0:00
Definitely, it was a great privilege to be chosen as that sort of role at the Olympic Games and to be a flag bearer
0:05
I think, yeah, I'm very proud to have that as well. So you had to wait, though, because I guess it was about, what, about a week to 10 days, almost two weeks, I think
0:14
until you actually went out on the bobsleigh because the skeleton was first there
0:18
So what happens in the time in between? Were you allowed onto the ice
0:23
Would you just be having fun in the Olympic Village? I mean, what was it like
0:27
No, for us, we have a couple of days of training before the opening ceremony starts
0:32
And then as soon as that finished, we packed up all our bags and we left for Germany
0:36
So we went out of the village for like four or five days. Oh, did you? Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah
0:39
So we have a bit of a training camp away from that so we can get, yeah, some better food
0:44
and, yeah, a bit of a better routine instead of having all the distractions around the Olympics
0:49
And then we came back in ready for our official training. So the food wasn't so great in the Olympic village
0:54
Is this what we're getting from this? It wasn't for me, no. OK
0:58
Yeah, yeah, it was OK. I lost a decent amount of weight during the time there
1:02
But, yeah, some people enjoyed it, other people struggled. But, yeah, it's just the same thing every day for a three-week period
1:08
It gets a bit monotonous. Now, listen, two-man Bob and four-man Bob, it was seventh in the end for you
1:13
and you did us proud, and we always love to see you and see you representing your country, and you do a great job
1:19
But the Germans, I mean, we were talking about this Monday or Tuesday
1:23
and Ellie was saying to it, why is it? So how is it that the Germans are so good at bobsleigh
1:29
I know you've had wins against them, but it's just this domination
1:34
Why is it? I'm saying it's the Vorsprung Dirk technique maybe of the Bob
1:39
or is it the athletes? What is it about the Germans There a combination of everything So they run their program very very well So they have a lot of funding that comes in they have four of their own tracks they have the push the push tracks where
1:52
you practice physically and push in in the summer they have probably 15 or 20 of those around the
1:58
country when we only have one so they they do everything to the best of their ability so they
2:03
they maximize absolutely everything so that's why they're so good so we we do pretty well
2:08
considering what we have available to us. But, yeah, it's still, we're up against it when we go against the Germans
2:15
But, yeah, they do everything phenomenally well. And, yeah, for us to win anything is a bit of a miracle, really
2:21
Well, we can say that about the whole Winter Olympics, can't we? I mean, the fact that we've done so well
2:25
considering what our training facilities are like. And also, I know with you and over the years
2:32
I mean, it has been a real struggle, hasn't it? Because when you started out, you were trying to fund yourself
2:38
and it was, I mean, I know this lottery funding comes along a bit later once you've had success, but it really has been a difficult journey for you, hasn't it
2:46
Yeah, definitely. Well, after my first Olympic Games in 2018 in South Korea
2:50
we lost our funding completely. So I had to raise all the money for that, buy our own equipment
2:55
buy the sleds, organise my own team, the hotels, the travel, absolutely everything
3:00
And we managed to get to the last Olympic Games, the Olympic Games in Beijing, and we finished with a sixth place
3:06
got the funding back. And then from that point, we kind of like just took off and we started winning everything
3:11
European championships, world championship medals. And so we've had an extremely successful last four years
3:17
And to end that Olympic cycle with a seventh place finish seems extremely disappointing for us
3:24
But we're incredibly proud of all the challenges that we've had over the last few years
3:28
and all the successes that we've had as well. So it's not all doom and gloom, even though it's not how we wanted to finish it off
