00:00:00
Oh, good. You're here. Come on. This is
00:00:03
the center of performance. Whenever
00:00:05
there's a top performance in New
00:00:06
Zealand, it all comes from here. That's
00:00:08
Lisa Carrington. She's been doing that
00:00:10
for days. That's the boys who got the
00:00:12
hole in one in to
00:00:16
Finn. How's the performance going?
00:00:18
>> Top tier.
00:00:18
>> Nice. This is our generate room. In
00:00:21
here, you'll find our top performers
00:00:22
helping Kiwis maximize their Kiwi Saver
00:00:24
investments. Get in here, Finn.
00:00:26
>> Maximize. Generate. putting performance
00:00:29
first.
00:00:36
>> Hey Mish Kerr, welcome back to my
00:00:38
podcast.
00:00:39
>> Yeah, thanks for having me back. I mean,
00:00:40
yeah, I'm stoked to be here.
00:00:41
>> Well, last time last time you came
00:00:43
around to my house and it was in the
00:00:44
spare bedroom at home and we had no
00:00:45
videos. Um, now we're in a studio and we
00:00:48
got the full setup.
00:00:49
>> Yeah, Kanye was jumping around. We were
00:00:51
sort of trying to show him away and I
00:00:52
think you were trying to fiddle with the
00:00:54
the video and trying to work it out and
00:00:55
it was actually I think it was still
00:00:56
runners only back then. So yeah, to be
00:00:58
back when it's um not just runners and
00:01:00
everybody else, that's that's pretty
00:01:02
special.
00:01:02
>> Yeah, there's been a bit of a glow up
00:01:04
for the podcast in the last 3 years
00:01:05
since you were on. But um more
00:01:06
importantly, um my god, the um the the
00:01:09
list of achievements in your life since
00:01:11
the last appearance and now last time
00:01:13
you came on, you just won the gold medal
00:01:15
for the high jump at the Manchester
00:01:17
Commonwealth Games.
00:01:18
>> Birmingham.
00:01:19
>> Oh, Birmingham. Sorry.
00:01:22
>> Strong start.
00:01:23
>> Start again.
00:01:25
a better podcast would start again, but
00:01:27
we're 49 seconds in. [ __ ] it. Let's
00:01:28
stick with it.
00:01:29
>> Yeah. Okay. Com games. Yeah.
00:01:31
>> So, so go at the com games. Um, since
00:01:33
then, well, for starters, like to time
00:01:36
stamp this conversation, it's early
00:01:37
October. You've just come back from
00:01:39
>> Tokyo. Yep. Tokyo World Champs. So,
00:01:42
yeah, first ever World Championship win
00:01:44
for me. So, yeah, a lot of things have
00:01:46
happened. Um, which I'm sure we'll get
00:01:48
into, but uh, yeah, it's it's been
00:01:50
pretty special like the last couple
00:01:51
years. um even reflecting on you know
00:01:53
what we' chatted about uh 3 years ago
00:01:55
compared to now is has been has been
00:01:57
pretty fascinating. So yeah I'm looking
00:01:58
forward to getting into it.
00:01:59
>> M so the win at Tokyo also the gold
00:02:02
Olympic gold medal at Paris in 2024 gold
00:02:05
at world indoor champs 2024 um Hellburgg
00:02:08
sportsman of the year 2025 like you're
00:02:11
you're the undisputed
00:02:13
world high jump champ right now. right
00:02:16
now. Yeah, I am. Which is, yeah, it's
00:02:18
it's pretty crazy to think that like
00:02:20
even at the start of my career, um, you
00:02:22
know, to have one of those achievements,
00:02:24
uh, would have been a massive honor. Uh,
00:02:26
and to be here with with all of them is
00:02:28
is is just something that I, yeah, I
00:02:30
just pinch myself every day. I'm just so
00:02:32
grateful for it.
00:02:34
>> So, it's been, say, 13 14 months since
00:02:36
the win at Paris. How how often do you
00:02:38
think about that?
00:02:39
>> Um, uh, not a huge amount to be honest.
00:02:42
Like, I think, uh, I get reminded of it
00:02:44
constantly on tour. uh you know, every
00:02:45
comp I go to now is, you know, I get
00:02:47
introduced as the Olympic champion and
00:02:49
and and everyone kind of wants to wants
00:02:51
to have a piece of my thoughts for for
00:02:53
the fact that that is that is what I did
00:02:54
last year. Um, but I think for me, you
00:02:56
know, I I feel like I'm I'm so happy
00:02:59
with with the progress and and where I'm
00:03:00
at and and I think that that was such an
00:03:02
important stepping stone for me and and
00:03:04
something that will always be my
00:03:05
greatest achievement. Uh but at the same
00:03:07
time, you know, this year was super busy
00:03:09
as well and and we had to just get back
00:03:11
on the on the horse at some at a certain
00:03:12
point and and almost leave that that
00:03:14
championship behind uh and really kind
00:03:16
of work out what we needed to do to to
00:03:18
achieve all the next goals. So yeah, in
00:03:20
these these small kind of fleeting
00:03:21
moments where I do have time off. Uh I'm
00:03:22
I'm on a small break at the moment. I I
00:03:24
can sit there and reflect on, you know,
00:03:26
all of the things that have happened. Uh
00:03:27
but at the same time, you know, we we
00:03:29
start working out what's next and and
00:03:30
how we kind of distill down that success
00:03:32
and and continue to sort of I suppose,
00:03:35
you know, get more of it in the future.
00:03:38
>> It's funny like from a psychological
00:03:40
standpoint because I've had um yeah, so
00:03:42
you you have this massive win and you're
00:03:44
not dwelling on it. You got to park it
00:03:45
and move on. I've had so many high
00:03:47
performers on the podcast and they talk
00:03:48
about like for example, I had Lori Mains
00:03:50
on the old All Black coach a few weeks
00:03:51
ago. Um and he said most days he still
00:03:53
thinks about the 95 World Cup. So 30
00:03:55
years on it's like a a a you know a blip
00:03:58
in his record or whatever
00:04:00
>> or a fail and it still haunts him.
00:04:02
>> Yeah. I think like I think your failures
00:04:04
haunt you more than your successes
00:04:06
probably. You know they're the ones you
00:04:07
think about more as a as a high
00:04:08
performance athlete or I certainly do.
00:04:10
Um but at the same time you know like
00:04:11
after after um after Paris that was that
00:04:15
was probably the first time that I I
00:04:17
really was like kind of overroared by an
00:04:20
achievement that I' I'd gotten. Uh and
00:04:22
then yeah, it did take a long time for
00:04:24
me to kind of sit with that and contend
00:04:26
with that and and work out what was
00:04:27
next. Um cuz it yeah it is it is weird
00:04:30
when you're you know you're you're
00:04:31
working towards something over so many
00:04:33
years and and the pinnacle is always to
00:04:35
you know you're always told that the
00:04:36
pinnacle is the Olympics and the
00:04:37
pinnacle is is is winning that um that
00:04:39
title and so you kind of get there and
00:04:41
and yeah it does it does take a while to
00:04:44
kind of sit with that and and it does
00:04:45
sort of feel a bit weird at times but
00:04:47
yeah I think I think that you know as as
00:04:49
athletes we're hungry uh and we're we're
00:04:51
always going to want to push on and and
00:04:52
get more as well. Have have you achieved
00:04:55
um you know have you ticked off what you
00:04:57
wanted to or is it more?
00:04:58
>> Um
00:04:59
>> more than what you ever imagined?
00:05:01
>> I think I think the titles are more than
00:05:02
I've ever imagined for sure. Like I I
00:05:04
think that
00:05:05
>> I mean look I I would if you'd asked me
00:05:09
every year from about 2018 all the way
00:05:11
to now. Um you know what my expectation
00:05:14
was going to be of my career. uh you
00:05:16
know I mean you asked me in 2018 I was I
00:05:19
I'd sort of just started to take the
00:05:20
sport seriously and and you know I
00:05:22
finished my university degree I moved to
00:05:23
Christ Church and and started training
00:05:25
full-time and the goal there was was to
00:05:27
make the Olympics uh you know to to go
00:05:29
to Tokyo 2020 and and and have that that
00:05:31
amazing um you know performance and
00:05:34
achievement and and then kind of move on
00:05:35
and get on with the rest of my life and
00:05:37
and then I did you know pretty well
00:05:38
there. I I made the final and came 10th
00:05:40
and and then and then it was kind of
00:05:42
like wow, you know, I think I could
00:05:44
actually do this this, you know,
00:05:45
full-time. And then it was how do I, you
00:05:47
know, support myself and and and get the
00:05:50
right team of people around me that I
00:05:51
can do this long term. And then and
00:05:52
then, you know, every year from there,
00:05:54
it's it's been about something bigger
00:05:55
and bigger and bigger. And I I think
00:05:57
that, you know, the the titles are are
00:05:58
massive, but at the same time, um, deep
00:06:01
down, I know I can jump higher. And so
00:06:02
that's sort of one of the things that if
00:06:04
you'd probably said at the start of the
00:06:05
career, um you know, I was going to jump
00:06:07
as high as I I would, I'd be really
00:06:08
stoked. But now I'm here, I want more.
00:06:11
So yeah, I I I feel like there's still a
00:06:13
lot um that gets me out of bed in the
00:06:15
morning, and I still really feel
00:06:16
motivated to to want to train and and
00:06:18
achieve as much as possible.
00:06:19
>> So your personal best at the moment is
00:06:22
>> 236.
00:06:23
>> And what's the height of a door frame?
00:06:25
Standard door frame?
00:06:26
>> A door frame is like 198. So yeah, it's
00:06:29
so I'm I'm well over the old door frame
00:06:31
spec which is which is quite nice. But
00:06:33
um I think I think for me um 240 is is
00:06:36
the next big goal. Uh and that's the
00:06:38
height of a ceiling, a standard ceiling.
00:06:40
So yeah, so I'm going from doors to
00:06:41
ceilings. Um and yeah, I think I think
00:06:43
for me that's a that's a height that um
00:06:46
you know in the in the history of our
00:06:47
event has has been a a pretty kind of
00:06:51
top mark and and something that has
00:06:52
really stamped your mark as one of the
00:06:53
best or greatest high jumpers ever. So
00:06:55
yeah, for me that's what I'm I'm aiming
00:06:58
towards next. Uh and yeah, I'm I'm
00:07:00
looking forward to the challenge of
00:07:01
trying to trying to do that.
00:07:02
>> What's your height in centimeters?
00:07:04
>> I am 198. So yeah, I'm I'm pretty tall.
00:07:08
Uh but I feel like I'm like the perfect
00:07:10
height cuz I don't have to like I don't
00:07:12
I don't really struggle traveling. I
00:07:14
don't really struggle with door frames
00:07:16
and and just moving around. But um at
00:07:17
the same time, it's it's obviously
00:07:19
pretty good for my for my event.
00:07:22
>> The world record is um 245. Yeah, it was
00:07:25
set in the '90s by some Cuban Dave.
00:07:27
>> Yeah. Yeah. How is he an outlier? How is
00:07:30
that record stood for 30 years?
00:07:32
>> Yeah. Look, I think um
00:07:36
he there's there's two guys who kind of
00:07:38
stand above above the rest of um the
00:07:40
high jumpers in history. It's him and a
00:07:42
guy called Mutz Basham from Qatar. Uh
00:07:45
Mutez is is just coming to the end of
00:07:47
his career. So, he's he's about to
00:07:48
retire in the next, you know, few years.
00:07:51
Uh I would I would predict. Uh I I think
00:07:53
he keeps thinking he's going to retire
00:07:55
every year and then he never does. But
00:07:56
I'm I'm hoping he retires soon. But um
00:07:58
it's yeah, it's it's those two who have
00:08:01
been kind of the guys going between
00:08:02
about 243 and 245 uh for most of their
00:08:05
career. And and I think high jump's a
00:08:06
funny one. Like I mean it's not like
00:08:08
running or other events where we have
00:08:09
these big technological advancements in
00:08:11
the shoes and and in the training
00:08:12
methods. It's such a it's such a rhythm
00:08:15
and timing based event that um you know
00:08:18
we we kind of resist technology a lot.
00:08:20
uh cuz every time shoe brands want to
00:08:21
bring out these new shoes that are
00:08:23
supposedly faster and bouncier and
00:08:24
whatever, it actually it destroys our
00:08:26
rhythm and destroys the way that we've
00:08:27
kind of developed our technique over the
00:08:29
years. And so a lot of the guys are
00:08:30
pretty resistant to um anytime anyone
00:08:32
wants to change shoes. So yeah, I think
00:08:34
I think that that kind of leads into the
00:08:36
reason why this this record has stood
00:08:38
for so long. Uh but also, you know, when
00:08:40
you're when you're starting to jump that
00:08:41
high, um it takes just such a toll on
00:08:44
your body that it's not only, you know,
00:08:46
being able to get up there and actually
00:08:48
have the the physical ability to to do
00:08:50
it, but it's actually being able to have
00:08:51
the the mental strength to to take that
00:08:55
one or two opportunities that you'll
00:08:56
have and and actually make it make it a
00:08:58
reality. Uh Mutz, the the Qatari, he's
00:09:01
attempted the world record three times.
00:09:03
Uh and on and I think about two of those
00:09:06
times he's had pretty bad injuries just
00:09:08
because of the force that's going
00:09:09
through his legs. Uh and so even for me,
00:09:11
you know, at 236, uh I I feel it the
00:09:14
next day, you know, after after jumping
00:09:15
236 at world champs, I was sore for a
00:09:17
week. So, you know, to be able to
00:09:19
actually get up to those heights and
00:09:20
then actually be able to make the most
00:09:22
of that form you've got is Yeah, it's
00:09:25
pretty it's a pretty hard thing to do.
00:09:27
>> What are the injury concerns? Is it
00:09:29
ankles, back? Um, it kind of depends
00:09:32
like athlete to athlete, but for me it's
00:09:34
always been ankle and knee. Um, luckily
00:09:37
touchwood I've I haven't had a huge
00:09:39
amount of back problems so far in my
00:09:41
career. But, you know, for everybody
00:09:42
it's something different, right? Like
00:09:43
you know, you talk to all the boys,
00:09:45
they're all they're all bandaged up and
00:09:47
and held together with tape and and you
00:09:49
know, it's just the I suppose the the
00:09:51
thing we do to ourselves to do what we
00:09:53
love. But um yeah, it's it's pretty it's
00:09:55
pretty tough. like um they I think they
00:09:57
reckon that about 10 times your body
00:09:59
weight goes through your your foot and
00:10:00
your ankle in takeoff. Um so if you
00:10:03
think that you know for me I'm you know
00:10:05
I'm not I'm not the heaviest guy in the
00:10:07
world but you know at about 85 kgs
00:10:09
that's about 850 kgs worth of force
00:10:10
going through my ankle you know and and
00:10:12
and having to do that 10 to 12 times in
00:10:14
a comp. It's it definitely takes it out
00:10:16
of you. So yeah it's it's it's something
00:10:18
that you want to make sure that you're
00:10:19
minimizing the effect it has. U but also
00:10:22
you know it's something that you can't
00:10:22
really train for. you know, trying to do
00:10:24
80 850 kg squats or, you know, deadlifts
00:10:28
or whatever it is in the gym. Like, it
00:10:29
just doesn't work. So, you just have to
00:10:31
you have to just do a lot of jumping and
00:10:32
and trust your training and and hope it
00:10:34
all works out on the day.
00:10:35
>> And you're you're turning 30 soon, eh?
00:10:37
>> Yeah, don't remind me.
00:10:38
>> What does um what does what does age
00:10:40
mean in terms of high jumpers? When do
00:10:42
you guys typically peak?
00:10:43
>> Yeah, it remains to be seen. I think I
00:10:44
think these days um you know, a lot of
00:10:47
athletes are competing a lot older in
00:10:48
their career. Uh we're definitely seeing
00:10:50
this trend of of guys kind of competing
00:10:52
well into their 30s, but I still think
00:10:53
it's a bit of a lottery. Um you know, I
00:10:55
I I get the sense that uh you know, some
00:10:58
guys will be able to continue deep into
00:11:00
their 30s. Um some guys just won't. Uh
00:11:02
and so for me uh I'm pretty fully
00:11:05
committed to the next Olympics. So
00:11:07
that's 20 that's 20 28. I will be 32. Uh
00:11:11
cuz I think that that's um that's
00:11:13
definitely a a time where my body will
00:11:15
still be good and I'll still be able to
00:11:16
kind of get the things I want out of it.
00:11:17
But I think after that it starts
00:11:19
becoming a wee bit more of a lottery. Uh
00:11:21
and so we'll just you know we'll sit
00:11:22
down as a team and and work out if
00:11:24
that's something that we we think's
00:11:25
going to happen. But I mean for now uh
00:11:27
you know coming I'm I've actually only
00:11:29
just turned 29. Thank you. So 30 by the
00:11:32
way. But um but yeah for now there's no
00:11:36
yeah it's not it's not something I'm cur
00:11:38
um but yeah I think for now there's no
00:11:40
there's no evidence that um that any
00:11:42
sort of aging is is taking its toll.
00:11:44
Yeah, I'm sure it's it's one of those
00:11:45
things that I'll probably wake up one
00:11:46
morning and it will hit me like a ton of
00:11:47
bricks.
00:11:48
>> Those um those next Olympics, they're
00:11:50
going to be sick. E LA um they've got
00:11:52
all these massive billion dollar
00:11:54
projects underway. U Yes. What's the
00:11:56
goal there? Like 240.
00:11:58
>> Yeah, I think so. I mean, obviously,
00:12:00
first and foremost, I'd love to defend
00:12:01
my title. Um I think that that's
00:12:03
something that is is Yeah, it gets me
00:12:06
out of bed in the morning for sure. Like
00:12:08
I love the idea of being able to go
00:12:10
there and especially knowing that
00:12:11
there's a there's a couple of real top
00:12:12
Americans. I think it would be great to
00:12:14
to beat them in their in their home home
00:12:16
arena. Uh but at the same time, the
00:12:18
Olympic record is 239. And so to be able
00:12:21
to jump 240 at the at the Olympics and
00:12:23
and break the Olympic record would would
00:12:25
be something that I would uh consider
00:12:26
pretty special. And I suppose the
00:12:28
reasoning behind that is um a world
00:12:29
record is the best that someone's done
00:12:32
on any given day. Whereas the Olympic
00:12:35
record is the best that anyone's given
00:12:36
on the day that it counts. And so for
00:12:38
me, that's that's the most important
00:12:40
thing is is the the way I've set up my
00:12:42
career is I I will win when it matters.
00:12:45
Um I won't win all the time, but when it
00:12:47
matters and and when the the stakes are
00:12:49
really high, that's that's when I bring
00:12:50
out my best performance. And you know,
00:12:52
you look at the Olympic record and the
00:12:53
history the Olympics has. Um you know,
00:12:55
for for every high jumper in history to
00:12:56
have known that there's one day every
00:12:59
four years that they really have to
00:13:00
peak. Um, if I could take that record
00:13:02
and and say that I was the one who was
00:13:03
able to pick the best and and prepare
00:13:05
the best, then I think that would tie
00:13:07
really nicely into kind of the I suppose
00:13:09
the mantra and the the the story that I
00:13:11
want to tell of my career.
00:13:14
>> Yeah. I'm so excited. Um, this is going
00:13:15
to come later in the podcast, but we're
00:13:17
going to drill into that Paris event
00:13:19
because you almost choked.
00:13:21
>> Yeah.
00:13:21
>> Like in the in the in the qualifying
00:13:22
rounds like you you lucky to make it
00:13:24
through and then I mean the rest is
00:13:26
history. Um, but that must have been
00:13:28
terrifying. Oh, one um massive change in
00:13:30
the last three years since you were on
00:13:32
the podcast is um new coach.
00:13:34
>> Yes.
00:13:34
>> So, last time you're on the podcast,
00:13:35
you're with your old coach um of six
00:13:37
years, Terry.
00:13:39
>> Um now you've got uh James.
00:13:41
>> Yep.
00:13:41
>> Jimmy Jimmy
00:13:42
>> Jimmy Sandalins. Yeah.
00:13:43
>> Yeah. Who's um your girlfriend's coach
00:13:45
as well?
00:13:45
>> Yes. Yeah.
00:13:47
>> Um Yeah. What was the thought process
00:13:50
that went into that?
00:13:52
>> Yeah. So, um there was quite a lot. So I
00:13:56
uh last time I was here 2022 um coming
00:14:00
off the end of of that year
00:14:03
I experienced quite a lot of success. Um
00:14:06
I I won bronze medal at world indoors
00:14:09
that year which was my first ever global
00:14:10
medal. Um and then and then won the com
00:14:12
games which which is you know obviously
00:14:14
a great achievement and and something I
00:14:15
was super proud of and and I I felt like
00:14:17
it was a real step forward in my career.
00:14:18
But also in and amongst that um we also
00:14:20
had a world champs which I failed to
00:14:22
qualify for the final. Um and the
00:14:24
heights that I cleared that season uh
00:14:27
compared to even the season before uh
00:14:29
weren't as good. And so I think I think
00:14:31
that we kind of had rose tinted glasses
00:14:33
a wee bit in terms of my progression uh
00:14:34
that year. I think I think that we we
00:14:37
achieved a lot. Um but the the level of
00:14:39
progression and and the kind of the the
00:14:41
intent we had behind where I was getting
00:14:43
those next centimeters and and what was
00:14:45
next was was just starting to lack a
00:14:47
little bit. And so it sort of didn't
00:14:49
take until 2023 to to kind of realize
00:14:51
when that really hit home. And that that
00:14:53
hit home and uh in Bordapest at World
00:14:55
Championships where again I didn't make
00:14:57
the final. Um and that was something
00:14:59
that was quite unexpected for me. I was
00:15:01
I was about fifth in the world. Uh I
00:15:04
jumped 231 232 that year. Um I I then
00:15:08
ended up jumping you know 222 in that
00:15:10
that final uh in that qualifying round
00:15:12
in in Budapest and and bombed out pretty
00:15:15
badly. And and I think that that kind of
00:15:18
that really made me realize that I'd
00:15:20
probably been taking my foot off the gas
00:15:22
a wee bit in the last couple years just
00:15:23
with the success I've been having um at
00:15:25
those those other competitions. And and
00:15:27
I think I was I I got a real sense I was
00:15:29
turning into this kind of like this
00:15:31
journeyman athlete who when like when
00:15:35
conditions were bad, when it was
00:15:36
raining, when everyone else didn't want
00:15:37
to be there, I was kind of like the guy
00:15:39
who'd get up and and and steal a win and
00:15:41
and steal.
00:15:41
>> You even had a nickname rainy man.
00:15:43
>> Yeah. Yeah, I did. Like the boys started
00:15:44
calling me that near the end of the
00:15:45
season and I didn't like it ei it it it
00:15:49
kind of made me realize that like I was
00:15:50
this athlete who I was hoping that
00:15:54
everyone would jump bad rather than
00:15:55
expecting everyone would jump good and
00:15:57
then also wanting to be a part of that.
00:15:58
And so, um, yeah, that was pretty tough.
00:16:02
Like, and then I think I think there was
00:16:03
that, but then there was also, um, the
00:16:05
whole case of,
00:16:07
uh, needing to good.
00:16:11
Um, no worries.
00:16:15
Little coffee break. Yeah. So, I think I
00:16:18
think that was that and then combined
00:16:20
with the fact that Terry was was
00:16:21
starting to look at wanting to retire.
00:16:23
um and he'd started having those
00:16:25
conversations with me around, you know,
00:16:27
what was next and and who would who
00:16:28
would sort of start uh running my
00:16:30
program after that. Um yeah, it
00:16:33
essentially made me realize that after
00:16:34
Budapest that it was it was probably
00:16:36
time to to start moving into a into a
00:16:38
new process. And and the big reason for
00:16:40
that was that um in those those few
00:16:42
years as well, what had happened is I'd
00:16:44
started traveling a lot more. And so
00:16:46
because I was traveling a lot more, my
00:16:47
my team uh dynamic had to change. Uh it
00:16:50
became became much more around how did
00:16:54
the the team coach or the team leader of
00:16:56
the the team coordinate everybody else
00:16:59
behind the scenes. So, you know, my
00:17:00
physio and my nutritionist and my mental
00:17:02
skills coach and all these other guys
00:17:03
who previously would just deal with me
00:17:05
on a one-to-one basis. Um, and then
00:17:08
Terry would deal with me on a one-to-one
00:17:09
basis. It was it was much more around
00:17:11
how did Terry deal with all of these
00:17:12
guys collectively, cook up a really nice
00:17:14
plan and then deliver it to me. And and
00:17:16
that just was a it was just a different
00:17:18
way of working. Um, and so so that's
00:17:20
where James came in. He is someone I'm
00:17:22
I'm I've known very well over a number
00:17:24
of years and he's he's a really good
00:17:25
friend of mine and we kind of came
00:17:27
through sport together. Um me as an
00:17:30
athlete, him as a him as a coach. Uh he
00:17:32
he was studying um sport science when I
00:17:35
was kind of just starting out as as
00:17:37
trying to make it as a high performance
00:17:38
athlete and and sort of over the years
00:17:40
um he's he's gotten better and better
00:17:41
roles and I've obviously experienced
00:17:43
better and better results. And so, yeah,
00:17:45
it kind of got to this point where he
00:17:46
was working in my team already, um, and
00:17:48
had a really good understanding of of
00:17:50
everybody's role and what they were
00:17:51
doing. So, we brought him on board, um,
00:17:54
which was a bit it was a bit
00:17:55
nerve-wracking. Uh, obviously it was,
00:17:57
you know, less than 12 months before the
00:17:58
Olympics uh, when he fully kind of took
00:18:00
the reigns. But, uh, credits to Terry.
00:18:02
Terry really was helpful in that that
00:18:05
process and he aided Jimmy and and and
00:18:07
mentored Jimmy through kind of the
00:18:09
process of of handing over his his
00:18:10
program. It wasn't it wasn't so much a a
00:18:13
change in approach or or anything. It
00:18:15
was more what has Terry done up till now
00:18:18
that we can really distill down and and
00:18:19
make into an amazing product. And so
00:18:22
that happened. Um and obviously we got
00:18:24
the results and then this year we've
00:18:26
continued to push on and and get some
00:18:28
amazing things. But yeah, I think it
00:18:29
just kind of goes to show that, you
00:18:30
know, Terry was was an amazing guy for
00:18:32
me when I was when I was coming coming
00:18:33
through the sport and and as I as I got
00:18:36
better and better, um you know, he he
00:18:38
started to I started to outgrow him a
00:18:40
wee bit. Um, and that that kind of that
00:18:42
role and those needs that I had as an
00:18:43
athlete changed. Uh, and and thankfully,
00:18:46
uh, he was he was pretty open at kind of
00:18:48
discussing that and and making me
00:18:50
realize that maybe I needed to change.
00:18:52
>> It seems like it was just a natural sort
00:18:53
of conscious uncoupling. There were no
00:18:56
big fireworks or
00:18:57
>> No, no, it's not. I mean, I think, you
00:18:59
know, in sport when when you change
00:19:01
coaches, a lot of the time, you know,
00:19:03
you're you're firing your coach and and
00:19:05
getting a new one and and, you know,
00:19:06
there's there's some big stuff kind of
00:19:07
happening in the in the background. I
00:19:09
think I think Terry um you know, credit
00:19:11
to him. He he was able to to you know,
00:19:14
break it down for me and and and I sort
00:19:16
of had the realization that that this
00:19:17
just wasn't working and and we could
00:19:19
kind of work through that process
00:19:21
together rather than me just working
00:19:22
through it with the with the new guys.
00:19:23
So, yeah, there was a there was
00:19:25
definitely a number of months there
00:19:26
where it was me, Jimmy, and Terry all
00:19:28
kind of working together. Uh and then
00:19:30
and then as it got closer to the games,
00:19:32
um Terry stepped back. But, uh also at
00:19:34
the games last year, um Terry was there.
00:19:36
So he was in the stadium when I when I
00:19:38
won and and so it was real special to be
00:19:39
able to share with uh share that moment
00:19:41
with him and and then celebrate with him
00:19:42
afterwards as well. So
00:19:44
>> Oh, that's wonderful.
00:19:45
>> That's wonderful. And yeah, so so Jimmy,
00:19:47
you coach now. You guys were like good
00:19:49
mates beforehand. How do you um Yeah.
00:19:52
How do you navigate that?
00:19:53
>> Yeah. Well, we actually used to live
00:19:54
together. Um so when I when I moved down
00:19:56
to Christ Church, um we we lived
00:19:58
together. Uh I needed a place to stay.
00:20:00
He had a spare room in his in his um in
00:20:02
his flat. And so it was me, uh, Jimmy,
00:20:05
and and Hannah, his then girlfriend, now
00:20:07
wife, uh, living together. And so that
00:20:09
was that was good fun. Um, we we got to
00:20:11
know each other pretty well, uh, through
00:20:12
that time. And, and I think that also
00:20:14
kind of really, um, it really helps us
00:20:17
now that we have to balance these
00:20:18
different roles because we we used to
00:20:20
kind of balance roles anyway, like, you
00:20:21
know, flat mates and friends and and
00:20:23
training partners a little bit uh, back
00:20:24
in the day. So yeah, now it's it's very
00:20:26
much like kind of depends on where I'm
00:20:28
texting him. if it's, you know, if I'm
00:20:30
sharing memes on Instagram or
00:20:32
Snapchatting him, it's slightly
00:20:33
different to when I'm WhatsAppapping or
00:20:34
texting him. But, um, no, I think we
00:20:36
managed it really well. And it's
00:20:37
actually a massive benefit because it
00:20:38
means, um, you know, when I'm overseas,
00:20:41
uh, one of the biggest problems I had
00:20:43
early on in my career was definitely
00:20:44
like contending with the loneliness of
00:20:46
being overseas. Uh, you know, you're
00:20:48
you're so far away from your support
00:20:49
team and your support structure of your
00:20:51
your friends and your family and and you
00:20:53
know, I I am on the road for long
00:20:55
periods of time and it is an individual
00:20:56
sport. So that was really tough uh to
00:20:58
begin with to to really kind of make
00:21:00
that stuff work. And so now I'm in a
00:21:02
position where not only do I get my
00:21:03
coach to come along with me, but he's
00:21:05
actually a good mate. Uh and so yeah, we
00:21:07
just we just feel like it adds so much
00:21:08
to the to the value of of what I do. And
00:21:11
yeah, we're we're kind of just like two
00:21:12
Kiwi boys who who travel the world and
00:21:14
and get to see kind of all these amazing
00:21:16
sites. So super grateful for that. Um
00:21:18
but yeah, and as you mentioned as well,
00:21:20
he he does coach my girlfriend. So um
00:21:22
that's yeah, there's a lot of there's a
00:21:24
lot of dynam dynamics there. uh you know
00:21:26
in terms of of her you know being my
00:21:29
training partner essentially as as well
00:21:30
as my girlfriend and then us getting
00:21:32
coached by the same people who's my
00:21:34
mate. Um but I think I think that kind
00:21:36
of community feel and that that family
00:21:37
feel is is what makes me really thrive.
00:21:40
>> Does the nature of your um relationship
00:21:43
with him and the history make it easier
00:21:45
or more difficult to have tough
00:21:46
conversations? Um, I think it makes it
00:21:52
I mean he knows me very well. Um, and he
00:21:54
knows the way I operate which I think in
00:21:56
in competition is is massive. You know,
00:21:58
he can he can look at me without even
00:22:00
saying anything and know how I'm
00:22:01
feeling. Um, you know, to be able to
00:22:03
have that sort of level of support and
00:22:04
and in in a competition in high jump, a
00:22:07
coach is vitally important because
00:22:09
there's so many different dynamics
00:22:10
happening. You know, I could be I could
00:22:12
be too hyped up. I could be not hyped
00:22:13
enough. I could be running too fast, too
00:22:15
slow, like, you know, my my positioning
00:22:18
might be wrong. There's so many
00:22:19
different things that a coach has to
00:22:20
react to and and confirm with an
00:22:21
athlete. Um, and that's not even to then
00:22:24
add in all the mental stuff that's going
00:22:26
on. And so for him to be able to look at
00:22:27
me and and know where I'm at and what's
00:22:30
happening. Um, and you know that that
00:22:33
Paris Olympics qualifying is a perfect
00:22:35
example of that. Um, I don't know if you
00:22:36
want to get into it now, but I mean he
00:22:38
he was instrumental in in getting me
00:22:40
through that. Um, so yeah, so I I think
00:22:42
I think it does really help. Um, and
00:22:44
yeah, it's it's great as well because at
00:22:46
the end of the day, like, you know, he
00:22:47
wants the best for me, but I also want
00:22:48
the best for him. And so, if we, you
00:22:50
know, if we're both kind of building
00:22:52
this amazing legacy and and you know,
00:22:54
I'm getting the wins and and he's he's
00:22:55
getting the the props for those wins as
00:22:57
well. I think it's it's a it's a cool
00:22:58
spot to be in.
00:22:59
>> Oh, it's been an incredible journey that
00:23:01
you've been on.
00:23:02
>> It's remarkable. You We'll get to the
00:23:03
Paris stuff soon, but first of all, I
00:23:04
want to go want to go back. So, um,
00:23:06
early years of Hamish Kur. So, your
00:23:07
dad's a cardiologist,
00:23:09
>> mom's a speech therapist. She She
00:23:11
couldn't even They didn't come to Paris,
00:23:13
but she couldn't even watch it on TV.
00:23:15
>> She had to She had to go outside.
00:23:17
>> She was too nervous. Yeah. Yeah. So,
00:23:20
>> terrible son.
00:23:21
>> I know. Well, she was in Tokyo as well,
00:23:23
and she was telling me off cuz even
00:23:24
Tokyo was stressful. Um,
00:23:26
>> you finished 10th in Tokyo, eh?
00:23:28
>> No, this is Tokyo this time. So, um,
00:23:30
yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, mom and dad,
00:23:32
um, have always been my biggest my
00:23:34
biggest supporters. I, you know, I I
00:23:36
love what they do. And um yeah, I didn't
00:23:38
quite go down the medical pathway that
00:23:39
that the rest of you know, their family
00:23:41
have. But um but yeah, I think I think
00:23:44
one of the biggest things that like I
00:23:45
got taught when I was a kid was um you
00:23:47
know, if you're going to do something,
00:23:49
you do it to completion. It doesn't
00:23:50
matter how well you do at it. Um you
00:23:52
know, it doesn't matter what the outcome
00:23:53
is, so long as you finish what you do,
00:23:55
then you can go and do something. And so
00:23:56
a perfect example of that is is when I
00:23:58
was um when I was 5 years old, I was
00:24:00
playing football and I I loved playing
00:24:02
football. Um, but then about halfway
00:24:04
through the season, my mates at school
00:24:06
convinced me that I should play rugby.
00:24:07
Uh, and so I went home and I was like,
00:24:10
"Oh, mom, mom, I'm like, I don't want to
00:24:11
play football anymore. I want to play
00:24:12
rugby." And she's like, "Yep, yeah,
00:24:13
that's all good. Like, you can
00:24:14
definitely play, but you have to finish
00:24:15
the season. So, you're playing next
00:24:17
year." Uh, and so I think, you know, I I
00:24:19
even remember that was when I was like 5
00:24:20
years old. And I remember that like
00:24:22
vividly now as as a moment where I kind
00:24:24
of realized that it is so important to
00:24:26
be finishing things. Uh, and so I think,
00:24:28
you know, for them that's the thing that
00:24:30
they love about where I'm at now with my
00:24:32
sport is is, yeah, obviously I'm getting
00:24:34
these wins and I'm I'm doing all the
00:24:35
stuff, but I found something I'm real
00:24:37
passionate about and and something that
00:24:38
I want to work really hard at. Uh, and
00:24:39
so I think for them, you know, obviously
00:24:42
nerves aside and and and and that kind
00:24:44
of stress of of of what actually goes on
00:24:46
in the competitions aside, like they're
00:24:48
just super proud of of what I do and I I
00:24:49
really feel that. So yeah, I think I
00:24:51
think that's something that was real
00:24:52
special about where we were growing up
00:24:53
and it definitely shows. I mean, I've
00:24:55
got I've got three other siblings and
00:24:57
they're all, you know, pretty pretty
00:24:58
high performing in their own rights in
00:25:00
their various fields and we're all doing
00:25:01
different things, uh, which is quite
00:25:02
cool. So, yeah, I I I really feel that.
00:25:04
So, um, was super cool being able to
00:25:06
grow up in that space and and that
00:25:08
challenge of of just making sure you're
00:25:10
doing things as as best you can. Uh, and
00:25:12
then, yeah, I think it's definitely
00:25:14
pushed well into my career. M
00:25:16
>> why um if you drill down into why she
00:25:18
was unable to watch it like so I believe
00:25:21
in the qualifying rounds um and we'll
00:25:22
get to this soon that you weren't doing
00:25:24
very you you ended up winning gold but
00:25:25
you weren't doing very well in the
00:25:26
qualifying. She had to like um like go
00:25:28
outside and just get some fresh air.
00:25:30
>> Yeah. So I mean like
00:25:33
high jumps pretty stressful event to
00:25:35
watch cuz it's it's so obvious whether
00:25:36
it's pass fail, you know? You can't you
00:25:38
can't really like
00:25:39
>> you can't really try harder. You just
00:25:41
you just have to be in the right frame
00:25:42
of mind. And um yeah, in that qualifying
00:25:44
round, uh that was when mom went
00:25:46
outside. She her and dad were watching
00:25:48
it, you know, in the middle of the night
00:25:49
in in New Zealand. Um as we were
00:25:51
competing over in Paris and and they
00:25:53
were sitting there on their little iPad
00:25:55
watching on Sky and um yeah, I think
00:25:58
that was that after that second second
00:26:00
attempt at 220 um where I missed it and
00:26:03
then I only had one to one jump to go,
00:26:05
she she just she was like, I just can't
00:26:07
do this anymore. And so she just walked
00:26:08
outside and was just looking at the
00:26:10
stars and like just like breathing. And
00:26:12
then I I think dad kind of called her
00:26:14
back in like it's all good. You got it.
00:26:16
And so she kind of went oh you but I
00:26:19
think I think that's the thing like even
00:26:20
um you know this year in Tokyo mom came
00:26:22
along and watched and um yeah her and
00:26:25
her and Maddie my girlfriend were there
00:26:26
uh which was super cool cuz they were
00:26:27
able to kind of support each other and I
00:26:29
think mom started crying at about 2:31
00:26:31
in the final and was just like I don't
00:26:32
know why he does this. Like can't he
00:26:34
just clear it first attempt?
00:26:36
you know, at the at the end of the day,
00:26:38
like, you know, she she's obviously
00:26:39
super stoked once once I do well. But,
00:26:41
um, yeah, I think I think it's it's it's
00:26:43
kind of cool cuz like I know she's not
00:26:45
doing that because she wants me to do
00:26:47
well. It's because she knows that I'll
00:26:48
be disappointed if I don't. Um, I don't
00:26:50
think it's anything that she she, you
00:26:52
know, it's not like she's wanting this.
00:26:54
Um, she just wants it for me. So, yeah,
00:26:56
I I I really feel that that um that
00:26:59
support, but yeah, it is pretty funny
00:27:00
how, you know, it is it is just such an
00:27:02
intense thing, right?
00:27:04
Oh, just a wave of emotions, eh?
00:27:06
>> Yeah.
00:27:07
>> So, you you're um you're born in
00:27:09
Deneden, raised in Christ Church. Um
00:27:12
what? Born in Christ Church, raised in
00:27:14
>> No, no, born in Denedan, raised in
00:27:16
Oakland.
00:27:17
>> Oh, really?
00:27:18
>> Yeah.
00:27:18
>> And then moved to Christ Church to
00:27:19
train.
00:27:20
>> Yeah.
00:27:20
>> What are your earliest memories?
00:27:22
>> Um earliest memories. Funny you should
00:27:24
say that. We actually lived in Boston
00:27:25
for two years. Um so when I was uh when
00:27:29
I was three and four, uh we lived in
00:27:31
Boston. Dad had a job over there. um in
00:27:34
cardiology. So yeah, I I actually
00:27:36
remember like some of my first memories
00:27:38
were like eating dirty snow in and you
00:27:40
know the streets of Boston and walking
00:27:42
along the beach, you know, which is
00:27:43
probably like a small bay and just think
00:27:45
it was like the longest beach ever. Um
00:27:46
but yeah, no, my then my first memories
00:27:49
are definitely Oakland. Um I lived here
00:27:51
from when I was about 5 years old to
00:27:53
when I left school. So yeah, loved it.
00:27:55
Loved it here. Um yeah, I feel like now
00:27:58
I'm a bit more of a general New
00:27:59
Zealander, but yeah, I've I've still got
00:28:01
a little bit of my heart in Hawin for
00:28:02
sure.
00:28:03
>> And what about sports growing up? You
00:28:04
mentioned you alluded before to playing
00:28:06
um football and rugby.
00:28:09
>> Were you were you a tall kid?
00:28:10
>> I was a tall kid. Like I was always the
00:28:11
tallest kid in the class. Um not by a
00:28:13
huge amount, but by by enough. Like I
00:28:16
was kind of always that kid who everyone
00:28:17
was like, "Ah yeah, you'll stop growing
00:28:18
at some point and we'll we'll all catch
00:28:20
you." And and I kind of never really
00:28:21
did. But um yeah, I I think sport for me
00:28:23
when I was younger um I played a lot of
00:28:25
sport like I I kind of had organized
00:28:27
sports. So I'd play like rugby in the in
00:28:30
the winter and then um I do like usually
00:28:33
cross country, no athletics usually in
00:28:35
the summer. Um and then once I got to
00:28:38
being in my teenage years, I was a
00:28:40
little bit too skinny for rugby. Uh kind
00:28:42
of got banged around a we bit too much.
00:28:43
So then I started doing uh cross country
00:28:45
running in in winter. But um yeah, I
00:28:48
think I think for me like sport was was
00:28:50
always just like a participation thing.
00:28:51
Like I I played every sport at primary
00:28:53
school that you could sign up for. And
00:28:56
um you know, I I I loved going out for
00:28:58
just adventures and walks and and
00:29:00
playing tag with my mates at at at at
00:29:02
lunch. And you know, I think for me
00:29:04
sport was a was an opportunity to get
00:29:05
outside and and get away from the
00:29:06
classroom and and just try and try and
00:29:08
spend as much time outside as possible.
00:29:10
So I think I think that was kind of what
00:29:12
really got me into wanting to play
00:29:13
sport. And then obviously the the
00:29:15
success I've had is has kind of kept me
00:29:17
here. But at the same time like you know
00:29:19
I I reflect on it a lot that I'm just
00:29:21
the kind of I'm just the kid who gets to
00:29:23
do PE for a living now. So um I think
00:29:25
that fundamentally that doesn't really
00:29:27
change. Like I just love being outside
00:29:28
and love moving around and
00:29:30
>> and getting to do what I get to do. So
00:29:32
yeah, I think when I was young um I
00:29:34
definitely had that range of sports. Uh
00:29:36
high jump wasn't like the thing that I
00:29:37
really kind of honed into until I was
00:29:39
probably in my real early 20s. Um I I
00:29:42
love to run. and I love to to jump. I
00:29:44
you know I I I feel like I did a lot of
00:29:46
different things within athletics. Um
00:29:48
but at the same time, you know, if if
00:29:50
you you threw me threw me a ball, I was
00:29:52
I was definitely willing to play as
00:29:53
well. So yeah, I I think that kind of
00:29:54
that variation definitely kind of got me
00:29:57
to where I need to be now. Um obviously
00:29:58
not a lot of variation anymore, but um
00:30:00
yeah, definitely got me here.
00:30:02
>> I feel like in the the New Zealand
00:30:03
school system through primary and
00:30:05
intermediate, maybe even the first
00:30:06
couple of years of college, everyone
00:30:08
everyone dabbles in high jump. Everyone
00:30:09
has a go at high jump, long jump, all
00:30:11
those um standard um athletics day
00:30:14
things. Were you Were you good at high
00:30:15
jump? Did you win the high high jump
00:30:17
growing up?
00:30:18
>> Yeah, I did. I did. I mean, I was doing
00:30:19
a scissor jump.
00:30:20
>> I was tall. Yeah. And so we um I did
00:30:22
love high jump. Like it was kind of it
00:30:24
was kind of always the event that I love
00:30:25
the most. Um but so yeah, so I won it at
00:30:29
um I won it at like primary school. I
00:30:31
think I jumped like the school record of
00:30:32
like 150 or something like that. and
00:30:34
then um went to intermediate kind of I
00:30:37
won it at like a school level uh not at
00:30:40
like a regional level or national level
00:30:42
but definitely like I'd always be
00:30:43
winning it at school. Um and then and
00:30:45
then I I kind of would go to Oakland
00:30:47
Champs and and come sort of fourth or
00:30:49
fifth like you know not not
00:30:51
groundbreaking but but also pretty
00:30:52
decent. Um but every year I kind of got
00:30:54
a wee bit better. Um and I think the
00:30:57
reason that you know I was it was the
00:30:58
sport I was the best at but it wasn't
00:30:59
the sport that I really kind of pushed
00:31:01
into and that was cuz I didn't really
00:31:02
see a future in it. you know, it's it's
00:31:03
such a niche event. Um, it's such such a
00:31:06
small kind of part of of of of a sport,
00:31:09
which is then, you know, a small part of
00:31:10
a a bigger kind of sporting industry, I
00:31:13
suppose. It it didn't really feel like
00:31:14
something that I had a future in or
00:31:16
something I could have a career out of.
00:31:17
And so, I I I loved it. I enjoyed doing
00:31:19
it, but um yeah, ultimately I kind of
00:31:22
knew that that I'd have to have
00:31:23
something else on the side as well. And
00:31:24
so that's why I, you know, played other
00:31:26
sports for the enjoyment and and for the
00:31:28
love, but but also tried to, you know, I
00:31:30
mean, I I went to uni and I, you know, I
00:31:32
studied and I made sure that I kind of
00:31:33
got everything, you know, all my ducks
00:31:34
in a row. Um, on the side of that as
00:31:36
well. So yeah, it's kind of only been
00:31:38
probably in the last few years I've
00:31:39
realized how much of a career this could
00:31:41
be for me. Uh, and so yeah, I think
00:31:43
that's that's quite interesting like
00:31:44
just not really seeing a future in it uh
00:31:46
to to where I am now. Um, you know, been
00:31:48
able to travel the world and and do what
00:31:50
I love for for a living.
00:31:51
>> And is it isn't it funny? I don't know
00:31:52
if this is something that you think
00:31:53
about, but you've sort of singlehandedly
00:31:56
um rewritten that narrative. So, a lot
00:31:57
of young New Zealanders probably see
00:31:59
high jump as a sport they can do now.
00:32:01
>> Yeah. Well, I I I think Yep. Yes. in
00:32:04
high jump for sure. But um I think I
00:32:06
think what's super awesome about um you
00:32:08
know, the general state of of track and
00:32:10
field in New Zealand at the moment is
00:32:11
that there's there's role models in in
00:32:13
any sport in any event that that are
00:32:15
doing really well and and who are
00:32:16
professionals uh you know, for for our
00:32:18
country. So you think about the likes
00:32:20
of, you know, Zoe Hobbs and Tom Walsh
00:32:22
and Jordi Beamish, you know, our latest
00:32:25
track and field track gold medalist. And
00:32:27
um, you know, I think I think that these
00:32:29
these people have kind of par all these
00:32:30
these amazing trails. But I think at the
00:32:32
end of the day, like, you know, there's
00:32:34
just so many different ways to attack
00:32:35
our sport, you know, different levels of
00:32:37
progression and and different ways of
00:32:39
kind of achieving, you know, the the
00:32:41
problem that we have in front of us that
00:32:42
I just hope that people realize that
00:32:44
just cuz my path's been blazed doesn't
00:32:45
mean that other paths can't as well. you
00:32:47
know, if you get to the top and if you
00:32:49
if you really get to where we're at,
00:32:50
there's there's, you know, there's a
00:32:51
there's a good future there and some
00:32:53
really good opportunities. So, yeah,
00:32:54
just get out there and do it.
00:32:56
>> So, you gave it away completely for your
00:32:58
your university years, right?
00:33:00
>> I did. Yeah. Look, I think I I I think a
00:33:03
big part of it was that I didn't see a
00:33:05
future. You know, I I was I I finished
00:33:07
uh high school. I jumped about 210. Uh
00:33:10
which is, you know, it's not bad. uh but
00:33:12
to then make the next jump up which was
00:33:14
to make a world championships I was
00:33:16
going to have to jump 230 and so that 20
00:33:18
cm gap when you're a 18year-old you know
00:33:21
when when delayed gratification and you
00:33:23
know all these things in your frontal
00:33:24
lobe haven't really developed yet like
00:33:25
you know I just wasn't super interested
00:33:27
so um yeah I I went to uni and and and
00:33:30
had a good time for a few years uh and I
00:33:32
was still training a little bit on the
00:33:33
side um you know I I had a coach uh at
00:33:37
at uni who who really kind of just
00:33:39
supported me and and encouraged me to
00:33:41
turn up you she just text me the
00:33:42
training times each each Monday and most
00:33:44
of the time I just ignore them, you
00:33:46
know, every so often I would kind of
00:33:47
turn up and and and she was really
00:33:48
supportive of me just wanting to get
00:33:49
back into it. So yeah, I I I took some
00:33:52
time to to really just get my ducks in a
00:33:54
row and enjoy the uni life and and enjoy
00:33:57
just studying and and and kind of that
00:33:59
whole part of my life. But then I did
00:34:00
start realizing near the end of my
00:34:02
degree how much I miss sport uh and and
00:34:04
how much I I really missed my my event.
00:34:06
I I got the opportunity um in second
00:34:10
year uh sort of near the end of second
00:34:11
year to to kind of talk to a few young
00:34:14
athletes about my experiences in sport
00:34:15
and um and what I'd done cuz I I I sort
00:34:18
of did get to a decent level um by the
00:34:20
end of high school. I was I won the
00:34:22
senior national champs uh as well as the
00:34:24
secondary school champs. So um so I was
00:34:26
like the best high jumper of anyone in
00:34:28
New Zealand u before I kind of gave it
00:34:30
away. And so I yeah, I had this
00:34:31
opportunity to kind of talk to a few
00:34:32
people and it made me realize how much I
00:34:35
missed it and and how much I I really
00:34:36
didn't want to be that kind of person
00:34:38
who like I started building this
00:34:39
narrative of like ah you know like I
00:34:42
could have been really good but I got
00:34:43
injured or I could have been really good
00:34:44
but something kind of got in the way.
00:34:46
And so I I I sort of was able to arrest
00:34:48
that um that spiral and and able to kind
00:34:50
of get back into it and realize that if
00:34:52
I could get to the end of my career um
00:34:55
and and know that I'd given it my all
00:34:58
and I didn't have any regrets, then that
00:35:00
was pretty much a place that I could I
00:35:01
could then, you know, put it to bed,
00:35:04
move away and and do what I do do what I
00:35:06
want to do next. But yeah, I I felt like
00:35:08
I hadn't got to that point yet. So
00:35:09
that's why I got back into it.
00:35:12
>> So you did um an economics degree.
00:35:14
>> Yeah.
00:35:14
>> Yeah. Um, if you weren't a high jumper,
00:35:16
what do you think you'd be doing with
00:35:17
your life right now?
00:35:19
>> I have no idea. It's why I'm glad I am a
00:35:21
high jumper. Look, I think I think that
00:35:24
that part of my life will always be very
00:35:26
important. Um, you know, I I never
00:35:27
thought that this would be a career. Um,
00:35:29
I never thought that I would be here for
00:35:31
for this long doing what I'm doing. And
00:35:32
so, yeah, I'm I'm I'm excited for what's
00:35:35
next. Uh, you know, whatever that may
00:35:37
be. But for now, I I'm focused on on on
00:35:40
jumping as high as possible. And I'm I'm
00:35:42
open to opportunities. I I love meeting
00:35:44
people and chatting about what they've
00:35:45
done and and you know just just meeting
00:35:47
great New Zealanders and and and seeing
00:35:48
what what's going on in the world. But
00:35:50
um but yeah, for now you know I will
00:35:52
continue to build those networks. But um
00:35:54
but high jumps the main thing
00:35:56
>> when you when you're at the level you're
00:35:57
at like the the undisputed um goat high
00:36:00
jumper in the world right now. Is it is
00:36:03
it lucrative? Are there good
00:36:04
opportunities?
00:36:05
>> Is it an okay living?
00:36:07
>> Yeah, I I get by.
00:36:08
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I I think um
00:36:11
you know track and field is quite a big
00:36:12
sport overseas, especially when you get
00:36:14
into Europe. Uh you know, the markets
00:36:15
they have there, you know, you just it's
00:36:17
just the multitudes on top of what we're
00:36:19
dealing with here. And so, um yeah, I I
00:36:22
I think that a lot of people are
00:36:23
probably surprised at at how good of a
00:36:26
living it is. Um I you know, I don't
00:36:28
want to go into too many details, but um
00:36:30
it's yeah, it's it's it's definitely
00:36:32
something that I was even surprised at.
00:36:34
um you know, growing up and and coming
00:36:36
into the sport. Even if you'd asked me
00:36:37
kind of a few years ago, you know, how
00:36:38
successful I would have been. Um I I
00:36:40
probably wouldn't have believed you. But
00:36:42
yeah, I mean, you know, I'm I'm I'm
00:36:43
pretty comfortable now. I I you know, I
00:36:46
I I can I can bring my girlfriend and my
00:36:49
coach, you know, to Europe with me every
00:36:50
year and and and do that pretty
00:36:52
comfortably. And uh you know, the the
00:36:54
lights stay on a home and and back home
00:36:56
at Christ Church, I've I've just bought
00:36:57
my first house. And you know, I've done
00:36:58
all these things that that I feel like a
00:37:00
lot of people my age would be doing as
00:37:01
well. Um, so yeah, I I I think that
00:37:04
yeah, it's it's definitely there's
00:37:05
definitely a lot of opportunity out
00:37:06
there. Um, and so yeah, it's it's
00:37:09
definitely something that if you feel
00:37:11
like you're going to put your life on
00:37:12
hold for a few years to do, um, yeah, it
00:37:13
does catch up once you get to the top.
00:37:15
>> It's it's pleasing to hear that because
00:37:16
it' be nothing worse than being, you
00:37:19
know, so good at something and then you
00:37:21
retire at 30, 35, whatever, and have
00:37:23
like nothing to show for it and be on
00:37:24
the back foot.
00:37:25
>> Yeah, I think look, I mean, I I never
00:37:27
got into this for the money, you know. I
00:37:28
did it for the love. Um, but at the same
00:37:31
time, I think that if you know that that
00:37:33
love runs out quickly, um, I think I
00:37:36
think, you know, as a 30-year-old, if I
00:37:38
if I was still kind of going paycheck to
00:37:39
paycheck, really struggling to get by,
00:37:41
it would become quite tough. Um, and so,
00:37:44
yeah, I'm I'm super grateful. You know,
00:37:45
I've got some great sponsors. Per
00:37:47
Sportsware is my main one, and, you
00:37:49
know, they they they're so supportive of
00:37:50
me and and and really kind of enable a
00:37:52
lot of what I do. So, yeah, super
00:37:54
grateful um for for everyone who's
00:37:56
helped me on this journey. Um, and yeah,
00:37:59
I hope to continue.
00:38:01
>> So, your partner, uh, Maddie Wilson,
00:38:04
she's a hip athlete.
00:38:05
>> Yeah.
00:38:06
>> What's the hipathlon? Is that eight
00:38:07
events?
00:38:07
>> It's seven.
00:38:08
>> Seven events.
00:38:09
>> Uh, so I'm going to get treated here,
00:38:11
but it's the So, you go hurdles, long
00:38:14
jump, short put. No, sorry. Hurdles,
00:38:16
high jump, shot put 200. That's day one.
00:38:20
And then day two, long jump, javelin,
00:38:22
800 m. So, yeah, she
00:38:25
>> to be a superb all round athlete.
00:38:26
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's exhausting watching her
00:38:28
train. She's just like always having to
00:38:30
do all these different events. Um but
00:38:33
yeah, super cool. Uh this year
00:38:35
especially, she was she kind of did her
00:38:38
first overseas competitions. Um and
00:38:40
thankfully they were in kind of a a
00:38:42
weekend that I didn't have uh
00:38:44
competitions on. So I was able to go to
00:38:45
Austria and watch and support her and
00:38:47
and so it's real special like you know
00:38:49
she's she's a couple years younger than
00:38:50
me um and sort of probably on a very
00:38:53
similar career trajectory. I hope that
00:38:55
that I was, you know, four year four or
00:38:57
five years ago. Um, and so to be able to
00:38:59
kind of support her and and support her
00:39:01
as my partner first and foremost, which
00:39:03
is, you know, sometimes tough to to
00:39:05
balance, but um, yeah, I'm I'm just
00:39:07
super proud of her and and I I can't
00:39:08
wait to see what's next. She her her
00:39:10
next big goals are com games. um she
00:39:12
wants to qualify for that and and go
00:39:14
next year and and yeah, for me, you
00:39:17
know, obviously with what we've talked
00:39:18
about in my my goals for for LA, um you
00:39:21
know, I I think another really cool goal
00:39:23
for me is is that if we were both there
00:39:25
um and able to share that that stage, I
00:39:27
would I would be pretty pretty stoked
00:39:28
with that. So, let's hope.
00:39:30
>> And out of the um the seven discip
00:39:32
disciplines in the hip teflon, from what
00:39:33
I can gather, high jumps like her her
00:39:35
specialty. Um
00:39:37
>> nothing to do with me.
00:39:38
>> Yeah. But do you um Yeah. Do you guys
00:39:40
talk high jump at home or?
00:39:42
>> Not really. Like uh I mean look, she is
00:39:44
the best high jump coach in the world,
00:39:46
right? So like why would she need to
00:39:47
talk to me about it? Um no, but I mean
00:39:50
that's that's the thing. I mean I've
00:39:51
always been very hands-off in my
00:39:52
training. Like I turn up to train. Um I
00:39:54
do what my coach tells me to do. I I go
00:39:56
home and I recover. That's that's my
00:39:57
job. Um and so it's the same with
00:39:59
Maddie. Like you know we we obviously go
00:40:02
to training. We challenge each other and
00:40:03
and we're always pushing ourselves in
00:40:04
that that element, but at the same time,
00:40:06
you know, her strengths are her
00:40:07
strengths and and yeah, she's got a
00:40:09
great coach to be able to work through
00:40:10
that.
00:40:11
>> How did you guys you guys met through
00:40:12
High Jump?
00:40:13
>> We met through training. So, we actually
00:40:14
both used to train with Terry. Um, and
00:40:16
then she moved to uh Jimmy uh about 18
00:40:19
months before I did. Um, but yeah, we've
00:40:21
we kind of met through that. Uh, yeah,
00:40:24
she's she's a gizzy girl. I'm an
00:40:25
Oaklander. Uh, so kind of displaced
00:40:27
North Islanders living down in Christ
00:40:29
Church. Uh, so they sort of shared a wee
00:40:31
bit of wee bit of love there. But, um,
00:40:33
yeah, it's it's it's been really cool.
00:40:35
She's super supportive and and I just
00:40:36
hope that, you know, in the next few
00:40:37
years I can I can be as supportive as
00:40:39
she has been to me.
00:40:40
>> Yeah, cuz I saw a photo of her um, uh,
00:40:42
at the Olympics. She was wearing a
00:40:43
t-shirt saying I know Hish.
00:40:45
>> That was awesome. Did you know did you
00:40:47
know she had packed that or was that a
00:40:49
surprise?
00:40:49
>> No. So, uh, the funny Yeah, the funny
00:40:51
story behind that was that um, our flat
00:40:53
mates um, Scotty and Bria who were also
00:40:55
there who also were wearing those
00:40:56
t-shirts, they they had made them. So
00:40:58
Bria was the um reserve for the triathon
00:41:01
for the team triathon and so she she was
00:41:03
already in um Paris. Her boyfriend um
00:41:06
came up to to support and then Maddie
00:41:08
was there as well. Uh and uh Scotty was
00:41:11
supposed to Bria had actually made these
00:41:14
t-shirts and like printed them out in
00:41:15
Spain where they were basing and and
00:41:17
Scotty forgot to bring them to Paris.
00:41:20
And so the the morning of the final um
00:41:23
it was like Scotty, where are the
00:41:25
t-shirts? And so then apparently there
00:41:27
was this huge like they so then Maddie
00:41:29
and Bria pretty much had this huge like
00:41:32
mission to go around Paris trying to
00:41:33
find like a t-shirt printer who would do
00:41:35
these t-shirts and the guy was kind of a
00:41:37
bit weird as well about them cuz it's
00:41:38
just like all these random you know it
00:41:40
was just all these people's face on
00:41:41
faces on them. So that was quite good.
00:41:43
But um yeah they obviously you know got
00:41:45
it done and and and wore them and I
00:41:47
didn't realize until I I got out there
00:41:49
and and looked up in the crowd and saw
00:41:50
them all wearing them and yeah it's just
00:41:52
just typical those guys. It must have
00:41:54
made you feel really good.
00:41:55
>> Yeah, it was. It's It's a bit weird when
00:41:58
um you know, they they walk out in the
00:41:59
morning still wearing them, you know,
00:42:02
from time to time cuz we all still live
00:42:03
together. Um but yeah, it's it's it's
00:42:05
pretty cool to see that kind of stuff
00:42:06
happen.
00:42:06
>> What What are you like? What would
00:42:07
Maddie say you're like in the leadup to
00:42:09
a competition? Like um just before the
00:42:11
Olympic qualifying or the World Champ
00:42:13
qualifying, whatever. Are you um
00:42:16
is there a significant change in your
00:42:17
demeanor?
00:42:18
>> Um you'd have to ask her.
00:42:22
Uh, I I honestly I think um I'm
00:42:27
I'm pretty driven like you know I I I
00:42:29
get pretty focused in that time. Um I'm
00:42:33
probably not the best boyfriend at that
00:42:35
that moment. Um I think I think you know
00:42:37
as the years have gone by and and kind
00:42:39
of our relationships matured and grown,
00:42:41
it's been much better. But yeah, I I I
00:42:44
feel like for me when I'm in that mode,
00:42:46
um usually we don't spend a lot of time
00:42:49
together. um you know she she'll come
00:42:51
over, she'll support, but I'll always
00:42:53
make sure that you know my mom is there
00:42:54
as well or you know some of her friends
00:42:56
are there so there's people for her to
00:42:57
hang out with cuz cuz in that moment you
00:42:58
know that's that's when I'm working and
00:43:00
I'm I'm busy and so yeah it's it's it's
00:43:03
it's gone to the point where she can
00:43:05
support me in that that moment now. But
00:43:07
I think yeah once you get to that that
00:43:09
kind of that top of the peak uh the air
00:43:11
gets pretty thin and and you have to
00:43:12
really make sure your your energies on.
00:43:14
though. Yeah, I I get quite um I get
00:43:17
quite kind of narrow-minded in my
00:43:19
thinking and in my my burn of my energy.
00:43:21
And so, a lot of stuff gets managed from
00:43:23
Jimmy and my my agent. Um and and kind
00:43:26
of nothing else really gets gets done
00:43:28
and gets passed through to me other than
00:43:29
than performance stuff.
00:43:31
>> I I had Nikico Portius on the podcast
00:43:33
recently. Um yeah, winter gold medalist.
00:43:36
And he he just talked about the
00:43:37
crippling anxiety he'd have in the
00:43:38
leadup to a competition. Like there'd be
00:43:40
some nights where he'd be at the the
00:43:41
Olympics and he'd just be awake all
00:43:43
night talking to his mom like sort of
00:43:45
her sort of counseling him through it.
00:43:47
What do you like? You sleep sleep well
00:43:48
the night before a big event or
00:43:50
>> I sleep better nowadays. Like I think um
00:43:52
for me like my gut gets really bad so I
00:43:54
just can't hold food down. And so for
00:43:57
sort of one of the overarching feelings
00:43:58
when I finish a comp is I just want to
00:44:00
have like a proper feed because it's
00:44:01
like the first time in like a week that
00:44:02
I've actually been able to hold food in.
00:44:04
Um and so yeah, I think that's one of
00:44:06
the hardest things. But for me as well,
00:44:07
like when I'm in that um that really
00:44:09
high level mode, uh when I'm like peing
00:44:12
and and you know, everything is on, my
00:44:14
body just aches. Like you think that a
00:44:16
peak like when you're in your freshest
00:44:17
moment, like everything should feel like
00:44:19
super amazing. And yet I always, you
00:44:22
know, every time I get through into that
00:44:23
massive competition, my body just feels
00:44:25
like it's like one or two bad jumps away
00:44:26
from breaking. And so I think for me,
00:44:29
there's just that that massive neural
00:44:30
kind of um that neurally strong feeling
00:44:33
of of everything. you're just super
00:44:35
aware of every time you kind of step out
00:44:37
of bed wrong. You, you know, your knee
00:44:39
might start hurting or something, you
00:44:40
know, that those things just, you know,
00:44:42
get
00:44:42
>> like phantom pains.
00:44:44
>> Yeah. And they just like something that
00:44:45
might just be a tiny little ache, you
00:44:47
know, any other time of of of the year
00:44:50
just becomes amplified. Uh, and so
00:44:51
you're just constantly kind of trying to
00:44:53
talk your talk your brain and your body
00:44:55
down. Um, so yeah, for me it's just like
00:44:58
I get to the the end of a comp. Um, and
00:45:00
I just I just I'm just in so much pain.
00:45:03
Uh but for me, I also know uh and I've
00:45:06
gotten gotten kind of better at
00:45:08
identifying that that's when I'm in the
00:45:10
best shape. Uh and so I know that it's
00:45:13
my body's way of knowing something big
00:45:16
is about to happen and kind of trying to
00:45:18
shy away from it and give myself an out.
00:45:19
Um and so if I can like lean into that
00:45:21
and and really kind of push through it,
00:45:22
that's that's often when I get my best
00:45:24
performances.
00:45:25
>> Have you done much work with a sports
00:45:26
psychologist?
00:45:27
>> So I've got a mental skills coach. Yeah.
00:45:29
So so Quinny uh is my mental skills
00:45:31
coach. He's based in Christ Church. Uh
00:45:33
and yeah, a lot of that work is done
00:45:35
with him. Um around, you know, like what
00:45:39
how should you feel in these these big
00:45:41
moments and and you know, kind of what
00:45:43
are the things that you can bring
00:45:44
yourself back to and and how can you
00:45:46
ground yourself uh and and rely and and
00:45:49
trust and enable the confidence and and
00:45:51
all the things we've done before that
00:45:52
moment. And so I think for me that's
00:45:54
that's what's really changed over the
00:45:56
last few years is is when I get into
00:45:57
those tough moments uh instead of trying
00:45:59
to clutch at something that's not there.
00:46:01
It's about having the confidence to just
00:46:03
remind myself that I've done this all
00:46:05
before. Uh and having to just almost
00:46:07
bring myself back down to to real life
00:46:09
and and just just being able to kind of
00:46:11
work through that. So yeah, it's pretty
00:46:13
tough um at times. Like obviously I've
00:46:15
I've had some pretty big jumps in the
00:46:16
last 12 months where it's all been on
00:46:18
the line, but um you know with the work
00:46:20
that I do with Quinny um it definitely
00:46:23
definitely helps a lot.
00:46:25
>> Yeah. How what's the sort of
00:46:26
relationship there? Like do you just you
00:46:28
text him or call when needed or you have
00:46:30
regular appointments?
00:46:31
>> We call pretty often. Um I'd say I'd say
00:46:34
like probably once once every couple of
00:46:36
weeks. Um I wouldn't say it's like you
00:46:37
know I'm not I'm not calling them every
00:46:39
every day every week. uh I feel like I
00:46:41
you know a lot of the time I know what
00:46:42
I'm doing but um yeah it's it's just
00:46:44
around like him him challenging me on my
00:46:46
language and and constantly you know
00:46:48
reminding myself that reminding me that
00:46:50
I need to continue to grow and and and
00:46:51
build as an athlete. I think I think for
00:46:53
me that's probably the biggest kind of
00:46:55
mental
00:46:56
skills thing that that we often talk
00:46:58
about is is like the context of sport
00:47:00
within my life. Um and and kind of
00:47:03
reminding me that it's something that
00:47:04
I'm I'm deeply connected to and
00:47:06
something that I've I've worked really
00:47:07
hard to to get to.
00:47:10
at the end of the day like you know is
00:47:12
it going to change my life these these
00:47:14
these opportunities and these these
00:47:15
moments and and I I think it will uh to
00:47:18
a point but at the same time you know
00:47:20
whether or not I I I succeed or fail uh
00:47:23
you know I'm still the same person and I
00:47:25
still have the same friends and family
00:47:26
and you know the the sun still rises
00:47:29
each morning and the the birds are still
00:47:30
chirping and you know I think for me you
00:47:32
know that's that's my biggest thing that
00:47:34
I I ground myself into in in those big
00:47:36
moments is is regardless of what happens
00:47:39
I'm going to wake up the next morning
00:47:40
and and continue on with life and and
00:47:42
have all those same feelings that I've
00:47:43
I've had. You know, maybe there'll be a
00:47:45
little a little bit more disappointment
00:47:46
or a little bit more happiness, but at
00:47:48
the same time, I'm still going to be me.
00:47:50
So, yeah.
00:47:51
>> Yeah. And the funny thing is, and this
00:47:53
is probably quite um refreshing to hear,
00:47:56
you win, people remember. A lot of
00:47:57
people will, some people won't, but if
00:47:59
you lose, no one remembers.
00:48:02
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, yes, it's it is it is
00:48:05
kind of like the the reality, right? And
00:48:06
I think look this this year is is a
00:48:09
perfect example of that is um you know
00:48:11
at the start of the year I I I didn't
00:48:13
win at all. I I came off last year. Um I
00:48:16
had a lot of time off uh after the
00:48:18
Olympics and and that was something that
00:48:20
was really important for me because I
00:48:21
needed to sit with my success and sit
00:48:23
with you know what had happened and and
00:48:24
then once I started training again and
00:48:26
and starting to move through I was able
00:48:28
to yeah I didn't start training until
00:48:31
quite late um in the the offseason and
00:48:33
so I I was just underprepared and I I
00:48:36
came between about 10th and sixth or
00:48:40
fifth in all of my my first four diamond
00:48:43
leagues. Um and so yeah, you know,
00:48:46
objectively that's it's not a great
00:48:47
season for an Olympic champion and and
00:48:48
and you know, all these things were
00:48:50
happening and and one of the other guys
00:48:52
um the South Korean Woo was winning
00:48:53
everything and then you get to world
00:48:57
champs, he was undefeated. I had only
00:49:00
just started kind of winning and then I
00:49:02
end up winning world champs and you know
00:49:05
at the end of the day people are going
00:49:06
to remember this season is the season
00:49:07
that I won World Champs, not the season
00:49:09
that he only won one comp. So yeah, it's
00:49:12
about when it matters, which is which is
00:49:14
the most important thing.
00:49:16
>> Yes, since we're um on the psychology
00:49:18
side of things. So um there was a story
00:49:20
I read on Women's Day that you did with
00:49:21
your your girlfriend Maddie, and there
00:49:23
was a line in there that caught my
00:49:24
attention. Um which I yeah, I wanted to
00:49:26
drill down a little bit. The line from
00:49:28
you was um my sense of self is something
00:49:30
I've always struggled with.
00:49:32
>> What does that mean? Um,
00:49:35
yeah, I think
00:49:38
I think there's a few there's a few like
00:49:40
kind of takes on that. Um, but I think
00:49:43
firstly the the fact that I I never saw
00:49:46
high jump as a career or something that
00:49:48
could be a full-time occupation. Um,
00:49:52
I I always felt like there should be
00:49:54
something else, like I shouldn't just be
00:49:55
a high jumper. And so I was always
00:49:57
trying to sort of shy away from from
00:49:59
that that tag, you know, that that
00:50:01
professional athlete or elite athlete
00:50:02
tag for a long time. And and it's it's
00:50:05
taken like even even sort of like past
00:50:08
the Tokyo Olympics and and into kind of
00:50:10
Birmingham, you know, 2022, I I was
00:50:13
still quite resistant to call myself an
00:50:15
elite athlete. Uh which is weird because
00:50:17
I wasn't like I was I was full-time in
00:50:18
that. And and and I think it was because
00:50:20
I just never saw this as something that
00:50:22
should be a career. Um, I I feel like my
00:50:25
my my thinking was probably quite
00:50:27
traditional. Um, you know, coming from a
00:50:29
family of doctors and and professionals
00:50:31
in their own rights, like I think I
00:50:32
think potentially that fed into it a wee
00:50:34
bit of the sense of like, yeah, that's
00:50:36
great you're playing sport, but like
00:50:37
what's happening in your studies or like
00:50:38
what's happening in all the rest of your
00:50:39
life? And so, yeah, it it took me a long
00:50:41
time to contend with that. Um, and and I
00:50:44
think as well, like, you know, deep
00:50:46
down, you know, I I was probably a
00:50:48
little bit cynical about the effect that
00:50:50
sport could have on society and on on
00:50:52
other people. And so, you know, I
00:50:54
thought it was great that I was doing
00:50:55
all these things, but I never really
00:50:56
understood why other people didn't get
00:50:58
celebrated the same as me. Um, and
00:51:00
again, an example of that is is in 2022,
00:51:03
uh, I won con games for the first time,
00:51:05
but my older sister also graduated
00:51:07
medical school. Um, so, you know, she
00:51:09
had been working for for 10 years of her
00:51:10
life towards, you know, getting this
00:51:12
amazing achievement and and now she's in
00:51:14
a position where she's going to be
00:51:15
helping, you know, thousands of people,
00:51:17
you know, actual change change their
00:51:19
life, you know, save people's lives. Um,
00:51:21
and and yet at Christmas everyone wanted
00:51:23
to ask me about con games and you know,
00:51:25
no one was really super interested in
00:51:26
that. And so I think I think for me like
00:51:28
there was always kind of this this
00:51:29
cynical nature of of what I do and and
00:51:31
and kind of what does it really matter
00:51:33
at the end of the day and and so that
00:51:34
sense of self of of getting celebrated
00:51:36
and getting put up as as this this
00:51:38
athlete of, you know, and this this
00:51:40
person who's done these amazing things
00:51:41
when
00:51:42
>> I've I've, you know, firsthand seen all
00:51:44
these amazing things other people do and
00:51:46
and never really get celebrated for was
00:51:47
was something that I I I thought was
00:51:49
quite hard. Um, and yeah, I'm getting
00:51:51
better at it, uh, for sure. Like I I I I
00:51:54
feel like now I don't think about it a
00:51:55
lot. Um, I'm I'm so busy. You know, my
00:51:57
my energy is is is pretty pretty um, you
00:52:01
know, between training and recovering
00:52:03
and and then everything else I do, I I
00:52:05
don't have a lot of time to think about
00:52:06
um, you know, the wide world and and
00:52:07
everything else that's going on on it.
00:52:09
But um, yeah, it's it's definitely an
00:52:11
interesting concept. Uh, but yeah, one
00:52:14
that I've just had to deal with.
00:52:16
>> It's an interesting game. It's like it's
00:52:17
like winner's guilt in a way. Yeah.
00:52:20
Like, yeah, I think I think at the end
00:52:21
of the day, like I I I think I like I
00:52:25
just feel like a person, you know, I I
00:52:26
do what I do. I I get up each morning
00:52:28
and I I have my coffee and my breakfast
00:52:30
and then I go and work really hard at my
00:52:32
job. And and then I I come home and and,
00:52:35
you know, do do what I need to do to
00:52:36
recover and get ready for the the next
00:52:38
part of it. And I'm I'm good at
00:52:40
reviewing that that process and and
00:52:42
working out kind of where where the gaps
00:52:44
are and and where I need to get to the
00:52:45
for the next part. I I I just feel like
00:52:47
I'm I'm just I'm just a person. So,
00:52:50
yeah, I think when I you know, when I
00:52:53
>> get to meet all these amazing people
00:52:54
nowadays, um you know, whether it's
00:52:57
whether it's business leaders or other
00:52:58
athletes or or you know, doctors,
00:53:00
lawyers, all these kinds of people, like
00:53:02
I I I love hearing their story and I
00:53:04
love love seeing what they're doing at
00:53:06
their level of of of their career. And
00:53:08
and I think that that's the most
00:53:09
important thing for me is that as humans
00:53:11
like you know if we're just getting
00:53:12
better and if we're we're improving
00:53:14
doesn't really matter what it is like I
00:53:15
I just see that as a massive win.
00:53:18
>> Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Constant
00:53:20
self-improvement. E just a little bit
00:53:22
each day. It's all you can hope for.
00:53:23
>> What um what does an average day or week
00:53:26
look like?
00:53:27
>> Um yeah. So kind of depends what time of
00:53:29
the year it is, but uh most most of the
00:53:32
time when I'm in like heavy training
00:53:33
with no competitions, uh it would be uh
00:53:36
jumping twice a week. So, I jump on
00:53:38
Tuesdays and Saturdays. Uh, then I I'm
00:53:41
in the gym three times a week. So,
00:53:43
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then I do
00:53:45
like running and then track based stuff
00:53:47
uh on Thursday and then a little bit on
00:53:49
Tuesday and a little bit on Saturday.
00:53:50
So, that's that's pretty much my my
00:53:52
training week. Um, so it's about six
00:53:54
days and then I have
00:53:55
>> How many hours all up do you reckon?
00:53:57
>> Um, not a huge amount. Like, I mean, as
00:53:59
a I'm a power so like it's not about how
00:54:02
many hours you put in, it's about the
00:54:03
quality of those hours. Uh, and so I'd
00:54:05
say we do about, you know, two to three
00:54:06
hours a day. Um, not, you know, the
00:54:08
whole time. We we've got breaks in there
00:54:10
and and we're we're having lots of
00:54:11
recovery in in between, but yeah,
00:54:13
between about two and three hours a day.
00:54:15
Uh, and then Sunday is almost the most
00:54:17
important day of the week. That's my
00:54:18
recovery day. And so that's the day
00:54:20
where I I don't do anything. I make sure
00:54:22
that I'm I'm, you know, getting my body
00:54:24
ready for for what's to come for the
00:54:25
next week. So yeah, that's that's
00:54:27
essentially my my training week. Um,
00:54:28
it's always training in the mornings and
00:54:30
then recovering in the afternoons. Uh,
00:54:32
and my recovery in the afternoons is is
00:54:33
often just going home and lying on the
00:54:35
couch, which is the best part of my job.
00:54:37
I love that bit. So,
00:54:38
>> yeah, but being in this environment and
00:54:40
like I don't know, I suppose like being
00:54:41
in the um the Olympic sphere and seeing
00:54:44
a whole lot of um other professional
00:54:46
athletes in a whole lot of different
00:54:47
disciplines. Um, yeah. What's high jump
00:54:50
like compared to others in terms of like
00:54:51
training? I'm thinking swimming's got to
00:54:52
be one of the worst.
00:54:53
>> E,
00:54:54
>> in terms of time involved.
00:54:55
>> Yeah, it's look like often it depends on
00:54:57
like how long your event is. Um, and so
00:55:00
generally like the longer you go, so
00:55:01
whether it's like, you know, 1500 meter
00:55:04
running, 5,000 meter running, marathon
00:55:06
running, and then the same, you know,
00:55:07
swimming, it's like the length of the
00:55:08
the time, the rowers, like all these
00:55:10
guys, like generally you'd have to do
00:55:12
more and more training. Um, and so yeah,
00:55:14
I mean, it's it's funny. I know Jordy
00:55:16
Beeish really well um you know, we've
00:55:18
we've been on tour heaps um in the last
00:55:20
few years and he always jokes with me
00:55:21
because like as a runner, they're always
00:55:24
like running. like they'll run every
00:55:25
single morning and then they'll go and
00:55:26
do a workout in the afternoon and like
00:55:28
he'll just be sitting there be like,
00:55:29
"Oh, what do you got today?" Like
00:55:30
another rest day. Like it's just, you
00:55:32
know, it's it's great, but it's just
00:55:34
like that's just the reality of what we
00:55:35
do. Like, you know, for for me it's
00:55:37
about like, you know, recovery. Uh
00:55:40
whereas for those guys, it's about
00:55:41
mileage. And I think honestly like
00:55:43
probably the worst sport for it in my
00:55:46
opinion would be rowing. And the reason
00:55:48
for that is they have to wake up so
00:55:49
bloody early. Like I just Yeah. I
00:55:51
couldn't do that. E.
00:55:53
>> Yeah. so early and such long sessions as
00:55:56
well.
00:55:57
>> Yeah. Yeah. Such long sessions. Um you
00:55:59
know, you're outdoors in the, you know,
00:56:01
rain, hail, and shine just just getting
00:56:03
it done and Yeah. My hat goes, you know,
00:56:06
props to them. Yeah. My heart goes out
00:56:08
to them.
00:56:09
>> So, you're at peace with the sport you
00:56:11
chose to do.
00:56:12
>> Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. But I think
00:56:14
I think within that as well, it's it's,
00:56:15
you know, we've got this really weird
00:56:17
balance of like a lot of the time it's
00:56:20
just grind. like you know pro for
00:56:22
probably 8 months a year it's like you
00:56:24
just you're pretty much just trying to
00:56:26
standardize your day as best as
00:56:27
possible. You know it's like how many
00:56:29
it's like just how can you get through
00:56:30
the monotony of waking up every single
00:56:32
morning and doing the exact same thing
00:56:34
and then for 4 months it's like crazy.
00:56:37
It's like the highest you know there's
00:56:39
like almost no pressure in the 8 months.
00:56:42
there's pressure to come, but it's like
00:56:43
in that eight months, it's just about
00:56:44
building the the engine and building
00:56:46
what's what's to come. And then and then
00:56:47
that four months, it's just like the the
00:56:49
most ultimate stress test for that. And
00:56:51
then it just becomes really really like
00:56:53
highly um highly intense. And I think
00:56:55
that a lot of athletes um you know
00:56:57
they'll thrive in either one of those
00:56:59
zones but but kind of struggle um to
00:57:01
really kind of get amongst it when you
00:57:04
know either either you're really good at
00:57:05
the the habitual stuff the the grind the
00:57:08
just being able to not think about stuff
00:57:09
and just turn up and and get it done or
00:57:11
you're like really high you know you're
00:57:13
quite a highly strong person to begin
00:57:14
with and you're really good in that
00:57:15
moment but you kind of can't really get
00:57:16
it together for the first bit.
00:57:18
>> But I think for me like that's one of my
00:57:19
big strengths is that I thrive in both
00:57:21
those spaces. Like I love my habit. I
00:57:23
love my routine. And I love like kind of
00:57:25
just turning up and you know just doing
00:57:27
the exact same thing every day. But I
00:57:28
get bored of that and then like once I
00:57:30
get bored of that then I love like just
00:57:33
just the intense nature of of
00:57:35
competitions. So
00:57:36
>> what's the best and worst thing about
00:57:38
it?
00:57:38
>> Um
00:57:41
best and worst thing. So
00:57:42
>> winning.
00:57:43
>> Yeah. Uh
00:57:47
I don't know. I think like I what the
00:57:50
best thing actually no I know what the
00:57:52
best thing is. The best thing is is like
00:57:54
getting to a point where you're so keyed
00:57:56
into a comp that you don't know what day
00:57:57
it is. So, like we'll have we'll have
00:57:59
times where I'll, you know, I'll be
00:58:02
doing like an like a a shakeout session
00:58:04
before a comp or like a like a after
00:58:07
doing a big travel day, we'll do like a
00:58:08
little like kind of body movement thing
00:58:10
and like, you know, we'll go to the pool
00:58:11
and do a bit of like movement stuff and
00:58:13
and often on those days like like we'll
00:58:16
turn up to the track and like there's no
00:58:17
one there and you're like why is no one
00:58:18
here and then you realize it's like
00:58:20
Sunday or something, you know? It's just
00:58:21
like a day where like everyone else is
00:58:23
like hanging out for the weekend and
00:58:24
like we just wouldn't like I just
00:58:25
wouldn't have a clue what what day it is
00:58:27
in those moments. And so I think for me
00:58:28
that's the best thing cuz it's like
00:58:29
that's when I'm just like at ultimate
00:58:31
peace with what I've got. It's like all
00:58:32
I know is that I've got 6 days to the
00:58:34
next comp or 4 days since the last one
00:58:36
or you know it just becomes that that
00:58:38
that mode. So that's the best thing. Um
00:58:40
>> I think the worst thing is definitely
00:58:41
the travel though. Like I I love
00:58:43
traveling. I love being away. Um but you
00:58:46
know I'm away from my family, away from
00:58:47
my friends for a long time. So yeah,
00:58:48
it's it will always be the hardest thing
00:58:50
for me um is is still being able to be
00:58:53
connected to to everyone back home while
00:58:55
I'm I'm out there doing what I need to
00:58:57
do.
00:58:58
>> When did you genuinely believe you could
00:59:00
be the best in the world?
00:59:03
>> Um
00:59:04
I think like deep down I've kind of
00:59:06
always known that I I will be as good as
00:59:10
I as as good as I put my energy to. you
00:59:13
know, every year it was like, let's just
00:59:14
put a bit more energy towards this. And
00:59:15
I got better and better. And so, so I
00:59:17
kind of think, you know, deep down there
00:59:19
was probably this this arrogance of of
00:59:20
knowing that I could always be be be the
00:59:23
best or one of the best. But, you know,
00:59:25
to truly believe that and truly realize
00:59:26
that it's a reality, um, was probably
00:59:29
something that I keyed into last year at
00:59:31
the start of the year uh, when I won
00:59:32
World Indoors, uh, and then kind of
00:59:34
leading towards the Olympics. um I knew
00:59:36
that I was I was in really good shape
00:59:38
and and that was the first time I really
00:59:39
sort of saw that that opportunity and
00:59:42
that reality start to take shape.
00:59:43
>> Awesome. What's the um the biggest um
00:59:46
failure or disappointment that you've
00:59:47
had to bounce back from in your career
00:59:48
so far?
00:59:49
>> Um
00:59:50
>> has there been like a rock bottom?
00:59:51
>> Yeah, there has. Uh yeah, so Bipest 2023
00:59:54
uh when I failed to make the final uh
00:59:56
was that was my rock bottom for sure. Um
00:59:59
I
01:00:01
yeah I mean I I came off the track I I
01:00:03
was pretty blindsided. Like I I thought
01:00:05
I was in good shape. Like I thought I
01:00:06
was ready to jump 230 235 and and I
01:00:09
actually the I was because the evidence
01:00:11
was that then I went to a comp 2 weeks
01:00:13
later and jumped 233. Uh but in that
01:00:15
moment I only jumped 220. And so yeah so
01:00:17
that was that was a that was a massive
01:00:19
failure for me. Um,
01:00:22
but the more I delved into it, the more
01:00:23
I realized that failure was in my
01:00:25
process and the failure wasn't the
01:00:26
energy I'd actually given that that
01:00:27
season. I I'd cut corners. I I hadn't
01:00:29
done what I needed to do. My recovery
01:00:31
wasn't as good as I I should have, you
01:00:33
know, I I didn't put enough energy
01:00:35
towards that. I I I didn't turn up to
01:00:37
training ready to go each day and and
01:00:39
and make sure that I was I was doing
01:00:41
that that 8 months of monotony
01:00:43
correctly. Uh, and so yeah, that was
01:00:46
that was that was definitely the worst
01:00:47
time. Um I yeah I I was gutted. Um I was
01:00:51
so lucky Maddie was there. Uh and I I
01:00:54
moved out of the team hotel and just you
01:00:56
know spent a week with her and then went
01:00:57
to went to Croatia actually and and and
01:01:00
had a holiday and just didn't think
01:01:01
about the sport for for a for a week or
01:01:03
two. Uh which was which was just really
01:01:05
really needed. But yeah, I think I think
01:01:06
now that I look back on it um
01:01:09
like I wouldn't have won the Olympics if
01:01:11
I didn't do that as well. Like that was
01:01:13
that was the moment that that I had to
01:01:15
have that moment to to then kind of come
01:01:18
out of the fire like a phoenix, you
01:01:20
know? It's it's like you have to burn
01:01:21
everything down to to kind of really
01:01:22
strip it back and and really understand
01:01:23
like what's going on. And and if I
01:01:25
didn't have that moment, I wouldn't be
01:01:27
here. Like it it it just wouldn't have
01:01:28
wouldn't have gone the same way. I I
01:01:30
probably would have realized that like I
01:01:32
would have had that failure somewhere
01:01:33
along the line. It was it probably would
01:01:35
have been at the Olympics. Um and and
01:01:37
then that would have been, you know, so
01:01:38
much more catastrophic that um I was
01:01:40
just lucky I was able to kind of catch
01:01:42
that when I when I did. And yeah, it's
01:01:44
it's it's definitely tough, but at the
01:01:46
same time, I think, you know, the the
01:01:48
more you lean into those those negative
01:01:50
times and those those moments, that's
01:01:51
when you get the most growth. And so,
01:01:54
yeah, I think I think that's something
01:01:55
that, you know, will be a challenge for
01:01:57
us this year and and was a challenge
01:01:58
last year was was, you know, you get so
01:02:00
much success. How do you keep pushing
01:02:02
and how do you how do you sort of still
01:02:04
break it down and go, "Okay, that's
01:02:05
great, but you know, what did we set out
01:02:07
to do? Did we really achieve that?" And
01:02:09
and and if so, how do we continue? And
01:02:12
and if not, how do we how do we really
01:02:14
like kind of look at that and and really
01:02:15
understand how can we be better? Cuz
01:02:17
>> yeah, otherwise if you just kind of go
01:02:19
out there and just hope that you will do
01:02:21
well, um you'll always find something
01:02:23
positive about it. Um, so it's about
01:02:25
really trying to like hone into that
01:02:27
achievement stuff and and and make sure
01:02:28
you're you're really trying to set
01:02:30
something down um so you can review it.
01:02:32
>> It's that old saying like a failure is a
01:02:34
stepping stone to success.
01:02:36
>> Yeah, that's interesting. So that was
01:02:37
after we had the podcast last time. So
01:02:39
do you think after the Comwalth Games
01:02:40
medal you were sort of I don't know
01:02:43
believing your own hype or something
01:02:44
going into the Buddha piece thing or
01:02:46
>> Yeah, I think I think um I definitely
01:02:48
got soft like I well not soft like I I
01:02:51
it wasn't it wasn't that bad but it was
01:02:53
it was it was just like
01:02:55
like it was almost that that case of
01:02:57
like I'd finally got my foot in the
01:02:58
door. I thought I'd arrived. Whereas
01:03:01
nowadays it's like I really like believe
01:03:04
that it's like once you get that foot in
01:03:05
the door that's when you actually have
01:03:06
to try the hardest. like that's when it
01:03:08
just it only starts to matter. Uh and so
01:03:10
I think for me 2022 was was getting a
01:03:13
little sense of that and get get a
01:03:14
little understanding of of what it would
01:03:16
be like to win and and and compete at a
01:03:18
high level. But I still kind of wasn't
01:03:20
really there. Like I still didn't have
01:03:21
the the goods to to jump, you know, into
01:03:23
the high30s and and compete with those
01:03:26
guys when when they are all really at
01:03:28
their best. Um and so yeah, it was it
01:03:30
took it took a wee bit of time to get
01:03:32
through that. Um, but thankfully I had
01:03:34
the the right people in my team and and
01:03:36
we're able to to work through that um as
01:03:38
a unit and and now I'm here. So yeah, it
01:03:40
it wasn't something that I felt like
01:03:42
like I look back on that and I don't
01:03:44
have any regrets with how it went. Like
01:03:45
I don't I don't feel like 2023 was was a
01:03:48
failure because I didn't get the results
01:03:51
that I I wanted. I see it as a massive
01:03:53
success because it was it was a time
01:03:55
where I I had to transition from an
01:03:57
athlete who was was good and could win
01:04:01
from time to time to to like being like,
01:04:03
"Okay, but that's not what I want to be.
01:04:05
I want to be an athlete who is the best
01:04:06
and wins, you know, when it really
01:04:08
matters all the time. So yeah, I I I
01:04:11
look back on that time with a bit of
01:04:13
pain, but at the same time, you know, a
01:04:15
huge amount of of of pride, I suppose,
01:04:17
with with how we were able to kind of
01:04:18
get through that and and grow as a
01:04:20
person and and, you know, grow as an
01:04:22
athlete.
01:04:23
>> Well, it led you to so much good stuff
01:04:24
after that. And let's get into the Paris
01:04:26
Olympics now. So, um,
01:04:28
>> yeah. How is it? Were you there for the
01:04:30
opening ceremony? Were you on the boat?
01:04:31
>> No, I wasn't, thankfully.
01:04:34
>> Why did you did you intentionally avoid
01:04:35
the the hype of the Olympic opening
01:04:37
ceremony? Um well so the high jump was
01:04:40
the last day of the Olympics. Um so two
01:04:42
weeks before so we so yeah two the so
01:04:45
two weeks after the opening ceremony was
01:04:47
was when we were competing and so yeah
01:04:48
it was just a little bit early for me to
01:04:50
get in there. Um often we will get into
01:04:52
like the games village or like that that
01:04:53
performance kind of um space only about
01:04:58
3 days before. Um and so we were I was
01:05:00
actually in the UK with Jimmy um just
01:05:03
having a little kind of training block
01:05:05
um before we came into Paris. So, it was
01:05:07
quite nice. Like, we we sort of watched
01:05:09
a little bit of it, but we're probably
01:05:10
kind of like more interested in just
01:05:12
just chilling out and watching movies
01:05:13
and and just hanging out as mates. So,
01:05:15
um
01:05:16
>> to be fair, like um I think it's the
01:05:18
best opening ceremony ever, but it's
01:05:19
definitely made for TV rather than made
01:05:21
for being there. I think if you were
01:05:22
there on the boat um with your poncho
01:05:24
on, you would have seen [ __ ] all.
01:05:26
>> Yeah. I I I don't know. Like I I think
01:05:29
um like they've always said so I've
01:05:30
never actually been to an opening
01:05:31
ceremony because we're always second
01:05:33
week and so um
01:05:34
>> and also the Yeah. 2021 games. Your
01:05:36
first games, they were the CO games.
01:05:37
>> Co games. So, we were again, we weren't
01:05:39
even in Japan. Um, at the time of No,
01:05:42
actually, sorry. Co games. Uh, we landed
01:05:45
in Tokyo and then like transferred
01:05:47
through to like another plane to like
01:05:49
then fly to where our pre- camp was like
01:05:51
when the opening ceremony was on, which
01:05:52
was a bit depressing, but um that's just
01:05:54
the reality of it.
01:05:56
Um yeah, the the often what happens at
01:05:59
an opening ceremony as well is these
01:06:00
like heaps just sitting around and so
01:06:01
like even in the the closing ceremony of
01:06:03
of the Olympics when I was there like
01:06:05
you're just standing there like my back
01:06:07
was killing me because I was I mean I
01:06:08
just competed. I was my body was
01:06:10
destroyed and we were just standing
01:06:11
there waiting for so long and so that
01:06:12
was actually the good thing about being
01:06:13
on the boat was that I think a lot of
01:06:14
the athletes were able to just like sit
01:06:16
down and just kind of like cruise
01:06:17
through uh which is quite cool. Uh the
01:06:19
awesome thing about uh LA is that
01:06:22
they've swapped um athletics and
01:06:24
swimming and so we're now first week,
01:06:26
swimming is now second week. So I will
01:06:28
be able to get to an opening ceremony.
01:06:30
>> Oh, fantastic. So you better to get it
01:06:32
done and then just party.
01:06:33
>> Yes. Yeah, I will.
01:06:34
>> So So did you stay in the um in the
01:06:36
games village at all or?
01:06:38
>> Yeah. Yeah. So I I stayed in the I've
01:06:40
stayed in the games village both
01:06:41
Olympics. Um and that's just a crazy
01:06:43
experience. Like I
01:06:45
>> I don't know. I feel like that's the the
01:06:47
coolest thing about the Olympics is
01:06:48
being able to kind of go into that space
01:06:50
and and and just see it for for
01:06:52
yourself. And obviously, you know,
01:06:54
there's so many stories around what it
01:06:55
what it's like and you know, the things
01:06:57
that go on and and and all the rest of
01:06:59
it, but yeah, to be to be able to
01:07:00
actually get in there and and see it for
01:07:03
yourself is is super super special. And
01:07:05
I I think this time around obviously I
01:07:07
was going there to per perform and and I
01:07:09
was probably more focused on that. But I
01:07:11
definitely remember in Tokyo um getting
01:07:13
there and just you know just being in
01:07:14
awe of of all these amazing athletes
01:07:17
walking around and it's pretty crazy cuz
01:07:18
you get in that space and like
01:07:20
>> there's sports like there's so such a
01:07:24
huge range of sports from you know like
01:07:27
weightlifting to gymnastics to
01:07:29
basketball to like there's just there's
01:07:31
just every single body type in the
01:07:33
world. there's like every single
01:07:34
different like you know like culture,
01:07:37
religion, race, like all these kinds of
01:07:39
things. Like it's it's just this melting
01:07:41
pot of of just like all these high
01:07:42
performance athletes essentially. And so
01:07:44
yeah, it was it was quite cool. Like I
01:07:46
think my overarching feeling when I was
01:07:47
in the um Tokyo games and and then
01:07:49
definitely uh again in uh Paris was was
01:07:52
just a sense of belonging in a way. Like
01:07:54
I think that was when it really
01:07:55
connected with me that like I'd earned
01:07:57
my spot there and and I'd kind of got
01:07:58
there and and that was kind of my life
01:08:00
now. So yeah, that was that was
01:08:01
something that was really cool and
01:08:02
something that I really hope that Matty
01:08:04
gets to do in uh LA as well because
01:08:05
yeah, it's it's it's something you can't
01:08:07
explain that to someone. Um that that
01:08:09
feeling of of getting there and and
01:08:10
realizing that that that's your space as
01:08:12
well as as the space that you've kind of
01:08:14
heard about for your entire life about,
01:08:16
you know, what happens and all the
01:08:18
people and and just everything that goes
01:08:20
on. So yeah, to be able to be be there
01:08:22
and be present is is very special. So
01:08:24
>> did you did you fanboy over anyone?
01:08:26
>> Um what did you say? No, even if not
01:08:29
take a photo of them, but did you see
01:08:30
anyone and be like, "Oh [ __ ] there's
01:08:32
Roger Federer or
01:08:33
>> Yeah. So, a lot of a lot of the top
01:08:35
people like stay outside the village um
01:08:36
and they'll come in maybe for like a day
01:08:38
or two and just kind of experience it.
01:08:39
But often like so like the American
01:08:41
basketballers will stay away and um all
01:08:43
the others, but I'm a it's funny, I'm a
01:08:45
big cycling fan. Um and so a couple of
01:08:48
the real top cyclists were there. Um
01:08:50
they were just leaving actually when we
01:08:51
kind of got to the village in in Paris.
01:08:52
though. That was like probably the main
01:08:54
one I was real like stoked about, which
01:08:56
is real niche, but um
01:08:58
>> so niche. How would anyone recognize
01:09:00
them either? Like without the helmet and
01:09:02
the like, right?
01:09:02
>> Yeah. Well, that's true, wasn't it?
01:09:03
Yeah. No, but that was that was quite
01:09:05
cool. But um no, I mean, look, there's
01:09:06
there's there's so many athletes you
01:09:08
recognize there, like it it's like if
01:09:09
you're going to get over over by
01:09:11
athletes, like you're going to spend so
01:09:13
much energy cuz there is just like every
01:09:15
time you walk down the street, there's
01:09:16
there's just someone you recognize. So,
01:09:18
yeah, it's a pretty cool space. And do
01:09:20
you play internal head games like guess
01:09:21
the sport? So you see like a like a tiny
01:09:24
little girl, you think gymnastics, you
01:09:26
see someone like you, you like high
01:09:27
jump.
01:09:28
>> We definitely do. Like there was this um
01:09:30
there was this area where they had like
01:09:32
a coffee shop um in Paris like in the
01:09:35
middle of the village. Um and it's like
01:09:36
everything's free so you just go down
01:09:37
and you just grab a coffee and just park
01:09:39
up and and me and the boys would um kind
01:09:41
of go down there every morning after
01:09:42
breakfast and just sit there for like an
01:09:43
hour and just like look at everyone
01:09:45
going past like you just people watch.
01:09:46
It's just so fun. Um, but yeah, there's
01:09:48
definitely some some crazy people that
01:09:50
that do some crazy things in that
01:09:52
village. That's for sure.
01:09:53
>> And what sort of conversations do you
01:09:55
have with other athletes like New
01:09:56
Zealanders or even strangers you meet?
01:09:57
Do you like you talking about the
01:09:59
psychology of sport or you talking about
01:10:02
like like mental skills, techniques or
01:10:05
anything? Or is it just small talk?
01:10:06
Yeah, I mean I think I think that's
01:10:08
something that I love about the Olympics
01:10:09
is um you know we we spend so much time
01:10:11
away from New Zealand and and and in our
01:10:13
own kind of little uh bubble of of track
01:10:16
and field uh and you know there are
01:10:18
Kiwis there are a lot of Kiwis who who
01:10:19
are there but people you know quite well
01:10:21
and so to be able to kind of come into
01:10:23
this village and and then suddenly
01:10:24
there's there's 200 other New Zealand
01:10:26
athletes there. Um that's something that
01:10:28
I I really value is is being able to
01:10:30
kind of have those conversations with
01:10:31
Kiwis uh in their sports. And I mean
01:10:33
that's it's funny like I don't really
01:10:35
see a lot of New Zealand athletes when
01:10:37
I'm in New Zealand. It's it's more
01:10:39
overseas because that's you know their
01:10:40
space and that's where they're
01:10:41
competing. So yeah, I I love just
01:10:43
chatting with Kiwi athletes and and
01:10:44
working out, you know, what what their
01:10:46
schedules are like and and what their
01:10:48
challenges are and the things that
01:10:49
they've had to do to get to where they
01:10:50
get to and and it's always unique uh
01:10:52
depending on what sport and you know
01:10:53
depends depends how often you compete a
01:10:55
year and you know whether you compete
01:10:57
too much or too little or you know all
01:10:58
these different things. And so it's it's
01:10:59
pretty cool to be able to kind of sit
01:11:00
there and and meet all these these
01:11:02
really like-minded people. So
01:11:04
>> yeah.
01:11:05
>> So your your qualifying day is August 7
01:11:07
and then the final is 3 days later on
01:11:09
the 10th of August. So um 6th of August.
01:11:11
Do you sleep okay?
01:11:13
>> No.
01:11:14
Qualifying rounds for me are terrible. I
01:11:18
I hate them. Um I still do even though
01:11:20
I've kind of put it to bed a wee bit
01:11:22
now. Um and but yeah, that's that's the
01:11:24
moment I'll always be the most stressed
01:11:26
is is going to those qualifying rounds.
01:11:27
So,
01:11:28
>> do you you take like a Zop clone the
01:11:29
night before or anything or
01:11:31
>> No, you just live with it. You just
01:11:32
sleep with it. Like I I think for me
01:11:33
like I always know that if I'm in bed
01:11:35
just like staring at the wall, I'm
01:11:36
getting better recovery than if I'm not.
01:11:38
And so I I try and just take it take it
01:11:40
with a grain of salt and just
01:11:42
>> lie there for as long as possible and
01:11:43
and just get through it. But um yeah,
01:11:45
like I think I think the reason I hate
01:11:47
qualifying rounds is like
01:11:50
like there's kind of nothing to succeed
01:11:52
from a qualifying round. You can't you
01:11:53
can't win the games. you can't you can't
01:11:55
do a a record or you can't you know do
01:11:57
this amazing performance. All you can do
01:11:59
is fail. It's like you either advance or
01:12:02
you fail. And so it's it's it's kind of
01:12:05
this this sort of really crappy kind of
01:12:08
like nuggy sort of mindset of just like
01:12:11
do enough to get through and then in 3
01:12:14
days time you can then show you know all
01:12:15
the things you've been working on. And
01:12:16
so that's why I hate it because it's
01:12:19
yeah it's it's a time where failure is
01:12:22
pretty front and center of your mind. uh
01:12:23
it's the only thing you can really like
01:12:25
really get out of a qualifying. Um so
01:12:28
yeah, it's it's it's weird. So yeah,
01:12:30
don't sleep well before qualifying. Even
01:12:32
this year uh in Tokyo, I was I was much
01:12:35
more nervous before the qualifying than
01:12:36
I was the final. Um but yeah, it's just
01:12:39
it's just something we got to do, right?
01:12:43
>> Yeah. Um I had Lewis Cleber um the
01:12:45
swimmer on the podcast maybe a couple of
01:12:46
years ago and um he talked about lack of
01:12:48
sleep the night before and I think his
01:12:49
coach or his mental skills coach said to
01:12:51
him look yeah one bad night's sleep is
01:12:52
not going to undo months and months of
01:12:54
training like you're going to be fine
01:12:56
>> and yeah with adrenaline on the day
01:12:58
you're going to be fine um which sort of
01:13:00
like reframed it for him which was good.
01:13:01
So yeah so what happened to you on
01:13:02
August 7 why did you why did you do so
01:13:05
badly?
01:13:07
>> Is this where you became a meme where
01:13:09
you did that dive under the bar? No,
01:13:11
that was still the final. Um, yeah. So,
01:13:13
even in in my greatest success, I still
01:13:14
become a meme. But, um, no, like I think
01:13:17
I think the qualifying round um, so you
01:13:20
know, you look back on my my world
01:13:23
champs record. So, before this year, um,
01:13:26
I went to world champs in Doha. Uh,
01:13:29
didn't make the final, so bombed out.
01:13:31
Not I didn't bomb out in qualifying cuz,
01:13:32
you know, it was my first ever world
01:13:33
champs. I I feel like I was there to
01:13:35
experience it and and there to kind of
01:13:36
enjoy it. And so, yeah, didn't didn't do
01:13:38
great there. uh 2022 uh didn't make the
01:13:41
final. 2023 didn't make the final. Uh
01:13:44
and so you know I had this this record
01:13:46
um of of you know failure in qualifying
01:13:50
rounds essentially. Uh the only
01:13:52
qualifying uh that I had got through was
01:13:54
actually the Tokyo Olympics. So that was
01:13:55
you know that was what I was trying to
01:13:57
remind myself is like yeah but in the
01:13:58
Olympics you've got a good qualifying
01:13:59
round um or good qualifying record.
01:14:02
Uh yeah. So going into that um that uh
01:14:07
that qualifying round I
01:14:11
like I I think that I
01:14:15
like I well I definitely didn't put the
01:14:17
right amount of energy into it. Like I
01:14:19
was trying to hold back energy knowing
01:14:20
that I'd need it in a few days time. Um
01:14:22
given that that year had been so good
01:14:24
for me. I you know I won a bunch of
01:14:27
Diamond League um events which is our
01:14:29
professional series. I won a bunch of
01:14:30
them before the games. Um I well won
01:14:32
world indoors. I was one of the best
01:14:34
jumpers of the year. Like I had almost
01:14:35
the best um height for the year and um I
01:14:38
actually was world number one ranked
01:14:40
going into the the games and that was
01:14:42
the first time I'd ever been world
01:14:43
number one ranked was going into that
01:14:44
that qualifying round. Uh, and so I
01:14:46
think for me like I was I was just a
01:14:48
little bit um,
01:14:50
yeah, I just didn't I did I just didn't
01:14:52
treat it with enough uh, seriousness and
01:14:55
enough kind of energy and and and really
01:14:57
kind of make sure that I was doing what
01:14:59
I need to do. So I in my mind I was I
01:15:02
was getting in and then just getting out
01:15:04
as quick as possible. And so I was just
01:15:06
trying to hurry through the round. I
01:15:08
didn't really feel like I was super
01:15:10
present or like super like accepting of
01:15:12
the fact that I was going to be there
01:15:14
for, you know, a long time. Um,
01:15:15
qualifying rounds always take ages. They
01:15:17
usually take like two to three hours.
01:15:19
Um, and you might only do like, you
01:15:21
know, four or five jumps, which is not a
01:15:23
lot for us. Um, and so, yeah, so there's
01:15:25
a lot of sitting there conserving
01:15:27
energy, mental energy, physical energy,
01:15:29
nutrition, all these kinds of things.
01:15:30
Um, and I just I just didn't do any of
01:15:32
it. Um, because I just thought that I
01:15:33
was better than that. And so, yeah,
01:15:36
first couple of jumps were were decent.
01:15:38
Um, I think I I think the progression
01:15:40
was like 214,
01:15:42
217, 220. Um, so yeah, cleared at 214,
01:15:47
all good. 217, all good. Got came to 220
01:15:50
and I still was just hurrying through my
01:15:52
jump. So I was I was running too fast. I
01:15:54
I wasn't in the right position and uh
01:15:56
first attempt I missed the bar. Um so I,
01:15:59
you know, I I I didn't clear. Uh and
01:16:04
I like it was just a bad jump. Like
01:16:07
there wasn't anything wrong about the
01:16:08
way I jumped or or anything. It was just
01:16:10
that I didn't, you know, ground myself,
01:16:12
think about my cues, think about how
01:16:14
fast I was running, and just try and
01:16:15
bring myself back down to, you know, a
01:16:17
speed that was more appropriate for that
01:16:19
height. Um, and so, yeah, missed it.
01:16:22
Went and sat down, didn't didn't like
01:16:25
try and reset, didn't think about it.
01:16:26
Was just like all good, I've got it.
01:16:27
Next one. Like, you know, no real
01:16:30
thought about like why I did what I did,
01:16:32
what changes I need to make, and you
01:16:34
know, all these intentional cues that we
01:16:36
work so hard to do. It was just like,
01:16:37
all good. Like, I'm better than that.
01:16:38
I'll I'll get it next time. And so then
01:16:40
second attempt um like literally mid run
01:16:44
up I my leg like buckled a wee bit and
01:16:47
it was just from the terror of like
01:16:48
knowing like suddenly realizing like
01:16:51
where I was at and like that I hadn't
01:16:53
kind of given myself the right um the
01:16:56
right amount of kind of mental energy
01:16:57
and and right amount of kind of
01:16:59
seriousness towards this competition.
01:17:00
And so buckled and then ultimately like
01:17:02
wasn't even close to clearing the bar in
01:17:04
that second attempt. Um, you know, I
01:17:05
barely even took off and and so then I
01:17:08
was sitting there faced with one more
01:17:10
attempt at at 220 um to
01:17:13
>> How much downtime do you have between
01:17:14
jump two and jump three?
01:17:16
>> Um, it felt like a million years. Uh,
01:17:19
you know, it might have only been 5 to
01:17:22
10 minutes,
01:17:23
>> right?
01:17:23
>> Um, but in that space it felt like a
01:17:25
long time
01:17:25
>> cuz if you miss that third jump, that's
01:17:26
it. You're done.
01:17:27
>> That's it. I'm done. Yeah. And that
01:17:29
would have been
01:17:31
of all that didn't qualify for the
01:17:34
finals, that would have been the worst
01:17:35
one. Um it would have been the lowest
01:17:37
height that I hadn't qualified in a I
01:17:39
hadn't cleared in a in a qualifying
01:17:40
round. Um you know, given I was world
01:17:43
number one, it would have been um you
01:17:45
know, something that was was pretty
01:17:46
catastrophic. And I I think deep down
01:17:48
what I knew as well was that
01:17:50
it was always something that was a [ __ ]
01:17:51
in my armor. Um that that qualifying
01:17:53
round and that that mental game of of
01:17:55
just having to advance. Um, and knowing
01:17:59
how well I had been going that year and
01:18:01
how hard we'd worked to get what we
01:18:03
needed to get to.
01:18:06
I knew that if I didn't clear that bar,
01:18:09
like I pro like I wouldn't that would
01:18:11
have been it. Like I wouldn't have
01:18:12
continued competing because
01:18:14
>> like how do you continue competing when
01:18:16
you know deep down there's this little
01:18:17
bit of you that won't front up when it
01:18:19
really matters. Um, and so I this is
01:18:21
what I was thinking about was was like
01:18:22
maybe I just don't have what it takes.
01:18:23
maybe, you know, I can do all of these
01:18:26
these, you know, maybe I've got the best
01:18:28
team in the world. I've got, you know,
01:18:29
the the the this amazing amount of
01:18:33
training behind me. I've got, you know,
01:18:34
I've got all these different, you know,
01:18:37
I suppose, you know, techniques that
01:18:38
we've been working on to to really like
01:18:40
frame things and and and make it kind of
01:18:42
work and and really optimize my
01:18:44
performance. And yet, when it really
01:18:45
really matters, when the the pressure is
01:18:47
on me, I I just don't have what it
01:18:49
takes.
01:18:49
>> This is all going through your mind in
01:18:50
between jumps two and jump three.
01:18:52
>> Yeah.
01:18:54
So, I was I was like like the tears had
01:18:56
started flowing really essentially and
01:18:58
um and in that in that moment I walked
01:19:02
over to Jimmy and I was just like man
01:19:04
like I like I pretty much resigned to
01:19:06
the fact that I wasn't going to clear
01:19:07
it. I was just like oh well I guess I
01:19:10
guess we're just going home. Uh and and
01:19:12
so yeah, I went over to Jimmy and just
01:19:14
like I literally like I I was like a
01:19:17
kid. Like I buried my head in his chest
01:19:19
and he just like held me and he was just
01:19:21
like, "Bro, you've got this." like just
01:19:23
slow it down. Deep breaths. You've got
01:19:25
this. Like this jumps there. It's easy.
01:19:28
Like you'll be fine. And so I was able
01:19:31
to slow my breathing. Go back to my
01:19:33
techniques. You know, be present. Uh you
01:19:36
know, I do a lot of mindfulness. So it
01:19:38
was it was around my breath and around,
01:19:39
you know, seeing what, you know, I look
01:19:41
at people in the crowd and like see what
01:19:42
funny outfits I can find and, you know,
01:19:44
just try and do all these things that
01:19:45
kind of like bring me back down to like
01:19:46
this is reality and this is just, you
01:19:48
know, where we're at. Um, and so I did a
01:19:50
I did a lot of that. And actually I was
01:19:53
really lucky. I was sitting next to uh
01:19:55
one of my really good mates u who's a
01:19:56
German high jumper, Tobias. And he had
01:19:59
no hided cuz he was injured going into
01:20:00
it. And so he was sitting there
01:20:02
essentially just like watching but also
01:20:04
like kind of helping me and and giving
01:20:05
me and he was just like, "Bro, like
01:20:07
you're just running too fast. Like just
01:20:09
chill. It's all good." And so just being
01:20:11
able to hear him say that. And then also
01:20:12
Jimmy um you know I looked Jimmy right
01:20:14
in the eyes and he just like I could
01:20:15
tell that he was like he's like you got
01:20:17
this. And so I was I kind of handed over
01:20:20
to Jimmy like I wasn't thinking about
01:20:21
anything at that time. Um and so yeah
01:20:24
was still crying you know I I was able
01:20:26
to console myself and steal myself at
01:20:28
the top of my mark and
01:20:30
>> crying externally or just internally.
01:20:31
>> Yeah. Yeah. Like I literally had I was
01:20:33
wearing my sunglasses cuz my like I had
01:20:34
tears in my eyes. Um cuz I was just I
01:20:37
was just so scared like I was I was at
01:20:39
the the edge of the abyss, you I was I
01:20:40
was looking down into the this this dark
01:20:43
hole of of my entire career of of all
01:20:45
this work that I'd done potentially just
01:20:47
not being enough. Um and and maybe there
01:20:50
was just this this this bit inside me
01:20:51
that that didn't have what it takes.
01:20:53
>> Would would that have made you the cword
01:20:56
like a a choker?
01:20:57
>> Um yeah. Yeah, I would have. Yeah, for
01:21:00
sure. I think I think that was
01:21:01
definitely a um and I think I think as
01:21:04
well like you know I I mean there's so
01:21:06
many things that I was thinking about
01:21:07
and and and for me I was obviously
01:21:08
really gutted from a personal
01:21:10
perspective but you know I look back on
01:21:11
that moment and I was I was definitely
01:21:12
aware of the fact that um you know I I I
01:21:15
compete with the same boys a lot and and
01:21:17
I I love them to bits and and we spend
01:21:20
so much time on on tour together but you
01:21:22
know like I knew that that I wouldn't
01:21:25
get the respect by doing that like that
01:21:27
would have been like ah you know Hish is
01:21:28
a good guy but he doesn't really have
01:21:30
what it takes, you know, and and I think
01:21:31
that that really kind of weighed on me
01:21:33
um and was something that that we've
01:21:35
done a lot of work on trying to be more
01:21:37
dangerous and and someone that that they
01:21:38
look towards and and are scared of. So,
01:21:41
yeah, to have done all that work and
01:21:42
then and then still be the you know, the
01:21:44
the choker like you said was was was it
01:21:47
was pretty Yeah, it was a pretty intense
01:21:49
tense moment. And so, yeah, I stood at
01:21:52
that mark. um
01:21:55
just was, you know, just deep breathing,
01:21:58
reminding myself of of where I was at
01:22:00
and and trying to just be as present as
01:22:01
possible. And I scraped over the bar. Um
01:22:04
you know, I was able to bring out just
01:22:06
enough of a jump as as I needed. I
01:22:08
scraped over the bar and and the the the
01:22:11
funny thing with that was that that
01:22:12
wasn't the end of qualifying. So like,
01:22:14
you know, to qualify, we ended up having
01:22:16
to jump 228. And so like I like that
01:22:18
still wasn't even enough to qualify.
01:22:20
yet. I just, you know, just had this
01:22:22
huge dump of of emotion and adrenaline.
01:22:24
And so,
01:22:24
>> just bought you more time.
01:22:26
>> It just, yeah, it essentially, well, it
01:22:27
didn't really buy me more time because
01:22:29
since I was the, you know, I was one of
01:22:31
the only guys who actually had to jump
01:22:32
in that third round. Um, I pretty much
01:22:34
had to lace back up and and jump in the
01:22:36
first round of the next hype. So, you
01:22:37
know, all the other boys were sitting
01:22:38
there kind of waiting and and conserving
01:22:40
energy and I' I'd sort of just had this
01:22:42
huge um dump of adrenaline. Mhm.
01:22:44
>> You know, afterwards, um, and then it
01:22:46
was funny actually because ultimately,
01:22:49
um,
01:22:51
I got it together by 228 and I cleared
01:22:53
228 first attempt. And so when you look
01:22:55
at the the qualifying round, like the
01:22:58
final scorecard,
01:23:00
I was like the second highest qualifier
01:23:02
because because I cleared it first
01:23:03
attempt. There was only a couple guys
01:23:04
who cleared it first attempt. And so
01:23:05
like a lot of people back home who
01:23:06
didn't watch it, like they kind of
01:23:07
looked it and text me. They're like, "Oh
01:23:08
yeah, nice work, mate." Like got it
01:23:10
done. Never doubted you. And and it was
01:23:12
like that was that was like I was
01:23:14
honestly the most tired that I've ever
01:23:16
been after that qualifying round. Like I
01:23:18
I went through media and I was talking
01:23:20
to a couple of the New Zealand media
01:23:21
guys and and I think it was um it was
01:23:24
actually MS M was there I'm pretty sure
01:23:26
and and he asked me he's like oh mate
01:23:27
how do you feel like you know what was
01:23:28
going on your mind and stuff and I had
01:23:30
nothing like usually you got a little
01:23:32
bit of energy there for you know like
01:23:33
you know to be able to talk through
01:23:34
what's happened and and reflect on stuff
01:23:36
and I was just like staring at him I'm
01:23:37
just like
01:23:39
I don't know like like I just I just I I
01:23:42
just genuinely did not have anything
01:23:43
left in the tank. Um, and so then it's
01:23:46
quite funny because you know I was I was
01:23:47
trying to keep some energy in the tank
01:23:48
for the final and you know that probably
01:23:50
meant that I went in underdone and then
01:23:52
I was able to kind of get get over it
01:23:54
just just in time but um but use like
01:23:57
everything in that moment but um you
01:24:00
know reflecting on that now is it's and
01:24:03
and when I talked to my you know when I
01:24:05
talked to Quinny afterwards
01:24:08
that was the perfect way to put that
01:24:10
qualifying stigma to bed. you know, I
01:24:13
instead of just going in there and
01:24:14
breezing through, you know, first
01:24:15
attempting everything, you know, no
01:24:17
dramas, happy days, move on, like like
01:24:20
we had to we had to test that new that
01:24:23
new version of Hamish and that that new
01:24:25
kind of way of working and and not just
01:24:27
turning up and hoping, but also, you
01:24:29
know, turning up expecting and and
01:24:30
turning up and knowing what you need to
01:24:32
do to to get the the right performance.
01:24:34
And so yeah, that if I hadn't done
01:24:36
again, like if I hadn't done that third
01:24:38
attempt, I wouldn't have won
01:24:40
>> because like that was the moment I had
01:24:42
to look within myself and know deep down
01:24:44
it is there. Um and then when I was able
01:24:47
to kind of talk my way back from that
01:24:49
that cliff edge. Um yeah, then I then I
01:24:52
kind of knew that anything was possible
01:24:55
cuz watching it on the TV like I I mean
01:24:58
jeez, thanks so much for sharing these
01:24:59
insights of what was going through your
01:25:01
mind. It sounds bloody harrowing at the
01:25:02
time, but watching it on TV, I I'd have
01:25:04
no idea. Um, but I can't imagine how
01:25:07
tough I can see now why your mom had to
01:25:08
go outside and was unable to watch it.
01:25:10
What about your um your girlfriend and
01:25:12
your friends in the stand? How's it for
01:25:14
them?
01:25:14
>> Yeah, well, that was a bit of a mistake.
01:25:15
I kind of looked up to them after the
01:25:16
second attempt. Uh, and and my my
01:25:20
siblings were all there. So, my my older
01:25:21
sister and my younger brother and
01:25:22
sister. And then Maddie was there as
01:25:24
well. Um, and my older sister and Maddie
01:25:26
were like hugging each other
01:25:27
>> and like I could tell Maddie was crying
01:25:29
as well. And that was that was one of
01:25:31
the hardest moments as well was was
01:25:33
looking up and being like, "Oh [ __ ] I
01:25:35
shouldn't have seen that." Like, you
01:25:36
know, like like it's just made it so
01:25:39
much worse. Um,
01:25:41
>> but yeah, I mean I I think I think
01:25:43
ultimately like
01:25:46
yeah, that's those are the moments that
01:25:48
that you live for as well, like a little
01:25:50
bit in like a kind of sick way. Like I I
01:25:52
think that that's the thing that I love
01:25:54
about my sport is is it makes me feel
01:25:55
alive and it and it makes me really feel
01:25:57
something and and I always know that um
01:25:59
you know the day that I experience huge
01:26:01
amount of failure and go home and and
01:26:02
wake up the next morning and and and I'm
01:26:04
not gutted, that's the day that I need
01:26:06
to give it away because that's the day I
01:26:07
don't care enough about it. And so, and
01:26:09
so I think that was a big thing that I
01:26:10
was trying to remind myself through that
01:26:11
moment as well is that like the fact
01:26:13
you're feeling this way is because you
01:26:15
really really care
01:26:16
>> and that you really really want to be
01:26:17
here and and and seeing my friends and
01:26:20
the and my family in the crowd, you
01:26:21
know, reacting so heavily to it as well
01:26:24
shows that they they know how much it
01:26:26
means to me as well. Um, and so yeah, I
01:26:28
think I think that's sort of a way of
01:26:30
framing those emotions for me uh and
01:26:32
those dark moments is you've got all the
01:26:34
tools that you need to get through this
01:26:36
moment. Um and and you really want to.
01:26:39
So yeah, all you can do is try.
01:26:42
>> Yes. So qualifying August 7, then the
01:26:44
final August 10. Um yeah. What do those
01:26:47
three days look like?
01:26:48
>> Um well, they were supposed to look like
01:26:51
about a day and a half of recovery and
01:26:52
then day and a half of of So you kind of
01:26:55
like day and a half of just getting
01:26:57
yourself back to base level after, you
01:27:00
know, the the the hard hardship of the
01:27:03
qualifying round. and then and then a
01:27:04
day and a half of kind of getting up
01:27:06
optimally to to where you need to be for
01:27:08
that final. Um, but that changed a we
01:27:10
bit after that qualifying round. It was
01:27:11
it was more like 2 and 1/2 days of just
01:27:14
recovery and and sleeping and and I I
01:27:18
caught up with my family that afternoon
01:27:20
cuz it was a morning qualifying. Um, so
01:27:21
that afternoon I went and caught up with
01:27:22
them and then um yeah, I pretty much
01:27:24
just lay in bed for two days like just I
01:27:26
was just smoked. I was so tired. Um and
01:27:29
then yeah and then our last day before
01:27:31
qualifying round before the final I was
01:27:33
sort of able to do some some movement
01:27:35
stuff and and kind of get up for it. But
01:27:37
I think I think at the end of the day
01:27:38
like as well like I knew how to win a
01:27:40
final like I've been doing that all
01:27:42
season you know like when we go to a a
01:27:44
diamond league or a world indoors like
01:27:46
it's a single event there's you know 8
01:27:48
to 12 guys it's about the last last man
01:27:51
last man standing. And so I knew how to
01:27:52
do that. Like I' I've done that plenty
01:27:54
of times. It's the qualifying that's the
01:27:55
hardest because you you're essentially
01:27:57
just jumping until all these 12 guys
01:27:58
left. And so that mindset shift gave me
01:28:00
a lot of freedom because I knew that it
01:28:02
was something that I'd done before. I
01:28:03
was confident. I knew what I was doing.
01:28:05
And so yeah, it was it was pretty crazy
01:28:06
like going into the qualifying round
01:28:08
versus going into the final like I was
01:28:10
just a completely different athlete. Um
01:28:11
you know in the in the final I I was you
01:28:15
know at the warm-up track I was just you
01:28:17
know throwing a Frisbee around with
01:28:18
Jimmy and and just mucking around and
01:28:20
we're actually watching the golf as well
01:28:21
cuz Lydia was still playing. So yeah,
01:28:23
just being able to kind of like
01:28:24
disassociate from what was about to
01:28:25
happen. Whereas in the final in the
01:28:27
qualifying, I was I was just far too
01:28:29
serious. You know, I got there, I was
01:28:30
just like I didn't want to talk to
01:28:31
anyone and was wanting to like just get
01:28:33
into my work and and I know that kind
01:28:35
of, you know, looking back on that and
01:28:36
reflecting more and what we do now, it's
01:28:37
like when I'm I'm happy and I'm enjoying
01:28:39
myself and just want to be there, that's
01:28:40
when I do the best. So
01:28:42
>> so many good learnings, eh,
01:28:44
>> that you can take forward for the rest
01:28:45
of your career. Um, okay. Yes. So the
01:28:48
final on August 10, what how long are
01:28:50
you out on the track for? How long you
01:28:53
So you drop your phone and your things
01:28:54
off in the in the changing room. Do you
01:28:56
have earplugs or headphones or
01:28:58
>> Yeah. So yeah, you drop all that stuff
01:29:00
um at cool room.
01:29:01
>> Um so you're
01:29:02
>> just out there with nothing.
01:29:03
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So just you and
01:29:05
your thoughts and your mates. Uh which
01:29:08
Yeah. I mean that's why um as high
01:29:10
jumpers we are so tight is that we we
01:29:12
spend a lot of time on track together.
01:29:13
Um and and you know that's quite start
01:29:15
stop sometimes when there's races on.
01:29:17
You have to stop to to make sure that
01:29:18
you know they get their time in the sun
01:29:19
and all the rest of it. So, it's it's um
01:29:22
yeah, it does take a long time. I think
01:29:23
at the
01:29:26
I'm not quite sure for um Tokyo, but in
01:29:28
Paris, World Champs that we had um just
01:29:30
recently, I left the hotel at uh 2:00
01:29:33
p.m. and I left the stadium. So, I
01:29:37
finished like drug testing and stuff at
01:29:40
uh 12. So,
01:29:42
>> wow. 10 hours.
01:29:43
>> So, it's a 10hour like 10 hours when
01:29:45
you're like on because like obviously
01:29:47
like through that moment there's like
01:29:48
all these different things happening.
01:29:50
Um, so yeah, so energy management is a
01:29:52
massive thing for us. Um, you we're
01:29:53
allowed to take food out. Uh, so we
01:29:55
always have food and drink and and you
01:29:57
know, gels and various different kind of
01:30:00
nutrition strategies to take out with
01:30:01
us. Um, but yeah, in that in that um in
01:30:06
that Paris comp, there was probably
01:30:09
Yeah, like I think we we jumped into
01:30:10
core room 60 minutes before event
01:30:12
starts. So you do kind of half an hour
01:30:14
of movement stuff out on the warm-up
01:30:16
track. Then you go in, you go through
01:30:18
that, takes about 20 minutes. Then you
01:30:19
get on the track. So you got 40 minutes.
01:30:21
That's when you do all your jumping. So
01:30:23
like your warm-up jumping. So we usually
01:30:24
would do like two to three jumps uh
01:30:26
before the competition just to make sure
01:30:27
your marks your runups in the right
01:30:29
place and you got a feel for the track
01:30:31
and all these different things. Um and
01:30:33
then once the comp starts, uh I think
01:30:35
that comp ended up taking close to 3
01:30:37
hours. Um, so you think you think that
01:30:41
if you start an hour and a half before
01:30:43
that, like it's almost a 4 and a half
01:30:45
hour effort
01:30:47
>> through to ultimately what's what's the
01:30:49
last jump. And it's it's it's a it's a
01:30:50
very different mindset. And the the way
01:30:52
that I've had to change a lot for the
01:30:53
last few years is that like
01:30:56
the winning jump in high jump is always
01:30:58
the last jump. And so the winning jump
01:31:01
is always after 3 and a half hours of
01:31:03
competition. Um, and so as a junior
01:31:05
athlete, as someone who comes into the
01:31:07
comp wanting to just jump as high as
01:31:10
possible, often those jumps will be in
01:31:12
the first couple of rounds. And so like
01:31:14
someone who's coming 10th at the
01:31:16
Olympics versus someone who's winning
01:31:17
the Olympics, the guy who's coming 10th,
01:31:19
he might only be jumping for 45 minutes,
01:31:21
but then the guy who's winning, he just
01:31:22
he has to jump for 3 hours. And so the
01:31:25
the mindset shift that has to occur to
01:31:27
be a like a contender is is a lot around
01:31:31
the energy burn. Um, and so that was
01:31:32
something that I had to change a lot in
01:31:34
the the way that I worked over the last
01:31:35
few years is is knowing that the the the
01:31:38
the early jumps in the comp are very
01:31:40
important, but at the same time they
01:31:42
serve a purpose and their purposes to
01:31:44
get me to the jumps that really matter.
01:31:46
And so yeah, it's it's pretty
01:31:47
fascinating like mindset shift um and
01:31:50
and also the way that you have to, you
01:31:52
know, keep keep hydrated and and and
01:31:55
keep, you know, nutrition down and all
01:31:57
the rest of it. But um yeah, I think it
01:31:59
means that once you kind of get to that
01:32:00
point and you know how to do it, that
01:32:02
was why I was so confident in that final
01:32:04
was that I knew what it was like to jump
01:32:06
the best heights after 3 hours of
01:32:08
competition and I knew that there were a
01:32:10
lot of boys there who potentially hadn't
01:32:12
done that a lot that season. Uh and so
01:32:14
yeah, that was something that I was
01:32:15
really really confident of going in.
01:32:18
>> How many jumps in those few hours?
01:32:19
>> Uh in the final in Paris I did 15 jumps.
01:32:23
>> 15 jumps.
01:32:24
>> Yeah.
01:32:24
>> Wow.
01:32:25
>> So increasingly getting higher. Yeah,
01:32:27
often we' try and do like like a big
01:32:29
comp for me would be 10 jumps. Um, but
01:32:31
yeah, 15 was obviously pretty
01:32:33
unprecedented, but also it kind of like
01:32:35
depends on like how high you're jumping.
01:32:36
That's that's kind of more the energy
01:32:38
burn. Like for me, anything over 230
01:32:40
when I'm not in good shape is like
01:32:42
destroys my body. Like I real feel it
01:32:44
the next day. Um, and so in that moment,
01:32:46
like in the Paris final, I did uh I
01:32:50
think I did three attempts at 231, one
01:32:52
at 234, one at 236, three at 238,
01:32:56
another at 238, another at 236, like
01:32:58
another at 23. You know, there's like
01:32:59
there's so many over 230 that that's
01:33:01
what really fatigues you. Um, so yeah,
01:33:04
but I mean that's just that's just the
01:33:05
comp, right?
01:33:06
>> And and with the other competitors in
01:33:08
the final, do you all get on pretty well
01:33:10
or is there like do they try and do you
01:33:11
try and get into each other's heads? Are
01:33:13
there psychological games? There's like
01:33:15
it's been interesting like I think the
01:33:16
last few years um there's been a really
01:33:18
core group of us who have been coming
01:33:19
through the sport together. Um so
01:33:21
there's there's a couple of guys who
01:33:22
coming to the end of their career um and
01:33:25
they they've typically been the guys who
01:33:27
have done really well. So the two
01:33:28
Olympic champions in Tokyo are still
01:33:30
competing and and you know they're from
01:33:31
an era kind of behind us a little bit
01:33:34
and so we've come through together which
01:33:36
has been super nice. But yeah, I
01:33:37
definitely have got the sense the last
01:33:38
couple years like there's starting to be
01:33:40
a few more divisions just around like
01:33:42
you know now that some guys like we kind
01:33:44
of all went in there brighteyed and
01:33:45
bushy tailed and and all had confidence
01:33:47
that you know we'd get there and and and
01:33:50
some of us have kind of kicked on and
01:33:51
some of us kind of haven't. So yeah, I I
01:33:53
think that it does it does create a wee
01:33:55
bit of strain and there's definitely
01:33:56
some some interesting kind of dynamics
01:33:58
out there on the track just around like
01:34:00
who talks, who doesn't, um you know,
01:34:02
depending on what level of competition
01:34:04
it is and you know whether someone is is
01:34:07
sort of focused too much on other people
01:34:09
and some people are too focused on
01:34:10
themselves and so yeah, it is it is very
01:34:12
very fascinating. But I love that. Like
01:34:14
that's when I just feel the most alive
01:34:15
is is when we're in this this kind of,
01:34:18
you know, this this arena and and
01:34:20
everyone's got their own personality and
01:34:21
their own way of doing things. And it's
01:34:23
it's just super fascinating to kind of
01:34:24
jump on that that bandwagon and and just
01:34:26
get brought along. So
01:34:28
>> yeah, you look like you're in your
01:34:29
element out there. Like you're you're
01:34:30
ging the crowd up, getting the crowd to
01:34:32
cheer along, which um I find really
01:34:34
strange cuz I'm most of your jumping
01:34:35
training is probably done like in in
01:34:37
this quiet track in Christ Church with
01:34:39
nobody around, no sound. And then um you
01:34:41
what you want for competition is the
01:34:43
complete opposite of that.
01:34:44
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean I think I think
01:34:46
ultimately like you have to like you
01:34:50
have to be good internally like you have
01:34:51
to know your cues, you have to be
01:34:53
confident in your own ability. Um and so
01:34:55
I'll only use the uh the crowd once I've
01:34:58
built that platform. Um so in a in like
01:35:01
a in a final or in like a diamond league
01:35:02
or in like a big competition like I'll
01:35:04
generally only get the crowd going from
01:35:06
kind of high 220s into the 230s. Um,
01:35:08
some guys will like, you know, from the
01:35:10
get-go just like bring the crowd in and
01:35:11
try and get as much noise as possible.
01:35:13
But, uh, for me, I'm, you know, it's all
01:35:15
about finding my rhythm and finding my
01:35:16
timing. And then once I've got that,
01:35:17
like the crowd's almost the cherry on
01:35:19
top. Like that's the thing that, you
01:35:21
know, back home, we we work on the the
01:35:23
fundamentals. We work on like all the
01:35:24
the the stuff that's ultimately going to
01:35:26
get me over the bar. But then, yeah,
01:35:27
being able to kind of share that and and
01:35:29
and put that on display in front of uh
01:35:31
an audience is is I mean, it's why we do
01:35:34
it, right? like we we do it to to show
01:35:36
people a good time and and and get them
01:35:38
enjoying our sport and and and wanting
01:35:40
to be, you know, be athletes as well.
01:35:42
So, uh yeah, to kind of bring that
01:35:44
element in uh when you're jumping the
01:35:46
best is is is a really cool cool thing
01:35:48
to do.
01:35:49
>> No, not everyone does that though. Not
01:35:50
everyone engages with the crowd.
01:35:52
>> Yeah, not everybody. Um but I think it
01:35:54
does add to the field. Like um there's
01:35:57
definitely a few guys who I love
01:35:59
competing against because they do use
01:36:00
the crowd really well. Um because I
01:36:02
think at the end of the day, like you
01:36:03
know, we're putting on a performance and
01:36:05
given that we're out there for 3 hours,
01:36:06
like we want the crowd engaged. Like the
01:36:08
worst thing is going to a comp where
01:36:10
you're jumping and it doesn't really
01:36:12
seem like anyone cares. Like they're all
01:36:13
focused on other things cuz there's
01:36:14
always lots of stuff going on in
01:36:16
athletes field, you know, athletic
01:36:17
stadium. There's there's always running.
01:36:18
There's always other field events going
01:36:20
on. And so like to get the crowd like
01:36:22
around you and amongst it and like
01:36:24
supporting and following along is is it
01:36:27
makes our job just so much more
01:36:28
enjoyable. So yeah, there's definitely
01:36:29
certain guys who like I want to compete
01:36:31
with because I know they do that. Um but
01:36:33
yeah, it's it's always a good time when
01:36:35
you get it right.
01:36:36
>> Now for you um at the pointy end of the
01:36:38
the Paris Olympics, um it was like neck
01:36:41
and neck with you and another guy. So
01:36:43
you could have split the gold. You could
01:36:44
have had a gold medal each like joint
01:36:45
gold medal winners.
01:36:46
>> Yeah.
01:36:48
>> Yeah. Why didn't you go with that? Like
01:36:50
could could you have lived with yourself
01:36:51
if you said no, I want to carry on fight
01:36:54
to the death and then you went home with
01:36:55
the silver. Would would you have been
01:36:56
okay with that?
01:36:57
>> I Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I I think it was
01:36:59
funny like obviously um it happened in
01:37:02
Tokyo and so
01:37:04
>> and it's really rare, right? It doesn't
01:37:05
happen.
01:37:05
>> Super rare. Like I mean that's those two
01:37:08
competitions the only time I've ever
01:37:09
been a part of a competition that has
01:37:10
gone to a jump off. Uh and so to and I
01:37:13
mean obviously in Tokyo I wasn't part of
01:37:14
that jump off or you know there never
01:37:16
was a jump off but um that was those are
01:37:18
the only two competitions I've ever been
01:37:19
a part of where they've been to it. So
01:37:20
like it's impossibly like like the the
01:37:23
chance of that is impossibly low um to
01:37:25
actually even get to that point. And so
01:37:27
yeah, but given what had happened in
01:37:29
Tokyo, we had actually talked about it
01:37:30
quite a bit. Um, you know, we debated
01:37:32
over the dinner table with the boys, you
01:37:34
know, on tour and I'd talked to my coach
01:37:36
about it and like talked to Maddie and
01:37:38
and all these things. And and I think
01:37:40
for me like what I had always said in my
01:37:43
standpoint was that like for me sport is
01:37:46
about like like how I mentioned you know
01:37:50
when I was a kid like going to
01:37:51
completion and finishing the event and
01:37:53
and and you know not stopping until
01:37:56
until the job has been done. Uh and you
01:37:59
know obviously in high jump people can
01:38:00
see it and go well you jump the highest
01:38:02
you both jump the highest so why would
01:38:04
you keep going? But I think for me high
01:38:06
jump's more than that. It's it's also
01:38:07
about the competition you have with your
01:38:09
competitors and and and making sure that
01:38:11
there's one guy left right at the end of
01:38:13
it, one, you know, one man standing. Uh
01:38:15
and whether that means you you jump
01:38:17
higher and higher or whether it means
01:38:18
that you kind of have to break a
01:38:19
deadlock by jumping slightly lower, it's
01:38:21
it's ultimately the same thing for me.
01:38:23
Uh and so yeah, so I always knew that if
01:38:25
I was in that position, I never thought
01:38:26
I would be in that position firstly
01:38:28
because of just, you know, how how
01:38:29
unlikely it was. I I felt like being a
01:38:33
part of a jump off and sharing a moment
01:38:35
that would then add value to our sport
01:38:37
and value to people watching back home
01:38:40
and and inspiration to people and and
01:38:42
hopefully get people to see it as a
01:38:44
really cool moment
01:38:45
>> um was was the thing that was way more
01:38:48
important to me than actually winning
01:38:50
jump off. And so if I got silver, I mean
01:38:52
I to this day I stand by it. Obviously
01:38:54
it's easy for me to say now.
01:38:56
>> Um it's easy for me to say now, but you
01:38:58
know genuinely if I'd gotten that silver
01:39:00
um I still I would have been more proud
01:39:02
of that than two golds because for me
01:39:04
that represented
01:39:06
a moment an opportunity where I had a
01:39:08
choice to stop or continue on and finish
01:39:12
a job. Uh and ultimately I I had the
01:39:14
courage to be able to do that. So yeah,
01:39:16
it's it's pretty scary. like me and me
01:39:18
and Shelby will be interlin for the rest
01:39:20
of our lives as being the two guys who
01:39:21
who were able to kind of look at each
01:39:23
other in the eyes and and agree to
01:39:24
continue on. Um, and I I feel incredibly
01:39:27
proud for that. But, you know, at the
01:39:28
same time, that's that's not to say
01:39:30
that, you know, in Tokyo, I I didn't
01:39:32
love what the the boys did. Uh, I was in
01:39:34
that final. I I was there watching uh
01:39:36
and when they did split the gold, I I
01:39:38
genuinely thought that was history being
01:39:39
made and and I loved it. But at the same
01:39:41
time, I knew that, you know, for me it
01:39:43
was it was going to be different.
01:39:45
>> It's interesting. I don't know if this
01:39:46
is something you thought of, but um just
01:39:48
looping back to something you said
01:39:49
before about your mom, you know, when
01:39:50
you were five or six years old and you
01:39:52
were playing soccer and then you want to
01:39:53
switch to rugby and she was like,
01:39:54
"That's great, but you got to follow
01:39:55
through and finish the season first."
01:39:57
It's like this is how you were raised.
01:39:58
You do something and you follow it
01:40:00
through to completion.
01:40:00
>> Oh, absolutely. And I I think I think
01:40:02
for me, you know, the the journey that I
01:40:05
took in doing that jump off was more
01:40:08
important than the result of that jump
01:40:10
off. You know, for me, like I obviously
01:40:12
remember the gold and I obviously
01:40:13
remember the jump, but I also remember
01:40:16
for me the most special thing is I
01:40:18
remember looking in Shel's eyes and
01:40:20
knowing that he wanted to keep going
01:40:21
just as much as I did. And like that
01:40:23
will be my moment that I'll never forget
01:40:25
is is when I when I realized that there
01:40:27
was an opportunity to to continue on and
01:40:29
and I I think I suppose I suppose I
01:40:31
liken it a wee bit to also the fact that
01:40:34
like when you're jumping really well and
01:40:35
you have a lot of confidence, like
01:40:36
that's it's so much fun. Like I love
01:40:38
high jump in that moment. And so it's
01:40:40
almost like
01:40:42
getting to a point where I feel that way
01:40:44
cuz I I was super confident. I I felt
01:40:46
really good jumping that day. Almost
01:40:48
like, hey, do you want to do a few more
01:40:50
jumps? Like you're in good shape. Like
01:40:51
do you want to do a few more jumps or do
01:40:52
you want to just stop? It's like of
01:40:54
course I'm going to say I want to do
01:40:55
more. Like it's like that's the moment
01:40:56
I've I've worked towards. That's the
01:40:58
moment that I've finally got an
01:41:00
opportunity to to show the world how
01:41:01
good I am and and also just use this
01:41:04
these amazing jumps that that I've built
01:41:06
up over, you know, a good amount of
01:41:08
time. I finally got an opportunity to do
01:41:09
that. Like why wouldn't I?
01:41:11
>> And you you that winning jump you
01:41:13
cleared it easily, eh?
01:41:15
>> Like so like you weren't even close to
01:41:16
touching the bar. What? 3 cm maybe?
01:41:19
>> Yeah, something like that.
01:41:21
>> Yeah, it was like um it was crazy. It
01:41:22
was so So what what what are you what
01:41:24
are you thinking when you have that
01:41:25
jump? Are you just in flow state or are
01:41:26
you
01:41:27
>> Yeah, I think um Well, it was actually
01:41:29
quite it was interesting. So in that um
01:41:31
I mean obviously I'm in comms with Jimmy
01:41:33
the whole time. Um, and and that's kind
01:41:35
of like, you know, we're we're always
01:41:37
adapting and and working on on kind of
01:41:39
what what I need to do and what I need
01:41:40
to be thinking about with the jumps and
01:41:41
and it was interesting, you know, you
01:41:44
you go back to the the qualifying round,
01:41:46
I was running too fast and, you know, I
01:41:48
was I was I was kind of hurrying and I
01:41:49
didn't have great rhythm. That also kind
01:41:51
of was happening in that final. Um, so
01:41:52
near the end in my attempts at 238 and
01:41:56
then into the first couple attempts of
01:41:57
the the jump off, I was I was
01:41:59
overstriding. I was running too fast. I
01:42:01
I just didn't have the right rhythm. And
01:42:03
so what actually happened was um in that
01:42:06
234 which is the one that I end up
01:42:07
clearing to win uh I put my mark in and
01:42:10
that's not something that you ever do
01:42:12
like always what will happen is you get
01:42:14
more confidence more speed more intent
01:42:16
and you have to move your mark out. So
01:42:18
that means you got more room to to move
01:42:20
and and to run and and so
01:42:23
what happened was I was getting really
01:42:25
tired like I was fatiguing massively in
01:42:27
that point. I was super hungry. Like by
01:42:29
that point like nutrition like I I was I
01:42:31
was done and like energy levels were
01:42:34
getting pretty low and so Jimmy said
01:42:36
move your mark in which was the first
01:42:37
time I ever moved my mark in.
01:42:39
>> So it's like one less step or two less
01:42:40
step.
01:42:41
>> It's just it's so it's one less foot. Um
01:42:43
so it's it's still the same number of
01:42:44
steps. Um, but it's just recognizing the
01:42:47
fact that you're not getting as much
01:42:48
distance out of each foot and so or out
01:42:51
out of each step and and because of that
01:42:53
you're trying to push too hard in the
01:42:55
the final moment rather than just
01:42:57
allowing the jump to kind of come off
01:42:59
the end of a of a nice runup. You
01:43:01
shouldn't feel like you're
01:43:04
you should feel like you're generating
01:43:05
speed but not having to do it in a way
01:43:06
that's like changing your body position
01:43:08
or you know like when you when you
01:43:10
accelerate often you'll like lean
01:43:11
forwards like that's just the the human
01:43:13
kind of
01:43:14
>> you know it's just biomechanics but so
01:43:16
for us we want to make sure we're still
01:43:17
up and often when you accelerate too
01:43:19
hard that's when you lean forward and
01:43:20
then your jumps just bad. So that was
01:43:22
happening in those jumps. Um, and so he
01:43:24
made me move my mark in and I knew that
01:43:28
in that last jump, like if I didn't
01:43:29
clear that, we were going to be there
01:43:31
for a long time. Like, and the bar was
01:43:33
going to be going down and down and down
01:43:35
and like that it was getting to the
01:43:36
point where it was like kind of getting
01:43:38
a little bit like on edge. Like I think
01:43:40
to jump 234 to win in the jump off is
01:43:43
great because 234 still would have won a
01:43:45
medal. And so it's like it's fine to to
01:43:46
have that as a as a final height. But if
01:43:48
we had gone to 32 or 30 or 28, I think
01:43:51
then that would have become an
01:43:53
opportunity or you know a potential
01:43:54
thing where we would had to kind of
01:43:57
reassess whether we wanted to continue.
01:43:59
Um, so I knew in that moment that that
01:44:01
was like the one I had to get and yeah,
01:44:04
was able to kind of settle myself down
01:44:07
again, like the qualifying round, deep
01:44:10
breaths, slow down, just allow the jump
01:44:12
to happen. And as soon as I put my foot
01:44:14
down, I I knew I knew it was the jump.
01:44:17
>> And are you thinking anything or nothing
01:44:18
at all?
01:44:19
>> You just think about that.
01:44:20
>> Um, yeah. Uh, yeah. But then once once
01:44:23
your foot goes down,
01:44:26
you kind of know if you're in the right
01:44:27
position or not just because of, you
01:44:28
know, how many times you do it. Um, and
01:44:30
once I put that foot down, I I realized
01:44:32
that that there was a decent chance that
01:44:34
I was going to clear that bar. And so,
01:44:36
you know, you sort of start rising up
01:44:38
and up and up and up and then you start
01:44:40
kind of rotating over the bar. You don't
01:44:43
feel the bar. The bar's still there and
01:44:45
then you kind of flick off the ed off
01:44:47
the end of it and that's then we start
01:44:48
kind of coming down again. and and I I
01:44:50
knew that I hadn't touched the bar. And
01:44:52
so that was like that was a pretty cool
01:44:55
moment just to be able to kind of
01:44:56
>> just really like time just slows down
01:44:58
and and you just feel like that that
01:45:01
jump goes on for so long and then you
01:45:04
hit the mat and it's just like boom like
01:45:06
and then time is just like like I then I
01:45:09
don't remember what happens after that
01:45:11
cuz after that it's like the crowd just
01:45:13
goes crazy. I can't hear anything um
01:45:15
because I'm just you know like just it's
01:45:17
just that massive release. Uh, and then
01:45:19
obviously I go running around the field
01:45:20
and
01:45:21
>> Oh, the the the commentary is I iconic.
01:45:24
Okay.
01:45:24
>> Yes, he can.
01:45:27
>> How many times have you watched it?
01:45:28
>> Uh, so I've never actually watched the
01:45:30
whole comp full uh like fully through.
01:45:33
Um, it's something that me and Jimmy
01:45:34
have been intending to like sit down and
01:45:35
actually watch. Um, but yeah, I've I've
01:45:37
seen the winning jump quite a bit.
01:45:39
>> So the um Yeah, you see so you famously
01:45:41
go running on the the javelin field
01:45:43
afterwards. Is that um was that
01:45:45
spontaneous premeditated? Uh it was kind
01:45:48
of a little bit premeditated. So I I was
01:45:50
sort of like kind of thinking like just
01:45:52
in my you know my cockiness of like oh
01:45:54
if I if I win like what am I going to
01:45:56
do? Um, and like everyone like through
01:45:59
the comp had been talking about how
01:46:01
amazing the crowd was in in Paris and it
01:46:03
was like you know there was there was
01:46:04
like 80,000 people in St France and you
01:46:07
know there was there was obviously a
01:46:08
huge French kind of element to that but
01:46:09
there was also just like yeah the vibes
01:46:12
were just good you know like you can you
01:46:13
can often sense going into a into a
01:46:15
stadium um you know like cuz I mean we
01:46:18
we compete in a lot of big stadiums but
01:46:20
sometimes like it will just feel a
01:46:21
little bit off or like they'll be
01:46:22
interested in one thing but not super
01:46:24
interested in others and like they'll be
01:46:26
they'll very nationalist or like
01:46:27
whatever it is like you can often just
01:46:29
like tell but in Paris genuinely felt
01:46:31
like so like they just cheer for
01:46:33
anything they got behind it they were
01:46:35
just super stoked to be there everyone
01:46:36
just was having a real time and so we
01:46:38
kind of always talked about this like
01:46:40
all the events like you know they come
01:46:41
off and be like oh man that crowd was so
01:46:42
cool and so I kind of wanted to do
01:46:44
something that like thanked the entire
01:46:47
crowd cuz what often happens like we're
01:46:49
in one part of the stadium if I win and
01:46:51
run towards my family then that part of
01:46:53
the stadium is like obviously sharing
01:46:54
that moment with me the rest of the
01:46:56
stadium is kind of a little bit
01:46:57
isolated. Uh and so in those last few
01:46:59
jumps when we were getting the crowd
01:47:00
going and and and getting them clapping,
01:47:02
the entire stadium was was joining in
01:47:04
and it really felt like they were all
01:47:05
kind of focused on us. And so yeah, I
01:47:08
before my 234 uh jump, the Javelin girls
01:47:12
walked past us on their victory lap and
01:47:15
so I knew that I knew that I'd finished
01:47:17
and so I genuinely was
01:47:19
>> So it wasn't a health and safety issue.
01:47:20
>> No. So I was thinking about I was like,
01:47:21
"Oh, channel girls finished." Like [ __ ]
01:47:24
I reckon the field's available. And so
01:47:25
and so that was that was kind of one
01:47:27
thing that I sort of knew yeah I did
01:47:29
know I was going to do it. Um and and
01:47:31
once I did that jump I was like yes
01:47:33
sweet I can go for a run now and then
01:47:34
obviously ran out and and and the whole
01:47:37
crowd and the whole stadium.
01:47:38
>> [ __ ] You're quite a showman. Eh love
01:47:41
engaging the crowd.
01:47:43
>> Yeah. Well I think I think you know like
01:47:45
I they're such a big part of it for us
01:47:47
you know like we we can't do what we do
01:47:49
without them. um you know, if we don't
01:47:51
have support and we don't have people
01:47:52
turning up, then you know, they my bills
01:47:54
aren't going to get gonna get paid. So,
01:47:56
you know, part of it is is that, but
01:47:57
also like I think, you know, I I just
01:47:59
think of all the amazing moments that
01:48:01
I've had when I've been watching sport.
01:48:02
Uh you know, I'm a massive sport fan. I
01:48:04
I love I love watching rugby. I love
01:48:07
watching football, Formula 1, you know,
01:48:08
all these different things. It's it's
01:48:09
it's yeah, I just I just love parking up
01:48:12
and watching. And so, if I can also
01:48:14
provide a few moments like that and that
01:48:16
that feeling of kind of last gasp, is he
01:48:18
going to do it? Is he not? um then then
01:48:20
that just makes my job so cool. So yeah,
01:48:22
I really really appreciate anyone who
01:48:24
cheers for us. Um you know whether I'm
01:48:26
you know there or on the TV or whatever
01:48:28
it is like it it does it is something we
01:48:31
genuinely feel um and and it's
01:48:33
definitely one of the big reasons I do
01:48:34
it.
01:48:35
>> So um August 7, 3 days earlier there
01:48:37
were tears of By the way, this is a hell
01:48:39
of a journey. Eh, it's something that
01:48:41
that only happens over the the space of
01:48:43
like a few seconds each jump but hearing
01:48:45
it like play by play it's really cool.
01:48:47
Um, you like reflecting on it?
01:48:50
>> Yeah, I do. I do. Like I think um yeah,
01:48:53
it's it's
01:48:55
I think it's just like I I have a deep
01:48:57
feeling of satisfaction that we worked
01:48:59
really hard last year. Um and you know,
01:49:02
everything was geared towards that
01:49:04
competition. Um but also like now more
01:49:07
and more like I know in those moments
01:49:09
like when it's a hard comp and I really
01:49:12
have to work for it, that's it's just so
01:49:14
much more enjoyable at the end of the
01:49:15
day.
01:49:16
um than compared to just kind of
01:49:18
cruising through and winning something
01:49:20
just outright. So yeah, the fact that I
01:49:23
won the games, if you told me that like
01:49:25
at the start of the year like you're
01:49:26
going to win the Olympics, I I would
01:49:28
have freaked out a wee bit, but I I
01:49:30
would have believed you. If you told me
01:49:31
I was going to win the Olympics in a
01:49:33
jump off, you know, in front of 80,000
01:49:36
people, like one jump to win it all and
01:49:38
then, you know, the rest is history, I
01:49:41
that's the thing that I would have been
01:49:42
like, whoa, hell no. Like I'm not that
01:49:44
kind of guy. I'm not that kind of
01:49:45
competitor. Um, but now it's the the
01:49:47
thing that really makes me enjoy it
01:49:49
>> with you. So, you had like tears of like
01:49:51
devastation or nerves or anxiety on on
01:49:54
the qualifying. Um, what about 3 days
01:49:55
later? Were there any like tears of
01:49:57
elation or anything?
01:49:57
>> No, not really tears. Like I Yeah, it's
01:50:00
interesting. Like I I never really felt
01:50:01
like I shed a tear after the games. Um,
01:50:05
I think I was probably in shock a little
01:50:06
bit. Uh, you know, I think I think there
01:50:08
was definitely a few days there where I
01:50:09
just like I just just didn't believe it.
01:50:11
But um no, I think I think it was
01:50:14
incredibly fitting like having to go to
01:50:16
those depths in the qualifying and
01:50:18
having to to really like be in that
01:50:21
space and sit with you know the the kind
01:50:24
of challenge to me is and at my very
01:50:26
being and and at my whole was was the
01:50:29
perfect thing for that final. Um, and
01:50:31
then once I got to that final, it was
01:50:33
just freedom. Like I, you know, whether
01:50:34
I came fifth or sixth or, you know, I
01:50:37
won, like I was just I knew that I'd
01:50:40
proved to myself that I I I fitted there
01:50:43
and and and I was one of the best in the
01:50:45
world. So yeah, obviously, you know, to
01:50:47
win was was great. But yeah, to to kind
01:50:49
of put that that feeling of of, you
01:50:52
know, am I good enough to bed uh in that
01:50:54
qualifying round was was, you know,
01:50:56
longterm for me was was the greatest
01:50:58
thing I could have got out of that.
01:50:59
>> Yeah. And there's been so much success
01:51:01
since then as we've um established.
01:51:04
>> So you said you were at the stadium till
01:51:05
midnight. So what happens next? Um yeah,
01:51:09
after that uh you have to go through
01:51:11
press. So there's like the mix zone. Um
01:51:14
and then I was about halfway through
01:51:15
that and then we had to we got pulled
01:51:17
out to go to the medal ceremony um
01:51:19
because it was the last night of track
01:51:20
and field. So the medal ceremony was
01:51:21
like straight after the event. Um did
01:51:23
that then went back to media because I
01:51:26
hadn't finished media and then we had a
01:51:28
press conference. uh which was like
01:51:30
separate media and then I had drug
01:51:33
testing uh and then and then I got out
01:51:35
of it from there. So yeah, it's it's
01:51:37
always busy. Like it's funny like Maddie
01:51:39
always knows like if I do really well
01:51:41
like if she's not there or even if she
01:51:43
is there, she's like if if I do really
01:51:44
well, she like just won't text me for 4
01:51:46
hours cuz she like knows that it's going
01:51:47
to be busy. Um and yeah, it was a real
01:51:50
whirlwind. Like Jimmy was there with me
01:51:52
uh from the the uh from the medal
01:51:56
ceremony. Um, so yeah, we were able to
01:51:58
like have a real cool moment um, under
01:51:59
the stand and and be able to just
01:52:01
celebrate together and then we just kind
01:52:02
of cruise through all of that stuff
01:52:03
together. Um, which was super cool. So
01:52:06
yeah, it's it's it's quite nice as well.
01:52:08
Like it gives you a bit of a calm before
01:52:09
the storm. Like obviously you're doing a
01:52:10
lot of media and and various other
01:52:12
things, but it's like just being able to
01:52:13
kind of sit with that moment um, you
01:52:15
know, with yourself and and also with
01:52:16
the other competitors cuz the medalists
01:52:18
kind of all have to do it together. um
01:52:20
is is a very special kind of moment to
01:52:22
share and then and then you kind of
01:52:24
leave the stadium and and everything
01:52:26
kind of just explodes from there.
01:52:28
>> What are you thinking during the medal
01:52:29
ceremony? How do how do you not cry
01:52:30
during the national anthem with a gold
01:52:32
medal around your neck?
01:52:33
>> Yeah, I I I think like because it was
01:52:36
straight after the comp, like I was just
01:52:38
like
01:52:39
>> I was so hungry and like so tired that
01:52:41
like I was just like barely like I was
01:52:44
just smoked at that point. Um, but no, I
01:52:46
mean I I shed a tear this year at the
01:52:48
medal ceremony in in Tokyo. Uh, that
01:52:50
that because that was the next day. Like
01:52:52
I think it gave me a little bit more
01:52:53
time to like really think about what was
01:52:54
going on. Um, but yeah, it's just it's
01:52:57
just, you know, I'm just super grateful
01:52:58
for those moments.
01:52:59
>> Yeah. Who's the first person you called
01:53:01
when you get reunited with your phone?
01:53:03
Uh so after the qualifying, mom was the
01:53:05
first person I called um to apologize to
01:53:07
her cuz I I didn't I didn't know like
01:53:09
you know what what had happened in in in
01:53:11
their neck of the woods but I I assumed
01:53:12
that you know she would she would have
01:53:14
gone through that roller coaster with me
01:53:15
together. So um yeah I I called her and
01:53:17
and and said sorry. Uh but then yeah
01:53:20
after
01:53:22
after um after the final I I'm not sure
01:53:26
who I call first.
01:53:27
>> Was your phone blowing up?
01:53:28
>> Yeah. you I I just I don't usually turn
01:53:30
it on. Um cuz like Jimmy was there,
01:53:33
Maddie was there. Um and it was actually
01:53:35
probably mom and dad as well. Um just to
01:53:37
say thanks and and and just hope that
01:53:40
they're all good. Um but yeah, it would
01:53:41
have been them and then and then shortly
01:53:42
after that would have been my team back
01:53:44
home as well.
01:53:45
>> Would you say it's life-changing winning
01:53:46
an Olympic gold medal?
01:53:48
>> Yeah. Yeah, it is. Yeah, 100% it is. Um
01:53:51
but but not like not drastically like,
01:53:54
you know, I'm still the same person. and
01:53:55
I still have to wake up every day and
01:53:56
and do what I do. But um I think it just
01:53:59
gives me a huge amount of confidence
01:54:00
moving forwards to to know that what I
01:54:02
do is is is worthwhile and and you get
01:54:04
some pretty cool results out of it. So
01:54:06
yeah, I I think that it's um it's given
01:54:09
me a lot of sense of pride and in what I
01:54:11
do and and and the work that I've put in
01:54:13
and and to be able to kind of show that
01:54:14
to people is is is really cool. But
01:54:16
yeah, I I'm yeah, I wouldn't say
01:54:20
drastically um but yeah, a nice in a
01:54:23
nice way.
01:54:25
And like it's over a year ago now. Do
01:54:27
people still recognize you? Where are
01:54:30
the places that you can't go to or that
01:54:31
you avoid if you just want to be in your
01:54:33
own head space?
01:54:34
>> Um well the places I don't go to so much
01:54:36
these days would be like the bottle
01:54:37
store. Like you know you just got to got
01:54:40
to um got to maintain. It was funny. I
01:54:42
actually one of the first times I kind
01:54:44
of realized that people do recognize me
01:54:45
quite a lot more now is um I was in the
01:54:47
supermarket straight after the games.
01:54:48
I'd just gone home. I was actually two.
01:54:50
Yeah. So, one of them was um I was in
01:54:52
the I'd just gotten home. I was in the
01:54:55
supermarket and I had a bottle of
01:54:57
champagne in both hands and I was like
01:54:58
going up to pay and some guy came up to
01:55:00
like shake my hand and so I had to kind
01:55:01
of like be awkward.
01:55:03
>> Yeah. And so I was like holding these
01:55:04
two like bottles of champagne and he
01:55:05
just kind of like look at me like, "Oh
01:55:06
yeah, good on you mate." Like go
01:55:07
celebrate. And then the other one was
01:55:09
that then I went and caught up Jimmy. Um
01:55:11
it was like the first time we caught up
01:55:13
since the games cuz I went traveling
01:55:14
afterwards and he went home. Um and we
01:55:15
went and got dominoes. And so we went in
01:55:18
and like ordered Domino's and we were
01:55:19
both sitting there like waiting for our
01:55:21
pizzas and um yeah, a guy came up and he
01:55:23
just was like he's like, "Mate, oh,
01:55:25
you're like the high jumper in the
01:55:26
coach." Like, "Oh, good on you." Like,
01:55:28
"Oh, and good to see you eating some
01:55:29
good food." I was like, "Oh,
01:55:32
oh, no." So, yeah, I I I wouldn't say
01:55:35
I'm that much more aware of it, but um
01:55:37
yeah, you you definitely do get
01:55:39
recognized quite a bit now.
01:55:40
>> Where do you keep the medal?
01:55:42
>> The
01:55:43
>> the Olympic gold. The Olympic one is
01:55:46
just at home tucked away somewhere. Um,
01:55:48
but draw
01:55:49
>> very very close to like I can get it out
01:55:51
when I need to show people. So, yeah,
01:55:53
it's it's it's yeah, it gets it gets
01:55:56
brought out quite a lot still.
01:55:57
>> Does it have a name or anything?
01:55:58
>> No.
01:55:59
>> No, you haven't nicknamed it.
01:56:00
>> It's just just my metal.
01:56:01
>> Is it in is it in good condition? I've
01:56:02
seen I've seen a few that are in um
01:56:04
really poor repair. Eric Murray springs
01:56:06
to mind.
01:56:06
>> Yeah, it's it's I wouldn't say it's in
01:56:08
great condition. like um it's it's
01:56:10
definitely got its fair shares of of of
01:56:12
nicks and and scratches and stuff, but I
01:56:14
think that's also like part of its
01:56:16
story, right? Is is you know, you you
01:56:18
you get it out and you show people and
01:56:21
um yeah, there was one time I was a
01:56:23
little bit I was a little bit pissed
01:56:24
off. I was going through security. I was
01:56:25
I was coming up to Oakuckland to to meet
01:56:27
with some people and so I had in my bag
01:56:28
and and it always gets pulled up in
01:56:30
security cuz it's like a big big hunk of
01:56:31
metal. And so the lady like brought it
01:56:33
out and she was like looking at it and
01:56:34
she said, "Oh, this is cool." And then
01:56:35
the guy who was getting his bag checked
01:56:36
next to me saw it and was like, "Oh,
01:56:39
sick. Is that like an Olympic medal?"
01:56:40
And so he grabbed it and then he like
01:56:43
looks at it and then he just like dumped
01:56:44
it down on the desk like on the desk
01:56:46
again and like all the security people
01:56:47
were like, "Bro, like what are you
01:56:49
doing?" Like and so I was Yeah. So
01:56:51
there's like a little bit of a dent
01:56:52
because of that. Um but yeah, I mean
01:56:54
that's that's just part of the story,
01:56:55
right? Yeah.
01:56:57
>> It must be really I don't know if this
01:56:59
is something you dwell on too much, but
01:57:00
like when you when you were a kid
01:57:02
growing up like there were no high jump
01:57:03
role models. So there there was no sort
01:57:05
of pathway. Now you've sort of created
01:57:07
this pathway.
01:57:08
>> Yeah. I mean yes I have like I mean I I
01:57:12
looked up to you know I I mean I my
01:57:15
first games that I watched was Athens
01:57:17
2004. So it was like Sarah Alma um the
01:57:21
Ever Ever Swendell's Hish Carter you
01:57:23
know all these guys like they they were
01:57:25
my heroes. Um and now that I've got to
01:57:28
where I am like I just realized that
01:57:31
like I just had to be me to get there.
01:57:34
like the all the things that I had deep
01:57:35
down in me from being that kid watching
01:57:38
Athens, like they were the things that
01:57:39
were going to make me an Olympic
01:57:41
champion. I just didn't realize it yet.
01:57:42
And so, you know, it's it's all very
01:57:44
well looking up at at all these athletes
01:57:45
and and seeing the pathways they've been
01:57:47
on, but like at the end of the day, like
01:57:49
the next high jump is not going to be
01:57:50
the same as me. They're not going to
01:57:51
have the same strengths. They're not
01:57:52
going to have the same weaknesses. Like,
01:57:53
they'll be they'll be good at other
01:57:55
things. They'll have a different life.
01:57:56
So yeah, so long as they just realize
01:57:58
that it is possible, um you just got to
01:58:00
get out there and and work as hard as
01:58:02
possible and just turn up every day and
01:58:04
you know, just enjoy what you do and and
01:58:05
and just work as hard as possible.
01:58:07
That's that's pretty much it. Like you
01:58:09
know, if you want to be the next Hamish
01:58:11
or, you know, the next Zoe or whoever it
01:58:13
is in life, um yeah, just work really
01:58:15
hard.
01:58:17
>> What would you say your best and worst
01:58:18
habits are?
01:58:20
>> Uh best and worst habits. My best habit
01:58:23
is that I I put a very high price on
01:58:27
sleep. Um, so I'm I'm in bed by 10:00
01:58:31
every night and I have the exact same
01:58:32
wake up every every morning. Um, and so
01:58:35
that's that's my main kind of source of
01:58:37
recovery, I suppose. U What's the alarm?
01:58:40
6:00 a.m. 7:00 a.m.
01:58:41
>> N 7:30. I'm not
01:58:43
>> That's a lot of sleep.
01:58:44
>> Yeah, I don't 9 and 1 half hours.
01:58:46
>> Yeah, it is. Um, but that's just what I
01:58:48
need, right? I mean, I've always need a
01:58:50
lot of sleep, but um you know,
01:58:52
especially when I'm training really
01:58:53
hard, I I I sleep a lot. So, that's
01:58:55
probably my best habit. Uh worst one is
01:58:56
I love snacks. Just love snacks. I like
01:58:59
So, most of the year I'll be having like
01:59:01
chips and lollies relatively regularly.
01:59:04
Um and then only like in the last kind
01:59:06
of um couple of months before I need to
01:59:08
really lock in do I do I kind of really
01:59:10
pull back on that stuff. But,
01:59:11
>> does it matter?
01:59:12
>> Um I mean, ultimately at the end of the
01:59:15
day, like I've got the results, right?
01:59:16
So, you could probably say it doesn't
01:59:17
really matter that much. Um, I think
01:59:19
anything in moderation is is is pretty
01:59:21
fine. I'm I'm not I'm not a massive
01:59:23
Yeah, I'm not a massive no-go of of
01:59:25
things, but yeah, there's definitely
01:59:27
times where you have to lock in a we bit
01:59:28
more.
01:59:29
>> Is there a what if that keeps you up at
01:59:31
night?
01:59:32
>> Uh,
01:59:34
no.
01:59:35
>> No,
01:59:35
>> not really. No, I feel like I feel like
01:59:37
at the end of the day, I've I know deep
01:59:39
down that I've worked really hard for
01:59:40
what I've what I've got.
01:59:41
>> Um, you know, I've obviously got a lot,
01:59:43
but I also worked really hard for it.
01:59:44
So, that's the main thing that I I
01:59:45
remember.
01:59:46
>> What about future goals? Um 240 is a big
01:59:50
one. Obviously, I think I think that's
01:59:51
the thing that that
01:59:53
>> I feel like is very capable and
01:59:55
something that I really want to do. Um
01:59:57
but yeah, other than that, um yeah,
02:00:00
that'll be the next year or so. And then
02:00:02
and then from there on, it's it's just
02:00:03
about setting my life up for for what is
02:00:05
postport and and making sure that's as
02:00:07
fulfilling as possible.
02:00:08
>> Yeah. What about personal goals?
02:00:10
>> Um
02:00:12
personal goals, uh I want to learn
02:00:15
French. Uh we we spend a lot of time in
02:00:17
France now uh and and kind of one of my
02:00:20
kind of goals which is kind of a little
02:00:22
bit athletic but also very personal is
02:00:23
that I want to live in France um for
02:00:25
like at least six months for the next
02:00:27
few years um just just while it's the
02:00:29
European summer and so yeah learning
02:00:30
French and and kind of integrating into
02:00:32
their culture is something I feel like
02:00:33
I've got a really good opportunity to do
02:00:34
right now.
02:00:36
>> Why why France?
02:00:37
>> Just cuz it's a cool place.
02:00:38
>> Yeah, it's just a cool place like I mean
02:00:40
>> bring back brings back good memories.
02:00:42
Yeah, I mean we we based in Nice, so um
02:00:45
so like Mediterranean, it's it's a
02:00:47
pretty cool spot. It's a it's an amazing
02:00:48
life um to be had down there and and and
02:00:52
yeah, to be able to balance New Zealand
02:00:53
in there is is something I'm super
02:00:54
grateful for. So yeah, I think one of
02:00:56
the big things was like we wanted to
02:00:58
live somewhere um that's just just a
02:01:01
nice place to go. Uh and and Maddie
02:01:04
loves the beach. I you know, I I I love
02:01:07
the heat. Um there's there's access to
02:01:09
great training facilities there. there's
02:01:10
there's a lot of people we know well.
02:01:11
So, yeah, that's kind of where we ended
02:01:13
up. But, yeah, it's a good spot.
02:01:16
>> And, um, if if your family and friends
02:01:19
were in another room talking about you,
02:01:21
what are three words that you'd like
02:01:22
them to use to describe you?
02:01:24
>> Um, three words would be
02:01:29
friend,
02:01:31
>> honest, hardworking.
02:01:34
That's almost three words. We'll give
02:01:36
you the fourth as a bonus. You've earned
02:01:39
a bonus word. They're great. They're
02:01:40
cool words, eh?
02:01:42
>> Are you proud of yourself?
02:01:43
>> Yeah. Yeah, I am. Yeah, I'm massively
02:01:45
proud of myself. I think I'm massively
02:01:47
proud of like
02:01:50
the guy sitting here 3 years ago is not
02:01:53
the guy sitting here today. Um, and I
02:01:55
think for me that's that's the most
02:01:57
important thing. You know, as as the
02:01:58
goals have gotten bigger
02:02:00
>> and those dreams have become realities,
02:02:02
I've had to grow as a person. And and
02:02:04
that hasn't always been fun. Um, but
02:02:06
ultimately I've been able to kind of,
02:02:08
you know, take that challenge head on
02:02:10
and and and be a better person because
02:02:12
of it.
02:02:13
>> Well, I'm so proud of you. You'd
02:02:14
achieved so much 3 years ago when you're
02:02:16
on the podcast and you've just done so
02:02:17
much more since then. It's been
02:02:19
inspiring and uh like from um like my
02:02:22
perspective and the perspective of the
02:02:24
public, what we see is just snippets on
02:02:26
the news or on YouTube every now and
02:02:27
then at these good
02:02:28
>> snippets.
02:02:29
>> Yeah. at these apart from the memes at
02:02:31
these sort of pinnacle events, but what
02:02:33
we don't see is the like the the part of
02:02:34
the iceberg that's under the water, all
02:02:36
the hard work, all the anguish and all
02:02:37
the sacrifice that goes into it.
02:02:39
>> Yeah. Yeah. You don't um but you know,
02:02:41
at the end of the day, it's the the
02:02:43
thing that all those results sit on top
02:02:45
of. So, it's very important.
02:02:46
>> Yeah. Are you okay with being a meme?
02:02:48
>> I love it. Yeah. It's
02:02:50
>> it's a great meme. What happened with
02:02:51
that jump, by the way?
02:02:52
>> Um so, that was 238. Uh it was my last
02:02:55
attempt at 238 before the jump off and I
02:02:58
just went in with way too much steam.
02:02:59
Like I I I kind of was like I'm going to
02:03:01
get up for this. I'm going to run real
02:03:02
fast and just just put my foot down and
02:03:04
then and then I realized I'd run far too
02:03:06
fast and and so I was like too late to
02:03:08
pull out of it and so I just popped
02:03:09
under the bar and yeah, it's so funny. I
02:03:12
like I Yeah, some people know me as like
02:03:15
the Olympic champion. Some people know
02:03:16
me as like that high jumper who who is a
02:03:18
meme of And it's super funny. Like even
02:03:20
even nowadays, like I reckon at least
02:03:22
twice a week I'll get people sending
02:03:23
them through. Um but I really appreciate
02:03:25
it. I I I have no no um no qualms about
02:03:29
it whatsoever. It's it's it's very
02:03:31
funny.
02:03:31
>> Would you appreciate it as much if the
02:03:33
outcome had been different?
02:03:35
>> Um probably not. But
02:03:38
>> hey, this has been bloody great. This
02:03:39
has been really awesome. Thank you so
02:03:41
much for the time. Um, thank you for
02:03:42
being one of I don't know how many
02:03:44
people, maybe two or three people that
02:03:45
has been a repeat guest on the podcast,
02:03:48
but um, I'm so pleased we agreed to do
02:03:50
it because there's been just so much
02:03:51
more going on in your life to catch up
02:03:53
on and it's really inspiring.
02:03:54
>> Yeah, thanks Heaps. And I mean, look,
02:03:56
you've had an amazing journey the last
02:03:57
few years as well. So, it's been very
02:03:59
cool to come and check out the new Pod
02:04:00
Lab and and and see what you've been
02:04:02
doing. So, yeah, it's it's it's great. I
02:04:04
can't wait for my my next visit in a few
02:04:05
years time. I
02:04:06
>> appreciate it. Hish Kurt, thank you so
02:04:08
much.
02:04:08
>> Thanks, mate.