankle, klen.

307
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Speaker 3: You get better at it, you just keep going, keep going,

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Speaker 3: do it again?

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Speaker 2: Whoa Yeah, So from this camp, what was your progression

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Speaker 2: like and how did you get to the point to

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Speaker 2: qualify for your debut into Olympics.

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Speaker 3: We had a program for the AIS had a program

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Speaker 3: thankfully for my first two seasons, so twenty twelve, thirteen

314
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Speaker 3: and then thirteen fourteen. So I had went onto a

315
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Speaker 3: as development scholarship, which is really handy, so we had

316
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Speaker 3: we had coaching, went and did a full season on

317
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Speaker 3: North America's Cup, so our lowest tier of sliding, which

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Speaker 3: we had a bit of coaching, but because we had

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Speaker 3: three tiers of athletes who were all trying to qualify

320
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Speaker 3: for the Olympics, for the coaching, all the support went

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Speaker 3: to them, we kind of were left to with with

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Speaker 3: ut with other development coaches from other countries who we

323
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Speaker 3: had good relationships with the county just had a slide

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Speaker 3: on some of the other tracks yep.

325
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Speaker 2: And were they generous with their time? They were.

326
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Speaker 3: That's really we were. We were lucky with that. Okay,

327
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Speaker 3: still rough. I think World Champs, Junior World Champs. Our

328
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Speaker 3: first year we had some of our own athletes coaching

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Speaker 3: us because everyone else was on ICC at World Cup

330
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Speaker 3: with the ones who were trying to go to slutchy Okay,

331
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Speaker 3: slotchy happened and we lost all about hunting because the

332
00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,840
Speaker 3: girls didn't perform to expectation for a variety of reasons,

333
00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,760
Speaker 3: and the AIS went That's why we're taking a lot

334
00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,880
Speaker 3: of funding, right, so everyone retired, We lost all of

335
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Speaker 3: our creatures and it was just me to what yep,

336
00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,480
Speaker 3: I think. John Farris is one of our male sliders,

337
00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 3: he kept going, but on the girls slide, it was

338
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Speaker 3: it was me coach, no manager, no physio.

339
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Speaker 2: Nothing, So what on earth did you do?

340
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Speaker 3: Made the uh somewhat naive call of going to World

341
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,920
Speaker 3: Cup having slid for two years without a coach, without anyone,

342
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Speaker 3: because I kind of figured that it was easier to

343
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:19,840
Speaker 3: hold a World Cup spot what it was going to

344
00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,320
Speaker 3: be to lose it and then try and regain it

345
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,560
Speaker 3: for the Olympics. But also these were the girls they

346
00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,520
Speaker 3: wanted to beat, So the best way I thought to

347
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,160
Speaker 3: do it was to sit on World Cup and watch

348
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Speaker 3: and learn from them every day.

349
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Speaker 2: And what happened did that World Cup?

350
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Speaker 3: I got the absolute kicked out of me. I or

351
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,439
Speaker 3: it didn't help that I got concussion on paid training.

352
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,159
Speaker 3: We have pay training and then we go into official

353
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,880
Speaker 3: training where we only have six runs before we race.

354
00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:54,680
Speaker 3: Paid training first World Cup concussion didn't do kind of

355
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,280
Speaker 3: hit the roof on the back end of the corner,

356
00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,280
Speaker 3: came down, hit the right wall and then that's threw

357
00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,800
Speaker 3: me into a left waar handed fall, finished the run,

358
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,480
Speaker 3: but concussion. Really shouldn't have raced that weekend, Okay, but

359
00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:10,399
Speaker 3: I think I did two runs of rotea managed to

360
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,440
Speaker 3: convince the race doctor that yeah, I was fine and

361
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:20,640
Speaker 3: raced finished last, which considering ass I'd had three months

362
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:22,919
Speaker 3: for the week or four runs for the week, probably

363
00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:27,040
Speaker 3: isn't that surprising. But yeah, And it kind of just

364
00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,120
Speaker 3: continued like that for a while, where getting a second

365
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:35,639
Speaker 3: run was hard. At times there were a lot of

366
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,919
Speaker 3: tears and a lot of watching, sorting sleds, running up,

367
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,080
Speaker 3: doing my run, running back down, trying to watch as

368
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,439
Speaker 3: much as they could and take bits and pieces from

369
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,359
Speaker 3: people that I was traveling with, and beg begging and

370
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,800
Speaker 3: borrowing to try and get video footage or to have

371
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,760
Speaker 3: someone who just sled on the line come race day.

372
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:59,320
Speaker 3: But what it is. And then thankfully in twenty seventeen,

373
00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,080
Speaker 3: so the little bit isn't the IBSF, so our International

374
00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:05,399
Speaker 3: Federation made the call to have a development coach on

375
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Speaker 3: Walk Cup. There were enough single small nations on World

376
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,760
Speaker 3: Cup that they were okay, we'll fund a small nations coach. Okay,

377
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:15,879
Speaker 3: very thankful for that, who meant that we then had

378
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,119
Speaker 3: someone that we could rely on and that kind of

379
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,960
Speaker 3: texts some of the stress out of it. And also,

380
00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,199
Speaker 3: thankfully at that point, we had a continental spot. So

381
00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:26,359
Speaker 3: the way the it was used to work for the

382
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,240
Speaker 3: Olympics was it every continent had a spot. So I

383
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,280
Speaker 3: knew going into Olympics eason in twenty eighteen that as

384
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,560
Speaker 3: long as I was fit, wow, pretty much it was

385
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,600
Speaker 3: going to be okay, which was fun when everyone was

386
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,359
Speaker 3: complaining then to me about other athletes who weren't necessarily

387
00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,040
Speaker 3: good enough to get the continental spot, who were then

388
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,160
Speaker 3: going to go to the Olympics as that, Right, that's

389
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,440
Speaker 3: you guys, realize that I'm the continental sport.

390
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,240
Speaker 2: They're talking to you about that, not realizing that was

391
00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:56,720
Speaker 2: the case.

392
00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:02,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I think they knew that, but because at

393
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:07,040
Speaker 3: that point I was pushing for top fifteen most weekends, like, yeah,

394
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,359
Speaker 3: but you're good enough to go, right, not the point right, Okay,

395
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:15,240
Speaker 3: it's still the same thing. Yeah, because we only had

396
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,399
Speaker 3: two single athlete nations and as far as the quota

397
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,960
Speaker 3: goes for the Olympics in twenty eighteen, and they went

398
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:22,480
Speaker 3: to the girls who were ranked fourth and sticks in

399
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,560
Speaker 3: the world, right, So that.

400
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:25,600
Speaker 2: Was always gonna be a challenge.

401
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,280
Speaker 3: God, yeah, okay, but yeah I got to go and amazing.

402
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,720
Speaker 2: That whole experience where you talked about having to ask

403
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:35,600
Speaker 2: and beg and borrow and do all of those things

404
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,360
Speaker 2: that would have been pretty humbling. And I imagine as

405
00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,400
Speaker 2: an individual athlete, correct me if I'm wrong. I feel

406
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,879
Speaker 2: like there's a level of ego that you kind of

407
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,160
Speaker 2: need to have as an individual athlete to kind of

408
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,560
Speaker 2: rock up to start lines. And like that's kind of

409
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,840
Speaker 2: the complete opposite end of the spectrum. What was that?

410
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,360
Speaker 3: Like, Ah, hard, I'm not very good at asking for help.

411
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 3: I'm still not good at asking for help. So having

412
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,800
Speaker 3: to do that and knowing that you've I had nothing

413
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,120
Speaker 3: to offer. We didn't have a visio that I could say,

414
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,439
Speaker 3: all right, well, Doul sit in corner one and we

415
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,919
Speaker 3: can trade video, which is off the artworks, right, I

416
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,679
Speaker 3: didn't have any money to say, all right, we'll I'll

417
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,640
Speaker 3: keep you ten grand and film fit for the year.

418
00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:19,920
Speaker 3: You're really relying on people not seeing you as a threat,

419
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,200
Speaker 3: which was the big one. And thankfully at that point

420
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 3: I was as far from a threat as anyone could

421
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,800
Speaker 3: have been. And you're just just relying on friends and

422
00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,920
Speaker 3: people being nice and their athletes being just on a

423
00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:33,920
Speaker 3: race da being far enough ahead of you in the

424
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,040
Speaker 3: order that they had time to focus on them and

425
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 3: do their job properly and then be nice and help

426
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,480
Speaker 3: you get get your slep to the line. But lighting

427
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 3: is very much a family, which is.

428
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,640
Speaker 2: Which is nice, that's really lovely. It's a bizarre thought though,

429
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,440
Speaker 2: that because you weren't a threat you could get help. Yeah,

430
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,160
Speaker 2: it was it well a law to help.

431
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 3: And thankfully the Dutch girl that I was lighting, I

432
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 3: was traveling with at the time, we got thrown together

433
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,239
Speaker 3: that we could walk up right you've never met at

434
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,880
Speaker 3: the airport and travel together for the year. Wow. Through

435
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 3: other other contacts and other friends. Yeah, just her knowing

436
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 3: coaches and going please. Wow, that's part of it.

437
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:19,639
Speaker 2: Amazing. So twenty eighteen Olympics, yeap, how does it feel

438
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,680
Speaker 2: representing your country? You made it the.

439
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,320
Speaker 3: Best feeling ever. We got to try on our speed

440
00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 3: suits two weeks before we got to the games, and

441
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 3: remember the first time I put it on and seeing

442
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:34,920
Speaker 3: the first of the rings on the on that speed suit,

443
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 3: and then putting it on and seeing on my chest.

444
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,960
Speaker 3: It's like happiness. The stupidest, like green on my face

445
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 3: because it was finally happening, and then got there and

446
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,120
Speaker 3: we had we were fortunate, we had We had enough

447
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:49,919
Speaker 3: time to kind of spend three days running amuck in

448
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,080
Speaker 3: the village and just getting the getting that excitement completely

449
00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 3: out of our system before we settled down and went

450
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 3: to training. We got the opening ceremony and that that

451
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 3: experiences amazing. Yeah, almost got canceled because it was so cold.

452
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 2: Oh wow, it was.

453
00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 3: Minus thirty leading in to the ceremony.

454
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 2: That's very very cold.

455
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 3: Plus the windshill.

456
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, not for me, thank you, thank you,

457
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:16,320
Speaker 2: thankfully it waked up.

458
00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:18,399
Speaker 3: I think it was on the maybe minus eight. So

459
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 3: it was enough that they were comfortable with having people

460
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:24,360
Speaker 3: sit out cycle without outdoor stadium. Okay, but we all

461
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,720
Speaker 3: had the option basically where we could walk in. Yeah,

462
00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,120
Speaker 3: did lat up the stairs and then straight down into

463
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,680
Speaker 3: buses to get back to the village, Yeah, which we

464
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,320
Speaker 3: some some people did. We didn't. We were close enough

465
00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 3: to the end where I wanted to see the torch

466
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,879
Speaker 3: come in and here Thomas Buck's beak and do all

467
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,440
Speaker 3: those things that it's in on TV. My one chance potentially, Yeah,

468
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:44,960
Speaker 3: I want to be here. I want to see the

469
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,400
Speaker 3: quadron lit and then we can leave fair enough.

470
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and then race day.

471
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 3: Opposite of what I was expecting. Okay, partly my own

472
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 3: fault because so my my husband Dom competes, used to

473
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 3: compete for you, and his race was in the morning

474
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,840
Speaker 3: before hours. He won bronze, but did it the hard way,

475
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,199
Speaker 3: so he was sitting in third, came down and was

476
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,320
Speaker 3: sent sitting behind another athlete, so that when he was

477
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,679
Speaker 3: sitting in fourth overall relying on the next guy to

478
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 3: go down, who was world champion, greatest of all time

479
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,679
Speaker 3: in our sport, to make a mistake, and we were

480
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,199
Speaker 3: sitting there thinking, Okay, he just just lost bronze. This

481
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,679
Speaker 3: guy never makes a mistake. Sure enough comes down the

482
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:35,600
Speaker 3: track and then he comes down in fourth, like okay, cool, wow,

483
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 3: but now I've just spent all of my emotional energy watching.

484
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:40,640
Speaker 2: On the day of your race.

485
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 3: Wow, my race. So by the time we got to compete,

486
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:45,240
Speaker 3: I got to the track and kind of felt a

487
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,480
Speaker 3: little bit flat and not what I was expecting. Yeah,

488
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,919
Speaker 3: didn't then help that either run one or run to

489
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,800
Speaker 3: a cut. Remember, now, absolutely stuffed it up and slammed

490
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 3: the left wall going to twelve and almost crashed. I

491
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,120
Speaker 3: think I remember in my shoulder on the ice going

492
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 3: to twelve, and that completely ruined any hopes that I

493
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 3: had of being top ten, which probably slightly unrealistic if

494
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 3: I'm if I wanted to be where I wanted to finish,

495
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 3: but that kind of happened, thankfully. Then run for Day two,

496
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 3: got to the track and that excitement and those nerves

497
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:21,560
Speaker 3: were there. I remember saying to my coreach for me,

498
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,199
Speaker 3: like this is what I was expecting to feel, like,

499
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:29,200
Speaker 3: oh yeah, like excited, nervous, but that energy was back. Yeah.

500
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,159
Speaker 3: And then run run screen forward.

501
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 2: We're better but yeah, And did you walk away from

502
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 2: that Olympics with a concussion?

503
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 3: No? No, that was the two runs I did the

504
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,040
Speaker 3: first first the first runs of the sec of the

505
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:43,880
Speaker 3: next season.

506
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 2: The next season. Okay, can you talk us through that

507
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 2: concussion process because that was pretty big.

508
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 3: That was bigger. It was long and drawn out. Yeah,

509
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 3: then it probably needed to be. So first runs back

510
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,919
Speaker 3: back in Calgary and did first round season hit a

511
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 3: bump in in kraysle or with krazle That is part

512
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 3: of the track and it's one of those it's on

513
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,240
Speaker 3: the line where if you do krayzl, Well, you hit it.

514
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 3: If you don't, you miss it. Okay, it's just the

515
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 3: way the concretes designed. And because it's so old now right,

516
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 3: hit that, got a bit of a headache, Go off track, Okay, fine,

517
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 3: not I deal. Went again, hit it faster and hit

518
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,480
Speaker 3: harder the second the second run, whoa, and by time

519
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,080
Speaker 3: I came out of the corner, swore one of the

520
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,200
Speaker 3: office sled. I hated it and got off the track.

521
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,879
Speaker 3: I was like, what is going on? Why is this here?

522
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 3: Went home. By the time I drove the ten minutes home,

523
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 3: I can look at a screen, kind of started to

524
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:46,439
Speaker 3: tick all the big things concussion. Just thought I'll have

525
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,440
Speaker 3: I'll a sleep, I'll be fine. Went back to the track.

526
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,520
Speaker 3: The following day, track walked and by the end of

527
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 3: the track walk I had a headache. They didn't slide.

528
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 3: We didn't have anyone there. We had an IBSF coach

529
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,479
Speaker 3: who was helping out, but didn't have had too many

530
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,560
Speaker 3: athletes for first of all to trying to like individualize anything,

531
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,439
Speaker 3: but also didn't have the concussion side of it. We

532
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 3: didn't have a physio, we had no medical so it

533
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,480
Speaker 3: was just me going Okay, I've had a concussion before,

534
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,639
Speaker 3: kind of working through things. All right, I'll take the

535
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 3: day off. It also didn't stop, so that was probably

536
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 3: my own fault. But about me about a week to

537
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 3: get back on track and we were doing an ice

538
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 3: hour session, so the pressing start on an ice on

539
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:33,199
Speaker 3: an ice push track, went down to do a hampshioning stretch,

540
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,000
Speaker 3: got up well, dizzy was the end of that day.

541
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 3: I think. Ten days later, went to Whistler fast Track

542
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,199
Speaker 3: in the world gorgeous and had to start scratch, went

543
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,159
Speaker 3: from lowerdown and I said, managed to get through all that,

544
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,639
Speaker 3: starting really well. Got to Innsbrook in big in the

545
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,080
Speaker 3: middle of the January to Austria back on walk up.

546
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,280
Speaker 3: Thankfully I was starting. I was training with the Canadians

547
00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,880
Speaker 3: so had the support of their team and their coaches.

548
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,159
Speaker 3: Was unusually emotional after a couple of training days, and

549
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 3: like Insbrook and I had never particularly gotten along very well.

550
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,440
Speaker 3: It's super subtle. I hater it's boring, but the runs

551
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 3: weren't bad enough for me to be in tears, and

552
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,600
Speaker 3: they were what I was. I was talking to a

553
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 3: friend who slides with the Dutch team and she was

554
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 3: saying that I was really slow to respond to questions.

555
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,399
Speaker 3: There was that we had not slide. That weekend, I

556
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 3: went to Saint Marines, which is in Switzerland. It's only

557
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 3: natural tract on the world. With the beauty of that

558
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:36,960
Speaker 3: is that there's no vibrations, so because everything just kind

559
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 3: of melts away, which is amazing. But I was dizzy

560
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 3: sliding that and again slow to respond, and the Canadians went,

561
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 3: we're not comfortable sending media, went through all of their

562
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,600
Speaker 3: concussion protocols, scat tests. I tried to convince the chiropractor

563
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 3: that I was fine because my balance is terrible. My

564
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 3: balance is always terrible, so like, don't like, don't don't believe,

565
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 3: don't believe you're not slaying.

566
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay.

567
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 3: Went back to the UK and then I couldn't walk

568
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 3: around town withouteeling drunk and pros concussion syndrome hit and

569
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 3: was what was eventually diagnosed. But I drove from Saint

570
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,239
Speaker 3: Maurens to Munich, the three half hour drive plaffic at home.

571
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 3: Somehow I finally called our physio from the peop went

572
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,120
Speaker 3: to the institute and said, this is what's going on.

573
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 3: We're seeing two races in a row. They kind of

574
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 3: needed to know at that point and I figured out

575
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 3: what was going on, and they weren't particularly happy that

576
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,480
Speaker 3: I'd driven right. How also, you bet me to get

577
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 3: home from from Murriots that went so a neurologist done

578
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 3: in London, and yeah, post concussion syndrome couldn't fly until March.

579
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 3: There's mid jan I couldn't find until March and came

580
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,239
Speaker 3: home and spent six months of spent six months doing

581
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 3: vestibular rehab to try and get better. But even even

582
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,880
Speaker 3: within that got to got to gene. I got clear,

583
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:01,800
Speaker 3: but we still didn't know how we're going to react

584
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,720
Speaker 3: to sliding. Despite me it's doing the weirdest exercise in

585
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 3: the world, spinning around on chairs and looking at one

586
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 3: particular spot and my eyes to focus, lying on a

587
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 3: vibrating platform with weights around, hanging off my neck, looking

588
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 3: at this stringth to try and work on my eyes,

589
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 3: see how I would handle things. We didn't know how

590
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 3: it's going to go until I got to the track.

591
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 3: I remember having a conversation with my sports like working

592
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 3: through a plan A, B and C plan A being yep,

593
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 3: we're good to go, get through We're trying to sport

594
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 3: and no symptoms. Beijing here we come. Plan B was

595
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 3: that a couple of symptoms. Maybe it takes a bit

596
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 3: longer to get through that, but we're still there. And

597
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:48,560
Speaker 3: then plans was that I got symptoms run one and

598
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 3: they were clear cut and that was the end of

599
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:51,360
Speaker 3: my career.

600
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 2: WHOA.

601
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,960
Speaker 3: That was the conversation we had in about August or

602
00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 3: September before I went on ice, because we needed to

603
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 3: have it then when I wasn't an emotional just in case,

604
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,200
Speaker 3: which is not fun to be sitting there having that conversation,

605
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 3: what are we two and a half of that from

606
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 3: an Olympics saying this could be it but thankfully or

607
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 3: what okay?

608
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 2: How did you find the courage to throw yourself back

609
00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 2: down again with the fear of what you've been through

610
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 2: and the fact that it is a brain injury that

611
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 2: you've experienced.

612
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,760
Speaker 3: I was very, very nervous, I think, aside from first

613
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 3: runs down dumb Beijing, that's the most NEPs I've ever

614
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 3: been on sled because the consequences of it not going

615
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 3: well were so high for me. Like in the grands

616
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 3: game of things, they're not that big, but in terms

617
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,680
Speaker 3: of where my goals were at those couple of runs,

618
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,840
Speaker 3: we're going to determine essentially the rest of my life, and.

619
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 2: Do you mean consequences around not being able to go

620
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 2: to the next Olympics or nothing to do with your

621
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:00,320
Speaker 2: future brain help.

622
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 3: At that point, I just know it wasn't And that

623
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 3: was why we we'd had the conversations about if I

624
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 3: had symptoms, then that was it because third concussion, last

625
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 3: bomb being the biggest any symptoms. We weren't putting me

626
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,000
Speaker 3: through that risk because the rest of my life was

627
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,240
Speaker 3: more important than going to a second Olympics.

628
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,719
Speaker 2: Yes, but isn't it interesting when you're so focused on

629
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,960
Speaker 2: an Olympic dream or whatever that dream is, that that

630
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 2: almost takes priority sometimes over your welfare as an athlete.

631
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it had, And even as a sport, we've

632
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,560
Speaker 3: gotten a lot better at dealing with concussion in the

633
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 3: years since. The second the track is bumpy, I stopped

634
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 3: sliding right the second I had a headache. I stopped

635
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 3: sliding because I knew one concussion is bad, three is

636
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 3: really not good. And I didn't want to finish my

637
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 3: career and have all these symptoms and have the potential

638
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,520
Speaker 3: long term effects, which I still might have. We don't

639
00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:58,360
Speaker 3: know that, but I wanted to finish healthy and a

640
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 3: number of times I wouldn't slide and other people would say, oh,

641
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 3: you've got a headache, then stop sliding. You have, for

642
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 3: the most part control over whether you go down and

643
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 3: do it. We were in France and same thing I did.

644
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:15,600
Speaker 3: Actually I didn't didn't slight at all because everyone else

645
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:18,440
Speaker 3: was saying, it's bumpy, I've got a headache. Good when

646
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:20,360
Speaker 3: you're saying that, I'm definitely not going down the track.

647
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 3: But then they went and in one breath they're saying

648
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 3: you're doing the right thing. The next they're going and

649
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 3: doing it right.

650
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 2: Guys gone, Yeah.

651
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 3: But each their own. And I don't think until you've

652
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 3: had a concussion that you really kind of understand the

653
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 3: effects of it and what it actually means.

654
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 2: Fast forwarding to the twenty twenty two Olympics, how did

655
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 2: you feel walking into that compared to twenty eighteen?

656
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,040
Speaker 3: So much more prepared and a lot more focused. I

657
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 3: think the fact it was COVID helped. Yeah, of course,

658
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 3: there's no distractions, right we were. Fortunately we didn't have

659
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 3: as many restrictions on us. Is what they did for Tokyo,

660
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,440
Speaker 3: which I'm very grateful for. We could go in whenever

661
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,120
Speaker 3: we wanted to had the forty eight hour you're done

662
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:09,879
Speaker 3: and on a plane back home.

663
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 2: Wow.

664
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,040
Speaker 3: But yeah, we had we had the luxury of saying, yeah,

665
00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 3: we're going to come in on this date and go

666
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 3: from there. But yeah, it was it was a very

667
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,759
Speaker 3: different region feelings. It helped that I had, I had Don,

668
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 3: I had complete faith in him as a coach and

669
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,680
Speaker 3: what we'd been building, the two kind of seasons leading in.

670
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 3: But I didn't expect it to and the way it did.

671
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't even know how gonna. Yeah, can do

672
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 2: you want to talk through the final?

673
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,040
Speaker 3: Sure? Yeah? Actually can talk talk through the whole race.

674
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 3: The whole thing kind of sets it up.

675
00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 2: Go through it.

676
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 3: Sorry. Day one with him, Prace was at tenth third

677
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,759
Speaker 3: in the morning, got such track. This is a really

678
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:52,440
Speaker 3: cool photo of us of Dom and I walking in

679
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 3: at sunrise. So it was like a hardly eat breakfast.

680
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:56,400
Speaker 2: Wow.

681
00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:58,399
Speaker 3: But my dietition and I had worked one off time

682
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,040
Speaker 3: of the need to eat, get something in something.

683
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:01,399
Speaker 2: Yeah.

684
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,319
Speaker 3: But as soon as we got off the bars at

685
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:07,640
Speaker 3: the track, everything just kind of melted away the right

686
00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:12,880
Speaker 3: place anew, everything I touched just went to plan and

687
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 3: it was easy and I had no idea what eevery

688
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:21,480
Speaker 3: else was doing? Just complete bubble like Don was super nervous.

689
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:23,480
Speaker 3: I had no idea how nervous he was. He hit

690
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:28,319
Speaker 3: it so well. Wow, just I don't remember what I

691
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,319
Speaker 3: remember not seeing a lot of things. Part of that

692
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 3: was by design. I didn't want to see times she

693
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:39,719
Speaker 3: didn't see anything. But yeah, run one almost at the

694
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,360
Speaker 3: walk coming out of the group not ideal. But the

695
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 3: rest of that run was good. I knew it was good.

696
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,799
Speaker 3: I didn't realize it was as good as what it

697
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 3: was until one of our team managers said, yeah, you're

698
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,440
Speaker 3: two hundreds behind. First I didn't want to know that,

699
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 3: but okay, okay, yeah, wait do you know with the information? Yeah,

700
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,600
Speaker 3: I got to hang out for a bit too. Again

701
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,920
Speaker 3: another another like good run. I was happy with it.

702
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,399
Speaker 3: I don't remember a lot of the runs. And then yes,

703
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:13,880
Speaker 3: standing only is watching the Canadian come down and realizing,

704
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,840
Speaker 3: all right, we're now leading the Olympics. This is that.

705
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 3: Now comes the hardest part. You We had these things

706
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,359
Speaker 3: hours between run two and run three. That was always

707
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,520
Speaker 3: going to be the hard part of keeping distracted and

708
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,319
Speaker 3: notking and over playing. Yeah, the runs the next day,

709
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,719
Speaker 3: but also what could happen, and that was the big thing.

710
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:38,080
Speaker 3: We were talking to Alyssa Camplin after that, Right, what

711
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:42,040
Speaker 3: do you need distractions? Just distract me. What are we

712
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:44,440
Speaker 3: going to do? Distract me? We've got like lego and

713
00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 3: puzzles and all sorts of stuff. Yeah, that's cool, it's brilliant.

714
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 3: And then we avoided all of seven anything live. We

715
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,359
Speaker 3: didn't do that. We've watched enough Olympics to know what

716
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,359
Speaker 3: the what the build up wasn't going to be like, yes,

717
00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:59,360
Speaker 3: which is amazing, but as an athlete trying to that

718
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,799
Speaker 3: was lasting needed to see. And then day day two

719
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:04,480
Speaker 3: we we split it up to the plan was always

720
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:06,839
Speaker 3: to be because we were racing so late at night

721
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,799
Speaker 3: that wake up, go through a normal day and then

722
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,360
Speaker 3: go to bed. But my stuff for lunch, I have

723
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,839
Speaker 3: like a couple of hours hours and that, and then

724
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,720
Speaker 3: by the time I I woke up, then it was reset,

725
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 3: whole new day and go have lunch, we'll breakfast again

726
00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:27,280
Speaker 3: and then go the track and that star from scratch. Wow,

727
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,799
Speaker 3: so nervous. Not that not that I felt it, but

728
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:34,840
Speaker 3: I remember, and I pointed out to it on the

729
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:38,319
Speaker 3: other day that for the third one my footslips when

730
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,799
Speaker 3: I put on the ice and that could have been

731
00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,799
Speaker 3: the moment that kind of gen did everything. Remember, no,

732
00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 3: this is not happening. It's fine, let's just go that

733
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:56,040
Speaker 3: ignore it. Such track record, which was so cool it lasted.

734
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,840
Speaker 3: It lasted a minute and a half because going to

735
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 3: take it. Yeah, we were walking to a wave myst leader,

736
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,040
Speaker 3: which is happened. Happened like to everyone for the first

737
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:09,279
Speaker 3: one every day and I heard that, yes, thanks, I

738
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:12,480
Speaker 3: think you still take it three times of a seconds

739
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:16,120
Speaker 3: she took off my diet man. Wow, but it was fine.

740
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:21,799
Speaker 2: And then what position are you enough to run three? Two? Yeah?

741
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:26,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, which is totally happy with. I was happy after

742
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,319
Speaker 3: day one and you at that point it wasn't going

743
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,239
Speaker 3: to be another Peng chain and we were happy with that.

744
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,040
Speaker 3: And then we had run three. Between run three and

745
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:35,719
Speaker 3: before we had about an hour and a half. I

746
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,239
Speaker 3: think it was a long time to just sit and

747
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,240
Speaker 3: avoid everyone. I went upstairs. We had this amazing star house.

748
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,160
Speaker 3: I think indoor just sat on our massage better and

749
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:48,960
Speaker 3: ignored everybody, Satin eight food and just pretended like the

750
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,800
Speaker 3: race wasn't going on and we were. And there's a

751
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:59,200
Speaker 3: really cool moment there was me Kim who's the Dutch

752
00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 3: athlete who won Bronz And then Hannah were the last

753
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,040
Speaker 3: three warming up in the start house and I looked

754
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 3: at him and went same as same rits. So we

755
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 3: went one to in merits and she's like, well, maybe

756
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:14,040
Speaker 3: not one two, but we'll take two three absolutely because

757
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 3: Hannah was so far ahead, right yep. And then yeah,

758
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 3: went and did that and the feeling crossing the line,

759
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:22,759
Speaker 3: I knew it was a good run and all I

760
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 3: wanted to see and coming up with the run, I'm

761
00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 3: searching for the clock. Yeah, all I want to see

762
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 3: with them one that I'd held my spot. I saw

763
00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,440
Speaker 3: that Gospop screamed, and then the next kind of up,

764
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:40,719
Speaker 3: next step up the run. Disbelieve hit was that? Did

765
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:41,759
Speaker 3: I did I see that?

766
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 2: Right?

767
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:45,080
Speaker 3: Is that what I think I saw? And then searching

768
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,719
Speaker 3: for the big screen and yeah, saw green numbers. Oh

769
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:52,160
Speaker 3: my god, I can't believe this has actually happened. Even

770
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:57,480
Speaker 3: now getting to celebrate with Kim, it's amazing. We spent

771
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,960
Speaker 3: so long kind of traveling together and just pure happiness

772
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,959
Speaker 3: and joy and disbelief, like.

773
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,399
Speaker 2: The progression to go from where you were at pre

774
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen, going through the concussion, being in a position

775
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:14,280
Speaker 2: at that World cart where you went with no staff,

776
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:18,000
Speaker 2: for having to beg people for things, to becoming an

777
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:22,520
Speaker 2: Olympic silver medalist, What on earth exactly? That?

778
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:28,480
Speaker 3: Ah? Everything happens for a reason. I guess the four

779
00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,120
Speaker 3: year between twenty eighteen and twenty two the hardest, most

780
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,000
Speaker 3: transformative of my career.

781
00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 2: Wow, But.

782
00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,560
Speaker 3: Well, I want the goal of Beijing was to see

783
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:44,800
Speaker 3: what was what my potential was and if that meant silver,

784
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:48,760
Speaker 3: more than happy with that. If that meant it was tenth,

785
00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,279
Speaker 3: then that's fine. All I wanted was to look at

786
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 3: myself at the end of the day and go I

787
00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 3: did absolutely everything I possibly could have done, and people

788
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,320
Speaker 3: would were just better than me because there was fifteen

789
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:02,240
Speaker 3: of us to put a medaled.

790
00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:02,919
Speaker 2: Wow.

791
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:04,160
Speaker 3: I feel was that tired?

792
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:04,880
Speaker 2: Wow?

793
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,960
Speaker 3: Which is part of the fun part. Yeah, and you

794
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,200
Speaker 3: just got it down, got done most consistent wins and

795
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,279
Speaker 3: I never I never had the fastest, fastest run. They

796
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:16,960
Speaker 3: were all like second, third, or fourth. But when people

797
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:19,640
Speaker 3: are having fastest than tenth, fastest.

798
00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:22,520
Speaker 2: And around, yes, yeh, that makes sense.

799
00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:24,759
Speaker 3: And that was what we've worked on all season was consistency.

800
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:27,960
Speaker 3: Knowing that over four rounds when every run counts the

801
00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 3: most consistent.

802
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll win. I love that. Yeah, what is your

803
00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 2: favorite failure?

804
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:42,680
Speaker 3: This one hurts? And World Champs in twenty nineteen in Altenburg, O,

805
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,400
Speaker 3: Eastern Germany was the my comeback with them from the

806
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 3: big concussion and I crashed run too, which that meant

807
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,160
Speaker 3: that in the end I finished twenty seventh by far,

808
00:41:55,239 --> 00:42:00,640
Speaker 3: my worst result World Champs, and I like I'd let

809
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 3: everybody down, not what I was capable of, but I

810
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,120
Speaker 3: think that then provided a lot of the fuel to them.

811
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:13,239
Speaker 3: I've never feeling like that again. That was horrific. I

812
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:16,440
Speaker 3: hated it. How do we not make that? I don't

813
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:19,759
Speaker 3: want to feel like that ever again. So looking through that,

814
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 3: but then also being reminded of the goals for that

815
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,560
Speaker 3: hythm was just to get through healthy. Yeah did that

816
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,080
Speaker 3: big tick right, Let's move on. Yeah, So kind of

817
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:29,960
Speaker 3: keeping that process and in the back of my mind

818
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,880
Speaker 3: but it was okay, And then really looking looking for

819
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:36,640
Speaker 3: all the different positives of how far I had come

820
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 3: in sliding and all of those things that I actually

821
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,479
Speaker 3: had control over, but then also working on the mental

822
00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:48,080
Speaker 3: side of things of being being afraid to crash, not

823
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 3: from the fact I was gonnaet hurt. But then what

824
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,840
Speaker 3: that then said from a personal point of view, particularly

825
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:55,520
Speaker 3: on world cut when you've got the best in the world,

826
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,520
Speaker 3: there was always just thing back in my head about

827
00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:01,920
Speaker 3: if I crashed, then I wasn't good enough to be there, Wow,

828
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:03,920
Speaker 3: which is ridiculous. We try. Crashing is part of it.

829
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:06,080
Speaker 3: We try new things. Yeah, it's going to happen at

830
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:10,359
Speaker 3: some point, So working on that. Yeah, I think that's

831
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 3: Whilst it hurt a lot, I think we gangle it

832
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:14,200
Speaker 3: out of it.

833
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:18,800
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like that you have recently announced to your retirement. Firstly,

834
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:23,239
Speaker 2: massive congratulations on your career. How does it feel and

835
00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:24,640
Speaker 2: how did you come to the decision?

836
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:29,239
Speaker 3: Decision probably a long time coming, had any surgery been

837
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:34,080
Speaker 3: in the year, and then the rehab from that taught

838
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:38,080
Speaker 3: me that I'd use all my emotional reserves to get

839
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:42,120
Speaker 3: back to the to the elite level. Olympitha then took

840
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:44,839
Speaker 3: everything I hadn't probably fifty to that more that they

841
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 3: didn't realize, and I just I didn't have anything left

842
00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,799
Speaker 3: to go again and to put myself through the work

843
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:54,920
Speaker 3: down through. So yeah, pulled the pin. I pulled the

844
00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:58,279
Speaker 3: pin about officially about a month before Harris and then

845
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,920
Speaker 3: by the time I was readisaying anything, we were yeah,

846
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:08,160
Speaker 3: we'll just paint tight. Yeah, but the but it was weird.

847
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:09,879
Speaker 3: I didn't expect it to be quite so emotional when

848
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,839
Speaker 3: I did the video to try and say that, yeah,

849
00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:15,760
Speaker 3: this was it. When you've watched for something your whole life,

850
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:19,160
Speaker 3: it's hard to say to say, like officially say goodbye,

851
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:22,560
Speaker 3: even though intellectually I know that that was missating the

852
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:26,200
Speaker 3: right decision. There's still that part of but if only

853
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:28,480
Speaker 3: Yes and worlds are on my favorite track this year,

854
00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:31,759
Speaker 3: right and on my home track, but so one medal

855
00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 3: that's missing. No, Okay, I'm healthy, Yeah, this is this

856
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 3: is the right decision. I'm home.

857
00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:41,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's time. Yeah. I like, I feel like you've

858
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:44,200
Speaker 2: gained some pretty good perspective throughout that journey.

859
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:48,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, the biggest one of them. I'm healthy, thankfully.

860
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,680
Speaker 2: I love what you said about emotional reserves. I haven't

861
00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:54,080
Speaker 2: really like using that all up, Like I probably haven't

862
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:56,719
Speaker 2: thought about that before from a sporting perspective, and it's

863
00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:00,080
Speaker 2: something like through my injury process, Like that's what I

864
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,799
Speaker 2: found to be the hardest, Like at this back end

865
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,880
Speaker 2: of my career is like when you get another injury,

866
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,440
Speaker 2: it's the amount that takes out of you is so

867
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:10,880
Speaker 2: full on.

868
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:14,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, the training is the easy bit, Yeah, but it's

869
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 3: the being willing to put yourself through the pain and

870
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:23,120
Speaker 3: when and I guess maybe having the metal help because

871
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:26,399
Speaker 3: I wasn't searching for that. That's a whole lot of story,

872
00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:28,719
Speaker 3: and it's lf the journey to stop wanting that metal

873
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 3: so much. But yeah, I think that's the start of it.

874
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:37,040
Speaker 3: A lot of people say that physically that were done. Physically,

875
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:38,080
Speaker 3: I could probably keep going.

876
00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:40,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, it hurt, but.

877
00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:42,319
Speaker 3: If you can't push yourself to that level and you're

878
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,359
Speaker 3: not willing to do the hard things and the little things,

879
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,560
Speaker 3: and on the days when it gets hard and you're

880
00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:49,560
Speaker 3: tired and sore, that you know you've still got to

881
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:53,560
Speaker 3: do six different things that if you're not willing to

882
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:54,520
Speaker 3: do that, then it's time.

883
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,920
Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow, And how have you found the process kind

884
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:02,040
Speaker 2: of getting your head around letting go of sport and

885
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:03,880
Speaker 2: walking into this next phase of life.

886
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,719
Speaker 3: It's been a process some days some days, because some

887
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,960
Speaker 3: days it is not so good. I was a training

888
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,359
Speaker 3: with one of my bobsters for for a while, which

889
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,040
Speaker 3: is which is lovely. They're trying to step back in.

890
00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:17,440
Speaker 3: It's been quite a nice but walking into the gym

891
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:20,359
Speaker 3: and go, ah, I don't have to push myself. If

892
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,279
Speaker 3: a siarticular squad is all I've got for the day,

893
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:26,919
Speaker 3: then that's fine. I have to be ninticulated. Yeah we're good. Great, Yeah, yeah,

894
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 3: I don't have to be sore. It just kind of be.

895
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:33,120
Speaker 3: It can be fun and enjoy being enjoy watching sport

896
00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:35,879
Speaker 3: as a fan again. Yeah, that's what I've always loved it.

897
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:38,680
Speaker 3: And now to go back to that and also help

898
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:42,680
Speaker 3: our next gen and find them and see if we

899
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:45,279
Speaker 3: can make Busy better than Sydney. And yeah, I know

900
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:48,239
Speaker 3: what did for me. I'm sure it's similar similar for you. Absolutely,

901
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:50,160
Speaker 3: We've got an opportunity to have that for our next

902
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:53,719
Speaker 3: this next generation, so it needs to be amazing and

903
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:58,200
Speaker 3: to try and help and find the athletes who are

904
00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:01,360
Speaker 3: going to be there. And those were promos for the

905
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:02,680
Speaker 3: kids who are too young.

906
00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:06,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty special. I love that amazing. Thank you

907
00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:08,960
Speaker 2: so much for your time today and sharing all of

908
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,160
Speaker 2: the amazing aspects of your journey and a massive congratulations

909
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,319
Speaker 2: on your incredible career. Thank you patting me, Thanks so

910
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:18,160
Speaker 2: much for listening if you got something out of this episode,

911
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:20,360
Speaker 2: I would absolutely love it if you could send it

912
00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:24,640
Speaker 2: on to one person who you think might enjoy it. Otherwise, subscribe,

913
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,799
Speaker 2: give us a review, and make sure you follow us

914
00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:29,640
Speaker 2: on Instagram at the Female Athlete Project to stay up

915
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,840
Speaker 2: to date with podcast episodes, merch drops, and of course,

916
00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:35,960
Speaker 2: news and stories about epic female athletes