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Oh, good. You're here. Come on. This is
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the center of performance. Whenever
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there's a top performance in New
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Zealand, it all comes from here. That's
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Lisa Carrington. She's been doing that
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for days. That's the boys who got the
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hole in one in to
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Finn. How's the performance going?
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>> Top tier.
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>> Nice. This is our generate room. In
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here, you'll find our top performers
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helping Kiwis maximize their Kiwi Saver
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investments. Get in here, Finn.
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>> Maximize. Generate. putting performance
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first.
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>> Nico Portius, welcome to my podcast.
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>> Thank you for having me.
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>> This is an honor. This has been years in
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the I went back through our DMs. It's
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been years in the making. We've been
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going backwards and forwards for a
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couple of years on this.
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>> Yeah. Yeah, it's been Well, I guess
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yeah, a long time.
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>> Um, but yeah, found the time and and uh
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sort of figured that in previous time I
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didn't really think that I had much to
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talk about. like I was in the middle of
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my career and yeah I don't know was sort
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of still still making the memories and
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the experiences and and now um you know
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with recent decisions I I feel like it
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it was right to come on and talk.
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>> Yeah.
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>> You haven't done a lot e um I found I
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think maybe two or three long form
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podcasts that you've done previously and
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that that's maybe the extent of it.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and as we're
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talking about a second ago, it's very,
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um, I haven't done a lot and I kind of
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shy away from them. Um, in a way, part
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of it was that I didn't really think I
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had much to talk about other than
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competition and that sort of thing. And
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another thing was that I actually didn't
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really like I don't really trust opening
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up fully to like the long format of
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talking. I find that when you're in it
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like through competition and um you're
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doing media around comps, it's very you
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get very good at answering the same
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question over and over again or the same
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types of questions. And so I think you
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know part of it is is um being scared to
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branch out and actually talk in depth
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about these things rather than just one
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sentence answers and and that sort of
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thing. So yeah, I thought I' I'd trust
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you. So
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>> Oh, thank you. That's a huge compliment.
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Yeah. Sort of getting out of your
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comfort zone in a way.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. which
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seems um baffling to me because I've
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watched so many videos of you in the
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last week knowing that you're coming in
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today and um yeah, I couldn't think of
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many more many things more terrifying
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than what you've done over the last 10
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years.
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>> Oh, I don't know. It's all it's ah it's
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all
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>> dropping into one of those half pipes.
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[ __ ] me.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. It's it's pretty scary. It's
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pretty scary. But, you know, in saying
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that, it's like I haven't done many
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podcasts, so I'm scared to do this. You
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know what I mean? And and I've been
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skiing half pipes since I was
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>> like eight, you know what I mean? So, so
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it's like it's equivalent and and yeah,
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definitely look at it that way.
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>> Yeah. Well, I I appreciate that. That's
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really kind. I think have we only met
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the one one time before?
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>> Um, yeah, I think it might have been
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once.
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>> I think you came onto our radio show on
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the edge. How old were you at the time?
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>> 16. 16.
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>> Yeah, it would it would have been after
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I was with Zoe. Was it Zoe and I?
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>> No, I think it was Josie Wales.
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>> Oh, okay. True. Okay. So, it was
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>> You were You were a kid maybe.
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>> Yeah, maybe I was younger. Maybe I would
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have been like 14 cuz I remember around
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the Winter Games back in It would have
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been Yeah. 2015 we would have done uh
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Winter Games NZ media tour and it was
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sort of like Josie and myself on this
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media tour around Oakland and that was
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sort of the first time that I'd seen
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like media or been you know on the radio
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shows and that sort of thing and so I
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think that was the first and only time
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we've met. So
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>> yeah long time e
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>> you were a kid then now you're a man but
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you're still you're still very very
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young and there's so much to do. So, um,
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Nico Portius, two Olympic medals, two
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exgame gold medals, five world
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championships, um, and five World Cup
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medals. Also, yeah, New Zealand order of
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merit for services to snow sports and
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Hellburg Sportsman of the year in 2022.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Yeah. And that's that's sort of just
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scraping scraping the surface really of
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the achievements.
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>> Yeah. I mean that's like it's not very
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often that you hear it read out and so
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um yeah that's kind of brings a few
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memories flooding back and yeah a sense
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of pride to be honest.
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>> Yeah. So you messaged me um out of the
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blue on Instagram maybe a month ago
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saying hey I'm coming to talk you want
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to do a podcast. I was like
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>> [ __ ] yeah I do. And it was in this
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message that you you told me you were
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retiring. You hadn't announced it yet.
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So what does retirement mean exactly?
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>> Yeah I mean it's not it's not normal
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retirement. And I think retirement is um
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is the right word, but it's also not how
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I'm looking at it personally. I think um
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yeah, I I just thought that um yeah, I
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thought I'd message you and and come on
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and talk about it. I thought it was a
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cool story to tell because last year and
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um in August of last year, I made the
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decision to step back from um
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competitive skiing. And so um that's
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sort of why I wasn't really calling it
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retiring was because by no means am I
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like stopping skiing at a high level.
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I'm still working hard to be the best
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skier that I can be. But I just um I'd
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just been in the competitive environment
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since I was like 10 years old and and
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following the World Cup circuit since I
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was 14. Since I was like old enough to
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drop into a World Cup, I was following
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that circuit around the world which was
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incredible. And um it was yeah, such an
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amazing period of my life. But I just
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thought that, you know, yeah, I guess I
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just kind of lost that little
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competitive edge in a way and decided
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that it was time to step back and and
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move on to to new things in my life.
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>> Yes, that highlights rule that I
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mentioned a second ago. Um, all that
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success comes comes at a huge cost.
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>> So, what's the price been that you've
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had to pay? Yeah, I think it does come
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with a with a big cost, but it also
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comes with a lot of reward and and um
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but I think the the cost for me was that
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>> um
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one one my body my body's a little bit
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sore. Um and and only being 23 is kind
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of like you know having sore knees when
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you wake up in the morning that's pretty
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hard.
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Um yeah, and then I think that the the
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hardest thing was missing out on that um
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normal
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adolescence growing up like I was, you
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know, and and and it's sort of hard to
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talk about because I was like had these
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amazing opportunities that any other
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person that was in that age would be
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like, "Oh my goodness." And so was I. I
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was like, "Oh my goodness, I'm traveling
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the world and I'm able to do what I love
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and that's skiing." But at the same
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time, when things got tough, I was
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always thinking, "Oh man, it would be
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fun to to go to school and hang out with
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my friends every day that were my age
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and or oh, it would be fun to go to this
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party on the weekend and and chase girls
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with my mates, you know what I mean?
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Like or you know, it' be fun to go for a
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skate then or go surfing with them." And
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so that side of things I did miss out on
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and and um
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>> yeah, but at the same time it was like I
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was I was doing um
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so I had so many amazing opportunities
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and was around so many incredible people
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that I looking back on it I still
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wouldn't change it. Like I still
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wouldn't change missing out on that part
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of it. Um yeah.
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>> Yeah. It's a FOMO thing. It makes sense.
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Like um Yeah.
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>> Yeah. It makes perfect sense. I'm not
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surprised by that answer. I I actually
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had written down here in brackets.
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School balls.
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>> Yeah. Just as one example.
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>> Exactly. I never been to a prom or a
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school ball.
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>> Um there's a there's a Yeah. There's
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like a number of things that I
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>> just never never went to.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Yeah. And all this stuff is a sort of a
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right of a right I don't know a right of
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passage.
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>> Yeah. It is in a way. Yeah. Yeah. And I
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and um yeah didn't get to experience
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that.
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>> Yeah.
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>> How much thought went into the
00:07:20
retirement?
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>> Um a lot. A lot. and
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it was sort of ticking away in the
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background um for a while, but maybe I
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was too scared to actually recognize
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that that was how I was feeling. Uh and
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so like I said, I made the decision in
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August last year. Um and yeah, I sat I
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didn't want to announce it. There was
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people around me asking me to when I was
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going to do the announcement and when I
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was going to talk to the media and that
00:07:45
sort of thing. And I just said, "Look,
00:07:46
I'm just going to hold off because
00:07:49
making that decision being so young,
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it's not it's not really something that
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I want to go I want to say, oh, I'm
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retired." And then two years later, I
00:07:58
come back, you know, going, "Oh, psych,
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I'm not retired." Like, I'm back. you
00:08:02
know, and so and and so I think yeah, by
00:08:05
by actually taking time to sit on it
00:08:07
>> um and sort of make sure that I was
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comfortable with the decision and that
00:08:12
it was the right decision was
00:08:13
>> yeah was um really key for me.
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>> Yeah, I've got a bunch of names here.
00:08:17
Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Tom Brady,
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Floyd Mayweather, Michael Schumarker,
00:08:21
Martina Angus. Um you wouldn't be the
00:08:24
first person that retires and then goes
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psych.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
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>> But definitely absolutely unequivocally
00:08:30
no return.
00:08:31
>> No. No. Um um and and I think that's
00:08:34
like yeah, I'm not going to return and
00:08:36
and that's um that's you know why I took
00:08:38
that time to before I announced it and
00:08:40
before I talked about it publicly and uh
00:08:42
was that make make sure that it's really
00:08:44
what I wanted to and
00:08:45
>> look the past year has been has been
00:08:47
really tough. Like it's been
00:08:49
>> how so? Well, just just like I'm 23 and
00:08:53
I and I was at the top of my game and I
00:08:56
personally I decided it wasn't a I
00:08:59
decided to to you know to end it end the
00:09:01
competitive side of things and that was
00:09:04
like I don't know there was times where
00:09:06
it's like oh my goodness is this the
00:09:08
right decision and there was times and
00:09:11
and yeah yeah there was there's been
00:09:12
really hard times throughout the past
00:09:13
year where I felt lost and I haven't
00:09:15
really felt like I had a full direction
00:09:17
and I feel as if I'm coming to the end
00:09:19
of that now and I And I have a really um
00:09:21
starting to formulate a really solid
00:09:23
plan in my head of where I want to go
00:09:24
and what I want to do. And and I guess
00:09:26
that was sort of um the joy of it was
00:09:29
that being being so young, it's sort of
00:09:32
like starting your life all over again
00:09:34
because competitive skiing is
00:09:35
>> all that you've known. And whereas all
00:09:37
your friends are graduating university,
00:09:39
they're moving into jobs and it's like,
00:09:41
>> well, I'm just sort of winding it back
00:09:42
and now I'm just starting that journey,
00:09:44
you know? And so
00:09:46
yeah. Yeah, it's been a it's been a
00:09:48
interesting year, but but something that
00:09:50
I made the decision because I wanted a
00:09:51
challenge and I wanted to switch it up
00:09:52
and that's exactly what has happened.
00:09:54
>> And you you got you got so much time as
00:09:56
well.
00:09:57
>> So much time.
00:09:58
>> I I've had um I had Anna Moberry on the
00:10:00
podcast. She's an entrepreneur. Her and
00:10:02
her brother set up this toy company
00:10:03
called Zuru.
00:10:04
>> She sold out of that. She's a
00:10:05
billionaire. Now she set up a new job
00:10:07
recruitment app company. And I asked her
00:10:08
about that and she said Zuru was a
00:10:10
mountain, but there's more mountains
00:10:11
that she wants to climb.
00:10:12
>> Yeah.
00:10:12
>> I feel like um Yeah. You're not an
00:10:14
entrepreneur, but it's the same sort of
00:10:16
thing. Yeah, I think it is. And and um I
00:10:19
mean it's not the same, but I'm not
00:10:20
starting a multi-billion dollar
00:10:22
business, but um yeah, no, I I like
00:10:25
challenging myself and I like achieving
00:10:27
um achieving goals that I, you know,
00:10:30
were maybe um
00:10:32
>> you know, like a big reach. Um and and
00:10:34
that's something I really really um
00:10:36
>> chase, I guess. Yeah. Is that challenge.
00:10:39
>> Your brother Miguel, a couple of years
00:10:41
older than you, he retired about the
00:10:43
same age. Did that play a part in it?
00:10:45
like did you have conversations with him
00:10:47
about retirement?
00:10:48
>> Definitely talk to him about it. Um I
00:10:50
mean he in my eyes I I don't think he's
00:10:53
ever been happier in the place that he's
00:10:54
in right now.
00:10:55
>> Um and he's just absolutely thrived in
00:10:58
in this life outside of skiing. Um he
00:11:00
still loves skiing and he doesn't resent
00:11:02
it. Um
00:11:04
>> but yeah, just talking to him, I mean,
00:11:06
he's like he's my biggest role model.
00:11:08
like he's the biggest
00:11:10
>> um my my family in general are the are
00:11:12
the ones that
00:11:13
>> you know give me the most advice and and
00:11:15
um it's the it's the advice that I take
00:11:18
the most seriously. Uh and so I and
00:11:20
there was a talk there was a lot of
00:11:22
talking with Miguel throughout that
00:11:23
process and of making that decision and
00:11:26
um look he just sort of he just he just
00:11:29
backed me and it was just like look
00:11:31
you've had an amazing competitive career
00:11:33
and go and ski and film and enjoy it and
00:11:36
then you know I know being your brother
00:11:39
I know that you will work hard in
00:11:41
whatever you do and and um
00:11:44
>> yeah you'll you'll back yourself which
00:11:46
is cool. So
00:11:47
>> yeah, one thing I found from doing this
00:11:49
podcast is um there's there's generally
00:11:51
not something like a onetrick pony. Like
00:11:53
if you're successful at something, uh
00:11:55
you're going to be successful at
00:11:56
something else you you apply yourself
00:11:58
to.
00:11:59
>> Yeah. And I think I think that might be
00:12:01
because of I mean you're the same with
00:12:04
radio and podcast. It's obviously
00:12:06
>> transferable skills.
00:12:07
>> Yeah. It's similar, but it's also
00:12:08
different, you know, and
00:12:09
>> and I think that's and and it's
00:12:12
something that I think you from building
00:12:14
something up or from from achieving
00:12:17
something, you learn to overcome
00:12:19
challenge and to and to work hard or um
00:12:22
and you know and how you face those
00:12:23
obstacles that come at you every day.
00:12:24
And so I think that sort of um allows
00:12:28
you to take those skills into other
00:12:29
areas and and work on them. And so
00:12:31
>> yeah, and I think a lot of it comes down
00:12:32
to like work ethic as well.
00:12:34
>> Yeah. You just going to apply yourself
00:12:35
to whatever you do. What are you going
00:12:36
to miss the most and the least?
00:12:39
>> Um, you know what? What I'm actually
00:12:42
going to miss the most, and it's
00:12:43
something that is not, you know, isn't
00:12:45
really talked about that much when
00:12:46
athletes retire and um and athletes that
00:12:49
have had success is that especially in
00:12:52
our sport and and something that I
00:12:54
missed the most in the past year is the
00:12:55
external gratification. And I know that
00:12:57
that sounds really like odd and like um
00:13:03
I guess I don't know. Yeah, just really
00:13:05
odd. And but it's when you do well, you
00:13:09
have a score telling you that you've
00:13:12
done well. You have people at the bottom
00:13:15
telling you that you've done well. You
00:13:17
post your run on social media. Social
00:13:19
media tells you you've done well.
00:13:22
and your coach is telling well sometimes
00:13:25
you know depending on the day but and
00:13:26
and you know you're you have all this
00:13:28
external you've done well you're great
00:13:30
you're amazing and then you stand on top
00:13:32
of the podium at the end of the day and
00:13:33
hold up a check and it's like
00:13:35
>> yeah this is awesome you know and and
00:13:38
that's something that I'm so glad I
00:13:40
ditched like and so glad that that's not
00:13:43
uh a thing that I have anymore because
00:13:45
it's forced me whether I like it you
00:13:49
know I like it sometimes and I
00:13:50
absolutely hate it other times but it's
00:13:51
forced me to um to start to just really
00:13:56
enjoy what I do and and regardless of
00:13:58
the outcome, regardless of the external
00:14:01
>> um side of it. And yeah, that's been
00:14:04
that's been a a learning process. I
00:14:06
>> I think mo most people would think um
00:14:09
that's what you want, that external
00:14:11
gratification, but it's like um you
00:14:13
you're in a you're in an unusual
00:14:14
position where you've reached it and
00:14:15
you've experienced it and you know that
00:14:17
it's not bringing you the joy anymore
00:14:18
that it should do.
00:14:19
>> Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's I don't
00:14:21
know that external gratification is such
00:14:23
a weird thing
00:14:24
>> because it's um you know it's really
00:14:27
nice in the moment and it's amazing but
00:14:28
at the same time it's like
00:14:30
>> it's so uh I guess superficial in a way
00:14:34
like it's it's
00:14:35
>> an unhealthy addiction.
00:14:36
>> It is it is an unhealthy addiction and I
00:14:38
think a lot of athletes actually have
00:14:39
that addiction and are scared to let go
00:14:40
of it, you know, and
00:14:42
>> understandable.
00:14:42
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:43
>> Um Yeah. Has the sport been good to you
00:14:46
financially?
00:14:46
>> Yeah, it has. Yep. Yeah. And I've had um
00:14:49
and I still have some amazing partners
00:14:51
and sponsors that support me throughout
00:14:53
the whole thing.
00:14:54
>> Um and and yeah, they've been incredible
00:14:57
uh in supporting me. So
00:14:59
>> yeah.
00:15:00
>> So yeah, the next um Olympics where
00:15:02
you're the reigning champion is uh 2026
00:15:05
next year. Yeah.
00:15:06
>> So you you decided last August to
00:15:08
retire.
00:15:09
>> Did Yeah. Was was that looming over you
00:15:11
a little bit,
00:15:12
>> the Olympics or the thoughts?
00:15:14
>> Yeah. No, actually, yeah, it was. I
00:15:15
haven't really thought about this in in
00:15:16
a long time. Sorry, Dom.
00:15:18
Um, yeah, it was looming over me and it
00:15:21
was sort of like
00:15:23
yeah, the buildup to 2022 was was so
00:15:26
gnarly. Like it was um it was ruthless.
00:15:30
I was putting so much pressure on myself
00:15:32
but also telling myself that I didn't
00:15:34
have any pressure on me. And you know
00:15:36
seeing being 16 and winning bronze in in
00:15:38
Korea and then four years later going
00:15:40
into
00:15:42
um China as world number one and you
00:15:46
know sort of expected to win gold and a
00:15:48
favorite. It was it was a pressure
00:15:50
cooker. Like it was hectic. And those
00:15:54
two weeks sort of in the buildup to
00:15:55
Olympics or no, sorry, longer than that.
00:15:57
That the two months in the buildup to
00:15:59
the Olympics were just
00:16:01
>> oh my goodness. I don't I don't want to
00:16:02
live through that ever again. Like never
00:16:04
again. That was
00:16:06
>> hectic. So yes, 2026 was weighing on my
00:16:08
mind, but it was also not not a a major
00:16:12
factor into why I made the call. Yeah,
00:16:15
>> that's that's interesting. We're going
00:16:16
to get into both the Olympic camp
00:16:18
campaigns later on, but um I might as
00:16:20
well bring this up now that just an
00:16:21
observation from I I don't know when the
00:16:23
last time you've watched your runs from
00:16:25
those two Olympics or if you ever have
00:16:27
at all. Um but
00:16:29
>> um when you won the bronze in 20 20 2018
00:16:33
>> 2018
00:16:34
>> Yeah. You were ecstatic. You were over
00:16:37
the moon. 2022 you won gold.
00:16:40
>> It was like a five out of 10.
00:16:41
>> Yeah.
00:16:41
>> Was it just relief?
00:16:42
>> No. No. And that's the thing is that um
00:16:45
Yeah. I think um
00:16:48
2018 was crazy cuz it was so like I was
00:16:50
just skiing on fire. Like I'd never
00:16:52
skied that good in my life and it
00:16:54
happened to be in an Olympic final and I
00:16:56
like didn't expect to get that score.
00:16:58
I'd never really had that good a score
00:16:59
in a World Cup and it was you know it
00:17:01
was just everything was just so crazy
00:17:03
that day. Whereas 2022 was sort of like
00:17:06
it was a bit of a battle. like I came
00:17:07
into it knowing that there was some
00:17:09
pressure on my shoulders and there was
00:17:12
um some yeah I guess some some pressure
00:17:15
and um woke up and it and it wasn't
00:17:17
super good weather and um you know the
00:17:20
conditions maybe weren't perfect and and
00:17:22
so the reason why I didn't give a
00:17:24
reaction on that winning run was that I
00:17:29
still had two runs to go so I didn't
00:17:31
know you know there was still everyone
00:17:34
still had two runs left and so I didn't
00:17:35
know that that was going to be the
00:17:36
winning run. If id known, I would have
00:17:38
been like, "Oh my goodness." You know,
00:17:40
like, "Thank goodness that's over." You
00:17:41
know, like, "Wow, that's amazing." But I
00:17:44
I was still so focused and so locked in
00:17:46
cuz I still had two/ird of a competition
00:17:48
to go and I was like, "Oh, here we go."
00:17:50
Like now, you know, I've done this run
00:17:52
that's really hard and I'm like scared
00:17:54
and standing at the top and and I've
00:17:56
done it, but now I have to go and
00:17:58
>> do more because in case someone else
00:18:00
comes down and bids that, you know? So,
00:18:02
it's like
00:18:02
>> Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. I wondered
00:18:04
if if it was because um in the first one
00:18:06
when you won the bronze like you were a
00:18:07
long shot or an underdog and in the
00:18:09
second one there was the the level of
00:18:10
expectation that you were going to
00:18:11
perform well so it was more a feeling of
00:18:13
relief.
00:18:14
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:14
>> But no it was just that you had two more
00:18:16
runs.
00:18:16
>> It was just that I was still locked in.
00:18:18
>> Yeah. But at the end I can tell you what
00:18:20
there was there was a big relief.
00:18:22
>> Yeah. Yeah. Good.
00:18:23
>> Um the Yeah. This question might be a
00:18:26
bit weird. I'm probably projecting here.
00:18:28
This is just like putting myself in your
00:18:29
position.
00:18:31
Is is like does part of you worry that
00:18:33
there's going to be I mean you've you've
00:18:35
done so so much at such a young age.
00:18:37
>> Are you worried that nothing else in
00:18:38
life is going to bring you the same sort
00:18:41
of level of enjoyment or fun or
00:18:44
>> excitement? Look, I think I think um
00:18:51
like we're talking about the external
00:18:53
gratification thing before and and I
00:18:55
think that that contributes to that
00:18:57
thing of excitement and um that peak
00:19:00
moment of joy.
00:19:02
>> Um
00:19:03
>> and I kind of yeah I kind of know that
00:19:05
that there'll be nothing like that again
00:19:07
in my life. I think I don't know maybe
00:19:09
maybe the things that would come close
00:19:10
to that would be the birth of a child or
00:19:13
like marriage or you know those big
00:19:16
moments in life
00:19:18
>> for you personally. I think those will
00:19:20
definitely definitely come close but or
00:19:22
if not be way better.
00:19:24
>> Um
00:19:25
>> but that's kind of the point of it is
00:19:26
that I wanted to I wanted to
00:19:30
not have that because
00:19:32
>> that's totally not normal. like that's
00:19:35
it feels amazing and it's awesome but
00:19:37
that's not normal at all and and that's
00:19:39
not going to be forever. that's gonna
00:19:40
stop at a certain point in time,
00:19:42
especially at our sport where your body
00:19:44
only has a, you know, a certain length
00:19:46
of time and
00:19:46
>> Yeah.
00:19:47
>> Yeah. So, um yeah, I don't know.
00:19:51
>> [ __ ] Your wise wise be on you, I
00:19:53
suppose. Um just doing this for such a
00:19:55
long time has forced you to grow up, eh?
00:19:57
>> Yeah, it has.
00:19:59
>> Um I mean, I've like
00:20:01
>> winding it back. Yeah. you know, further
00:20:03
to what we talked about at the start
00:20:04
about um missing that sort of like um
00:20:07
adolescence growing up. It I was
00:20:10
surrounded by people that were more
00:20:13
often than not double my age. you know,
00:20:15
my my group of friends that I would
00:20:16
socialize with on a on a daily basis
00:20:20
skiing up on the mountain was, you know,
00:20:22
they were anywhere from 17 all the way
00:20:25
through to 26, 27 and I was like 12, you
00:20:28
know, so so I was like kind of forced to
00:20:30
grow up in a way because although I was
00:20:33
always the young, you know, grommet of
00:20:34
the group and and the young one and the
00:20:36
baby, but yeah, I was sort of forced to
00:20:38
to grow up and um had really good role
00:20:40
models around me throughout that time.
00:20:42
>> Yeah. Yeah, I mean I'm sure everyone was
00:20:43
really really nice to you and you know
00:20:44
treated treated you like the age you
00:20:46
were. But you you must have still been
00:20:47
exposed to some um ruthless
00:20:50
conversations that no there was some
00:20:53
ruthless chat. Yeah. And there was some
00:20:56
I mean yeah um I've always really had to
00:20:59
watch my mouth like my foul mouth and um
00:21:03
I think there there's actually a really
00:21:05
really funny uh when I got sponsored by
00:21:07
Red Bull the first time I got received
00:21:10
the helmet turned around and didn't
00:21:11
realize that the news cameras were there
00:21:12
and I said oh f off like and I this
00:21:17
little 13-year-old kid with braces and
00:21:19
just holding up this Red Bull helmet
00:21:21
just got sponsored like and here I was
00:21:24
swearing you know. And so I think yeah,
00:21:26
that like those that sort of stuff I was
00:21:28
definitely exposed to from a young age.
00:21:31
>> Oh, that's so cool though. That's just
00:21:32
like raw excitement. Eh, um, did your
00:21:35
your mom or dad tell you off of that?
00:21:37
>> Ah, nah. It was just it was like, you
00:21:41
know, that's not my fault. I didn't know
00:21:42
the news was going to be there. It was
00:21:43
just my pure reaction. But there was
00:21:45
some funny things like I remember going
00:21:46
up the mountain some days and having to
00:21:48
go wake up the people that we were
00:21:50
taking up. I'd be 13 or I'll be 12 or 13
00:21:53
sitting in the back of the car, maybe
00:21:54
even younger, and we'd have to go to
00:21:56
someone's house, wake up that person
00:21:58
because they were drunk from the night
00:22:00
before, and then drive them up the hill
00:22:03
or we'd go and pick someone up from a
00:22:05
hotel in town cuz he didn't make it home
00:22:07
and slept on the couch and would go up
00:22:09
skiing. Like, these are things that I
00:22:10
was just exposed from exposed to as a
00:22:12
young kid. And and they weren't like
00:22:14
they weren't in a in a bad way. They
00:22:16
were just like and you know these people
00:22:18
were amazing people but
00:22:20
>> yeah it was just funny being exposed to
00:22:22
that I think as a 12 and 13y old. Yeah.
00:22:24
>> Well if you hang out with adults you're
00:22:25
going to see adult things.
00:22:26
>> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.
00:22:28
>> Um okay let's go all the way back. So
00:22:29
you're born in Hamilton in 2001.
00:22:31
>> Yep.
00:22:31
>> Yeah. What are your earliest memories?
00:22:34
>> Oh my earliest memories. That's a crazy
00:22:36
question. Um,
00:22:40
so I was born in Hamilton, uh, 2001 and
00:22:43
then sort of 6 weeks after I was born,
00:22:45
we moved down to Christ Church.
00:22:47
And I think some of my earliest memories
00:22:49
would be from around Christ Church. Um,
00:22:53
yeah,
00:22:55
probably.
00:22:57
Yeah, just whether it was playing
00:22:58
outside. I think that like my earliest
00:23:00
memories would just be playing with my
00:23:01
brother Miguel. M
00:23:02
>> um like yeah I think my one of my one of
00:23:06
my early memories was
00:23:09
yeah probably probably just playing with
00:23:10
Miguel like being outside on the
00:23:12
skateboards or on the trampoline or you
00:23:14
know him throwing me around on the
00:23:15
trampoline or Yeah. I don't know stand
00:23:18
here Nico and let me throw this at you
00:23:20
you know like Yeah. Yeah. Just classic
00:23:22
older younger brother stuff.
00:23:23
>> What's the age gap like two years or
00:23:24
something?
00:23:24
>> Two and a half years.
00:23:25
>> Two and a half years.
00:23:27
>> Yeah. It's quite funny like um it's
00:23:29
often a predictor of success if you've
00:23:30
got like an older sibling because the
00:23:32
competition level that you've got is um
00:23:34
so much higher. You're playing playing
00:23:35
with older kids all through your
00:23:37
childhood.
00:23:37
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:38
>> Setting the bar for you.
00:23:39
>> Yeah. Exactly. And um I was very lucky
00:23:42
to have that and and very lucky to have
00:23:43
such a cool brother.
00:23:45
>> Um and he just led the way. He he was
00:23:47
the one that got me into freestyle
00:23:48
skiing and um yeah, sort of just just uh
00:23:52
fell into it and and followed him um cuz
00:23:55
he was such a role model and such a
00:23:56
leader for me. And um yeah, we we were
00:23:59
lucky that the place we lived in Christ
00:24:01
Church, we actually had neighbors that
00:24:03
had two boys that were the same age. So
00:24:05
it's just Miguel and I and then it was
00:24:07
um yeah, two brothers next door. And um
00:24:12
we would just we would just cause
00:24:14
mischief on the street. Like they would
00:24:15
jump the fence and come hang out with us
00:24:16
and we would jump the fence, go hang out
00:24:17
with them. And it was just Yeah, it was
00:24:19
just epic. And so just being around that
00:24:20
like having the older brothers and
00:24:23
following them and um Yeah. And also
00:24:25
just having friends to play with from a
00:24:27
young age was really cool.
00:24:28
>> Yeah. Quite a tight family unit. Hey,
00:24:30
the Portious family. It's just the the
00:24:32
two brothers,
00:24:33
>> mom and dad. Your parents still
00:24:34
together?
00:24:34
>> Yep. Yep. And um from what I can gather,
00:24:37
I'm not sure what your dad did for a
00:24:38
job, but he spent time in the UK working
00:24:40
for Peugeot and
00:24:40
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Wow. You have
00:24:42
done deep research, haven't you? Um
00:24:44
Yeah. So, so uh yeah, mom and dad are
00:24:46
still together. They're um Yeah. Like
00:24:49
they're just mom and dad. They're
00:24:50
awesome. And um yeah, so we lived in the
00:24:53
UK for I think it was it was like 6
00:24:56
weeks. Oh, sorry, 6 months we did in the
00:24:59
UK. Um and dad was working at the
00:25:01
Peugeot factory in health and safety. So
00:25:03
he's um a doctor and studied as a doctor
00:25:06
and um then you know he left Peugeot
00:25:11
Peugeot and we decided that we wanted to
00:25:14
um I think our visas still had extra
00:25:16
time or something and and we decided
00:25:17
that we wanted to stay on and um in
00:25:19
France go to France for the winter and
00:25:21
cuz mom and dad and Miguel at the time
00:25:23
were keen skiers and um I was four and
00:25:26
hadn't skied yet but we went to France
00:25:28
in this little French village in the
00:25:29
Alps uh called Borg Sta Mary and mom and
00:25:32
dad rented um basement, one-bedroom
00:25:34
apartment off of um a family.
00:25:37
>> Sorry, excuse me. Um and yeah, they
00:25:39
rented that apartment and and all four
00:25:41
of us all four of us slept in that
00:25:43
little shoe box apartment. Um and we did
00:25:46
um six week skiing.
00:25:48
>> Do you remember that at all or
00:25:49
>> Yeah, I do. I do actually. Yeah, I do.
00:25:50
And and I went back there well a year
00:25:53
ago now. Um uh yeah, a year ago and and
00:25:57
um saw where it all started. And I
00:25:59
remember I remember being um you know
00:26:03
waking up and and opening the door and
00:26:05
there being snow outside and um or you
00:26:08
know I wasn't allowed to go skiing
00:26:09
because I wasn't very good at stopping.
00:26:11
And so I got dad dad told mom dad told
00:26:14
mom that we can't have Nico coming with
00:26:16
us. He's just out of control. And so he
00:26:18
made me stay at home and practice my
00:26:20
pizzas. So I stayed home with mom and
00:26:22
practice my pizzas and I got a gold star
00:26:24
on my skis every time I nailed it. and
00:26:26
and then um I specifically remember
00:26:29
making chocolate cake after that and um
00:26:31
yeah and then being able to go skiing
00:26:32
the next day with dad and and mom and
00:26:34
family. So
00:26:35
>> Oh yeah, I heard a story about that. So
00:26:36
yeah um this called snowplow
00:26:39
whatever but you you Yeah, your mom
00:26:41
called it chocolate cake.
00:26:42
>> Yeah. Yeah, that's right. You That's
00:26:45
weird that you Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She
00:26:47
called it chocolate cake. That's right.
00:26:48
>> Get out. I'll finish off the story.
00:26:50
>> Yeah. Yeah. She did call it That's
00:26:53
funny. Yeah. Um she called it chocolate
00:26:55
cake and and that was what made sense to
00:26:57
me
00:26:57
>> as a child. Yeah. Yeah. And so um yeah
00:27:00
and then and then we you know we did
00:27:02
that 6 weeks and then um moved back to
00:27:04
to Christ Church. Um
00:27:06
>> when were you in Perth? You're in Perth
00:27:08
for a while
00:27:08
>> and then I was in Perth. Yeah. So
00:27:09
>> Christ back to Christ.
00:27:10
>> Back to Christ Church and and we lived
00:27:12
in Christ Church and um until I was
00:27:14
nine.
00:27:15
>> Uh and then when I was nine, dad uh got
00:27:18
a job uh over in the mines working in
00:27:20
Western Australia. And so that uh meant
00:27:22
that we were to relocate to Perth and um
00:27:25
dad would commute and do FIFO work out
00:27:27
of um yeah, northern Western Australia.
00:27:29
And um we would live in Perth around
00:27:32
that time skiing was really starting to
00:27:33
ramp up and so we would live in Perth
00:27:34
for
00:27:36
like I don't know I want to say 12 weeks
00:27:38
of the year uh maybe one school term or
00:27:41
sorry two school terms. Um and then we'd
00:27:44
go and do the New Zealand winter in
00:27:45
Wanuka. um in this tin there was a yeah
00:27:50
in this uh tiny little hotel and and um
00:27:53
it was mom, Miguel and myself and we
00:27:57
were on bunk beds and mom was on a
00:27:59
double bed and um we'd see dad every 6
00:28:02
weeks he'd come over and um so we did
00:28:04
that and then we go over to Northern
00:28:06
Hemisphere for um 6 weeks as well at
00:28:09
that time and um and the same dad would
00:28:12
come over for a week and
00:28:14
>> yeah so so the family was was pretty um
00:28:17
disjointed throughout that time and and
00:28:18
it was you know they made a decision and
00:28:21
um mom and dad to support Miguel and I
00:28:23
in skiing and that was something that um
00:28:25
had just started and and something that
00:28:26
really really wanted to chase and so
00:28:28
that involved yeah dad working and us
00:28:31
seeing him every five or six weeks
00:28:32
throughout that period. So that
00:28:34
>> um you know mom and dad didn't want to
00:28:36
send us away as two young kids and they
00:28:38
wanted mom to be there cuz we were in
00:28:40
school and stuff like that and so um
00:28:42
yeah. Oh, so that was why they bas they
00:28:44
basically did that cuz he had two kids
00:28:45
that were really really good at skiing
00:28:47
and they wanted you to pursue your
00:28:48
dreams.
00:28:49
>> Yeah, exactly. And and they said, well,
00:28:51
you know, let's give them let's give
00:28:52
them the opportunity on which I'm
00:28:53
incredibly thankful that they did. And
00:28:55
>> when they they worked their ass off like
00:28:58
>> mom was teaching us and um you know,
00:29:00
looking after a 10 and 12y old that were
00:29:02
going skiing all day and then coming
00:29:03
home and having to do school work and
00:29:04
then she'd cook us dinner and meanwhile
00:29:06
dad was you know, an Aussie working and
00:29:08
wouldn't see his family for you know. So
00:29:10
it was it was Yeah. the amount of
00:29:12
sacrifices that they that those two mom
00:29:14
and dad made uh in order for Miguel and
00:29:16
I to ski was incredible and
00:29:18
>> um that's something that I'm so so
00:29:20
grateful for and thankful for.
00:29:23
>> Yeah. And it seems like it there's more
00:29:25
chance it's not going to work out than
00:29:27
it working out like it has.
00:29:28
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, it is. And and you
00:29:30
never know. I mean, putting a
00:29:31
10-year-old and 12-year-old through
00:29:33
international skiing, you don't know
00:29:34
that it's going to work out. You know
00:29:35
what I mean? Like,
00:29:36
>> no. There's more chance of it not.
00:29:37
>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And there is. And
00:29:38
there is. And there is. and and that's
00:29:40
you know they they supported us through
00:29:42
anything as long as we gave it our all
00:29:44
and we tried our best and
00:29:46
>> um we didn't waste an opportunity that
00:29:48
they were giving us and then yeah they
00:29:50
would support us the whole way through
00:29:51
and so
00:29:52
>> so they never had to push you push you
00:29:53
guys. Oh, there was definitely times
00:29:55
where they were like, "Oh, come on."
00:29:56
Like, "You should, you know, like go
00:29:58
skiing today or go to do school work
00:30:00
there or but it was never it was never
00:30:02
there was never any forcing or any um
00:30:06
Yeah. negative. Yeah. It was never
00:30:08
negative.
00:30:09
>> Yeah.
00:30:10
>> Yeah.
00:30:11
>> Um yeah, there's parallels there with
00:30:12
Taylor Swift like her family moved moved
00:30:14
to
00:30:16
never heard that her family moved all
00:30:18
the way to Nashville just to pursue her
00:30:19
dream. And again, it's the same sort of
00:30:21
thing. It's like massive sacrifice from
00:30:22
the whole family
00:30:24
>> for this shot at a dream. And there's
00:30:26
there's for every Taylor Swift or Nico,
00:30:29
there's
00:30:29
>> hundreds of thousands of others that you
00:30:31
know don't reach that level.
00:30:33
>> It's incredible a the sacrifice that
00:30:35
parents make in order to give their kids
00:30:37
an opportunity is and it's something
00:30:38
that I really want to give my kids is
00:30:40
that opportunity and um yeah. Yeah. And
00:30:43
it's yeah very very lucky and thankful.
00:30:45
>> With you guys, you and your brother, how
00:30:46
much of it was um natural talent versus
00:30:48
hard work? Um, I think
00:30:52
there was a lot of
00:30:57
for me there was there was natural
00:31:00
talent. Um, and for Miguel there maybe
00:31:03
wasn't as much natural talent. There was
00:31:05
still we were still very much both
00:31:06
naturally talented. Um, and I think this
00:31:10
is, you know, and I always had people
00:31:12
around me that were working their ass
00:31:13
off. Miguel was like my dad was a hard
00:31:16
worker. Miguel was a hard worker. My
00:31:18
mom's a hard worker. And so naturally,
00:31:20
even though maybe I had that little bit
00:31:22
of extra talent and I would pick up
00:31:24
things faster,
00:31:26
I was just always surrounded by hard
00:31:29
workers. And so I that was just normal
00:31:31
for me was to work hard. And um yeah, so
00:31:34
we worked hard together and and um as a
00:31:36
unit and and uh that was a really really
00:31:38
cool environment to be in.
00:31:40
>> Yeah.
00:31:40
>> Yeah. Natural talent is only going to
00:31:41
get you so far over. If you got someone
00:31:43
that's got natural talent and they put
00:31:45
in the work,
00:31:46
>> they're going to be unstoppable most of
00:31:47
the time. Yeah. Yeah. Um and that's
00:31:50
Yeah, that's something.
00:31:52
>> Yeah. I don't know. That was pretty
00:31:53
cool.
00:31:53
>> So, the um decision to turn pro when
00:31:55
when was that? Like 10 or 11?
00:31:57
>> Yeah. Um the the decision to chase the
00:32:01
professional skiing was around 10. Uh
00:32:04
and then I would say that I turned
00:32:07
professional when I was probably 14.
00:32:10
>> Right.
00:32:11
>> Yeah.
00:32:12
>> Um and there was no real decision. It
00:32:14
was it was just more like things are
00:32:16
getting better and better and better and
00:32:17
I'm um you know Miguel and I are
00:32:19
achieving results and uh we're moving
00:32:22
forward and so I guess you know from mom
00:32:24
and dad's perspective you're not really
00:32:26
going to pull a kid out if he's working
00:32:27
hard and he's driven in what he's doing
00:32:29
and he's keeping on moving up and and
00:32:32
getting better and what he and what he
00:32:33
does not you know you're not really
00:32:36
going to pull the the
00:32:38
um carpet from underneath that person
00:32:39
most of the time. So
00:32:41
>> yeah.
00:32:44
>> Yeah. But a lot of parents, they'll be
00:32:45
like, "Okay, well, as responsible
00:32:48
parents, we need you to finish school.
00:32:50
You know, when you get to 15, 16,
00:32:52
whatever, then you can make your own
00:32:53
decision." I I can't imagine the
00:32:54
discussions they had letting you guys
00:32:56
home.
00:32:57
>> There was actually um ah the there was
00:33:02
one of the headmasters, the headmaster
00:33:03
at our school in Australia. He then
00:33:05
moved on to become he's actually or he
00:33:07
was I don't know if he still is but he
00:33:09
was the headmaster at Christ College
00:33:10
down in um in Christ Church and and I
00:33:14
forget his name but he gave mom he had
00:33:17
his daughter was um uh pursuing pursuing
00:33:23
an athlete. I can't remember what but he
00:33:25
knew that Miguel and I were away skiing
00:33:27
obviously from our um attendance record
00:33:29
at school.
00:33:31
>> Got the goggle marks on your face.
00:33:32
>> Yeah. Yeah. when we came back looking
00:33:33
like pandas in Australia. So, so he knew
00:33:36
that we, you know, that something was up
00:33:38
and and he knew that we were chasing our
00:33:40
dreams and and and I think he said to
00:33:42
mom, he said, "Don't worry about school.
00:33:44
Just focus on maths and English,
00:33:48
focus on sport because it's one shot and
00:33:50
it's one opportunity. And if you don't
00:33:52
take advantage of that then you know
00:33:55
like you can always come back to school
00:33:56
and you not I'm you know like I'm not
00:33:58
I'm not saying that school you know like
00:34:00
focus on the basics maths English get
00:34:02
really good at that do what you have to
00:34:04
do but just give skiing and give sport
00:34:06
like the biggest shot that you can and I
00:34:08
think that was
00:34:10
>> I don't know mom even brings it up to
00:34:11
this day it's like that was yeah that
00:34:13
was so um I think she really took that
00:34:16
advice on board and um yeah made it
00:34:18
happen. M
00:34:20
>> do you remember like your last proper
00:34:21
day of school or anything? Oh
00:34:24
>> um
00:34:25
>> what was it like the third third form or
00:34:27
year?
00:34:27
>> I think my last day of school was
00:34:29
probably when I was like 14. I think it
00:34:31
was year nine. That would have been
00:34:32
Yeah. 14, year nine, I think. So
00:34:35
>> yeah, but I don't I don't really
00:34:36
remember it as being the last day of
00:34:37
school. I just
00:34:38
>> didn't go back to Well, you know, I just
00:34:40
stayed home school.
00:34:41
>> Yeah.
00:34:41
>> Yeah.
00:34:42
>> What was homeschooling like?
00:34:43
>> Hard.
00:34:44
>> Yeah. In what way?
00:34:45
>> Yeah. I found it really hard. Um cuz you
00:34:48
go skiing all day and and then you'd
00:34:50
come home and you'd have to do school
00:34:52
and you know focusing on
00:34:55
trying to focus on school when you've
00:34:56
put all your energy and and everything
00:34:58
you do into skiing that day
00:35:01
is Yeah. It's it's an uphill battle. But
00:35:03
I was so lucky to have mom there. Like
00:35:05
she's such a good teacher and
00:35:06
>> Oh, was she doing the teaching?
00:35:07
>> She was teaching Miguel. Yeah. And so
00:35:09
she would actually she would actually
00:35:11
study
00:35:13
>> throughout the later years when Miguel
00:35:14
was in year 13 and stuff like that. She
00:35:16
would study ahead of time and refresh
00:35:18
herself on, you know, the maths and
00:35:20
science and English on the curriculum so
00:35:22
that she could teach us like it was
00:35:25
incredible. Yeah.
00:35:26
>> And Yeah. And so it was it was really
00:35:28
hard but she got us through it which was
00:35:31
cool.
00:35:31
>> I can I can tell how grateful you are.
00:35:33
Um
00:35:34
>> Yeah. [ __ ] I'm just thinking like I
00:35:36
remember meeting you when you were 13,
00:35:38
14, whatever it was and you came to the
00:35:39
radio studio
00:35:40
>> and then yeah the still young man
00:35:42
sitting in front of me now. Um you're
00:35:44
impeccably well maned. And you always
00:35:46
have been.
00:35:46
>> Thank you.
00:35:47
>> Never been an [ __ ]
00:35:48
>> I hope not. I think that's like
00:35:50
>> well raised. Your parents must be
00:35:52
incredibly proud.
00:35:53
>> Yeah. Oh, I mean I don't know. They're
00:35:55
incredible people and they're they're
00:35:57
like my family is the biggest role
00:35:58
models of my life and Yeah, that's
00:36:00
really really cool. So, thank you.
00:36:02
>> And when did you team up with um Tommy
00:36:04
Patt?
00:36:05
>> Yeah, Tommy coach, right?
00:36:07
>> Yeah, he was. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh the
00:36:09
last year of my career he he wasn't
00:36:10
coaching me. Um but he coached me from
00:36:13
the age of
00:36:15
I think it was h we actually had our
00:36:17
first day coaching when I was six. So he
00:36:21
mom and dad we we were we would go down
00:36:23
to Wanuka for um a week of training
00:36:26
prior to the junior nationals of free
00:36:28
skiing in New Zealand down at Kadrona.
00:36:30
And um for that week we would get we got
00:36:33
freestyle lessons from someone and mom
00:36:37
chose this guy on the website and was
00:36:40
like right can you do a lesson with my
00:36:42
two boys and and that guy that that she
00:36:45
chose was Tommy. And so from that day it
00:36:49
became more and more frequent and you
00:36:51
know he was with us more and more and
00:36:52
then it got to the point where he was
00:36:54
traveling with us and and then it got to
00:36:56
the point that he was taking us on trips
00:36:58
without mom there and then all of a
00:37:00
sudden I'm standing next to him giving
00:37:01
him a hug before I drop into my Olympic
00:37:03
final and it's like you know like
00:37:05
>> what is life?
00:37:06
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it and it was
00:37:08
crazy. It's like he's he's family. He's
00:37:10
part of the family. Um, and you know, I
00:37:13
would literally call him an uncle. And
00:37:15
>> yeah, he's uh it was pretty incredible
00:37:17
to have a 15-year bond with someone like
00:37:19
that. And and especially to grow up with
00:37:21
someone like him around me was
00:37:22
>> was um Yeah, very cool and pretty
00:37:25
special to be honest.
00:37:26
>> What a ride. What a ride. Um yeah, you
00:37:28
said you you split up a year ago. Was
00:37:29
that just when you decided to retire?
00:37:32
>> So yeah, we split up um
00:37:35
when was it? It was the year after the
00:37:37
2022 Olympics. Um as yeah, you may or
00:37:41
may not have noticed, but China has made
00:37:43
a huge push in action sports
00:37:45
>> and um the Chinese national team
00:37:47
actually scouted him.
00:37:49
>> Um and yeah, made him an offer that he
00:37:52
couldn't refuse and and look, we just
00:37:53
supported him through that. He was he
00:37:55
was he was so nervous to tell us, you
00:37:57
know, that you know, this 15- year
00:37:59
relationship had come to an end. But at
00:38:01
the same time, it was like
00:38:02
>> like you got to go and you know, you got
00:38:04
to go and chase your dreams and you got
00:38:05
to go and do this. It's like if I if I
00:38:08
didn't accept that, well then, you know,
00:38:10
who am I? Cuz you've given up so much of
00:38:11
your time and life to come and focus on
00:38:13
me helping me achieve my dream that like
00:38:17
how could I say no to that? And so he
00:38:19
left and um then yeah I I went off and
00:38:23
and filmed for a year and didn't compete
00:38:25
and then came back and actually had um
00:38:27
Byron Wells as a coach for the last year
00:38:30
of my career of competitive career which
00:38:31
was pretty special having someone that
00:38:33
had sort of paved well had paved the way
00:38:35
within um New Zealand for halfpipe
00:38:37
skiing coaching me and so um yeah that
00:38:40
was really cool. So yeah, huge thank you
00:38:42
to both of them cuz they gave up so
00:38:44
much.
00:38:44
>> Yeah, what a what a relationship. So
00:38:46
losing losing Tommy's got nothing to do
00:38:48
with you?
00:38:49
>> No,
00:38:49
>> no,
00:38:50
>> no.
00:38:50
>> Let's relieve him from that guilt.
00:38:52
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no. I
00:38:54
mean, he was even he was Yeah. Sorry,
00:38:56
Tommy. I don't Yeah. He was uh he was
00:38:58
actually nervous that Yeah. When when he
00:39:00
did uh tell me that he was stepping
00:39:03
away, he was he was like, "Well, don't
00:39:04
you know, don't go stopping or don't go
00:39:06
do this." And
00:39:07
>> and you know, even back then, he
00:39:09
probably had a slight inkling that he
00:39:10
knew that that was what I was going to
00:39:12
do. You know what I mean? Like
00:39:13
eventually. And so
00:39:14
>> that's why he said it. And um No, but it
00:39:17
had nothing to do with it. Absolutely
00:39:18
nothing.
00:39:19
>> Yeah.
00:39:19
>> [ __ ] What a ride together.
00:39:21
>> Yeah. Crazy ride.
00:39:22
>> Incredible.
00:39:22
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't um Yeah. Yeah,
00:39:24
I don't think, you know, there's there's
00:39:27
been,
00:39:28
you know, not every athlete has that
00:39:30
relationship with a coach and um and I
00:39:32
think what was really special about that
00:39:34
was yeah, all the highs and lows and the
00:39:36
wins and the losses and um yeah, just
00:39:40
everything we went to together, but like
00:39:42
spending that time cuz he was learning,
00:39:45
I was learning like he didn't have
00:39:47
experience. He had never stood at the
00:39:48
top of X Games or Olympics, you know
00:39:50
what I mean? And neither had I. So we
00:39:53
were fully in this ride together. Um
00:39:55
which I think was something that both of
00:39:58
us will never forget.
00:39:59
>> That's special. Yeah. It's a bond that
00:40:00
can never be
00:40:00
>> Yeah. Exactly. It is. Yeah. It really
00:40:02
is.
00:40:03
>> Um and Dave Collins, your sports
00:40:06
psychologist.
00:40:06
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Legend.
00:40:07
>> He's another another big um cog in the
00:40:10
world. Part of the Portas team.
00:40:11
>> When when did you first um engage with
00:40:13
the sports psych?
00:40:15
>> When I was
00:40:16
uh the first time I engaged with the
00:40:18
sports psych, this is actually
00:40:19
interesting. I was 10. Um, like that's
00:40:23
crazy that I had sports psychologist at
00:40:24
10, but I'm a piece of work. No,
00:40:29
from a young age I've been a piece of
00:40:30
work. No, but um I was I was 10 and I
00:40:33
was up skiing at Kadona and um I was
00:40:35
really really overcoming this I was
00:40:37
struggling to overcome this mental block
00:40:39
of doing a a right um an unnatural 720.
00:40:43
Um so back flip 360 pretty much. Um, and
00:40:46
I was having this mental block and um,
00:40:48
and I it got so so big that I went down
00:40:52
to the car, was in tears, was
00:40:56
it was just about to call it quits and
00:40:58
was just like like sitting there going,
00:41:00
"Do I really want to go ski or do I just
00:41:02
want to go to high school and be
00:41:03
normal?" And throughout that time and
00:41:06
and the weeks after, I wasn't really
00:41:07
sure and I was, you know, like really
00:41:09
scared of this trick. and and then I got
00:41:12
put in touch with Dave Collins and he
00:41:14
talked to me about, you know, the basic
00:41:16
fundamentals of of being an athlete and
00:41:19
and being a skier. And um I was told
00:41:23
that having a sport psychologist doesn't
00:41:25
mean or psychologist doesn't mean
00:41:26
they're just going to wave a magic wand
00:41:28
in one session and everything's going to
00:41:30
be back to normal. It's a journey that
00:41:31
you have to be you have to buy into and
00:41:33
you have to be willing to engage in and
00:41:35
and um yeah, I mean that's another
00:41:38
relationship that I have outside of my
00:41:40
family um is you know I still work with
00:41:43
him to this day. Like
00:41:44
>> what he he must have been um he must
00:41:46
have had a really good communication
00:41:48
style to be able to you know communicate
00:41:49
with a 10-year-old.
00:41:50
>> I know he's just a legend. Like he's an
00:41:52
absolute um
00:41:54
>> Yeah, he's an incredible person. He was
00:41:57
Yeah, I I really don't want to mess this
00:41:59
up, but he was uh I think it was Royal
00:42:01
Marines
00:42:02
>> and did a did a very high number of
00:42:04
missions with the Royal Marines in the
00:42:05
UK and um is a very very um respected
00:42:10
sport psychologist.
00:42:12
>> Uh and I think it I was just
00:42:16
like insanely lucky to be able to work
00:42:18
with someone like that and and that was
00:42:19
through the help of High Performance
00:42:20
Sport and Snow Sports New Zealand. So
00:42:22
them allowing me to have access to
00:42:24
someone someone like that was yeah at
00:42:26
the age of 10 is like that's incredible.
00:42:29
Like that is so so cool.
00:42:31
>> How did that relationship look? Like how
00:42:32
often did you see him? Was it just like
00:42:34
a case by case? You just jump on a Zoom
00:42:35
when needed or
00:42:36
>> It started it started off pretty mellow
00:42:38
like being a 10-year-old you don't
00:42:40
really have many issues in your life
00:42:41
other than you can't do a you can't do a
00:42:44
back flip 360. You know what I mean?
00:42:45
Like you know like Yeah. you're not you
00:42:47
don't uh you don't call them up going,
00:42:49
"Oh, I'm I'm lying in bed wide awake and
00:42:52
I can't sleep cuz I'm nervous or I feel
00:42:53
pressure or something like that." And so
00:42:56
yeah, it it it started off pretty chill
00:42:58
and then at a certain point in time
00:43:00
there was definitely like a fortnightly
00:43:01
catchup that was happening or he would
00:43:03
come on intensive blocks and I'd see him
00:43:05
every day for a week and we'd work on
00:43:07
stuff or
00:43:08
>> um yeah and then towards the back end
00:43:11
tail it off a little bit when things
00:43:13
were going well and I was winning a lot.
00:43:14
Then it sort of started to tailor off a
00:43:17
little bit and it would be once every
00:43:18
couple of months just to check in how
00:43:19
things are going and
00:43:20
>> yeah then he's really been a big part of
00:43:22
this last sort of year and um throughout
00:43:25
the last sort of two years he's he's
00:43:27
been um yeah really incredible.
00:43:30
>> So he'll still be a part of your life
00:43:31
now or
00:43:32
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. I'm still I'm
00:43:34
still uh still working with him and
00:43:35
still um yeah, still talk to him every
00:43:37
now and again and just check in cuz you
00:43:40
know it's sort of been one of the it's
00:43:42
sort of been one of the more challenging
00:43:43
times of my life to be honest in the
00:43:44
past year and to have someone like him
00:43:46
that has seen me grow throughout the
00:43:48
whole process and has been there for
00:43:49
everything and sort of seen the inner
00:43:51
workings of my head um then yeah he's
00:43:54
he's one of the best people uh being in
00:43:57
the position that I have been in to give
00:43:58
me good advice.
00:44:00
Why has it been so challenging? Just
00:44:01
like letting go of part of your identity
00:44:03
or
00:44:04
>> Yeah, I think so. And I think it's I
00:44:05
think stepping into unknown has really
00:44:07
made it challenging. Um and um you know,
00:44:10
like I said earlier, it was my decision
00:44:11
to step into the unknown and being
00:44:12
comfortable with that and and
00:44:14
understanding, you know, the things that
00:44:16
are going to go away and the things that
00:44:17
are going to stay and the things that
00:44:18
are going to get better and the things
00:44:19
are going to get worse, you know, and
00:44:20
and understanding the it actually in in
00:44:23
depth what it means to step away and to
00:44:25
make that decision. And so, um, yeah, he
00:44:27
was really, really helpful.
00:44:29
>> Do you find some of the, um, some of the
00:44:31
some of the lessons and some of the
00:44:32
tools and stuff you've got from him, you
00:44:34
know, they are applicable in day-to-day
00:44:36
life?
00:44:36
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah, they and and a lot of
00:44:39
the time and to be honest, that's a kind
00:44:41
of a tricky question to ask answer
00:44:43
because
00:44:44
>> I feel like I'm so um
00:44:48
like it's so ingrained in me that I
00:44:50
wouldn't actually know I wouldn't be
00:44:51
able to tell you the parts that he has,
00:44:53
>> you know, and the skills that he has
00:44:55
given me sort of thing. Yeah. I don't
00:44:57
know. I think one of the biggest things
00:44:58
that he did tell me um was and and
00:45:03
something that I find comfort in is that
00:45:04
don't don't be worried about being
00:45:06
worried, you know, like you can be
00:45:07
worried about something and that's
00:45:08
totally normal and it's okay, but don't
00:45:11
worry about feeling like that. Like
00:45:12
don't be stressed about being stressed,
00:45:15
>> you know, and and just understand and
00:45:16
and trust that you're stressed or you're
00:45:18
worried and that you can't do anything
00:45:20
about that. And
00:45:22
>> all of the time it's for a reason. Um
00:45:24
whether that's you have something crazy
00:45:26
going on in your life or upcoming or you
00:45:29
maybe haven't had enough sleep in the
00:45:30
past four nights, you know, these things
00:45:31
sort of lead to, you know, and it's and
00:45:33
it's don't make that situation worse.
00:45:35
And that's something that he
00:45:37
>> like Yeah. That's one of his biggest
00:45:38
things that I've taken away.
00:45:40
>> Yeah. One thing I've um learned about
00:45:42
you while researching for this in the
00:45:44
past week is um just crippling anxiety,
00:45:47
right?
00:45:47
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:48
>> Like terrible nerves.
00:45:49
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Gnarly.
00:45:50
>> They
00:45:52
Yeah. Yeah. Have they subsided or do
00:45:54
they just as you keep trying to raise
00:45:55
the bar? Does it just remain because
00:45:57
you're constantly pushing?
00:45:58
>> They come and go. They come and go. Um
00:46:00
they definitely have I've um
00:46:05
yeah, I've I've uh developed skills that
00:46:08
help me deal with them. But in sometimes
00:46:10
I'll have it'll just come on and I'll be
00:46:12
like, "Oh my goodness, like I'm nervous.
00:46:14
Like why why am I nervous right now?"
00:46:15
you know, and and then I just will, you
00:46:17
know, revert back to breath or I'll
00:46:19
start thinking about certain things or
00:46:22
Yeah. I don't know. I just use that that
00:46:24
technique to to help overcome that.
00:46:26
>> Um
00:46:27
>> Yeah.
00:46:28
>> Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing that.
00:46:29
>> Oh, it's all good.
00:46:30
>> Okay. Um you're I've done like almost
00:46:33
250 podcast episodes. This is the first
00:46:35
Winter Olympian I've ever had on.
00:46:37
>> So, um
00:46:39
>> Yeah. What are they like? I've had so
00:46:40
many summer Olympians on. Yeah, but
00:46:42
yeah, the winter Olympics, the the
00:46:44
village, like are there perks? Is there
00:46:46
free McDonald's? Is there a massive food
00:46:47
court?
00:46:48
>> Yeah, that stuff's good fun.
00:46:49
>> Is everyone going around shagging each
00:46:51
other like?
00:46:52
>> Um, kind of to be honest. It's like I
00:46:56
don't know. Yeah. Well, I mean, China
00:46:59
was a different story cuz it was co and
00:47:00
it's China so it's a little bit like
00:47:02
>> I know a little bit crazy to begin with.
00:47:04
Um, and then Korea when I was 16 was was
00:47:09
crazy. That was sick. Like it was so so
00:47:11
cool. and such a cool experience. And
00:47:13
they just I mean the same as the summer
00:47:15
I think and they just build apartment
00:47:17
blocks and we were living in an
00:47:19
apartment and
00:47:21
um just Miguel and I were sharing a room
00:47:22
which is like sharing a room with your
00:47:24
brother at the Olympics is pretty
00:47:26
special like not everyone gets to do
00:47:27
that and so having him there was really
00:47:30
cool and um yeah and then you know the
00:47:33
the New Zealand team at the time was
00:47:35
really young and and that was really
00:47:36
really um special but there was
00:47:38
McDonald's and there was there was a
00:47:41
dentist surgery and like you get full
00:47:44
dental work and haircuts and you know
00:47:46
phones and just all sorts of stuff. And
00:47:50
um then Red Bull had a nightclub. Red
00:47:52
Bull had like a pop-up nightclub that
00:47:53
they had going there for a while. And so
00:47:56
when you got a medal, you would Yeah.
00:47:58
You would go and um celebrate at the Red
00:48:00
Bull nightclub and you'd walk in and you
00:48:03
know there's videos. Yeah. There was
00:48:05
just good times. Like we'd walk in and
00:48:06
there'd be a bottle of Grey Goose and
00:48:08
surrounded by Red Bull and Red Bull
00:48:10
vodkas and like you just have all your
00:48:12
best friends around you at the Olympics
00:48:14
and it's like I mean that was you know
00:48:16
maybe maybe not what a 16-year-old
00:48:18
should be doing but it's sort of like
00:48:20
it's sort of like
00:48:22
>> you know come on that's a once in a
00:48:23
lifetime thing you know and that was
00:48:25
really Yeah.
00:48:27
>> Amazing. Oh were you on the Grey Goose
00:48:28
at 16 after the Olympics?
00:48:30
>> No no no of course not. Okay. Um
00:48:34
yeah, this this might seem like an odd
00:48:36
question. I don't even know if this is a
00:48:37
discussion you you've had, but so you're
00:48:39
both um your brother and yourself
00:48:40
ridiculously successful. Like as you
00:48:42
said, you know, sharing an apartment
00:48:43
together at the Olympics. Um but you
00:48:47
you've your level of success has has
00:48:49
been like a step higher than than him, I
00:48:51
suppose, in terms of um
00:48:52
>> the visible awards, you know, the H the
00:48:54
Hellburg award, sportsman of the year,
00:48:56
the medals.
00:48:57
>> Has it been hard on him?
00:49:01
M
00:49:04
>> I I know he's super proud
00:49:05
>> and I I don't actually know because he
00:49:08
even if it was hard he would never he
00:49:10
he's that type of person that he would
00:49:11
never express that to me and he would
00:49:14
never
00:49:14
>> he would never let me know that and the
00:49:18
only emotion that he would show towards
00:49:19
me would be
00:49:21
>> being proud. Yeah. and being having that
00:49:23
pride. Um,
00:49:26
and I think yeah, I was like I mean you
00:49:30
know that's that's some character to do
00:49:31
that you know when some there would be
00:49:33
some times where
00:49:36
>> you know he would crash and
00:49:38
>> well like at the first Olympics he he
00:49:40
was like skiing the best he ever had in
00:49:42
the buildup to it and then he crashed
00:49:44
both his runs in qualifying and didn't
00:49:46
make finals and that was like you know
00:49:48
like he'd made finals at every event
00:49:50
that season. And it was sort of like wo
00:49:51
and then his younger brother that had
00:49:53
only just come onto the scene
00:49:55
landed a run in qualifying and made
00:49:57
finals and then went on to win bronze.
00:49:58
It's like
00:49:59
>> that for anybody can't you know like
00:50:01
that can't not be hard you know and
00:50:04
>> I don't know but I know that he is an
00:50:07
incredible and incredible person has an
00:50:09
incredibly strong character that he
00:50:11
would never show that to me. he would
00:50:12
only just be proud of me and supportive
00:50:14
of that in that situation. And and and
00:50:16
and same goes the other way is that I
00:50:19
was always proud of him. And and in
00:50:20
fact, one of the one of my favorite
00:50:23
favorite two moments of my career was
00:50:26
the first one
00:50:29
being when he won XGame silver. Um I
00:50:32
think that was the year before 2018
00:50:35
Olympic 2017 he won X Games silver and
00:50:38
that was like oh my goodness like we've
00:50:41
achieve it felt like we have achieved
00:50:42
this goal you know like Miguel and
00:50:45
that's my brother he's he's standing on
00:50:47
the XG games podium like this is crazy
00:50:49
we've been together doing this from such
00:50:51
a young age and it's like we have
00:50:52
achieved this together and then yeah I
00:50:56
remember just standing looking at him on
00:50:57
the podium and just like being you know
00:51:01
total disbelief that this was happening
00:51:02
in front of me. And and the second
00:51:03
moment was not the the winning at the
00:51:08
2022 Olympics. It wasn't standing on the
00:51:10
podium. It was
00:51:12
>> the first person that I got to see at
00:51:14
the bottom of that event when I'd found
00:51:16
out everything was happening and you
00:51:18
know the result and stuff like that was
00:51:20
my brother.
00:51:21
>> The first person I got to say something
00:51:23
to
00:51:24
>> and hear something from was Miguel. And
00:51:26
that was us hugging each other and him
00:51:28
going, "Fuck yeah." like congrats. You
00:51:32
know what I mean? And it's like
00:51:33
goosebumps.
00:51:34
>> Yeah. Like that. Like that's more
00:51:36
important than anything else, you know?
00:51:38
Like
00:51:39
>> Yeah. I don't know. And and and
00:51:41
>> yeah, [ __ ] Miguel is such an incredible
00:51:44
person and I'm so lucky to have him as a
00:51:46
brother.
00:51:46
>> Yeah. So those those Olympics um 2018
00:51:49
Pon Chang, you were aged 16 years and 91
00:51:52
days.
00:51:53
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:53
>> Um, when you won the bronze medal, what
00:51:55
was what was the name of your winning
00:51:57
move or moves?
00:52:00
>> And what was it exactly? They have weird
00:52:02
names. Eh,
00:52:03
>> yeah, my the winning maneuvers I would
00:52:05
say at 2018 was what did I do then? I
00:52:10
think I did
00:52:12
Yeah, I would say that it was like um I
00:52:15
did a double c 1440 at the top. That was
00:52:18
like what's that? Two flips and
00:52:21
four full spins. Yeah, two flips, four
00:52:24
full spins, and then straight into the
00:52:25
next hit. Did a 900. And it was just a
00:52:29
lot of spinning. It was just a And
00:52:30
that's the thing is that the judges said
00:52:32
to me after is that they were like, you
00:52:34
know, cuz we always go and talk to the
00:52:35
judges after an event cuz, you know, how
00:52:37
else do you know what to improve on and
00:52:38
how to get better and stuff like that.
00:52:40
And um they said, you had gold medal
00:52:44
technicality, but everything else was
00:52:46
lacking. M
00:52:48
>> and so that's what I went and worked on
00:52:50
for the next like four years. Well,
00:52:52
yeah, four years. Yeah. I I kept working
00:52:54
the same rate um with the same, you
00:52:57
know, pace on the technicality, but
00:52:58
really put an emphasis on the other
00:53:00
sides of skiing and the judging and um
00:53:02
yeah, that paid off.
00:53:05
>> And I think it was this Olympics. I saw
00:53:07
an interview with your mom. Um she she
00:53:09
talked about how your nerves were so
00:53:10
intense like she that stayed up till
00:53:11
4:00 or 5:00 in the morning just like
00:53:13
>> So so were your parents in the apartment
00:53:15
with you in the Olympic village or just
00:53:16
you and your bro?
00:53:17
>> Yeah, just just Miguel and I and then
00:53:19
they're not actually allowed into the
00:53:20
village.
00:53:21
>> Um and so there was a time at 2018 where
00:53:24
it got so intense that and I got so um I
00:53:28
guess petrified of what I was where I
00:53:30
was and what I was doing that mom and
00:53:32
dad um were hanging out in Seoul at the
00:53:36
time. uh they had an apartment and was
00:53:38
sort of just there in case anything went
00:53:40
wrong in the buildup and sort of just
00:53:42
checking out Korea because you know they
00:53:43
had this opportunity to come over and um
00:53:46
yeah so I hopped on a bullet train and
00:53:48
went down and saw them and just
00:53:49
completely got out of the Olympic
00:53:50
environment and that was um that was
00:53:54
like the biggest thing that was so good.
00:53:55
I just went down with them and just ate
00:53:57
food and went and walked around Seoul
00:53:59
and just completely forgot about
00:54:01
Olympics and
00:54:02
>> just acted like a normal kid.
00:54:03
>> Yeah. Yeah. just acted like a kid on
00:54:04
holiday with his parents and that was
00:54:06
like
00:54:06
>> you were
00:54:08
>> Yeah, for those Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like
00:54:11
it's you know it's crazy.
00:54:13
>> Um and I just Yeah. I don't know. So the
00:54:16
the fact that they they were like so
00:54:19
aware of the situation and they I don't
00:54:22
know whether I think I think it was
00:54:24
actually DC uh Dave Collins that that
00:54:26
gave him that advice was to just be
00:54:28
there and sort of get an apartment out
00:54:29
of it and
00:54:30
>> maybe you know give them space to come
00:54:33
and check out down and away from the
00:54:34
Olympic village and stuff like that and
00:54:36
and yeah I think like I'm so lucky that
00:54:38
I had people around me that were that
00:54:40
aware and and that um wise and to give
00:54:43
me that opportunity to do
00:54:45
Can you remember that? Can you remember
00:54:46
staying up all night talking to your
00:54:47
mom?
00:54:48
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that wasn't just one
00:54:49
time. That was a lot. And And really?
00:54:51
Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was a lot. And And
00:54:54
um
00:54:54
>> what like are you like expressing your
00:54:57
nerves about the competition or you just
00:54:59
talking about anything but
00:55:00
>> Yeah. It would it would be I mean, I
00:55:04
would probably start off by talking
00:55:05
about the competition, but it but in
00:55:07
saying that, it wasn't actually just
00:55:08
competitions that would give me this. It
00:55:09
would be trying a new trick the next
00:55:10
day. It would be trying a new trick in
00:55:12
two days time. it would be the fact that
00:55:14
I'm at a training camp in order to learn
00:55:15
a new trick and that trick was stressing
00:55:17
me out. So, it was like it was I'm such
00:55:20
a worrier and such a stressful like
00:55:21
stress, you know, when I get stressed, I
00:55:23
get stressed and and um yeah, I would I
00:55:27
think the conversations that I had with
00:55:28
mom would start off with talking about
00:55:30
the trick and and that and then she
00:55:33
would be very good at distracting and
00:55:35
moving on to something else. And um
00:55:37
yeah, listening to I'd listen to
00:55:39
podcasts, listen to country life a lot.
00:55:41
Like I'd spend
00:55:42
>> country life um you know the radio New
00:55:44
Zealand country life that they do about
00:55:46
the farming the farming show.
00:55:47
>> I'd listen to that like
00:55:48
>> that's so random.
00:55:49
>> I know. I' because it would distract me.
00:55:51
It would be and it would be so nice cuz
00:55:53
I'd be on the road and and it would be
00:55:55
like you know sounds of home like you
00:55:57
know you'd hear they do interviews on
00:55:58
the farm and you'd hear the birds and
00:56:00
you know like it was just relaxing you
00:56:03
like I know that's so weird but it was
00:56:05
just so soothing. Yeah. And so I would
00:56:07
do that where I'd talk to mom and I'd
00:56:09
listen to podcast and eventually I'd get
00:56:10
to sleep and sometimes I wouldn't.
00:56:12
>> Yeah. There was one time where I didn't
00:56:13
get to sleep and I just stayed awake all
00:56:15
night
00:56:16
>> and that was actually the night before
00:56:19
Olympic qualifying in 2018. I I was up
00:56:21
uh all night because I couldn't sleep
00:56:23
cuz I was so nervous. And I spoke to DC
00:56:26
and Dave Collins in the morning and he
00:56:27
said, "Look, you know what you got to
00:56:30
do. You've practiced it. You've done it.
00:56:33
As soon as you get a little bit of
00:56:34
adrenaline in your body, you're not
00:56:36
going to know that you haven't slept."
00:56:37
>> Like, you're going to Yeah, you're not
00:56:38
going to be maybe as sharp as you could
00:56:41
be, but you've done all this before. You
00:56:43
know what's happening. Just just back
00:56:46
yourself and and trust yourself. And
00:56:48
that's something that I've always like
00:56:50
always utilized since then is knowing
00:56:52
that when you do get adrenaline in you,
00:56:54
if you trust that adrenaline and you
00:56:56
trust your preparation, well then you
00:56:58
know that you can do it.
00:56:59
>> Yeah. And muscle memory from the
00:57:00
thousands of hours of work went into it.
00:57:02
I had Louis Lewis Cleber, the swimmer on
00:57:04
the podcast, he said a similar sort of
00:57:05
thing
00:57:06
>> like sleepless nights before competition
00:57:07
and then his um his mental skills coach
00:57:10
maybe just his coach said to him like
00:57:12
you know one bad night's sleep's not
00:57:13
going to undo it's not going to do [ __ ]
00:57:15
all.
00:57:15
>> No. Exactly. And maybe, you know, maybe
00:57:17
if you're like an archer or something
00:57:18
and you get the shakes because, you
00:57:20
know, you're tired or something like
00:57:21
that. But even then, with the nerves and
00:57:23
like with nerves and and um excitement
00:57:26
and adrenaline, you're going to be
00:57:27
awake. So,
00:57:29
>> with that in mind though, with you
00:57:30
describing how um debilitating it's
00:57:32
been, it's it's um a miracle that you've
00:57:34
been in the sport for so long.
00:57:37
>> Yeah.
00:57:38
>> Like, it really is. It's a lot to go
00:57:39
through.
00:57:40
>> Yeah. No, it is a lot to go through. And
00:57:42
I think it's that those moments of those
00:57:44
high moments and those moments of
00:57:46
success um and those you know moments of
00:57:50
being proud of yourself for achieving
00:57:51
something sort of outweigh those
00:57:53
>> um those harder moments.
00:57:55
>> Yeah. Was that life-changing? And if so,
00:57:58
how?
00:57:58
>> The the bronze medal in 2018.
00:58:02
>> Yeah.
00:58:02
>> Yeah. I mean like
00:58:04
personally no. Like I like I mean I
00:58:07
don't think it changed who I was
00:58:08
personally. maybe people around me would
00:58:10
have a different story, but
00:58:12
>> I still I don't think so. And and so in
00:58:15
that way, no, it didn't change my life
00:58:17
at all. But in other ways, like, you
00:58:19
know, if that hadn't happened, I
00:58:20
probably wouldn't be sitting here
00:58:21
talking with you.
00:58:22
>> Um
00:58:22
>> on terms of like doors that open.
00:58:24
>> Yeah. Doors that open and opportunities
00:58:25
and and um situations that you find
00:58:28
yourself in because of these things. And
00:58:30
um
00:58:31
>> yeah, I don't know. It's uh it has
00:58:33
definitely changed my life, but also at
00:58:36
the same time, it hasn't like Yeah.
00:58:38
The 24 or 48 hours after that, what did
00:58:41
that look like? The
00:58:42
>> another couple of nights of no sleep.
00:58:44
>> Oh yeah, the the So the 48 hours after
00:58:48
2018 were crazy cuz that was the first
00:58:51
time in 26 years or 26 years or
00:58:53
something that New Zealand had won um a
00:58:56
medal at the Winter Olympics.
00:58:57
>> Who was it? Was it Analise Cober?
00:58:59
>> Yep. Yeah. In Slalam in 1980 or I don't
00:59:04
know 2018us 26 92 maybe. I don't know.
00:59:07
Yeah. Sorry for bad math, but um yeah,
00:59:09
so so Zoe um Saski Senate won bronze and
00:59:12
big air and um also being 16 and then a
00:59:15
week later I won bronze and half five
00:59:17
and those were the first two medals in
00:59:18
in a long time and so it was a big deal
00:59:21
in New Zealand and um we flew home from
00:59:24
Korea 24 hours or 48 hours later and we
00:59:28
just went into a 5day media
00:59:32
>> like circus. It was it was just every 5
00:59:36
minutes we were on another interview. We
00:59:37
had another phone. Then we were driving
00:59:38
to this studio. Then we're doing this
00:59:40
and then we were you know we were doing
00:59:42
a a meet and greet at High Performance
00:59:45
Sport. Then we're going to government
00:59:46
house and then we're going on the plane
00:59:48
down to Wanuker and having a welcoming
00:59:50
and hucker at Queenstown airport and
00:59:51
then onto a parade in Wanuka. It was it
00:59:53
was just like it was crazy and that was
00:59:58
that was like such a a whirlwind and um
01:00:02
yeah so that was the 24 hours after 2018
01:00:04
and then the 24 hours after 2022 were a
01:00:07
little bit different because it was co
01:00:08
and and I knew that those first the
01:00:12
first Olympics really took it out of me
01:00:13
and that really really wore me down
01:00:15
>> that period and um yeah it was it was
01:00:19
really really tough that time and uh
01:00:21
2022 I
01:00:23
was like, "Fuck this. Whatever happens,
01:00:26
I'm just going to
01:00:27
>> like I'm just going to go and enjoy it
01:00:30
and you know, like, yeah, I'm I'm just
01:00:32
going to hang out with my friends and
01:00:35
>> um my brother and yeah, that's what I
01:00:37
did." And so it was a bit more chill.
01:00:39
>> Still a lot of media, but
01:00:42
>> yeah, ju just thinking about those games
01:00:44
um you all the media and stuff that came
01:00:46
afterwards. You've sort of grown up in
01:00:48
the public eye. There's been no missteps
01:00:49
though. Are you comparing you to like
01:00:52
Justin Bieber like uh you know
01:00:55
a lot of people that have like like fame
01:00:56
or you profile at a young age they they
01:01:00
usually some push back at some point.
01:01:03
>> Um
01:01:03
>> yeah I've been very lucky to not have
01:01:05
any scrutiny like that. Um
01:01:09
>> I don't know. I guess
01:01:10
>> you just haven't done anything.
01:01:11
>> Yeah. I just I was just warranted that
01:01:12
scrutiny. I was just I think I was just
01:01:15
forced to be aware of it from so young.
01:01:16
Um, you know, the last thing that I'd
01:01:18
want to do would to be to
01:01:22
mess up and
01:01:24
put a bad name on my parents or my
01:01:27
family and
01:01:28
>> especially because they work so hard
01:01:30
>> for me, you know, they as mom and dad
01:01:31
work so hard and sacrificed so much to
01:01:33
get to me me to where I wanted to be
01:01:37
that if I were to go and do something
01:01:38
that were, you know, if I were to make a
01:01:41
mistake and you know, you know, stuff up
01:01:45
and and it be in the media or yeah, make
01:01:47
a mistake and then that would that would
01:01:49
um tarnish their name and and that's not
01:01:51
something that I ever wanted to do, but
01:01:52
at Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:55
>> Oh, good on you.
01:01:56
>> Yeah.
01:01:57
>> I mean, it'd be easy to like have an
01:01:58
inflated ego or go through a [ __ ]
01:02:00
phase or something. Feels like you you
01:02:02
avoided that completely.
01:02:04
>> Yeah. Um I think I did. I hope I did.
01:02:07
>> Yeah.
01:02:07
>> Yeah. So far, touchwood.
01:02:09
>> Yeah. Yeah. Touchwood. Um, so the uh
01:02:12
2022 Olympics at Beijing, um, that's
01:02:14
where you won gold. What changed between
01:02:17
2018 and 2022? Four years older, four
01:02:19
years more experience. What else?
01:02:23
>> Um,
01:02:24
four years more pressure,
01:02:26
>> I think. Way more pressure. Yeah. Way
01:02:28
more target on your back. Yeah. Yeah. I
01:02:29
had a target on my back in the two years
01:02:31
in the buildup, you know, from 20, what
01:02:33
was that? 2020 through to 2021.
01:02:37
Um, there was some good results in
01:02:39
there. I think 2021 I um became world
01:02:43
champion um and won X Games that year as
01:02:46
well. And um yeah, so I I sort of just I
01:02:50
guess I just continued to um to grow and
01:02:53
to get better and and I think um luckily
01:02:56
I didn't have any major injury at that
01:02:58
time and so I think that was just it was
01:02:59
all this perfect storm that just like
01:03:01
led up over four years. There was
01:03:04
obviously hardships in between and there
01:03:05
were really hard times and but
01:03:09
for the most part it was just a perfect
01:03:10
storm that led up to the perfect series
01:03:13
of events. Uh and that being on the day
01:03:15
of the Olympics I performed when it
01:03:17
counted.
01:03:18
>> Um and I think yeah I just I just kept
01:03:20
my head down and kept working hard and
01:03:22
chasing ambitions that
01:03:24
>> you know were were Yeah. big ambitions.
01:03:27
I think just having big ambitions and
01:03:28
and just working for them.
01:03:30
>> Yeah. in terms of I think most New
01:03:33
Zealanders like it's quite a niche
01:03:35
sport. So we'll see you on TV if you're
01:03:36
doing well like every four years or
01:03:38
whatever it happens to be. So we'll see
01:03:40
you on [ __ ] I don't know Seven Sharp,
01:03:42
Campbell Live, Breakfast, ZB, whatever
01:03:44
it happens to be.
01:03:46
>> Um what don't we see like what what is
01:03:49
the um what is the work that goes into
01:03:50
getting to that?
01:03:52
>> Uh it's the sacrifice like we talked
01:03:53
about. That was obviously a major
01:03:55
sacrifice period in my life and um so
01:03:58
that's one thing. the the physical side
01:04:01
of it. You have to be physically
01:04:02
conditioned to be at that level. Um the
01:04:06
mental side of things was was my biggest
01:04:08
challenge personally was the mental side
01:04:10
of things and and learning how to deal
01:04:11
with pressure and overcome nerves and um
01:04:14
you know deal with your own problems
01:04:15
going on especially throughout that time
01:04:17
when you're what do you know you're 17
01:04:19
through
01:04:20
>> 20 like that's like god there's a lot of
01:04:24
stuff going on in your head. Your
01:04:25
testosterone is peaking. You're like,
01:04:27
you know, you don't know really what's
01:04:29
going on. You don't Yeah. You know, you
01:04:30
don't know how to control those emotions
01:04:32
at all. You like I think what is your
01:04:34
frontal lobe's not even working at that
01:04:36
time.
01:04:37
>> I'm 52. I think my frontal lobe is still
01:04:40
sort of molding into place.
01:04:41
>> Yeah. Coming coming into play, but no,
01:04:44
like at that time, you're just like
01:04:46
you're so all over the show like
01:04:49
chemically as a person and and and um a
01:04:52
young adult. And so I think that
01:04:55
combined with everything else going on
01:04:58
like yeah it was it was difficult. It
01:05:00
was difficult but I like you know as
01:05:02
we've talked about I had an amazing
01:05:03
support network around me that helped me
01:05:06
you know manage that at least to the
01:05:07
point that I could go out and ski how I
01:05:09
wanted to ski. And
01:05:10
>> yeah there was some big learnings
01:05:11
throughout that time and and some things
01:05:13
that definitely led me to um being able
01:05:16
to formulate a way of thinking and
01:05:18
performing that worked for 2022. And
01:05:20
that was like I figured out that I I
01:05:24
couldn't set results result based goals.
01:05:26
So I couldn't be like, "Oh, I want to go
01:05:28
and win this event or I'm going to go
01:05:31
and win the Globe this year." It's like
01:05:33
that didn't work for me cuz I like I
01:05:36
don't know. You can't set you can't set
01:05:38
a goal of something at the end of the
01:05:39
day that you can't control. Like I
01:05:41
couldn't control the final outcome cuz
01:05:42
it's judged by other people. And like I
01:05:45
don't know, anything can happen. They're
01:05:46
human. They're not robots. our sports
01:05:48
judged by humans and humans make
01:05:50
mistakes and humans,
01:05:51
>> you know, don't aren't consistent. Um,
01:05:54
they try to be, but they're not. And I
01:05:57
put a lot of pressure on myself to
01:05:59
achieve those goals that were actually
01:06:01
not in my control. So, I had one year
01:06:03
where I had couple podiums the year
01:06:05
before. I think I got my first X Games
01:06:07
medal. Uh, and sorry, this was 2019, so
01:06:10
it was after the Olympic year, and I set
01:06:12
out to go and win the Globe, which was
01:06:13
the world title. like it was the top of
01:06:17
the standing. Um I guess it would be
01:06:19
yeah you you're like the highest ranking
01:06:21
from all the events and I set out to go
01:06:22
and win that and I had like the worst
01:06:27
year like I was like consistently like
01:06:30
10th 11th 12th um just I went from you
01:06:34
know being on podiums to then like
01:06:36
cooking it. And so I realized that that
01:06:39
was because I am not very good at being
01:06:43
results focused and outcome focused. I
01:06:44
was more around the process and and
01:06:47
being driven by, you know, how can I go
01:06:50
through the process in order to achieve
01:06:53
uh the goal, you know, you know, and
01:06:54
sort of like substituting them out.
01:06:56
>> Um does that make sense?
01:06:58
>> Yeah, makes perfect sense.
01:07:00
>> Um and in terms of the training and
01:07:02
stuff dayto-day,
01:07:04
>> like to get to that point, you know, to
01:07:05
get to the point where you're doing um a
01:07:07
backto-back 1620, so we'll get into that
01:07:09
soon.
01:07:10
>> Um yeah, what does training look like?
01:07:12
So, I suppose it very easy for people to
01:07:14
go, "Oh, yeah, he just skis all day and
01:07:16
then goes to the Olympics every four
01:07:17
years." But no, it's that's the reality
01:07:19
of it.
01:07:20
>> Yeah, it's not like that. Um, and I
01:07:22
think our focus was
01:07:26
>> when we started getting more into the
01:07:28
high end of things, I think it was like
01:07:30
very umh
01:07:33
I guess what it what's the saying? It's
01:07:34
like rather than doing lots of [ __ ] you
01:07:37
do a little bit of great of of perfect.
01:07:40
So it's like consistently doing little
01:07:41
amounts of really good and then in the
01:07:44
moments that you can do high repetition
01:07:46
without having an uh negative impact on
01:07:49
your body or your mental or your you
01:07:51
know like that side of things then you
01:07:53
do do a lot and so dayto-day for me
01:07:55
would sort of be like I just go skiing.
01:07:58
Oh, well, I say that I'd just go Yeah,
01:08:00
that's just Yeah, you just go skiing,
01:08:02
but No, I would I' I'd wake up and I'd
01:08:06
go up the mountain and um I would either
01:08:10
go and work on I'd go up there with a
01:08:12
goal every single day. Um and I'd make
01:08:15
that goal with my coach Tommy in the car
01:08:17
on the way up and we would then talk
01:08:20
about a plan on how we were going to
01:08:21
achieve that goal that day. And whether
01:08:23
that was, okay, go and do you need to go
01:08:25
and do four of this trick, then you need
01:08:28
to go and do three of this trick. Or it
01:08:30
might only just be you need to do four
01:08:31
of this trick today, or you need to do
01:08:33
two of this trick today. And it's like
01:08:36
you just that's your whole day. And once
01:08:38
you achieve that, done. You know, you
01:08:41
you just go and you can maybe go and
01:08:43
free ski for a little bit if you wanted
01:08:44
to because at the end of the day, I do
01:08:45
love skiing and I just love what I do.
01:08:47
And
01:08:48
>> um so I would just go and ski without a
01:08:49
coach.
01:08:50
>> Mh. but not drain the energy so that I
01:08:53
could come up and do it another three
01:08:55
again the next day. And so that just
01:08:57
kept going and going and progressing.
01:08:59
And then you know we had um the
01:09:02
facilities started to get better and
01:09:04
better with like the investment from
01:09:05
high performance sport and snow sports
01:09:07
and they supplied us with an airbag
01:09:10
setup that we had up Kadona and and that
01:09:12
was a huge part of my training
01:09:13
throughout that period. An airbag is
01:09:15
like a 20 m by 20 m vinyl cushion that
01:09:18
is blown up by like industrial fans and
01:09:20
you land on it and it cushions your your
01:09:22
impact and minimizes risks and injury
01:09:24
and stuff. And so I would go out. So
01:09:26
it's like working you take off on normal
01:09:28
snow and you can do the full trick
01:09:30
wearing, you know, your helmet, your
01:09:31
goggles, your gloves, your skis,
01:09:33
everything normal. But the thing is
01:09:35
you're landing on a big cushion so it
01:09:37
minimizes risk. And so I would go up and
01:09:40
drill in a certain number of tricks
01:09:43
every day. And so that being one of
01:09:45
those moments that you can go and do the
01:09:47
higher volume and the higher um amounts
01:09:50
because the risk is less.
01:09:52
>> So it was about managing that risk and
01:09:54
and so we go up and I'd do you know 10
01:09:57
to the left and 10 to the right you know
01:09:59
this was throughout the 16 process which
01:10:00
I'm sure we'll get to in a second. Mhm.
01:10:02
>> Um, I just go and get repetition on
01:10:04
those and then, yeah, I don't know. And
01:10:06
then maybe in the afternoon I'd work on
01:10:08
some technique and I'd go and maybe just
01:10:10
work on my edge control on my skis and
01:10:12
then go home. Uh, and then maybe three
01:10:16
days a week or two or three days a week
01:10:17
I'd go trampolining in the evenings. And
01:10:19
so that would be another opportunity
01:10:20
where I'd get those high repetition um
01:10:23
depending on what I was doing the next
01:10:25
day.
01:10:26
>> Trampolining to practice the somersault
01:10:28
tricks that you're going to do.
01:10:29
>> Yeah. I'd go down with my coach Tommy
01:10:30
and we'd go to the trampoline and
01:10:32
>> not just going to jump world.
01:10:33
>> No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no. I mean
01:10:35
that would be fun, but No. Yeah. I'd go
01:10:37
to a specialized trampoline, another
01:10:39
facility that um again high performance
01:10:41
sport and snow sports supplied and um
01:10:43
that was a quintessential part of my
01:10:44
training. And so like I would go and
01:10:47
yeah I would go and do repetition on
01:10:49
that and then yeah I would go to the gym
01:10:51
and I mean like listing this out it
01:10:54
sounds like I was doing huge days but I
01:10:56
had a really really good um as I've
01:10:59
mentioned I had a really good team
01:11:01
around me that would help me uh really
01:11:03
manage the load that I was taking on.
01:11:05
And so, yeah, I was doing all these
01:11:07
things, but you know, I would go to the
01:11:09
gym this day and I wouldn't ski as hard
01:11:11
on that day or then
01:11:13
>> I would go to the trampoline instead of
01:11:15
going to the gym or I would, you know,
01:11:16
and and we would just juggle around and
01:11:18
shuffle the schedule. And in a sport
01:11:20
like mine that's very weather dependent,
01:11:22
you know, you can't go skiing when it's
01:11:23
100k winds and wide out up the mountain.
01:11:25
And so then on top of all of that, you
01:11:27
have to fit it into the weather
01:11:28
schedule. And so if there were five good
01:11:31
weather days in a row, well, you just go
01:11:34
ski. Five weather days. You wouldn't you
01:11:36
wouldn't go and trampoline. You wouldn't
01:11:37
go to the gym. You just that would be
01:11:39
your focus would be skiing because the
01:11:41
weather's good and you might as well
01:11:42
take advantage of that. And so yeah,
01:11:44
that was sort of a long-winded way of
01:11:46
explaining, but that's sort of how
01:11:47
day-to-day training looked like.
01:11:49
>> No, it's it's good to know um how much
01:11:50
work goes into these things. Yeah. So
01:11:52
this gold medal performance in 2022 in
01:11:54
Beijing, it was um yeah, back to back
01:11:57
1620s. So what what does that mean?
01:11:59
>> Yeah. So the backto-back refers to in
01:12:02
halfight we have a left and right wall.
01:12:04
Wall being like you know Yeah. Um
01:12:08
halfight looks like a U and you have two
01:12:09
sides to a U. Left and right. And on the
01:12:12
left and right side you either spin left
01:12:14
or you either spin right. And um a 1620
01:12:19
is two flips and four and a half full
01:12:22
spins. And so I did one to the left and
01:12:26
then I think it would be like maybe what
01:12:29
two and a half seconds, three seconds
01:12:30
later I did one to the right. And so
01:12:33
that's the backto-back part. It's it's
01:12:35
one hit after the other. Um Yeah. And
01:12:39
that was pretty much like what gave me a
01:12:43
lot of my success was those two tricks.
01:12:45
>> Yeah.
01:12:46
>> Yeah. It's worth highlighting like
01:12:47
tricks aside, um that half pipe looks so
01:12:50
[ __ ] intimidating.
01:12:52
>> Yeah, it is. It's like for for most
01:12:53
people like me, it's it's a monster.
01:12:55
Like most normal people, 99% of the
01:12:58
population wouldn't wouldn't drop in or
01:12:59
wouldn't be able to drop in.
01:13:00
>> Yeah. And and um it is terrifying. Like
01:13:05
>> is it for you?
01:13:06
>> Yeah. Yeah. Like Well, okay, maybe not
01:13:08
for me, but brag,
01:13:10
>> but no, but there'll be there'll be
01:13:12
moments where I haven't skied it in a
01:13:14
long time and I'll drop in and I'd be
01:13:15
like, "Oh my goodness, this is scary."
01:13:16
And I'd have to start small and work my
01:13:17
way up and work my way up and get my
01:13:18
confidence back. But it is terrifying.
01:13:21
Like in general there's it's it's
01:13:23
bulletproof ice. Like it is just icy.
01:13:25
There's one event at X Games in Aspen
01:13:28
that's done at night. The final done at
01:13:30
night and there's actually times where
01:13:31
you can see the lights reflecting in the
01:13:34
wall on the halfpipe. So it's that icy
01:13:36
that it's like forming a mirror and it's
01:13:38
it is like you know if you fall on that
01:13:41
it it's it's sore.
01:13:43
>> Um it's really sore and sometimes it can
01:13:45
lead to some pretty funny stuff
01:13:46
happening but
01:13:49
>> what like it doesn't sound very funny.
01:13:50
Oh, you just tend to [ __ ] yourself quite
01:13:52
a lot when you land on your ass cuz it's
01:13:54
so hard.
01:13:55
>> Like literally [ __ ] yourself.
01:13:57
>> Yeah. Yeah.
01:13:58
>> No way.
01:13:58
>> Yeah. Like when you land on your
01:14:00
>> when you land on your ass hard enough,
01:14:02
it forces your your flatulence
01:14:06
to release. Um and so there was
01:14:09
definitely a few moments where there's
01:14:11
some uh some muddy undies happening.
01:14:14
>> Yeah. So So yeah, it's terrifying. Yeah.
01:14:18
And Yeah. Do you want me to go into
01:14:20
depth on that or no?
01:14:23
>> That's amazing.
01:14:24
>> Yeah. No, it's pretty funny.
01:14:26
>> Wow. I um Wow. And what about injuries
01:14:29
and stuff?
01:14:30
>> Yeah, I was pretty lucky in injuries and
01:14:32
touchwood that I didn't have heaps of
01:14:34
bad bad ones. um had the occasional um
01:14:38
[ __ ] myself moment, but um and then
01:14:42
yeah, I mean I had I had like some
01:14:45
some some minor ones like bruises and
01:14:49
slight tweaks of knees and stuff like
01:14:51
that and and I um and then I only had
01:14:54
luckily only had one major
01:14:56
>> um knee surgery and rupture of my ACL
01:14:58
and that was yeah that was pretty much
01:15:00
the the only um only injuries I really
01:15:03
had. Uh, and I think that was just
01:15:04
because we managed rest so well and
01:15:06
managed load and uh, and not being, you
01:15:08
know, not, you know, go go go. It was go
01:15:12
then rest then go then rest and rest was
01:15:14
super key.
01:15:15
>> Yeah.
01:15:17
>> So, going into those Olympics, um, how
01:15:19
do you know you're ready to do something
01:15:20
like the 1620? Like, did it get to the
01:15:22
point where you were just nailing it in
01:15:25
practice?
01:15:25
>> Yeah.
01:15:26
>> Yeah, it did. Yeah. So, I actually I
01:15:29
invented that trick in 2019. So it was
01:15:32
the year after the Olympics um and I was
01:15:34
like okay I could either go to triple
01:15:36
corks and our sport I could I could take
01:15:38
try and take the sport in um the
01:15:41
direction of triple corks which is three
01:15:42
flips or I could take the sport in the
01:15:45
direction of 1620s and I chose the 16s.
01:15:48
I just thought that it was not the time
01:15:50
to go to triple corks yet and that I
01:15:52
would take it down the avenue of 16s.
01:15:53
And so I started working on that in uh
01:15:56
March of 2019 and then April 2019 did
01:16:00
the first one to the left. So we have a
01:16:02
natural and unnatural way of spinning
01:16:03
and skiing and my natural way was left.
01:16:05
And so I did that one first and then um
01:16:09
since when I landed the first one to the
01:16:12
left
01:16:14
since that moment um for the next year
01:16:17
and a half I started working on the one
01:16:19
to the right and then you know so by the
01:16:23
time that I was doing the the right one
01:16:24
on snow I'd perfected the left one or
01:16:26
not perfected but my success rate was
01:16:28
high on the left one.
01:16:29
>> How high?
01:16:31
>> Like 80%
01:16:32
>> 80%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. depending on the
01:16:34
conditions and depending on the
01:16:35
halfpipe, but I would, you know, do them
01:16:38
in as many different conditions as I as
01:16:40
I could and as many half pipes as I
01:16:41
could and um it would be at about 80 and
01:16:44
or 90% success. Uh and then, you know,
01:16:48
through working on the airbag um that
01:16:50
big vinyl cushion, I worked on my right
01:16:52
one uh and the right 1620 I did Yeah. a
01:16:55
year and a half. So, what would have
01:16:56
been 2020 uh November of 2021. And and
01:17:01
it was actually funny about that because
01:17:03
that year was co and no one could come
01:17:05
to New Zealand. So there was no
01:17:07
international people coming to New
01:17:09
Zealand to train and so I pretty much
01:17:11
had like a private facility in New
01:17:13
Zealand that you know I wasn't posting
01:17:15
about it on social media that I was
01:17:16
working on this trick or everyone knew I
01:17:18
had the left one but they didn't know I
01:17:20
was working on the right one in the
01:17:21
background.
01:17:22
And so then when the northern hemisphere
01:17:25
season started and and it came time to
01:17:26
rock up to X Games of 2021,
01:17:30
the week prior I did, we're at a
01:17:32
training camp and um everyone, you know,
01:17:34
the whole X Games competitive field was
01:17:36
there and I did a right did a right 16
01:17:40
and everyone was like, "What?" Like
01:17:43
everyone was so taken back. They were
01:17:44
like, "Oh my goodness." Like we thought
01:17:45
that he was just going to keep it at
01:17:47
left, but he's actually gone and done
01:17:48
the right and by that Yeah. And then I
01:17:51
don't know and then I just ran with it
01:17:52
and and um did them back to back and um
01:17:56
yeah was was a while before anyone else
01:17:58
was doing them.
01:18:00
>> Yeah,
01:18:02
>> that's fascinating. The whole the whole
01:18:04
doing it both sides thing. Is that a is
01:18:06
that a prerequisite? You have to be able
01:18:07
to do it both sides. You do. Okay.
01:18:08
>> No, it is. Well, it's not it's you don't
01:18:10
have to, but
01:18:11
>> you need um variety.
01:18:13
>> Variety is one of our um criteria in our
01:18:16
sport for you know what you're judged
01:18:18
on. Mhm.
01:18:18
>> Um without spinning forwards left,
01:18:21
forwards right, switch left, switch
01:18:24
right,
01:18:25
>> you know, like sorry, backwards, left,
01:18:27
backwards, right, then um you don't have
01:18:30
that variety and and um so it's you do
01:18:32
have to spin all directions.
01:18:34
>> Can't imagine the work that goes I mean
01:18:36
well well I can because you just told me
01:18:37
how much but like I'm something basic I
01:18:39
can do is like ride a skateboard and
01:18:41
have my right foot planted on the
01:18:42
skateboard and kick with my left board.
01:18:44
>> I don't know if I could do it the other
01:18:45
way around.
01:18:46
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. a simple task like
01:18:47
that.
01:18:48
>> Yeah, it's a it's a simple it's a Yeah,
01:18:50
it's like I mean it's like you do it so
01:18:52
much it's drilled into you from like
01:18:55
spinning both ways is drilled into you
01:18:57
from when you're young, you know, and so
01:18:59
>> it does sort of feel somewhat natural,
01:19:00
but it definitely takes longer for that
01:19:02
unnatural side to to come.
01:19:04
>> Um but yeah, it's it's like being able
01:19:06
to write with both hands or
01:19:08
>> um
01:19:08
>> Yeah, most people can't do that.
01:19:10
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, and and I guess yeah,
01:19:13
it's just if you just do little bits
01:19:14
here and there and you just tick away at
01:19:16
it, then you will eventually be able to
01:19:17
do it. And it's,
01:19:18
>> you know, it's like if you were to write
01:19:20
with your left hand and then write with
01:19:22
your right hand from the age of like
01:19:25
nine,
01:19:27
>> you know, you're probably going to be
01:19:28
able to write equally. You know what I
01:19:30
And it's kind of like although it seems
01:19:32
like this crazy thing sitting here
01:19:33
thinking about it now, it's like well
01:19:35
actually if you just chip away at it
01:19:37
over a period of like 8 years, you're
01:19:39
probably going to be able to do it, you
01:19:41
know? And so
01:19:42
>> so how how do you know you're ready to
01:19:43
do um the 1620 thing at Olympic level?
01:19:47
>> Yeah. So there's
01:19:50
filming and video review is a huge part
01:19:52
of skiing and and training and and I
01:19:55
think it is in all sport. Um it's kind
01:19:57
of like Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how
01:19:59
they did it back in the day when, you
01:20:00
know, like they didn't, you know, when
01:20:01
they wouldn't have cameras or anything
01:20:02
like you'd have to have, we have to have
01:20:04
trust in our coach, but back then you
01:20:06
would have to have an an insane level of
01:20:08
trust
01:20:09
>> and um you know, so video review was
01:20:14
huge and and it helped me see what I was
01:20:16
doing and we could film it and then talk
01:20:18
about it and adjust and you just do that
01:20:20
over and over and over and over again
01:20:21
and and so utilizing things like the
01:20:23
airbag or like the trampoline to be able
01:20:26
to get high repetition so you knew
01:20:27
exactly how it felt exactly where you
01:20:30
were um was key and and filming those
01:20:33
and understanding how it worked and okay
01:20:35
maybe slightly moving your hip there or
01:20:37
setting this 2 of a second earlier or
01:20:41
later how it would affect the spin or
01:20:43
going to the grab and like there's all
01:20:45
these different things that that come
01:20:47
together in order for it to work
01:20:48
perfectly and and so yeah I guess it's
01:20:52
just utilizing those facilities that we
01:20:54
had to um drill in repetition without um
01:20:58
having insane risk.
01:20:59
>> So by the time you get to the Olympics,
01:21:01
you're not even thinking about any of
01:21:02
that stuff. You're just doing it.
01:21:03
>> You are you are thinking about the the
01:21:05
thing that you're thinking about the
01:21:06
most is the pop. So when we say pop, so
01:21:09
a half bite, you take off from the wall
01:21:11
and you land in the wall. Um and if you
01:21:13
don't get your pop right, it's your pop
01:21:15
is how much you jump away from the wall.
01:21:17
>> So if you don't get that right or you're
01:21:18
too early or too late,
01:21:20
>> well then you're going to end up on the
01:21:22
deck, which is the flat part. And so
01:21:24
that was like big no no. like you're you
01:21:27
get seriously injured if you end up on
01:21:29
the deck. And so the the trick itself is
01:21:32
so dialed, but the thing that's not is
01:21:34
the pop. And that's because every
01:21:36
halfpipe is different and it changes
01:21:38
every single day. It's cut by a human
01:21:39
with a machine. It's a human operating
01:21:42
machine. You know, it's not like a robot
01:21:43
or a laser cutting it. And so there is
01:21:46
variation in the course. And and I think
01:21:48
that's the biggest thing that you're
01:21:50
adjusting to on a day-to-day basis is
01:21:52
that variation.
01:21:56
So, the Olympics looks like you're
01:21:57
listening to music.
01:21:58
>> Yeah.
01:21:59
>> Um, were you listening to music or were
01:22:00
you listening to Country Calendar? The
01:22:03
>> I was listening to music. Yeah.
01:22:05
>> Yeah. What were you What are you
01:22:06
listening to?
01:22:07
>> Oh, what was I listening to? Um,
01:22:11
I was at the Olympics in 2020.
01:22:15
The Olympics in 2018. I was listening to
01:22:17
Who Shot You by Biggie Smalls
01:22:20
>> and the Olympics in
01:22:24
2022, I was listening to a punk rock
01:22:31
um
01:22:32
track called Rage by
01:22:37
I think it's Blissar. It's B band of
01:22:39
Surfers. Um yeah, I don't know. Yeah,
01:22:41
very specific. So, yeah, it's just like
01:22:43
But yeah, I utilize music heaps. It
01:22:45
really just helps me.
01:22:46
>> So, you listening to this while you're
01:22:48
doing your competition run?
01:22:49
>> Yeah.
01:22:50
>> Right.
01:22:50
>> Yeah. Full noise, two headphones in.
01:22:52
Yeah.
01:22:54
>> So you can hear the um the announcer
01:22:55
saying uh yeah from New Zealand Nico or
01:22:59
>> a little bit. Not really.
01:23:00
>> Yeah. Yeah. I try and I mean like I
01:23:03
don't even hear my music like sometimes
01:23:05
at the end of events which is pretty
01:23:07
bad. And sometimes I actually see the um
01:23:09
negative side of it now is that I'd
01:23:11
actually get noise warnings on my phone
01:23:12
cuz I was listening to music too loud
01:23:14
which is like you know that's just
01:23:16
stupid. Like but yeah I don't know. It's
01:23:19
just what I was doing. I just slowly
01:23:20
turned it up all day and to the point
01:23:22
that it was on full volume and um but in
01:23:25
saying that when you actually drop into
01:23:27
something that you're nervous about or
01:23:28
an event run or or yeah, something like
01:23:31
that, you you just completely go in the
01:23:33
zone and you're completely in that flow
01:23:35
state. And when you're in that flow
01:23:36
state, you don't hear music. You don't
01:23:38
hear anything. you don't you're just so
01:23:41
in tune with what's going on around you
01:23:42
and you're so hyperfocused on everything
01:23:44
that
01:23:46
if it's not important like you're not
01:23:49
you know you're not thinking about it
01:23:51
it's not it's not being your brain isn't
01:23:54
>> um I guess I don't know
01:23:56
>> yeah registering it
01:23:58
>> what were your nerves like those
01:23:59
Olympics
01:24:01
>> 2022
01:24:02
>> the nerves pre-event oh ruthless
01:24:05
>> really worse than when you were 16 and
01:24:07
and to be honest I haven't actually I
01:24:09
haven't talked about this at all. Um but
01:24:11
something that really messed with me um
01:24:14
and it's and it's kind of like I don't
01:24:16
know Zoe and I were always paired as
01:24:18
like Zoe and Nico winter Olympic medals
01:24:21
that sort of thing. And
01:24:23
>> and in a way like we're we're really
01:24:25
good mates but that Olympics was like a
01:24:28
week prior she won gold. And it was sort
01:24:30
of like okay when she got her ex games
01:24:32
medal I got my ex games medal. When she
01:24:34
got her Olympic medal I got my Olympic
01:24:35
medal. And it was like when we both won
01:24:37
X game, when she won X games, I won X
01:24:39
games. And it was like everything had
01:24:41
happened at the same time for us in
01:24:42
terms of results in our careers. And a
01:24:44
week before the Olympics, she won gold
01:24:46
at the Olympics, you know. And so that
01:24:47
was like, oh no. Like now there's this
01:24:50
pressure on us. Like it's Zoe and Nico
01:24:52
and Zoe's gone and achieved something
01:24:54
amazing. And like I'm so incredibly
01:24:57
proud of her and and stoked for her and
01:24:59
and that's unbelievable what she's
01:25:01
achieved. But at the same time, I'm
01:25:03
like, "Oh no." Oh, like part of me is
01:25:05
like now I have to go and do this.
01:25:07
>> Your move.
01:25:08
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. It's like,
01:25:09
okay, Zoe and is Nico going to come join
01:25:12
or not? You know, like um so yeah, that
01:25:14
that that pressure really really freaked
01:25:16
me out. Um and it would keep me up and I
01:25:20
at the end of it I just shut off
01:25:22
everything and um kind of just let it
01:25:25
happen and
01:25:26
>> yeah, I Yeah, I don't really know how I
01:25:29
got through that. It was such a
01:25:30
whirlwind of time.
01:25:31
>> Yeah.
01:25:32
>> Yeah. So you had that dream run. This is
01:25:34
your first run in the final. Yeah.
01:25:35
>> Um you I talked about this before how
01:25:37
you didn't look at it as excited then as
01:25:38
what you did two years earlier and you
01:25:39
explained cuz you had two more runs to
01:25:41
do.
01:25:41
>> Um but you got like 93 or whatever out
01:25:44
of 100.
01:25:45
>> Yeah.
01:25:46
>> So
01:25:50
>> I mean surely you thought you had it in
01:25:51
the bag at that point. Uh there was a
01:25:54
slight inkling that I was going to do
01:25:55
good and there was I was sort of like,
01:25:58
okay,
01:26:00
I'm there's a very high chance that I'm
01:26:02
going to be on the podium here. It's
01:26:04
just what position on the podium is that
01:26:06
going to be? And um I mean when you're
01:26:08
in when you're standing in a Stargate
01:26:10
for an event like that and you
01:26:13
>> you just you're just all or nothing like
01:26:17
>> it's the same with X Games in the
01:26:18
Olympics. It's like I'm here in this
01:26:20
moment. I've got an opportunity in front
01:26:22
of me. I'm going to do everything that I
01:26:24
can to take advantage of this
01:26:25
opportunity. And if that means that it's
01:26:28
pretty unhealthy, but if that means I'm
01:26:29
in the hospital at the end of the day,
01:26:31
that's okay because I gave them my all.
01:26:33
And if that means that I
01:26:35
>> maybe I try as hard as I can. I don't
01:26:38
end up in the hospital, but I don't
01:26:39
achieve the result I wanted to.
01:26:42
>> That's okay because I gave it my best
01:26:43
and I tried my best. And if I do try my
01:26:46
best and I do achieve that goal or that
01:26:49
podium, then then it's a win-win. But
01:26:52
like before any of that comes,
01:26:55
it's you have to give it your best. You
01:26:58
know what I mean? And it's like
01:26:59
sometimes there is time to be strategic
01:27:01
strategic. But there's times like the
01:27:05
Olympics where kind of strategy just
01:27:06
goes out the window, you know?
01:27:08
>> Yeah. You're just like, well, everyone
01:27:10
else is just trying their hardest and so
01:27:12
and risking it for everything. So, I'm
01:27:14
going to do the same. And yeah.
01:27:16
>> Yeah. And you were up against um David
01:27:18
Weise who had won the previous two golds
01:27:20
and was up for a three Pete. Yeah.
01:27:22
>> He end up with silver.
01:27:23
>> Uh yes. Silver. Silver. Yep.
01:27:27
>> Yeah. And that was Yeah.
01:27:28
>> Yeah.
01:27:29
>> I mean, that was pretty funny. I was
01:27:30
standing on the Olympic podium with like
01:27:32
>> he was I think he's like 31 and Alex was
01:27:35
Alex Ferrer was 29 at the time. And so
01:27:39
>> yeah, that they had a lot of lot more
01:27:41
experience than I had. And
01:27:42
>> um yeah, that was it was I mean yeah,
01:27:45
growing up watching those two and so
01:27:46
yeah, it was pretty cool.
01:27:48
>> And standing on that podium with um the
01:27:50
gold medal, New Zealand anthems playing.
01:27:52
Yeah. What are you feeling then? Is it
01:27:53
just like a sense? Is it elation or
01:27:55
relief or
01:27:55
>> it's it's relief? It's relation. It's
01:27:58
pride like you're wearing, you know,
01:28:00
you're wearing silver fern and Olympic
01:28:02
rings on your chest and representing
01:28:04
your country. And and I think that it's
01:28:06
not it's it's a different sort of like
01:28:10
um it's a different sort of celebration
01:28:12
in that moment. And I and I think um
01:28:15
what how it diff how it's different from
01:28:17
maybe other um situations similar is
01:28:20
that because it's every four years those
01:28:24
moments of hard work those um I guess
01:28:28
more the bad times that you've well
01:28:30
maybe not bad but the the tough times
01:28:32
that you've had in the past four years
01:28:33
really come to mind and and you think
01:28:36
you know how proud you are to overcome
01:28:38
those and to overcome those challenges
01:28:39
and and to be standing there knowing
01:28:42
that you have achieved something and and
01:28:44
that you gave it your absolute
01:28:45
everything and that you have yeah you've
01:28:48
you've like like I don't know it worked
01:28:51
all that hard work paid off all that
01:28:53
sacrifice from everyone around you not
01:28:55
just yourself has paid off
01:28:58
and it's like yeah it's incredible
01:29:01
everything clicks into place
01:29:02
>> yeah and it's not like a put your hands
01:29:04
up and jump up and down celebrating
01:29:05
kicking and screaming it's like for me
01:29:07
it was just like stand there and just
01:29:09
like
01:29:10
>> whoa like and be totally overcome with
01:29:12
that like I guess pride. Yeah. Yeah.
01:29:16
Yeah. And being proud of yourself and
01:29:18
>> Yeah. It's incredible.
01:29:20
>> Given the level of anxiety you
01:29:22
experienced leading up to these things
01:29:23
afterwards, do you sleep well or you
01:29:26
just out partying?
01:29:27
>> No, you definitely sleep pretty well for
01:29:30
the weeks following.
01:29:31
>> Finally, a good night's sleep.
01:29:32
>> Yeah. Honestly, it was like that.
01:29:34
There'd been some there'd been like a
01:29:35
couple months there of interrupted sleep
01:29:37
and so like to go after the Olympics
01:29:39
that you just lay on the pillow at night
01:29:41
and you're like, "Oh, I don't know. I
01:29:43
don't think I'll ever sleep that good
01:29:45
again." You know, you know what I mean?
01:29:46
You're just you're content. And I think
01:29:48
that's the best feeling better than any
01:29:50
other feeling is being content because
01:29:53
it's not very often that we're content
01:29:54
with what we're doing. And and I think
01:29:56
that's an opportunity where you can just
01:29:57
fully be content and and allow yourself
01:29:59
to
01:30:00
>> to
01:30:01
>> Yeah. just be happy with that.
01:30:03
>> Yeah. and so proud of yourself.
01:30:05
>> How long does that contentment and that
01:30:07
sense of pride and well-being last for?
01:30:12
>> I don't think it ever goes away.
01:30:13
>> Like it it um it it's something that
01:30:16
will always stay within you and will
01:30:17
always be um a part of you. It's just
01:30:22
>> you Yeah, it's maybe it is who you are
01:30:26
for two days and then it's not who you
01:30:29
are. you know, it's something that
01:30:30
you've done and it's something that
01:30:31
you've achieved and something you can
01:30:33
always be proud of and you always have
01:30:34
that feeling,
01:30:36
>> but it's not who you are. You know, it's
01:30:38
not it doesn't make you the person, you
01:30:40
know, it doesn't it doesn't make me Nico
01:30:42
like,
01:30:43
>> you know, it's just something that I've
01:30:44
achieved and I'm proud of that and
01:30:45
that's that. Yeah.
01:30:47
>> Yeah.
01:30:47
>> If the bronze at 16 opened some doors,
01:30:50
I'm guessing the the gold at 20 um Yeah.
01:30:53
doors were flying open.
01:30:55
>> Yeah, there was Yeah, there was
01:30:56
definitely some cool opportunities. Um
01:30:59
the one in particular that stands out
01:31:01
was uh actually a Red Bull opportunity
01:31:03
that um they put on a gold they put on a
01:31:07
gold medal celebration for their
01:31:09
athletes that had competed at the
01:31:10
Olympics and um this was one of many
01:31:13
doors that opened and and and one of the
01:31:15
experiences I was very lucky to to have
01:31:17
after the Olympics. But they they flew
01:31:19
me out to um the Monaco Grand Prix uh
01:31:23
which was pretty special and um flew
01:31:25
into Austria, flew Yeah. all the way
01:31:28
from New Zealand and um in business
01:31:30
class and then private jet from Austria
01:31:33
down to Monaco and or to to yeah was it
01:31:38
would it be nice and then Niss into
01:31:40
maybe not Nice but somewhere in goodness
01:31:43
um yeah close to Monaco then helicopter
01:31:45
into Monaco then boat into the harbor
01:31:48
and onto the Red Bull barge and watch
01:31:51
the race and then do it all again at
01:31:52
5:00 when the race finishes and you're
01:31:55
back in Austria that night. It's like,
01:31:56
>> "Oh my god."
01:31:57
>> Yeah. And then, yeah, it was it was
01:32:00
Yeah, that was one of those experiences
01:32:01
that was just that's something I'll
01:32:02
never forget. And it was incredible like
01:32:05
>> standing um we had our own
01:32:07
>> like VIP booth at the top of the Red
01:32:10
Bull energy station in the middle of
01:32:12
Monaco overlooking like the one of the
01:32:16
what's the uh chicane
01:32:18
>> and it was just like whoa crazy. Yeah.
01:32:20
>> Did you get to meet Max or Christian? We
01:32:24
didn't No, we didn't get to meet the
01:32:25
drivers. Um, we were going to, but um
01:32:28
because of a few delays or rain delays
01:32:29
or something that we couldn't um
01:32:31
>> but yeah, I don't know. It was it was uh
01:32:34
>> it was pretty special. What
01:32:35
>> an experience, but they seem like a good
01:32:36
company. Red Bull.
01:32:37
>> Yeah, they're amazing.
01:32:38
>> Do they How does that relationship work?
01:32:40
You don't have don't have to answer this
01:32:41
in details, but you like are you on a
01:32:43
salary or
01:32:44
>> Yeah. Um they do they they pay me a
01:32:47
salary um
01:32:49
>> and they just support me uh in my
01:32:52
ambition. I guess. And um
01:32:55
>> they're a company that if you go to them
01:32:58
with ideas and if you're driven and
01:33:00
motivated to make things happen, then
01:33:01
they will do their best as long as it's
01:33:03
feasible to them. You know, they will do
01:33:06
their best to make that happen. And
01:33:09
that's pretty unique. Like you can you
01:33:11
can sometimes it's crazy because you can
01:33:14
go to them with any idea that you want
01:33:15
and and if it's a good idea and um they
01:33:18
think it's a good idea and it's worth
01:33:20
doing well then in a year's time you
01:33:21
could find yourself doing that idea.
01:33:24
It's like, wo, you know, like and and
01:33:26
having the platform to like, you know, I
01:33:29
don't want to I I don't want to turn
01:33:30
this into an ad, but it's something that
01:33:31
I truly believe in. Like, they're
01:33:32
they're an incredible sponsor that um
01:33:36
you know, give you from rehab facilities
01:33:39
to um support and projects to just any
01:33:41
like it's Yeah, it's unbelievable to
01:33:44
have something like them behind me.
01:33:45
>> Yeah. I don't want to turn into an ad
01:33:47
either, but
01:33:49
>> Yeah. Yeah.
01:33:52
>> No. Um well I mean you didn't turn into
01:33:54
an ad. I I bought it up. I I had um do
01:33:56
you know Brook McDonald? Yeah. He's a a
01:33:59
Red Bull athlete mountain biker.
01:34:01
>> I had him on the podcast recently. He
01:34:03
talked about an injury that he had
01:34:04
overseas and Red Bull with you first to
01:34:06
cough up with some medical expenses and
01:34:08
support and
01:34:09
>> helped him get back on the bike again.
01:34:11
Um yeah, you you're still aligned with
01:34:13
them even though you're not competing.
01:34:14
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean that just
01:34:15
shows their character as a brand is that
01:34:18
>> someone can take a completely unexpected
01:34:21
turn in their career and they still stay
01:34:23
with them. They could they could they
01:34:26
when I had told them they that I wasn't
01:34:27
going to be competing anymore. They
01:34:28
could have just left.
01:34:30
>> And you know that was something that in
01:34:31
making that decision I had to be open to
01:34:33
that happening.
01:34:34
>> But like they didn't you know they they
01:34:37
stayed supporting me and they stayed you
01:34:40
know opening doors in other ways. you
01:34:42
know, maybe it wasn't in the competition
01:34:43
realm or going to performance camps or
01:34:45
something like this. It's more, you
01:34:47
know, having a platform to be able to
01:34:49
create video projects that, you know, I
01:34:52
can push through their channels and
01:34:53
helping me um learn about that side of
01:34:55
things. And so, yeah, it is like um they
01:34:59
just help Yeah, they just help me and
01:35:00
and they stuck and they stuck with me
01:35:02
throughout everything. So,
01:35:03
>> Oh, that's wonderful. They deserve the
01:35:04
flowers.
01:35:05
>> Yeah, they really do. They really do.
01:35:06
And they're incredible. And they're more
01:35:07
than just like a they're more than just
01:35:09
a can or energy drink. like they're
01:35:11
actually like a brand that does things
01:35:12
for sport and yeah, it means a lot to um
01:35:15
us as athletes which is pretty cool.
01:35:18
>> Those two medals that we've talked about
01:35:19
at great length, where are they now?
01:35:21
>> Uh just in my undies draw. Yeah, they're
01:35:24
just sitting at home.
01:35:25
>> Skitted undies.
01:35:26
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, no. Don't
01:35:28
keep the brown ones. They go in the bin.
01:35:31
Uh yeah, that would be
01:35:32
>> Are they really? Why Why are they in a
01:35:34
drawer?
01:35:34
>> Uh why aren't they framed? You've had a
01:35:37
long time.
01:35:37
>> My Olympic certificate is framed. Um,
01:35:40
but my medals aren't. I don't I don't
01:35:43
know.
01:35:44
>> Oh, cuz they're amazing and they're
01:35:46
incredible, but I don't need to show
01:35:47
them, you know, like the friends that
01:35:50
come around to my house, they're they're
01:35:51
friends not because I'm an Olympic gold
01:35:53
medalist, like or I'm an Olympic
01:35:55
medalist. Like, they're just friends
01:35:56
with me because I'm
01:35:57
>> me and it's like I don't need to
01:35:59
>> like Yeah, I don't need to flaunt that.
01:36:02
Like if someone asks, they want to see
01:36:04
it, then I'm I'm more than happy to get
01:36:06
it out and show it. But I'm not going to
01:36:07
be someone that brings it out and shows
01:36:09
it without someone asking or without,
01:36:11
you know, like cuz at the end of the
01:36:12
day, like,
01:36:13
>> yeah, that means the world to me. Um,
01:36:16
and I don't want to let that define who
01:36:18
I am. I want it to be a part of who I am
01:36:20
and and like, you know, something that
01:36:22
I'm proud of. Um, but I'm not Yeah. I'm
01:36:25
not going to let it be who I am. Yeah.
01:36:29
>> Yeah.
01:36:29
>> Yeah. the um the friend side of things.
01:36:32
Yeah. Have you found it interesting like
01:36:34
in terms of like knowing who to trust
01:36:35
and who who likes you for for for Nico
01:36:38
the person and who likes you for the you
01:36:40
the badass athlete?
01:36:42
>> Um yeah, I think there's there's
01:36:45
everyone has that in everyday life,
01:36:46
right? Like I'm sure you've experienced
01:36:48
that as well. Um, but I'm I'm so lucky
01:36:51
that like I've got the most real group
01:36:54
of friends and
01:36:56
>> we're like so tightknit and we're just
01:36:58
so passionate about what we do. And a
01:37:00
lot of the time that's skiing and um but
01:37:03
then I think what makes it special is
01:37:04
that we all ski and that we all bond
01:37:06
over skiing, but it's not what we talk
01:37:08
about 24/7. It's not,
01:37:10
>> you know, it's not they don't they're
01:37:12
not defined by skiing. They're not like,
01:37:15
yeah, they're skiers, but it's not all
01:37:16
they are. And I think that's what I
01:37:18
really enjoy and and like keeps it
01:37:21
refreshing.
01:37:22
>> Um
01:37:23
>> Yeah. Which is cool.
01:37:25
>> Yeah.
01:37:26
>> Um the New Zealand order New Zealand New
01:37:28
Year's honors list in 2023. So you've
01:37:30
got a New Zealand order of merit.
01:37:32
>> Yeah.
01:37:32
>> Um
01:37:33
>> Yeah. Did you know much about royal
01:37:35
titles? What was your
01:37:36
>> No, I I I No, I didn't. I just knew sir
01:37:39
and Dame.
01:37:40
>> Yeah.
01:37:40
>> And that was it. Yeah.
01:37:42
>> So you get an email or a letter?
01:37:44
>> Yeah. I got a I got a letter and it had
01:37:45
the crown on it and I was like, you
01:37:48
know, rocked up and I saw it and I was
01:37:49
like, "Oh my goodness, like what's
01:37:50
this?" And it was you've you've uh been
01:37:52
rewarded the um after the Olympics it
01:37:54
was, you know, you've been rewarded the
01:37:56
New Zealand Order of Merit. And that was
01:37:58
I was like, "Oh my goodness." You know,
01:37:59
like that's that's pretty crazy. Like,
01:38:01
you know, that's one of those major
01:38:02
doors that opens like Yeah. And and I
01:38:06
was like, "Oh, holy, you know, holy
01:38:08
shit." Like this is crazy. Um, and so
01:38:11
yeah, that's I mean it's not like I'm
01:38:13
not going to go and put on my driver's
01:38:15
license M N Z M O M, you know, like it's
01:38:20
not going to be
01:38:21
>> Oh, it's your email sign off though,
01:38:23
isn't it?
01:38:25
>> No.
01:38:27
>> Oh goodness. Um, but yeah, it's like I
01:38:31
like I'm not going to let it define me
01:38:32
and it's and but at the same time it's
01:38:34
something that's amazing and I'm
01:38:35
incredibly thankful and proud of it, you
01:38:37
know, that someone I don't know who
01:38:38
nominated me, but um I think from my
01:38:41
understanding it has to be a personal
01:38:42
nomination and so yeah, I guess a huge
01:38:46
thank you to that person for nominating
01:38:47
me and and um what an incredible honor
01:38:50
and opportunity. I guess it's Yeah,
01:38:52
crazy.
01:38:53
>> Yeah, it is crazy. And then um Oh, so
01:38:55
after those Olympics 2022. Oh, and the
01:38:57
um the Hellburg award as well.
01:38:59
>> Yeah,
01:38:59
>> this is something that never happens.
01:39:00
Like a skier winning sportsman of the
01:39:02
year.
01:39:03
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was
01:39:04
>> Did you go to the ceremony or
01:39:05
>> I wasn't there? Um I think it was
01:39:07
actually around the time of X Games.
01:39:10
>> Um or maybe I was overseas at at the Red
01:39:14
Bull Training Center rehabbing my ACL.
01:39:17
Um but it was accepted um on behalf of
01:39:20
me via my mom and my mom was there and
01:39:23
um yeah I mean she's just as worthy of
01:39:26
giving the speech as I am. You know
01:39:27
she's been there through
01:39:29
>> everything and um has seen it has seen
01:39:31
it all unfold and helped it unfold in a
01:39:34
huge way. And so um yeah that's that
01:39:37
that's also something that's pretty
01:39:39
special like have that in the closet as
01:39:41
well and sometimes you look at it and
01:39:43
you pick it up and oh it's pretty heavy
01:39:45
and
01:39:45
>> wait in the closet. Yeah. Come on.
01:39:48
>> But you you get to keep the um keep an
01:39:50
award or a version of
01:39:51
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like Yeah. It
01:39:54
looks like an Oscar. Like it's like
01:39:55
>> it's a statue of Yeah. Yeah. It's
01:39:57
amazing. And um
01:39:59
>> I don't know that that's like Yeah. That
01:40:02
that's incredible that award and
01:40:03
something
01:40:05
>> Yeah. I don't know. It was just like I
01:40:07
mean you don't really expect it and it's
01:40:09
it's
01:40:10
um there's obviously an an amazing um
01:40:14
group of athletes and people within New
01:40:15
Zealand that achieving lots of things on
01:40:18
a year-to-year basis and so to be chosen
01:40:20
to to have won that and to be the sports
01:40:24
person of the year was incredible like
01:40:26
or sportsman of the year. Yeah.
01:40:27
>> But yeah to do it in New Zealand where
01:40:29
it is like essentially like a niche
01:40:31
sport. Super niche sport. I think it was
01:40:33
the a couple of years before you when
01:40:34
Israelis won it.
01:40:36
>> Yeah. Yeah. I think it was the year
01:40:37
before that I did and he did that
01:40:39
incredible speech and um talking about
01:40:41
tall poppy syndrome and and um yeah that
01:40:45
was Yeah. Yeah. It was like, "Yeah,
01:40:47
we're in a niche sport." Like,
01:40:49
>> you know, in in a in a country that has
01:40:52
so many amazing athletes and rugby
01:40:54
players and race car drivers and, you
01:40:57
know, fighters and like it just the the
01:40:59
the level of talent within sport in New
01:41:02
Zealand is incredible. And um yeah, I
01:41:05
mean to win that is pretty cool.
01:41:07
>> What Why is it in the closet?
01:41:08
>> Well, what are you after?
01:41:10
>> I don't know. I don't know. Well, I'm
01:41:12
like I'm 23, you know, like Yeah. Okay.
01:41:14
when I'm older, they probably will come
01:41:16
out
01:41:16
>> and they probably will will
01:41:18
>> be there, but also at the same time then
01:41:20
they're they're amazing things
01:41:23
like
01:41:25
for me, you know, and and and for me and
01:41:28
my family and um I think yeah, at some
01:41:32
point in time they will like whether I
01:41:34
have them on display at some sort of a
01:41:36
public space or you know cuz at the same
01:41:39
time we we are a government funded sport
01:41:41
and I was government funded throughout
01:41:42
that whole process and having them on
01:41:44
display in the public eye would be
01:41:45
really really cool and
01:41:47
>> it's something that I'd love to do. But
01:41:49
>> for me personally, I don't need to wake
01:41:51
up and walk into the kitchen or walk,
01:41:54
you know, out of my bedroom and see
01:41:55
these things like Yeah. I don't know.
01:41:57
Sometimes when I Yeah. It's not like I I
01:41:59
need to see that every day.
01:42:01
>> Yeah. Cuz that's something that has
01:42:03
happened. It's not something that
01:42:05
>> drives me to do what I do every day.
01:42:07
It's just something that I understand
01:42:08
that I put in the work and achieve those
01:42:10
things. And
01:42:11
now that they're there, I can continue
01:42:13
to put in the work and move into the
01:42:15
next thing, you know. Yeah. And then
01:42:17
they'll always be there. They're not
01:42:18
going away. And that's what's special.
01:42:20
>> Yeah.
01:42:20
>> Yeah.
01:42:21
>> Well, they they're yours for life. No
01:42:22
one can take them away.
01:42:23
>> Yeah. Yeah. And sorry, just to add to
01:42:25
that, I just realized they're in the gun
01:42:27
safe now.
01:42:29
>> Well, well, because now that I'm
01:42:31
retired, you see, I'm probably, you
01:42:33
know, I'm not going to get another one.
01:42:35
You know what I mean? And so there's
01:42:36
there's zero chance of getting another
01:42:38
one. So I'm like, "Oh goodness, if the
01:42:40
house sets on fire, I don't want them
01:42:42
going anywhere." You know what I mean?
01:42:43
So
01:42:45
yeah. Yeah.
01:42:46
>> But the medals the medals are
01:42:47
>> No, no, everything's in I just remember
01:42:49
everything's in the gun safety.
01:42:50
>> So what's in there? So the the Hellburg
01:42:51
award, the two Olympic medals.
01:42:53
>> Yeah. I don't know if I can le guns. I
01:42:56
don't really know what the talk is about
01:42:58
guns, but they're in the gun. Yeah. Two
01:42:59
Olympic medals, the Hellberg and
01:43:01
>> um
01:43:04
>> Yeah. Well, as long as there's room for
01:43:05
the guns, it' be terrible if you're
01:43:07
like, "No, all the awards are in the gun
01:43:08
safe and the guns are in the wardrobe of
01:43:10
the underd drawer."
01:43:11
>> Yeah. Yeah. Goodness, that would be
01:43:12
wrong way around.
01:43:13
>> You mentioned um Izzy's speech before
01:43:15
about tall poppy. Yeah. What's What's
01:43:18
your experience or thoughts on tall
01:43:19
poppy?
01:43:21
>> Look, I don't like to be honest to be
01:43:24
honest, I don't really know much about
01:43:25
it and and it's not something that I've
01:43:29
um ever come across.
01:43:31
>> Yeah. And so I don't Yeah, I've been
01:43:34
I've been I mean I've seen it and I hear
01:43:36
it and and sometimes you know that
01:43:39
moments like that really made me more
01:43:40
aware of it and made me more aware of
01:43:45
you know you're in the pub watching the
01:43:46
rugby and someone you know even myself
01:43:48
like sometimes you've had a couple beers
01:43:50
and you go a that's stupid you know like
01:43:52
why did he do that or you hear someone
01:43:53
else say that and it's like moments like
01:43:55
that actually make you
01:43:57
>> it changes the way that we think and it
01:43:59
and it goes okay this is something that
01:44:01
is there and is something that is
01:44:02
happening and if I can be aware enough
01:44:05
to understand it when I am being someone
01:44:07
that is doing it because as Kiwis it is
01:44:09
in our blood and it is like so ingrained
01:44:12
in our culture to poppy syndrome and and
01:44:15
um
01:44:15
>> you know but if you can be aware and you
01:44:17
can change that the time after
01:44:19
>> then
01:44:20
>> I think that's a step forward and I
01:44:22
think that's um
01:44:24
>> yeah that's really going in the right
01:44:26
direction. Yeah
01:44:27
>> 100% good insights. Um, yes. So, after
01:44:30
those Olympics where you won the gold in
01:44:31
2022, you um you hurt your knee by piggy
01:44:34
backing a mate down the down a mountain.
01:44:36
>> Yeah. Yeah, I did.
01:44:37
>> Were you clowning or was it a like a
01:44:39
>> Oh, we were just skiing down at the end
01:44:40
of the day and and um one of the one of
01:44:42
the guys was um off the side he was
01:44:45
living off the side of the run and and
01:44:47
he went to get changed and then we had a
01:44:48
little bit of the run to go down and I
01:44:51
put him on my back and um had a p like a
01:44:54
patch of ice and I was doing chocolate
01:44:56
cake. I was doing the wedge, the basics
01:44:58
of basics.
01:44:59
>> Oh, you were skiing down the mountain
01:45:01
back cuz he got changed at his house and
01:45:03
then they were coming to meet us, you
01:45:05
know, cuz we were going to go and have a
01:45:06
beer after skiing at an appe and and um
01:45:09
I Yeah, I hit a patch of ice with him on
01:45:12
my back, an 80 kilo guy, and my bottom
01:45:15
Yeah, my bottom ski um slipped out and
01:45:18
and I fell over backwards. And that's,
01:45:21
you know, if you know about ACL's,
01:45:22
that's classic movement that blows them.
01:45:24
And um it's very common in skiing and um
01:45:28
yeah snapped my tore my ACL and um
01:45:31
luckily it wasn't under impact or
01:45:33
anything. It was just a perfect movement
01:45:34
that just caused my um ACL ligament to
01:45:38
snap. Nothing else. No miniscus, no
01:45:40
nothing. Um and so it was sort of the
01:45:42
perfect scenario to do it. I guess you
01:45:44
know better of the bad uh cases um to do
01:45:48
it in. and and it was already semi-tor
01:45:49
torn at that point and so to do it was
01:45:53
um sort of a relief. Uh there was
01:45:55
question whether I was actually going to
01:45:56
make it to the Olympics with my knee and
01:45:58
so um doing it 2 weeks after was a bit
01:46:01
of a relief and then you know I went
01:46:03
into a pretty um whirlwind of 9 months
01:46:06
rehabbing an ACL. It was um pretty
01:46:09
incredible to go from the highest of
01:46:11
high that you've ever felt and then you
01:46:14
know 2 weeks a month later you're in
01:46:15
like oh my goodness I can't even walk or
01:46:17
I'm going into surgery tomorrow. It's
01:46:19
like
01:46:19
>> did that sort of forced pause? Is that
01:46:22
where the seed was planted about
01:46:23
retiring? Like it gave you like a an
01:46:25
insight into how life could look
01:46:27
>> without skiing.
01:46:28
>> Yeah.
01:46:29
>> Yeah, it did. Um it was and it was
01:46:31
something that um I was yeah I sort of
01:46:35
had the mentality going throughout uh
01:46:37
you know rehab of that injury was like I
01:46:40
I was so thankful and so grateful
01:46:43
>> um for that injury to be honest because
01:46:45
it forced me to slow down and it forced
01:46:47
me to reassess things and and sort of
01:46:49
look at things differently. It wasn't
01:46:50
just full go
01:46:53
from podium to podium event to event or
01:46:55
loss and then podium and then you know
01:46:57
it wasn't just this like repetitive
01:46:58
cycle. but was a force stop to something
01:47:01
and and that really changed my
01:47:03
perspective on things and so
01:47:05
>> I think throughout that period it did
01:47:07
open up my eyes into different areas of
01:47:09
life and different areas of skiing when
01:47:11
I came back to the sport but um when I
01:47:15
came back I I almost did was like ah
01:47:17
maybe I don't want to go back to
01:47:18
competition maybe I just want to call it
01:47:20
here and this is another another um time
01:47:22
where my brother again has been an
01:47:25
incredible role model and some
01:47:27
incredible advice that he gave me was
01:47:29
you can't you can't do that like you
01:47:32
can't have a major injury be the last
01:47:34
thing or be the reason why you leave a
01:47:36
sport like go back go and do it and and
01:47:40
yeah and then and then I did and
01:47:43
>> yeah um got back onto the X Games podium
01:47:46
and then and then I was like okay I've
01:47:48
got back to a certain point where I'm
01:47:49
happy and I'm proud of you know I came
01:47:51
back from injury I went through that I
01:47:53
got back to the level and and in some
01:47:55
ways was better than I was
01:47:57
previously
01:47:59
Then it came on that I was like, "Right,
01:48:01
okay. This is actually clear that this
01:48:03
is not something that really sparks me
01:48:05
anymore, the competitive side of
01:48:06
things."
01:48:07
>> Well, there's no I mean, there's nothing
01:48:08
for you to prove anyway. Like there's
01:48:09
nothing. It's entirely you. And it's
01:48:11
kind of cool getting to do it on your
01:48:12
own on your own terms. A lot of people
01:48:14
don't.
01:48:14
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, I know. And that's
01:48:16
something that was um was pretty cool is
01:48:18
that um I had the opportunity to do it
01:48:21
on my own terms. It wasn't because of
01:48:22
injury. it wasn't because of any other
01:48:25
factor other than the fact that that was
01:48:26
my decision and it's what I wanted to do
01:48:29
>> and um I think that's like I think all I
01:48:33
mean I don't really know but I think a
01:48:35
lot of the times it's I think it's
01:48:36
pretty gnarly and sad to watch some
01:48:38
athletes carry on for so long
01:48:40
>> where it's sort of like like
01:48:43
>> yeah I don't know it's not really my
01:48:44
place to speak it's not really my place
01:48:46
to speak
01:48:46
>> I I I get it though it's hard like if
01:48:48
you've been really good at something and
01:48:49
you're sort of defined about it it can
01:48:51
become if you let it part of your
01:48:52
identity
01:48:53
Yeah. And I think um [ __ ] something that
01:48:56
I've learned in the past year is that
01:48:57
it's like
01:48:58
>> it's way more a part of your identity
01:49:00
than you think it is. Yeah.
01:49:02
>> And
01:49:04
like I couldn't imagine going through
01:49:06
the periods of feeling as I have in this
01:49:08
past year when I'm like 30 or 32 and be
01:49:13
you know like
01:49:15
>> trying to start a family in the next
01:49:17
couple years or like trying to figure
01:49:19
out what I'm going to do for a job as
01:49:20
the rest of my life cuz at some point
01:49:22
you know you're not always going to earn
01:49:23
money to ski
01:49:24
>> and that's something that you have to
01:49:25
accept and it's something that you have
01:49:27
to understand and
01:49:28
>> I can't imagine going through that at
01:49:30
that you know Even 10 years on from now,
01:49:32
it's like, whoa, crazy.
01:49:34
>> Yeah.
01:49:35
>> Um I had had this photo. Um [ __ ] it's a
01:49:39
good relationship with your brother,
01:49:40
right?
01:49:41
>> Yeah. Wow.
01:49:41
>> Photo after you win your gold medal. Um
01:49:44
for anyone that's um listening to this,
01:49:45
not watching it. Um still on the the
01:49:48
slopes. I'm guessing it's immediately
01:49:49
afterwards.
01:49:50
>> Yeah, that was straight after.
01:49:51
>> Yes. So that's before the medal
01:49:52
ceremony.
01:49:53
>> Yes.
01:49:53
>> Yeah.
01:49:54
>> Uh yes, it is.
01:49:55
>> It's you on your brother's shoulders.
01:49:57
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you were
01:49:58
holding You're on his shoulders.
01:49:59
>> I'm on his shoulders. Yeah. Kiwi flag on
01:50:01
my back and
01:50:02
>> couple of Kiwis doing it.
01:50:04
>> Couple brothers. Yeah. I've actually got
01:50:05
this photo framed at home. Um and it's
01:50:08
in the gun safe.
01:50:08
>> No, this one's out. This one's out on
01:50:10
display, you know, cuz it's Yeah. Yeah.
01:50:13
It' be funny if it was. But no, this
01:50:14
this is a um Yeah. This is one of my
01:50:18
favorite photos uh that I've ever been
01:50:20
Yeah. ever. Like, [ __ ] that's cool. you
01:50:23
know, like
01:50:24
>> I asked that question before about, you
01:50:26
know, how he feels if he if there's a
01:50:27
part of him that's jealous of your
01:50:28
success, but that's just
01:50:30
>> Oh, you look at you look at his emotion
01:50:32
on his face and it's like
01:50:33
>> he is just so proud and is so stoked and
01:50:38
like he's got his little brother on top
01:50:40
of him
01:50:41
>> like you know like Yeah, that's
01:50:44
incredible.
01:50:45
>> Saying a picture says a thousand words
01:50:47
or whatever the saying is.
01:50:48
>> Yeah. And and I think that does say a
01:50:50
thousand words and if you understand a
01:50:52
little bit of the story then
01:50:54
>> yeah but for me it just
01:50:56
>> I don't know it says more than a
01:50:57
thousand says a whole book you know a
01:50:58
whole lifetime. Yeah.
01:50:59
>> Is there ever going to be a book?
01:51:04
>> Um
01:51:06
maybe
01:51:07
>> I don't know maybe
01:51:10
>> I'm not going to shut off the idea and
01:51:11
I'm not going to say yes. Um
01:51:15
yeah
01:51:17
>> I don't know. How's your how's your
01:51:19
mental health been in general? Like we
01:51:20
talking about the anxiety anxiety
01:51:22
earlier. Look, um
01:51:26
I wouldn't say that I've had mental
01:51:28
health issues,
01:51:30
>> but I have gone through some highs and I
01:51:32
have gone through some lows and I've
01:51:33
gone through some
01:51:35
um
01:51:37
big big lows. And that and that's like I
01:51:41
come out of those lows and and and um I
01:51:44
have people around me that help me come
01:51:45
out of those lows but there normally
01:51:49
when I go through those it's because of
01:51:52
something that has happened or
01:51:54
>> circumstantial.
01:51:55
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's maybe because I have
01:51:57
like it could be minor things like lack
01:51:59
of sleep or like you know or it could be
01:52:02
nothing and I just feel terrible for two
01:52:04
weeks
01:52:05
>> like
01:52:07
Yeah.
01:52:09
I I I'd say that my my mental health has
01:52:11
been good. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm and I'm
01:52:13
lucky to say that. But there has been
01:52:15
hard times and there has been some
01:52:16
really really difficult feelings. Um
01:52:20
and just like I don't know that there's
01:52:22
some you know for an example the lows
01:52:24
are uh a feeling of no direction a
01:52:28
feeling of
01:52:30
um you know anxiety is is a huge thing
01:52:33
and you know and and I think nowadays
01:52:35
something that really really really
01:52:37
messes me with me is social media like
01:52:40
it's like
01:52:41
>> social media is such a big part of our
01:52:44
job and it's such a you know as you know
01:52:46
it's such a huge part of of
01:52:50
athletes and what we do. And
01:52:52
I think yeah, social media, you're
01:52:57
constantly being compared to someone
01:52:59
else.
01:52:59
>> Yeah.
01:52:59
>> And that's not nice. You know, it's nice
01:53:02
when you're when you're doing well and
01:53:04
it's doing well, but when you get a bad
01:53:06
comment or you don't get a bad or you
01:53:08
get, you know, maybe it's not many likes
01:53:10
as you wanted or
01:53:12
it's just it's just content constant
01:53:14
like
01:53:16
um comparison
01:53:18
>> and and uh Yeah. So, I think that that
01:53:21
really sometimes makes me feel horrible.
01:53:23
>> Yeah.
01:53:24
>> Um
01:53:26
>> Yeah.
01:53:27
>> You you talked um before about the um
01:53:29
Oh, hello. about the external uh
01:53:31
validation and I suppose on a far far
01:53:33
far smaller scale this is what like kids
01:53:36
around New Zealand everyone around New
01:53:37
Zealand's dealing with with social
01:53:38
media.
01:53:39
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's and it's
01:53:40
something that I've actually you know
01:53:41
like there was a period throughout this
01:53:43
past year where I knew that I
01:53:45
transitioned into um the media side of
01:53:47
things but I hadn't announced it to
01:53:48
anyone else. And when I made that step,
01:53:50
I put a lot of pressure on myself to
01:53:52
perform in the same ways that I was in
01:53:54
the competitive side of skiing on social
01:53:56
media and in the media side of things.
01:53:57
And and and
01:54:00
it like it really confuses me because
01:54:02
social media is so out of your control.
01:54:04
You can't measure how you feel or your
01:54:05
success on something that you can't
01:54:07
control.
01:54:08
>> Like,
01:54:09
you know, you just have to be proud of
01:54:11
what you've done and and like I still,
01:54:13
you know, like I'm not I'm not good at
01:54:14
that. M I haven't mastered it by any
01:54:16
means, but
01:54:17
>> at least I'm aware of it and I know that
01:54:18
it's there and and yeah, um sometimes
01:54:21
that does bring up mental challenges. I
01:54:24
would say that I've had mental
01:54:25
challenges and but not mental health
01:54:28
problems. Yeah.
01:54:29
>> Well, it seems like you got a good
01:54:30
network around you and also a good um a
01:54:32
good sense of self-awareness to know
01:54:34
>> uh if um
01:54:36
>> yeah, if your mental health's not where
01:54:37
it should be if there's a reason for it
01:54:40
>> like lack of sleep or lack of exercise
01:54:43
>> or even Yeah. too much alcohol or yeah,
01:54:45
there's like all these things that you
01:54:46
just have to be honest with yourself.
01:54:47
And I'm really lucky that I do have
01:54:49
people around me that are honest with me
01:54:50
in those ways and they would tell me
01:54:52
>> straight up if I'm you know it could be
01:54:55
like you know you stayed up late three
01:54:57
nights in a row
01:54:58
>> or you like I don't know you're so
01:55:01
focused on that like you're so focused
01:55:03
on social media or you're so like yeah I
01:55:05
don't know I've got I've got a really
01:55:06
really good circle of people around me
01:55:08
that will um yeah help me get through
01:55:11
those challenges. Yeah. Who is who's in
01:55:14
your circle? Who's in your
01:55:15
>> My family, my Yeah. My brother, my mom,
01:55:17
my dad.
01:55:18
>> Yeah. Uh, and I also have some some
01:55:20
really really great friends that we
01:55:22
openly talk about this sort of stuff and
01:55:24
and that we can have this conversation
01:55:26
together and and whether that's, you
01:55:28
know, out on a walk uh in the hills
01:55:30
together or whether it's up skiing on a
01:55:31
chairlift or um yeah, we
01:55:36
don't have any of those um I guess what
01:55:39
would you say like the the stigma that
01:55:41
everything's okay. Like I have a really
01:55:44
really good group of friends that I'm
01:55:45
extremely grateful for that they
01:55:48
They understand that everything is not
01:55:51
okay all the time and they're not all
01:55:52
okay all the time. And some will open up
01:55:54
more than others and some I'll open up
01:55:56
to more than I will to others. But I
01:55:58
feel as if um I have a strong network of
01:56:02
people around me that I can talk to
01:56:03
about that stuff and and I'm very very
01:56:06
lucky to have that cuz I know a lot of
01:56:08
people don't.
01:56:08
>> So you're good at that vulnerability
01:56:09
piece having those. Yeah.
01:56:11
>> Yeah. And and I don't hard for a lot of
01:56:12
people.
01:56:13
>> Yeah. It is super hard for a lot of
01:56:14
people and and I see it in people around
01:56:16
me. It's like being I mean being
01:56:19
vulnerable is is hard like it's super
01:56:22
hard like you know it's it's like it's
01:56:25
um yeah I don't know but I think if you
01:56:28
can be selective on who you're
01:56:29
vulnerable to and if you trust those
01:56:31
people and then you know and um you've
01:56:34
known those people for a long time then
01:56:36
>> yeah being vulnerable I think is like
01:56:39
the sickest thing like it's so cool.
01:56:41
>> Yeah.
01:56:41
>> Oh it is. Do you know um Bnee Brown? Are
01:56:43
you familiar with that name?
01:56:44
>> I don't. Uh um I wouldn't expect you to,
01:56:47
but she's um she's an author. She's done
01:56:48
a podcast, but um and she's like the
01:56:50
queen of vulnerability.
01:56:51
>> Yeah. Okay.
01:56:52
>> And she says, "Vulner the quote someone
01:56:53
like vulnerability is the birthplace of
01:56:55
like creativity, deeper relationships,
01:56:57
and
01:56:58
>> just everything good. Nothing bad ever
01:57:00
comes from it." But it's [ __ ] it's hard.
01:57:02
>> Yeah, it is hard. It is really hard. And
01:57:04
and um
01:57:05
>> it is. Yeah, it's just challenging. Like
01:57:07
it's really challenging. It's like
01:57:09
>> um to to
01:57:11
speak your mind is one thing. And
01:57:13
especially in nowadays, like you feel
01:57:15
like you're going to get scrutinized by
01:57:16
anything that you say and and like
01:57:18
whether that's by your friends on social
01:57:19
media, you know, it's like it's it's
01:57:21
there. And and I think it's just about
01:57:24
having those people around you that you
01:57:26
trust and and that you do feel
01:57:27
comfortable to say how you're feeling
01:57:29
whether that's how like regardless of
01:57:33
how you think you should be feeling like
01:57:35
I guess what how can I say this like you
01:57:38
know like say for example if if you get
01:57:40
a something like an amazing thing
01:57:42
happens in your life and but you're
01:57:44
actually not feeling that good it's like
01:57:46
>> well like be vulnerable about that you
01:57:48
know and and have people that you can be
01:57:50
vulnerable about that like
01:57:52
>> and I Yes. Go against those
01:57:53
expectations, the society expectations
01:57:55
to,
01:57:56
>> you know, if you're in a good, something
01:57:57
good happens to you and you're expected
01:57:58
to be okay in a way, but you're kind of
01:58:00
not, you know, like if you're not, then
01:58:01
you're not and that's okay.
01:58:03
>> Yeah. So,
01:58:05
>> yeah.
01:58:05
>> [ __ ] you're impressive.
01:58:07
>> I don't know,
01:58:08
>> mate. Oh, you're you're such a good Do
01:58:10
you think you're a role model? Do you
01:58:12
see yourself as a role model?
01:58:13
>> No.
01:58:14
>> No, I don't. Um, I understand that times
01:58:17
I am a role model, but I don't see
01:58:19
myself as a role model. Um,
01:58:22
>> well, you you shouldn't be, but I think
01:58:23
you are a good one.
01:58:24
>> Oh, thank you. Thank you, Dom. And like,
01:58:26
yeah.
01:58:28
>> Yeah. I don't know. I I don't see myself
01:58:30
as a role model, but I understand that I
01:58:32
do have people looking up to me and and
01:58:34
if I can somehow have a positive impact
01:58:37
>> on their like life and their values,
01:58:40
then that's awesome.
01:58:41
>> Yeah. But at the same time, like I [ __ ]
01:58:44
up, you know, like human.
01:58:46
>> Yeah. And um and sometimes I'm not a
01:58:48
good role model like and and that's
01:58:50
okay.
01:58:51
>> Yeah. And and like you know I have to
01:58:53
tell myself that sometimes. Yeah. Yeah.
01:58:56
>> Do you when you [ __ ] up do you beat
01:58:57
yourself up about it?
01:58:59
>> Um no.
01:59:00
>> Hard on yourself?
01:59:01
>> No. No. Yeah. I am but I'm also not.
01:59:05
>> No I am. Sorry. I am I'm really hard on
01:59:07
myself.
01:59:08
>> Um and it takes me time to get over it.
01:59:11
>> But yeah I don't know. This is probably
01:59:14
not a question for me. This is probably
01:59:15
for question for people around me. You
01:59:17
know what I mean? Like cuz I can say all
01:59:19
I want but reality so how I feel and the
01:59:22
reality of how others look at me is
01:59:24
going to be completely different. You
01:59:25
know like
01:59:26
>> Yeah. Yeah. I don't know.
01:59:28
>> Yeah.
01:59:29
>> Um I've had Sir Steve Hansen on the
01:59:32
podcast um and he said something to me
01:59:33
which stuck with me. I found it really
01:59:35
interesting and made me think a lot. He
01:59:37
said with most people their biggest
01:59:38
strength is also their biggest weakness.
01:59:40
>> Yeah.
01:59:41
>> Yeah. I think that's I think that's
01:59:44
pretty bang on.
01:59:45
>> What's yours?
01:59:46
>> Yeah, I knew this was coming. Um, look,
01:59:49
biggest strength.
01:59:53
>> For example, me after Steve said it, I
01:59:55
thought I it got me thinking about it.
01:59:56
There's numerous things, but one of them
01:59:57
for me is definitely like a people
01:59:58
pleaser.
02:00:00
>> Yeah. Yeah.
02:00:00
>> I like pleasing people, but also it's
02:00:02
that's probably my most toxic trait as
02:00:04
well.
02:00:05
>> Yeah.
02:00:07
Um,
02:00:09
my biggest strength here. How about I
02:00:12
look at it? Maybe if I try and look at
02:00:13
it as a weakness, then I'll be able to
02:00:14
What's my biggest weakness?
02:00:17
>> Um,
02:00:19
ah, yeah, this is actually how it's it's
02:00:21
overthinking
02:00:22
>> and worrying. That's my biggest weakness
02:00:25
is overthinking things and worrying
02:00:26
about what people think. But I think
02:00:28
that's also my biggest strength is
02:00:31
thinking a lot about things and um
02:00:35
>> yeah just making sure that that um
02:00:38
there's no
02:00:40
like spontane there's no no um
02:00:43
everything has thought behind it and has
02:00:45
deep deep thought but then also that
02:00:47
bites me in the ass. And so I think I
02:00:49
think that's my uh
02:00:50
>> that's my strength and weakness.
02:00:53
>> Yeah that's yeah it's pretty true.
02:00:54
>> Thanks for that [ __ ] You've got an
02:00:55
anxious mind don't you? Yeah, I really
02:00:57
do. Yeah, I do. I do. I'm a big worrier
02:00:59
and yeah, I'm a big uh Yeah, I'm
02:01:02
constantly constantly think about um you
02:01:06
know what other people think and and
02:01:07
yeah, that's something that I like, man,
02:01:10
I just wish it would go away sometimes,
02:01:11
you know.
02:01:11
>> Are you a nail biter or anything or no?
02:01:13
>> No, no, I'm not a nail bitter. I may
02:01:15
look like it right now, but that's just
02:01:16
from rock climbing.
02:01:17
>> Oh, no. They're good nails. They're good
02:01:18
nails.
02:01:19
>> Um when was when was the last time you
02:01:21
cried? Oh. Um, last time I cried,
02:01:29
>> probably a couple weeks ago. Week 10
02:01:30
days ago, two weeks ago.
02:01:31
>> Yeah. Are you an emotional guy or one?
02:01:33
>> Um, not particularly.
02:01:34
>> I wear my heart on my sleeve. Um, I
02:01:36
wouldn't say that I'm an emotional
02:01:38
person and that I can just cry on the
02:01:39
spot at anything,
02:01:40
>> but I wear my heart on my sleeve and and
02:01:42
I'm definitely um my emotions
02:01:47
uh they're not hard to see like Yeah,
02:01:50
you can sort of see them
02:01:52
>> pretty easily. Um,
02:01:54
but yeah, I would say that yeah, I would
02:01:57
say I'm emotional person for sure. Yeah,
02:01:59
>> it's a great quality. Don't don't lose
02:02:01
it. through through my 20ies, I I could
02:02:04
probably tell you the amount of times I
02:02:05
cried on like a a hand and it would have
02:02:07
only been like funerals, like
02:02:08
grandparents funerals or something and I
02:02:09
sort of wore that as a badge of honor.
02:02:11
But um I'm leaning into it now. Like
02:02:14
it's a it's a wonderful emotion.
02:02:15
>> Yeah, it is. It is. I mean, it's like
02:02:17
it's
02:02:18
>> um
02:02:19
>> you're not living a full life if you're
02:02:20
not crying on a regular.
02:02:21
>> I think tears are tears are a uh
02:02:26
>> they're a boiling point whether that's
02:02:27
happy or whether it's sad. Mh.
02:02:29
>> Um, and I think it's just a natural
02:02:31
thing, you know, and and
02:02:34
>> sometimes you want to fight it and
02:02:35
sometimes you don't want to fight it and
02:02:36
it's totally fine to not fight it and
02:02:38
it's totally fine to fight it, you know.
02:02:40
It's like
02:02:40
>> 100%.
02:02:41
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's like this balance. It's
02:02:42
like again it comes back to the like
02:02:44
don't like the biggest thing that I was
02:02:46
always taught is don't worry about being
02:02:48
worried. It's like
02:02:49
>> don't don't cry about crying. You know
02:02:52
what I mean? It's like totally okay to
02:02:54
cry,
02:02:54
>> you know? And and but
02:02:56
>> like Yeah. You know. Yeah. just don't
02:02:58
stress out of it. Like it is such a good
02:03:00
thing and it's such a natural thing and
02:03:02
it happens because for a reason. Um
02:03:04
whether that's good or bad.
02:03:06
>> Yeah. I was listening to a podcast the
02:03:08
other week with um Jimmy Carr the
02:03:09
comedian.
02:03:10
>> Oh yeah. Yeah. Um
02:03:10
>> has laugh something I'll say.
02:03:14
>> Um he had an interesting quote which
02:03:16
which got me thinking. I know mental
02:03:18
health isn't as simple as this but he
02:03:19
said depression is basically thinking
02:03:21
about something that's happened.
02:03:22
>> Anxiety is thinking about something that
02:03:24
is in the future. So the best place to
02:03:26
be is in the present. Are you quite I
02:03:28
mean when you when you're doing what
02:03:29
you've done as a sport your entire life
02:03:30
like you have to be in the moment.
02:03:32
>> Um but are you good are you good like in
02:03:34
just dayto-day living and being in the
02:03:35
moment being in the present?
02:03:38
>> Um
02:03:40
I would say yes and no.
02:03:42
>> I would also say yeah. I don't know. It
02:03:45
depends on the situation. Sometimes no.
02:03:46
Sometimes I'm terrible. Sometimes I'm
02:03:48
always looking forward to the future or
02:03:50
thinking about the future and that gives
02:03:51
me a lot of anxiety. Um, and sometimes
02:03:55
I'm just really neutral. Um,
02:03:59
I would say more so often than not, I'm
02:04:01
thinking in the future.
02:04:02
>> And I think that's part of me that's
02:04:04
been drilled into me from a young age is
02:04:06
what's next? What's next? What's next?
02:04:07
And, you know, mindset.
02:04:08
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And something that
02:04:10
I've kind of grown up with. And
02:04:12
>> um,
02:04:14
yeah. Yeah. I would say that
02:04:17
>> Oh, yeah.
02:04:17
>> It's It's hard. Like, it's really hard.
02:04:19
Like Yeah. I think for most people, you
02:04:21
have to constantly remind yourself to
02:04:23
try and be in the moment.
02:04:24
>> Yeah. Yeah, you do. You really do. And
02:04:26
it's so like, you know, you open your
02:04:28
phone and you're scrolling up and down
02:04:30
and it's like, you know what I mean?
02:04:32
It's like, how can you be in the moment
02:04:33
when you're looking at something that,
02:04:35
you know, like ah, it's frustrating, you
02:04:38
know? It's so frustrating. Um, and I
02:04:41
think that's why I really and and I
02:04:43
think a lot of people take to sport and
02:04:46
I know that you're a runner. I don't
02:04:47
know, you still running.
02:04:47
>> Yeah. Yeah.
02:04:48
>> Yeah. Yeah. And and I think like maybe
02:04:50
running's not not quite as much, but you
02:04:52
get in the flow and you get in the
02:04:53
moment and all of a sudden you're forced
02:04:55
to be in the present. And that's what's
02:04:56
so sick about sport is that it gives you
02:04:59
an escape from that. Say if you're
02:05:00
someone that's not very good at being in
02:05:02
the present and and you might find that
02:05:04
as a work on or a challenge, well then
02:05:07
>> sport is awesome because it gives you an
02:05:09
outlet to be able to go and think about
02:05:12
one thing for that long, you know, and
02:05:15
for however long you do it. And um I
02:05:18
think that's something that's really
02:05:19
helped me to stay present is to either
02:05:20
go and play sport or do sport.
02:05:22
>> Yeah.
02:05:24
>> Um yeah, trail running is definitely one
02:05:26
of those things. If I'm going for a long
02:05:27
run on the roads, then my mind wanders.
02:05:28
But
02:05:29
>> if you're doing if you're running the
02:05:31
root burn track or something, you need
02:05:32
to look at every step.
02:05:34
>> Yeah. And then you're completely in the
02:05:35
flow.
02:05:36
>> Yeah. You're having to you're having to
02:05:37
really have that connection between your
02:05:39
body and your mind and it's like forcing
02:05:40
you to occ it's like occupying your mind
02:05:42
in a way. It's like something that I do
02:05:44
when I'm competing is I'll as I've as
02:05:47
I've got older I've learned how to deal
02:05:48
with that staying in the moment. And one
02:05:50
of those things is that I'll just put
02:05:51
headphones in and pace back and forward
02:05:53
in my ski boots and and reciting the
02:05:55
lyrics to these songs. So, it's
02:05:56
something that is not um making me
02:05:59
think. It's something that's happening
02:06:00
without like much thinking, but it's
02:06:02
just a a task that distracts my mind and
02:06:05
and forces me to stay present in what's
02:06:07
happening at that moment.
02:06:09
>> And I think that's like that's something
02:06:10
that I use when I go to sleep as well.
02:06:12
or like I don't know if you're um like
02:06:15
um what is it called? Um Headspace user
02:06:18
or something, you know what I mean? But
02:06:19
like I use all these things when I'm
02:06:20
going to sleep, right? And and one of
02:06:22
the things that they do is they make you
02:06:24
count back from 10,000. And the first
02:06:25
time you hear it, you're like, "What the
02:06:27
[ __ ] Why am I going to count back from
02:06:28
10,000 right now?" Like I'm trying to go
02:06:29
to sleep. And it's because it's that
02:06:31
like that little task.
02:06:33
>> Same with sport. Same with counting.
02:06:34
Same with doing this. It forces you to
02:06:36
stay in the present without like, you
02:06:38
know, it doesn't consume your brain, but
02:06:40
it just stops you from overthinking and
02:06:42
thinking too much and keeps you present.
02:06:44
And
02:06:45
>> yeah, so it's having those little things
02:06:46
and um but yeah, I would say that I'm
02:06:48
not very good at being present and that
02:06:49
I've learned to
02:06:51
>> Yeah. Well, when you when you can
02:06:52
recognize you're not good at something,
02:06:54
that's when you can start working on it
02:06:56
>> and be mindful about it and pull
02:06:57
yourself in when you realize you're not
02:06:59
doing it.
02:06:59
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and I think
02:07:02
uh Yeah. [ __ ] It's hard. It is hard.
02:07:04
What about future goals? Where where do
02:07:07
you see yourself at 305?
02:07:10
>> To be honest, I've been toying
02:07:12
at the idea of studying architecture.
02:07:15
>> Um, so
02:07:17
>> that's the thing like you you are still
02:07:19
so young. Whatever you want to do, you
02:07:21
can.
02:07:22
>> But it's also that's the gnarly thing is
02:07:24
that like now I'm like sitting here in
02:07:26
this position with, you know, had this
02:07:28
competitive career and now moved into
02:07:29
something else, but I'm not really sure
02:07:32
what that else is. And so like I kind of
02:07:36
in recent time have just felt like a big
02:07:38
weight off my shoulders cuz it feels
02:07:40
like I have come to a decision of a path
02:07:42
that I want to go and and like look I've
02:07:44
got a lot of work to do to to become an
02:07:46
architect like
02:07:47
>> that is so far down the track but at
02:07:49
least it gives me a long-term goal and
02:07:50
something to work towards or something
02:07:51
to go through dayto-day life with a
02:07:54
goal. And whether that's studying a
02:07:57
certain paper, it may not be anything to
02:07:59
do with architecture, but I know that
02:08:00
it's going to get me towards the end
02:08:01
goal. And it's like,
02:08:03
>> yeah, now that I have that there feels
02:08:06
like really, really good.
02:08:07
>> Yeah. But shortterm wise, I just like I
02:08:10
just want to ski hard out and I just
02:08:12
want to ski with my friends and film
02:08:13
stuff and yeah, enjoy it.
02:08:15
>> Just ski for joy.
02:08:16
>> Yeah, just ski for joy.
02:08:17
>> Oh, that's wonderful.
02:08:18
>> Yeah, that's wonderful.
02:08:20
>> Um, any regrets?
02:08:24
Nah, not that I can think of to be
02:08:26
honest. Um, not yet. Yeah, at least. Um,
02:08:30
>> yeah, I don't know.
02:08:31
>> Life so far, mate.
02:08:32
>> Yeah. Well, yeah, it has, Dom, to be
02:08:35
honest. It has and it's been incredible
02:08:36
and it's been something that I'm forever
02:08:38
grateful for and um,
02:08:40
>> yeah, I don't think I regret anything
02:08:42
because at the end of the day, it's like
02:08:44
it's made me who I am now. And, um,
02:08:47
yeah, there's been times where I didn't
02:08:48
like it and but I don't regret it.
02:08:51
>> Yeah.
02:08:52
I've got a photo of um a little boy here
02:08:55
with a
02:08:55
>> photo. What's this?
02:08:57
>> It's a a little boy with um a yellow um
02:09:00
yellow goggles on. Um I don't know,
02:09:03
maybe 5 years old. Yeah.
02:09:07
>> Holy [ __ ] What? Um
02:09:10
>> so I don't know what I can say. I got
02:09:11
man boobs from a young age.
02:09:14
>> That's a hell of a ring.
02:09:15
>> Yeah. Look at the motor on me as well.
02:09:17
>> What would um Yeah. What would you say
02:09:18
to him?
02:09:20
stay present
02:09:23
on the calves.
02:09:24
>> He's in the present day. Like he's not
02:09:26
worrying about a thing. You know what I
02:09:28
mean? Like he's so in the moment
02:09:32
>> like Yeah. And I think that like
02:09:35
>> I don't know. I don't like Yeah.
02:09:36
Sometimes I struggle to get all deep and
02:09:38
sentimental and stuff, but it's like
02:09:39
that's like the childhood thing, right?
02:09:40
Is that you don't have like that person
02:09:42
there doesn't have any worries on their
02:09:43
mind at all. like apart from oh my sand
02:09:46
castle's getting washed away by the tide
02:09:48
or you know like it's so simple
02:09:51
>> and so parents telling you to have an
02:09:52
afternoon nap where you don't want to
02:09:53
miss out on what's going on.
02:09:55
>> Yeah yeah yeah and so it's like
02:09:58
>> yeah I don't know keep doing what you're
02:10:00
doing.
02:10:01
>> Um are there three words that your
02:10:03
family and friends would use to describe
02:10:04
you? What would they say? What would you
02:10:06
like them to say? Oh,
02:10:09
um
02:10:13
um what would I like them to say? I
02:10:16
don't really know what they would say
02:10:17
>> and I can't answer that.
02:10:20
>> Um
02:10:22
>> I like asking that question though
02:10:23
because if you put some thought into it,
02:10:24
you can sort of almost reverse engineer
02:10:26
your life and live in a way where
02:10:28
>> Goodness, it's a big question though,
02:10:29
isn't it?
02:10:30
>> Yeah.
02:10:30
>> Um
02:10:37
Well, I think like
02:10:40
I think the first the first one that I
02:10:43
would probably say would be
02:10:45
um
02:10:47
like just caring
02:10:49
>> like just a nice person, you know, like
02:10:52
um
02:10:54
that and that that encompasses a lot of
02:10:56
things like you know being welcoming,
02:10:58
being supportive, being you know just
02:11:00
like caring and like
02:11:02
>> um I guess not self-centered. Um
02:11:08
yeah just just thinking about others and
02:11:10
being respectful of them. Yeah I think
02:11:11
so so like the caring side of things I
02:11:14
would then I would say respectful
02:11:17
and then I would say
02:11:21
driven
02:11:23
>> caring respectful and driven. And I
02:11:26
think it's not just those three words,
02:11:28
you know, they encompass a whole whole
02:11:31
big pool of some things. But
02:11:33
>> um
02:11:35
>> Yeah.
02:11:35
>> Interesting. Interesting. We've been
02:11:37
sitting here for just over two hours.
02:11:39
>> Yeah. Goodness.
02:11:40
>> It's kind of the first time we've met. I
02:11:41
would have said um
02:11:43
>> Yeah. What would you say
02:11:44
>> for you? Kind, thoughtful, um and yeah,
02:11:48
driven or a variation of driven.
02:11:50
>> I was thinking that throughout this
02:11:52
chat. Yeah,
02:11:53
>> that's definitely um Yeah, that's
02:11:55
definitely what you're putting out in
02:11:56
the world.
02:11:57
>> That's nice. Thanks, Tom. Yeah, I
02:11:58
appreciate that.
02:11:59
>> Nico Pius, are you proud of yourself?
02:12:01
>> Yes, I'm proud of myself.
02:12:03
>> Yeah.
02:12:03
>> Yeah.
02:12:04
>> Have you always been?
02:12:07
>> Yeah.
02:12:07
>> Yeah. I mean, obviously there's times
02:12:09
where you doubt it, but Yeah. And yeah,
02:12:11
I have always been proud of myself. And
02:12:12
you know, there's been moments where
02:12:14
I've like you [ __ ] up and you're not
02:12:16
going to be proud of yourself or like
02:12:18
you make mistakes and you're not going
02:12:19
to be proud of yourself. But I would say
02:12:20
sitting here today right now, I'm proud
02:12:23
of who I am and Yeah. Yeah. That's it.
02:12:26
>> Yeah. I'm proud of you, too.
02:12:28
>> Oh, thanks, Tom.
02:12:28
>> You're a great New Zealander.
02:12:30
>> I sent you a message saying, "Is there
02:12:31
anything in particular that you wanted
02:12:32
to take off?" And you were like, "No,
02:12:33
I'm just keen to see where it goes."
02:12:35
>> Yeah.
02:12:35
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um because it's not,
02:12:37
you know, like it's not very often that
02:12:38
you get to just sit down and have a two
02:12:40
almost two and a half hour chat with
02:12:41
someone. You know what I mean? Like
02:12:43
especially someone that's so like
02:12:45
experienced in the world of interviewing
02:12:46
and asking questions and being so
02:12:48
in-depth. It's like sort of like, you
02:12:50
know, it feels like you're at a um like
02:12:53
sitting down with a mate, you know, and
02:12:55
catching up for a long time and
02:12:56
something that you just, you know, it's
02:12:57
it's
02:12:58
>> Yeah, it's it's nice. Yeah. I sort of
02:13:00
just wanted to trust the process a
02:13:01
little bit and just see like
02:13:03
>> where is this going to go? Where is this
02:13:04
going to go and what's going to happen
02:13:06
and what's going to come out and
02:13:08
>> goodness.
02:13:09
>> Yeah. Are you happy with how it's gone?
02:13:11
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
02:13:11
>> I'm very happy. I think this is a great
02:13:13
chat. It'sful.
02:13:14
>> Yeah. It's been really cool. It's been
02:13:16
really cool and so thank you for um
02:13:18
having me on and yeah, it's been really
02:13:19
really really nice,
02:13:20
>> mate. I appreciate it and I uh genuinely
02:13:22
um cannot wait to see what you do next.
02:13:24
>> Maybe it's not even something we'll
02:13:26
>> Oh, yeah.
02:13:27
>> hear hear about in the public domain,
02:13:28
you know, maybe uh
02:13:30
>> maybe I'll stumbled across your name on
02:13:31
an architecture website one day or maybe
02:13:33
not and I'll be like, "Oh, [ __ ] That's
02:13:34
>> Nico." Yeah. Yeah. And uh I guess that's
02:13:37
something that I had to be willing when
02:13:39
I made the decision to leave competing.
02:13:40
It's something I had to willing to
02:13:42
accept. And yeah, I think if I just stay
02:13:45
driven in what I'm doing and then yeah,
02:13:48
who knows? Hopefully that will bring me
02:13:50
joy.
02:13:51
>> Yeah. Oh, you're a great New Zealander,
02:13:52
mate. And this has been wonderful.
02:13:53
Thanks so much.
02:13:53
>> Appreciate it. Cheers.
02:13:54
>> Cheers.
