Episode 28: Paris Olympics 2024

[Music] Hello and welcome to Unlaced with Truck and Bates. I'm Madison Truck. And I'm Evan Bates and we're Olympic Ice Dancers for Team USA. Well, welcome back Evan. It's good to hear your voice, Maddie. Well, you hear it every day, so I'm glad to hear you like it. Well, the listeners should be glad to hear your voice. They're not as lucky as I am. I do get to hear your voice every single day. But it's good to hear it through the microphone. Well, thank you. And thank you to our listeners for being with us today. Wherever this podcast finds you, we're so happy that you have decided to tune in. Yes. A lot has gone on. We've been very busy. We were really excited and we've got a lot of stuff to catch up on. Indeed. Where should we start? I think we should start with our upcoming trip. Where are we going? We're going to Paris for the Olympics. We are. We can't believe it. We're still wrapping our heads around the fact that we Winter Olympians have been invited to the Summer Olympics. How are we even going to survive out there? I don't know. I think we're going to melt. I'm pretty certain of it. We're definitely going to melt. We stand all the time. Definitely can't bring it in a freezing cold ice ring. Definitely cannot bring my Olympic heat gear. No. What are you going to wear? That's actually a very poignant question. It's the fashion capital of the world. You're the fashion queen of the world. Of the world. I don't know about that. But I do love fashion. And I have been thinking about my Paris looks and outfits. So I think I'm going to be wearing a lot of red, white, and blue, but not in a cheesy way. In a very tasteful kind of retro-americana way. Well, maybe not retro, but we're going for timeless, Americana, classic Ralph Lauren inspired, but with a modern twist, maybe a little, I don't know, Parisian sheikness, hopefully. I think you understand the assignment. The question is what should I wear? That is a good question. I think you understand the assignment too. We just have to cultivate some looks for you so you just don't have to think about it. You can just reach into your suitcase and grab something that suits the weather, has decent sun protection, and looks very team USA. That's all great advice. I don't want the audience members to be misled and think that you always are responsible for dressing me because everyone in my life assumes that anytime I show up with a good outfit on, they're always assuming that you picked it out for me. Yeah, let me be here to clear the record. Evan, I dress myself. He dresses himself. He picks his own outfits. I do buy you clothes on occasion, but he styles them and he makes them his own. I'm my own person. Yes, you are. I'm so proud of you. No, but I will take advice. I think definitely repping the red, white, and blue is going to be a big part of next week. I don't know if we're going to be able to get in on the pin trading action, but that's another part of a little pick a tire that is just so unique and fun, great icebreaker. We should bring our own team USA figure skating pins. I thought about that and gosh, I just love pin trading. I love collecting pins. I just love pins. Some might say I'm a pinhead. Who you're going to say that? Well, you know me well and you know that I am indeed a pinhead because I love pins. I love trading them. I love collecting them. I love pins of all shapes and sizes. What else is it about the Olympics that you love so much? I mean the sports. Obviously I love all the different sports. I think there are 36 sports in the summer Olympics. How many can you name go volleyball tennis, golf, equestrian, gymnastics, ping pong, rugby, swimming, water polo. How many is that? That was nine. I am freezing. Okay, well nine rolled off the tongue easily. That was pretty good. Basketball. Shooting, skateboarding, breaking is now a new sport. We're missing a lot. I don't know is it like probably stupid question. There's volleyball and then there's beach volleyball wrestling. There's wrestling. Yes, there's there are a lot of sports compared to the winter games. We just have to put our brains together. We clearly need to do some research. Although we have been watching nightly catching up on everything Paris. What's been your highlight so far? It hasn't even been a week yet. But what's your highlight so far? Oof. Good question. There have been so many highlights. I loved watching the Golden Girls take that gold medal in the gymnastics team event and the men, the bronze and the gymnastics team event. Big fan of Steve. Steve might just be my new hero. He's great. He's kind of like Captain America. His name is Steve. He delivered like the best performance arguably of his career at a clutch time when TMEO say needed him. So is he a superhero? Yeah. I'd say he's a superhero. People were comparing him to Clark Kent with the glasses. I believe it. Just you know when he was sitting in the same seat for two hours. As I was close he was in like Power Save mode. And then when his name was called, he went out there and he did the job. He activated. It was impressive. What's your favorite event that we've watched so far? I have been made into a rugby fan by the women's, the US women's team. Obviously a Llonamar has been a revelation. A superstar. America's sweetheart. She's so fun to follow on Instagram. Lever personality. But then just I got to watch the sport of rugby, which I don't know if it's insulting to say it kind of reminded me of American football, which is my favorite sport to watch on. I mean, I think there are like cousins. Yeah, I hope that's okay to say there. There certainly is some similarities. I mean, they run with a ball. They throw it to each other. I'd say they're tackling each other. They're tackling each other. They run to an end zone. And just the ending was the ending was just crazy. Like last seconds of play and the US team took the ball down the pitch. I don't know what they call it. The field. The field and ran like, I don't even know how far it was. 100 yards. What an Olympic moment. Like those are the Olympic moments that people remember and get you cheering so hard. Honestly, there is nothing better than sports. Sports unites the world and brings everyone together in a way that nothing else really does. Like everyone can come together over sports and I just love it. It's so impressive, especially the Olympics, because you see such a variety of athletes that are all so talented in so many different ways. And Alonamar said something really amazing and profound, but obvious. And it was so brilliant. She said that the Olympics, you see every body, every type of body from ping pong to swimming to rugby. There are so many different body types capable of so many wonderful things and to see them all perform at their best at all of these stages is incredible. Like you can see yourself in any Olympic sport or find someone who looks like you and be like, "Oh my God, that could be me." So what do you think if you were to do a summer sport, what sport would you be best at? I just realized we forgot weightlifting, like BMX, mountain biking, cycling. I think we said skateboarding. What summer sport would you do? Which one would I do or which one do you think it would be best at? Which one would be very different? Which one do you think you would be best at? Hmm. Okay, well let's go process of elimination. Not gymnastics because I do not like flinging myself into the air unless you were there to catch me. That's surprising. Yeah. You've got great flexibility, very elegant. Yeah, but just the flinging, like how they launch themselves into the air. No, it's crazy. I don't know if I could be as cat-like to just like land on my feet all the time. I'd probably be in one of those Olympic failed videos, have you seen those that people have been posting? It's like, "Ah, sorry to announce, I did not make the Olympic team." And it's just like people falling off the bars or flinging themselves. I love the flinging themselves. Regular people try to emulate what they see. They look usually in TV. Yeah, oh my God. So funny. But anyways, so okay, not gymnastics. Maybe definitely not rugby. Oh my goodness. I could not hang with those girls. They are tough as nails. I mean, I'm tough in a different way, but not like take a physical beating or to like run full force at someone else. I just be like, "Oh no, you take the ball. Please, you have it." So not rugby. Yeah, not rugby. Maybe a question. Oh. I thought about that. Maybe a question. I do love horses. It's fun to have a training mate. Maybe a question would be fun. They dance to the music. Sometimes they like a Snoop Dogg commented on the lower. Oh, that horse is crib walking. I need to get that horse in a video. So maybe a question. I love horses. I love the team. - You and an animal. - You can also do that sport for a long time. You know, there's a 59 year old on the question team. - Wow. - Their horse is 16 years old. - Wow. You know, everybody is just accelerating. As they get older, you get better with age. I truly believe it. - Talk about longevity. - Long-gevity. I love it. I love the longevity of all these athletes. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Simone Biles, Evan Bates. - No. - What? No. - I mean, yes. - You're not a summer Olympian, but you've got longevity, man. And it is impressive. - Thank you. - Thank you. - All right, Evan, what sport would you do? - Summer sport? - Yes, summer sport. - Well. - In not golf, 'cause I know you'd be greater golf. Be a different one. (laughing) - I mean, I would love to be on the basketball team, but I would probably just be like the towel water person, be offering towels and water to people. I would say the sport, I'd probably be best suited for, I would say maybe like cycling or something, 'cause I've got the strong legs, and whenever we do those power wads classes, I can put up some big numbers on those stationary bikes. So I feel like cycling, although I don't know if I have the mindset for that, to just, I feel like all those sports that are really endurance-based, it just takes a certain level of craziness. (laughing) - I think for any sport, it takes a certain level of craziness. You are totally right, but yes. - But the monotony, I respect it, because I cannot imagine like how many laps Katie Ladecki has swam. Actually, I saw a graphic where they, I don't know how they calculated this, but they calculated pretty much every mile that she has swam in her entire career from the time she started swimming, and she's so close to swimming around the world. - Oh my goodness. - They traced it around the globe in this nice graphic, and she's like just a couple inches on the graphic, not in real life. - Oh, it was like ancient, she just hopped in the pool and swam in a lap. - I think by LA, she'll have swam around the world. - Oh my gosh, that is insane to even contemplate. That is so cool. - And we're so lucky to be witnessing so many all-time grates, like Katie Ladecki, Simone Biles, LeBron. - How many miles do you think we've skated? - I'm sorry to interrupt that thought, but when you said swim around the world, I was like, I wonder how close we are at a skating around the world. - Oh my gosh, you're probably right, actually, as I talk about, I'm a notany and longevity and everything. I mean, but the thing with skating is, we always have something different that we could work on, and there's a real creative outlet, an artistic component to what we're doing. So it's different, and that's the beauty of the Olympics. - Yeah, we're just skating laps. - You see so many different sports, and you get into these sports, and I'm over there shouting at the TV, like I know what I'm talking about, like in these niche sports that I'd never watch, but except for these, you know, 16 days that I'm just completely invested in. And that's the beautiful thing about the Olympics. - Yeah, I love hearing the athlete stories. I love the fluff pieces and the back stories that TV broadcasters do. I just love getting to know the athlete. It just helps you be so invested in them, 'cause everyone has a unique story. And it's so special to hear about these athletes' journeys, and the hardships that they face, because everyone has faced a hardship. No matter who you are, you've undoubtedly faced a hardship to get to the Olympics. And it's just so incredible to hear what they've overcome, and how they've fought through with their perseverance and determination. That's what the Olympics isn't really about. It's about inspiring people, and pushing yourself to be the absolute best you could possibly be. - That's exactly what it is so well said. - I just love the Olympics. - I feel so inspired too, and I cannot believe we're gonna go next week. - Oh my God. - Who do you wanna meet? Why are you even going to Paris, like are you just gonna go watch? Is it just sort of a spectator thing? Do you have anything on the agenda? - Oh my goodness. Well, since you asked. Okay, one person I definitely wanna meet, who's not an Olympic athlete, but I would say he's an honorary Olympic athlete. It's got to be Snoop Dogg. He is the best Olympic cheerleader we could ever dream for, and he's just the best. I am so hoping to meet Snoop Dogg. - It's the summer of Snoop. - It's the summer of Snoop, and I'm here for it. He is having his brat summer, his best brat summer. So yeah, Snoop Dogg, for sure, Simone Biles. - I wanna meet Michael Phelps. - Oh, Michael Phelps. - He's the all-time greatest Olympian, 23 Olympic gold medals. He's been hanging out in Paris. I've seen him on TV quite a bit. I mean, maybe you never know. - I'd love to meet Alana too. She just seems like a really great genuine person. And Steve, oh, bless him. I love Steve. Yeah, I would love to meet Steve. - I want Steve to teach us how to solve a Rubik's Cube. - I just wanna watch Steve solve a Rubik's Cube. - I just wanna be in Steve's aura. Like I just wanna be around Steve and just feel his presence. You just, you know Steve is just the best. You can just tell. But yeah, so many incredible Olympians. I hope we get to meet a ton of people. I know they're all pretty busy, but don't interrupt anyone who's competing because I know what that feels like. Just if they're done, you know, I'd help them celebrate. I would love to help them celebrate their Olympics. - I think track and field will be pretty busy next week, but gymnastics should be done. Maybe you'll get a chance to meet Simone. - Yes. Oh my God, I would love that to go. - But I was kind of alluding to this earlier. Maybe somebody doesn't know why we're going to Paris and that is we're actually getting an Olympic gold medal. - What? - Short synopsis. We competed at the Olympics in Beijing in 2022. We won a medal, which we never received two and a half years later. We're getting it next week in Paris. - We're getting the gold. Oh my gosh, I can't even believe it's real. I can't believe it's happening. I'm so excited. - Like we've dreamt of winning Olympic gold since we started skating, but never at the summer games. - Never at the summer games. I could have never, ever predicted this outcome ever in a million years. It is a real twist, but one I am so happy to be here for. - I am so grateful. It'll be worth the wait. We're going to have our parents, our families, our friends, our coaches are all going to be there in the audience watching us get that gold medal, which in Beijing, they couldn't come because it was during the pandemic. So this is just like the icing on the cake. And I can't wait to reunite with our team. We haven't seen most of them probably since the tour. - Yeah, over two years ago. - Over two years ago, yeah, the stars are nice tour right after the Beijing Olympics. Some of them we've seen, we know we've got some new families, Maddie Hubble and her husband, Adrienne just had a baby. And they're going to be there at the games receiving the gold medal. Wow, that's crazy. Her daughter gets to see her receive the gold medal. I mean, granted she probably won't remember it. She's a baby, but she will be there. She will be in the photos. - That is amazing. That's beautiful. I can't wait for that. - It's going to be just so magical. I love that team so much. We bonded so beautifully over the tour and in Beijing. And it's just a really special team and I'm so looking forward to sharing a moment in Paris with them, many moments. - Yes, so am I. So we'll be there almost all of next week. - Yeah. - So what's going to happen to the close of the games? What are you looking forward to most? - Well, I mean, receiving our medal from Beijing is up there, for sure. But I'm just looking forward to experiencing the Summer Olympics. I never thought I would have the opportunity to go to the Summer Olympics until I was retired and had the time to take, time off in the Summer to just go enjoy the event. But this is, it's going to be so special. I just can't even believe it still. It seems surreal. I can't wait to pack my bag and just get on that plane to Paris. What about you? What are you most looking forward to? - Well, obviously the medals. But we'll say, I'm excited to just catch some of this vibe. The Paris games just feel like the Olympics that I fell in love with as a kid. It feels like these games really have something special. I think partly because now the arenas are packed again. You see the excitement in the fans. And I don't know, the mixture of it being in Paris, a lot of celebrities being there. - How about those opening ceremonies too? Like that just gave me so many moments, just gave me goosebumps. - It's set the stage, I mean, it was amazing. The way they incorporated their own culture, a lot of French history, Selene Dion. - Oh. - Selene Dion. - Period. - Full stop. Unbelievable, full body trails. Every time I watched it, I watched it like five times in a row 'cause I couldn't get enough of it. - It's like one of those performances, like when Whitney sang the national anthem in '92, that is kind of like a once in a generation kind of performance I feel like. - Absolutely. I mean, she's already a legend and icon, but this performance just put her at the very tip top over the top. She's phenomenal and I'm in awe, so impressed. - It was beautiful. I liked that it was raining. I added so much mystique and magic. Yeah, I completely agree. The rain was perfect. - Seeing the athletes come in on the boats, seeing LeBron and Coco holding the American flag with almost 600 athletes behind them and everyone smiling and having a great time. And it's just, it was beautiful. The Eiffel Tower in the background. I mean, it looked like LeBron looked like George Washington. crossing the Delaware River. Like, it was, he was so patriotic, it really inspired me. I was like, I was so proud. - Oh, I completely agree. And I wanted to say, I feel like these opening ceremonies were so unique and different from the opening ceremonies you would usually see at the Olympics because it wasn't just in one spot in a stadium, which is also great because you're in one spot and you can see everything. But the way they told the story and the torch past and there was like a common thread throughout the whole thing, leading from one show or experience to the next. I thought was really cool. And the whole ceremony was moving. There was movement and creation. And it was just very artistic and leave it to the French to create something completely unique and artistic. I loved it. - I think it'll be hard to top because they really showcase the city and the city is the most beautiful, maybe the most beautiful city in the world. And I love that they incorporated so much of the architecture and the venues and I mean, does it get much better than like fencing at the Grand Palais and, you know. - Or playing volleyball under the Eiffel Tower. - Triathlete swimming in the river sand. Like it is pretty iconic. It's gonna be very hard to top. But think LA, well the next summer games are in LA. I think they're gonna be pretty special too. - Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to those. - And Salt Lake in 2034. All my goodness, two Olympics coming up. - In the States? - In the States, I am so excited. But I'm not gonna get ahead of myself 'cause I'm really looking forward to Paris and I'm just gonna bask in the excitement and anticipation of this trip because I just, I'm so excited. I don't know what else to say. I can't, what should I tell you? I'm excited. - I'm excited to see things in person 'cause you see it on TV and it's one thing. But like just to appreciate the magnitude, the scale. Like I saw a video today where somebody was talking about how far away the targets are in archery. You don't really see it until somebody did like a pan from the archers over to the targets. And it's like a mile long. I mean, not a mile, but it's so far. Are you walking to the swimming venue? And you're like, that's the size of the pool. Oh my gosh, it is so just magnificent. The magnitude. - I will see, yeah, everything does look a little bit small, not a little bit, a lot smaller on TV. Like I remember seeing the half pipe at the winter games for the first time and how steep it was and how huge it was. And you don't get that on TV. It does not come across like this swimming pool. You just don't understand the magnitude unless you're seeing it in person and seeing what these incredible athletes can do in these venues. - That's what I'm excited for. Like if we get the opportunity to go sit and watch Shakira, you're around the 100 meters. - I would. - Like you don't understand how fast these athletes are running until you see it with your own eyes. So we're so grateful for the opportunity to have this great experience in Paris. You're definitely gonna be hearing more from us in the future. We've got a lot to catch up on. Wedding in Hawaii, worlds in Montreal. A new season coming up. So we're really excited to be back on the podcast and thank you so much for listening. - This has been an episode of Unlaced with Choc and Bates, part of the Believe Network. You can follow us on social media at Choc Bates. - We'll talk to you soon. Bye. - Bye. (upbeat music) (gentle music)