Gracie & Olivia Vivian on Olympic Dreams, the Dark Side of Gymnastics & Finding Freedom

It was all just criticism and what you're doing wrong and what needs to be fixed and I think gymnastics in a hole like trying to strive for that 10. Oh my god. A lot of us got the same treatment, so it felt normal. It was almost like we normalized what shouldn't be happening, especially like in a child environment. This is child safety. Once a month you're going to a room and they would pinch your skin. It's like with like the fat test. No talking word. Today's guest has spent her entire life defying expectations and pushing the limits of what's possible from representing Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to becoming an NCAA all-American gymnast at Oregon State University. She's built an impressive career defined by resilience, determination and a whole lot of grit. She's a seven-time national uneven bars champion, a commonwealth game, silver medalist, a ninja OCR world champion, and a four-time Guinness world record holder. And if that wasn't impressive enough, she became the first and only woman to beat the men in an Australian ninja warrior semifinal. But what makes her story even more incredible is that after retirement from gymnastics, she found an entirely new way to challenge herself, proving that your athletic career does not have to end when you step away from your sport. Today we're diving to the highest and lowest of elite gymnastics, reinventing yourself after retirement, breaking barriers in male-dominated sports, and what it really takes to keep pushing your limits long after your original dream has been achieved. Olivia Vivian, welcome to athletes after hours! Thank you so much for having me. I'm so stoked to be here. Oh my god, I'm so glad we can make it work. This girl lives on the other side of the world, so it's always hard, you know, trying to court me. It's just a super quick 24-hour flight. Yeah, you know. Super chill. Just some brutal jet lag later and we're good. Yeah. But I'm so glad that we could sit down. Obviously, we have so much to unpack, so much in common, and I'm just so excited to hear all about it. Obviously, for a girl who's still learning how to keep her body healthy and have longevity in her career, I'm so curious to know how the hell you're doing it. So this is going to be very educational for me as well. Awesome. I'll be taking notes. But I want to jump into your gymnastics career first. How did you get into it and then kind of walk me through like the ups and downs of your elite gymnastics career? Sure. I mean, I was like that kid that was climbing up the trees, like climbing on brick barbecues that I probably shouldn't have. And then I had a friend come stay the night. She had a sleepover and she had gymnastics class that evening. Her mums was like, I live here, do you want to try gymnastics? I was like, no. We really? Oh yeah. But of course you couldn't leave me at home alone. And my mom like, she's like a dragon. She's a bit scary. She was like too bad. Get in the car. And I was like crying the whole way there. And then I walked into the gym. And I just remember seeing this girl doing circles around the bar. And I was like, that is so much cooler than climbing on the top of the roof or on the trees. And I was instantly hooked. And mom took me for rhythmic. Oh, really? I was like, there's no way. I was like that. I'm doing that. I could never do rhythmic. But I honestly, it was like, I was all in, but I was seven and a half, which is. Oh, yeah, that is late. I was around six. So I didn't, that was late. Yeah, right. And now they're like, summer's holding out of the womb. So, yeah, but it was something that I just, I loved more than anything else. And it just started with one class a week, two, three at my local PC YC gymnastics club. And then I got invited by some scouts to do the elite program, which for me, I just like, walked in. I did a three month trial. And I remember specifically the elite coaches telling my parents outside the gym, like, we love her effort. Like, she's fearless. She'll just try anything. But my dad was like six, two, and I said, oh, shit. But she's going to be two tall to be a gymnast. So, like, we're happy to take her into the program. Okay, we'll take your money. Yeah, of course, but like, just until she sprouts, yeah, lower your expectations. And for me, like, I remember that clearly, like, I didn't like the someone else was placing their belief on me. Yeah. At the same time, I was nine years old. And this gym had a foam pit. Yeah, just throw me the foam pit. Yeah, literally, just let me play. Yeah. And then for me, like, again, oblivious. I'm just like doing something that I love until I watch the Cine Olympic Games. Oh, and though I just watched it on TV, and we watched because one of the girls from our gym was competing a Lana Slater. But I remember specifically, like, being glued because there was this gymnast from Russia's for Lana Korkina. Obviously, I can't act. Who was like five, five, five, six, and she has a tall glass of water. I never even thought about that. Yeah. And as a little girl, I was 11. I just, I was glued. And I said, if she can, I can. And it changed my whole life. I got chills. Yeah. So for me, like, I knew I was in the right program. They're training elite gymnasts for the Olympics. But I would like, if I'm being honest, like looking back at that journey, I was the unlikely one. I wasn't the most talented or the ideal body type. And so even though, like, I'm there getting coached, you feel that from the coaches that are sometimes I'd be ignored or like, they're not as invested. Totally. Yeah. But for me, I was like, I want to be an Olympian more than anything else. And I think it was a part of it with someone was like, you can be an ex-wife. You can be an ex-footballer. You can never be an ex-Olympian. Oh, I've never heard that. I love that. Yeah. Once you're an Olympian, you're always a Olympian. I was like, Oh my God. Olympian for life. Yeah. And for me, like, the bars were my favorite. Can't relate. And you know. The bars were my help. But I love that for you. But I've watched you in like, anyone like, like, is good at floor and vault. I run like a drunk deer. That's not even a run. I bound. And to this day, to this day, I still bound. I was like, we had a Olympic pole vaulting coaches try to teach me to run. Shut up. You're like, I'm a lost car. Just put me on the bars. I seriously am. It's like, it's so embarrassing. But every time because you train all four events. Yeah, for us. Every time I get to bars, I'd try harder. And so over the years, I just got way better at bars than I did at any other event. And the dream sort of became possible when I made my first world championship team. In 2005, then 2006, I made my second. And then I think what happened, you know, there was a lot of toxicity in the culture. I was doing exams at school. You know, puberty, change, everything like that. But also part of me got a little bit complacent, a little bit lazy and just thought, oh, well, I'm national champion on the uneven bars. This spot is sort of mine. Yeah. Like it's a shoe end. Yeah. And then I missed out on the world championship team one year before the Olympic Games. Shut up. This is before Beijing. Yeah. Right before Beijing. Oh, you were shitting bricks. Oh, okay. Fire is under my ass now. Yeah. But then I had the coach has been, like, it's time to leave. It's time to quit. Really? How old were you? Like 17, 18. I was that year. Wow. Yeah. And but for me, and I get it, it's an elite program. Why would you take someone that's just sort of given 50% effort? Yeah. And that's when I kind of had to really look inwards. And for me, it was, I was afraid to fail, like looking at that. And in a sense, like, I definitely didn't enjoy gymnastics anymore. I was doing it for the goal. And then also I knew how much of my family had invested in it. That's hard. Like the pressure starts to feel like palpable. Yeah. You're enormous. Yeah. But for me, I was like, okay, well, I feel like I'm doing this a little bit for them. Because they did, they changed their whole life. Like all the money went into gymnastics, the schedule, everything. Oh yeah. Like everything revolves around you. Exactly. I mean, I was one of four kids and I was getting the most attention. Yeah. Because I had to. Like my sport required it. Totally. I have a brother, a younger brother, 18 months younger, who never did any paid sport or anything like that. Just because everything went to me. So that was a lot of like processing. And I was like, okay, I'm going to give it 100%. Yeah. I'm going to like go all in. And that way, whatever happens happens. And so yeah, I felt like I almost like morphed into a new person. But it was hard. Like it's easy to be like, I'm going to go to bed on time. I'm going to break up with KFC, like everything I've spoke even. But yeah, it was in reality. It's hard to change that routine. And I was very, you're a kid at the end of the day. Like you were literally 17 years old. Like that's such a big switch. And I feel like even now in my like 28 years of living, I still struggle with that routine and like that discipline. Yeah. And you know what's best, but still it's hard. We have only certain amount hours in the day. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm just doing exams at school. I had my first ever boyfriend. Oh shit. I know. It wasn't KFC, but you know, it was an actual boy. You guys have got to KFC together. He had to go, but like 100% of my focus had to be locked in. And then I remember the trials in Australia. They had everyone at National Championships. And then the second trial. And the third trial was like closed off. No friends, no family, no spectators. Really? It was at the elite institute. So you just have your athletes, your coaches, and your officials and your judges and all that stuff. And you do a week. We did a week training camp. I'm sure processes have changed now. A week training camp and there were six spots on the team. And so, like, throughout that week, you're like looking at everyone else. Oh, yeah, you're like sizing yourself up to everyone else. Totally. And then you're like, who's eating putting together the team? Yeah, in your head. And like, for some reason, like, well, maybe it's just me, I'm just a delusional optimist. Every team I put together, I'm on it. Don't. Obviously, I mean, how can I make a team work? Man, that's, yeah. But I mean, like, really, I was an uneven bar specialist that dabbled in the others, okay, the other events. But we did a week. And then the first day of trial, we had like two competitions, one Saturday morning, one Sunday morning, okay. And I landed short on a double pike on floor and real short. The girls that know, yeah, girls that get it get it. Thanks for like, want to throw up. And like, my foot was in agony. I was in so much pain. I remember saying to the coach, for the second day, I was like, do I have to do floor today? And the response was, do you want to be on the team? Oh, shit. Yeah. So I pushed through that. Second day went really well. And then we waited like six hours before the team announcement, which felt like six years. Oh my god, I would grow gray hairs. Oh my god. Like sitting in my room. Just like, what do you even do? Like just try to put on a show and distract yourself? Like, yeah, what the hell? You do. I was viral. We sit around like maybe sneaking some lollies or candy as they go. Yeah. But yeah, then they took us into this auditorium. And it's just 12 of us girls lined up. Like in the seats, coaches right the back. And then the CEO of gymnastics Australia was announcing the team one person at a time. Oh my god. Like I can still feel like I didn't. Oh, I'm sure you probably have like emotional triggers. Oh my god. Like, you know, we call them butterflies. Yeah. I dragons, man. I felt like so sick. And the first go get called second, third, fourth, still in my seat. No, fifth. And like, you know, this was a reality, missing the teams of reality. It literally happened to me 12 months prior. And so in my head, I'm just like, I'm lost. Like, it's all over. Like, I've trained 11 years for this moment. My family sacrificed everything. What am I going to do? And then the sixth name got caught out. And it was my name holy shit. Oh, I guess I would just like I would sob. It was just like it went from like the sickest feeling. Yeah. And then I can even realize I was not paying attention, but I announced the team alphabetical by your last name. Oh my god. And I'm like Vivian, you know, so it's going like beep. Yeah, like J whatever. And I'm just like, yeah, pick me, pick me. Oh my god. Yeah, like I just, yeah, I'm very like, remember just wanting to call my family and just tell them and share that with them. Because it very much is a team effort takes a community to get Oh my god. It takes a village. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. When you said that you kind of half-assed your training until you kind of flip that switch because you were afraid of failure. Yeah. Do you think, well, one, do you think that you were kind of doing that? Because if you knew that if you gave it a hundred percent, then you really properly failed if you didn't make it. Yeah. But like two, like what did failure look like? Just not making the Olympic team. Yeah. Okay. That was the goal. It was like so clear. But you know, I think for me, I was like, it was almost like giving myself an excuse and it out. Yeah. I was like, well, if I didn't make the team. Then you had excuses for why you didn't make it. Exactly. Because you didn't, you know, you weren't all in. It was almost like creating a mattress to fall on in case that didn't come into fruition or reality. Because yeah, like I think not just letting myself down, but letting my family down was terrifying. Yeah. That was a lot. But it's happy. Yeah. And especially at like 17, 18 years old, it's it's so much. And even like in gymnastics, my first year of being a senior, which is so wild. The 16. I know. 16 and you're the senior. I remember being the only senior for that year in my gym. And I was having a terrible session and one of the coaches was like, look, if you don't make this World Championship team, we lose our funding and everyone loses their jobs and the gym shots. Shot the fuck off. I'm 15 years old. That's like psychological warfare. Yeah. And that was like sadly, that's a crocker shit, no? Yeah. But sadly, that's like that was common. And that was the fear culture of trying to motivate you to kick in. And I still battle with my mind because I'm like, I know the anxiety. Like that's when I first, I didn't know what like anxiety was. I'm like, that's when I started feeling that. And at the same time, it's also when I started feeling responsibility, having responsibility or feeling like you had to step up, not just for yourself, but for others. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm just, I weigh that out still in my mind. I'm like, was that a blessing or was it a curse? I don't know. Yeah. But a big part of me is like, I don't think things are done to you. They're done for you. And I purposely choose that mindset. Because the victim mentality isn't going to help anything. I don't, I don't subscribe to that. I did. Of course, naturally, the victim of the victim. But I was going to say, I feel like there's a difference though. Like you were a victim of a toxic environment. Yeah. And like your feelings during that time are so valid. Like, can you recall sometimes where you were really struggling in that victim mindset space or even just being in that toxic environment? Like what that looked like. It was, it's an interesting one because like, I know parts of us, especially these kids, we feel things in our stomach and our gut. Like, you know when something's like not right. Yeah. And a lot of it felt like that because there wasn't really any compliments. It was all just criticism and what you're doing wrong and what needs to be fixed. And I think in plastics in a hole, like trying to strive for that 10. Oh my god. Like you're already being so, so critical. Like, I don't need to hear it from anyone else. Like trust me, I'm already saying what you're saying, time's time. So I need like some, you know, positive affirmations. Yeah. But I need a fucking heart, honestly. But for like for the most part, a lot of them got this, a lot of us got the same treatment. So it felt normal. It was almost like we normalized what was, what shouldn't be happening, especially like in a child environment. This is child safety at the end of the day. But yeah, like skin folds were, were heavy. Like we wouldn't test. Let me tell you how skin folds. Once a month, we go into a room and they would pinch your skin. Yes. No talking way. Kids are like 10, 11, 12, you know, like as young as that once a month. Now, for me, I was always the, I was underweight. I was skinny and bony. Yeah. I didn't have the same experience as some of the others because I was like skin folds. Yeah. We get 30 minutes off training. While there's girls like crying in the bathroom, like exactly, probably not eating just to not get in trouble. Yeah. But then like, you know, once you go through puberty and that was different, it totally all changes. And there was no support. They were just looking at numbers on a sheet. And you know, as an elite athlete now, I can appreciate that. You're like, okay, let's refine. Let's lock in. How do I be better? But as a kid, nah, there was also a way to do it. Like, I mean, even in college, like we had this thing called fat contracts. And it was like if you were over a certain body fat percentage, then you were on like probation essentially until you could lose the weight. And we had like the, you know, the BMI tester things. So like, yeah, you know, there's that fear. Totally. Very much, you know, present in like your day to day. Yeah. And it's like, how does, how do you not develop anything sort of at that point? Like truly? Yeah. Anyone would. Yeah. And we like, we had coaches from other countries as well. And you know, I'd overhear conversations or sometimes as a part of the conversations, but one time was wild. We had a coach say like, throughout the day, you should like, like get rid of your spit, get rid of your saliva to drop your weight. I'm just like, what? What? What is this? Like this can't be real. Like, like at what point is this? Yeah. What does that mean? That was the advice to like, to get rid of your spit throughout the day. So you why? Like, it weighs that much more. Like, what the fuck? What does that even do? Exactly. And I'm like, what? You're like, the next thing you know, we're throwing up. So perfect. Is this a, like a cultural, like, do you not have you not done enough, like integration into the English language? Yes. You know, and that was a big factor of international coaches. Like, I was going to say, I've heard some horror stories with like Italian coaches and like, even now to this day, it's still bad. Like, they're still grabbing girls, right? They're hair. Correct. They're hitting them. Like, it's very. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're telling all the girls to throw up before being so that they can make their flips. Absolutely. And that's the advice. That's like the, that's the coaching and, you know, like, I know our Russian coaches didn't have the full language. So you just got straight up the, you're too fat, you're too heavy. Like, there was no no sugar coating. No sugar. No sugar. But ours was no bread on the table. Oh, I remember one of my first ever international camp, like Owen, like, you know, one of my first time in America as well. And I got so excited by your canteen. I was like, we didn't have that in Australia. Like in our schools or anything like that, so I'm like, oh my God. I'm never bringing out like a tray of doughnuts for everyone Did you get scolded? Oh my God. It was like a it was like a you might as well just stick that on your ass And because I was like again, I was the skinny one. Yeah, I just couldn't get enough sugar mum Call me the privilege. Yeah. Yeah, so yeah, that was like You might as well just stick it on your bum. Yeah, so There's just so many experiences like that, but again, it like sadly it became normal Yeah, and I've had to learn to rewire Yeah, when did you realize that it was like Mega fucked up, which is like when did you realize it wasn't normal for me? My teammate messaged me and she was like have you watched the documentary athlete a And I was like no, but I watched it on the plane and it was it was like a holy shit moment Yeah, this is our childhood like this was our childhood and for so many years like even when the Jimmy's we'd get together Years and years later. Yes, Corey sells the Jimmy's. Yeah, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard Jimmy's like Interesting in this fact that we'd get together and we'd talk about all these traumatic events. Yeah, oh God I've so many and All we could do was laugh Yeah, that was our coping mechanism. It's like if you don't laugh then you cry. Yeah, yeah And then it was kind of like this documentary that was like it almost made it real and like made us feel less crazy Yeah, that's crazy. Wow, this is this is this is a thing and it's being documented It's been shown. It's been reported something's been done about it. It's just shown that it's like a legal Yeah, like it's like legally not okay It's not even like oh, you're just kind of being soft like they're just being mean. They're kind of bullying you It's like no, no, no, like this is actually like yeah grounds for legal action. Yeah, which is like a Completely next level. Yeah, and I think like in terms of that journey and that movie didn't come out that long ago 2020 I'll never forget it was 2020 was a year. Oh, I know. Let's give us everything in one year Yeah, but I think the ripple effect of that I remember I became like one of the first Australians to say something on social media as well. I just see and I was advised not to because Ninja Warrior was also about to air and I was doing that at the time and they want you to like get canceled or something. Yeah, like it's not the best thing you should be and I was like I don't care like this happened, and I think it's important in moments like that even though pressing that post button I already know I already know oh my god I want to have to go I have to go my like gym bestie and be like please hate me up behind me up Yeah, I read it read it first and I was like just tell me I'm not crazy like this to happen right like I'm not hallucinating Yeah, because it's humans. All we do is lose and you just you can Vince yourself that didn't happen a lot of times to trauma responses You stuff it down and you essentially black out. Oh, and it doesn't come back until six months to a year later and then you start having like weird nightmares and like I can attest I've had this as before as well. It's like your trauma response totally is essentially to forget it Yeah, your body is trying to protect you totally and then I remember like having nightmares about it And like waking up and being like what the fuck like okay? This didn't just like happen in a dream like it's actually happened in real life Yeah, because subconsciously it's still there. Yes, still there even though I'm like Please, I'm like I've drilled a hole so deep. I'm just a mint. Oh, I put some mint on my yeah Yeah, it's not there's not just a rug, right? I'm like you need a good yeah But um that we stuffed it down. Yeah, I also called my mom too because I hadn't told her a lot of stuff Um because in in our childhood it was like if you did of course, there's a parent They're the arm it up and my mom will take you out of gym and you're like I don't want to lose yeah my career Correct. I didn't want to lose my dream. Yeah, at the end of the day We're not like running or sprinting where like you get a time and you qualify. Yep As was selected by people. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so yeah, you had to make nice You had to do it like it we even had like a rule we our hair had to be shoulder length So that when it went in a ponytail it didn't hit you in the eyes Because they want a bun. No, they want a ponytail on our team So I remember when mom cut my hair she cried because I don't like down to my bum. Oh Yeah, so there's a lot of like times I had to just tell mom to Yeah, and then then what happened I stopped talking Mm-hmm. I stopped telling her stuff. So that was like I felt like my voice was almost I was willing to give up my voice for the dream Well a chance at the dream. Yeah, yeah, but that 2020 athlete. I just yeah It sent me down a path of like actually going to a psychologist I don't remember my first like was your first time ever going to therapy. Oh no, I have there like we had sports psychology Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have that as well. That's different. That's like that was like how do we get you to perform not yeah? Oh someone did something really bad to let's treat you like a human being. Yeah, yeah, I don't remember I sat down And he was like so I live you what brought you in here today and I sat there and I was like I don't know No, not a man. Yes, but but he was okay. He's phenomenal. Okay, good. Okay, and he was a specialist. Okay. God That was a ripple effect of athlete A because Australian gymnastics as we started coming out, you know One by one like well, yeah, then now more girls are more brave enough to say the thing when they see that you did something So like do you think that you trickered a ripple effect for all of Australia to kind of? I hope it had like that. Yeah, I'll never be like that was you know, like for me It was therapeutic for my own journey. Yeah, just to release that and get that out And I wasn't like I did not go into details and dig and stuff like it was still a well-curated post So it was what was the post about it was like it was about my like gymnastics and my experience um, you know and tying that in with athlete A and how us or me my generation in gymnastics Australia experienced very similar Very experienced um, so yeah, and that again triggered more to come out and speak up and The news stations started hitting it and all that stuff and then gymnastics Australia and the Australian is just what created a I can athlete say story program. Yeah, so like the therapy was covered Okay, good and funded so yeah, I just I just sat there and I was I don't know where yeah, you're like where do I even fucking star honestly? Yeah, you're like how much time you got right? We've got an hour okay, but I think what's hard to is like when you don't know What's right and wrong? Yeah, because you've been brainwashed for so long. It's hard to even talk about things because you're like Well to me, it's normal. That's that's you almost have to just like write down like all the lore And then they can like you know red line all the stuff that was actually pretty fucked up and like not normal Yeah, and I think for me like I've trained my brain to not be a problem but be a problem solver Yeah, even like with kids. I'm like you can complain of course you can complain like and there's venting and there's complaining Yeah, but I'm like but if you're gonna give me a complaint at least bring me two solutions Yeah, I'm the same way right stop like moving on so like but sometimes I think when you go solution based then you have a tendency to brush all of your issues under the rug We just shit. Yeah, you have to learn to sit in that acknowledge that and then again my brain will just be like all right, it happened yeah And if there's any like repercussions, I need to fix that. I need to rewire that but also like how do we make this a better safer place for the future? Yeah, how does the next generation? How can we solve and fix and redirect and repart that for them? So that's sort of where my brain went to after rewiring my own stuff Just making sure like how does this not happen again? Yeah, 100% and I think too like What really hit me was making friends that were outside my sport because the second I said anything they were like I'm sorry what yeah, I'm like Is that not normal? Like okay, well, but like even hearing from my teammates like I remember we were all like out of party once like after we had all retired It was we're just kind like reunited whatever and We somehow got on the topic of like eating disorders And I somehow was able to count like 90% of the team that had had an eating disorder at one point of their career Yeah, and I that's when it hit me hard because I was like Oh my god, like if I knew That everyone else was struggling with the same shit that I was struggling with I would have been okay. Yeah, like I don't think I would have taken it as far as I did or I don't think I would have let it affect me the way that I did yeah, and like That's kind of why again like I always try to talk about these types of conversations because I think it's important for the under-generation to hear it Yeah, because it's like once you hear it then you're like holy shit. This is not normal. Yeah at all like I need to do something about this. Yeah, and I think a lot of times in in sport specifically in gymnastics like we're taught to like silence R takes because we're always told that like the coaches know best and their, you know, criticism and their critique is King yeah, and it's like well Not always yeah, I know I'm at the end of the day where it's like what are their intentions to like I think do they actually have your best interest at heart Your family probably does but no, I think like maybe not the coaches. I think with coaches what I'd like to see more is like it In my personal opinion it shouldn't always should be about the athlete. Yes, and them as a whole as a human Now for me like I grew up in that culture in Australia, but one of the best things One of the best life decisions for me was signing my scholarship to Oregon State University. Yeah. We need to talk about this. Yeah! This was like. Because I was always. That's 12-girly. I know, right? I know. I was a fun bubbly, like, human, and it was my national coach, like, she was American. Yeah. She was, I have you thought about college gymnastics, college at gymnastics, I was like, what are you talking about? I'm like, what is that? Yeah. It doesn't exist over where you are. And she's like, basically, you get your education covered and you do gymnastics, like, and it's the most fun time ever. Well, I didn't know that. I didn't. All I had was. I have reference was American Pie, the movie. Fair enough. Interesting. That's interesting. But I remember she, like, once I was, like, went to my mom, I was like, so I kind of want to do university, because I like learning, I like school. Yeah. And mom's like, we are paying for that. And I was like, I'm going to America, you know? My American coach, like, put out the feel-its, and I had a bunch of, like, phone calls and incomes and, like, requests and stuff like that, and that was a little bit overwhelmed. And training for the Olympic Games at the same time. Oh, this was all happening at the same time. Yeah. This was, like, that year I'd committed, like, no, we're going 100%. And so I didn't do all the recruiting trips that you would normally have come to know, you know? Well, I mean, that's also what we talked about, like, 24-hour trip, like, that's a brutal trip to do while you're trying to train. Like, the recovery process is messed up. Now you're trying to navigate the time zones. You're going to be jet-laid for training, like, no, it just doesn't make sense. Yeah. So you just did a phone call and you just decided, like, on a whim. First, my coach, like, narrowed them down to the five bests, like, schools. Okay. And then I was doing-- What were those? I remember there was, you see, it light was in one of our-- Period. American State. Arkansas. Florida. And I want to say, a Denver. I can't remember. I can't remember. I must have dropped off real quick. Yeah. I remember the phone calls, and they were great, but it was Tanya Chaplin from Oregon State. Yeah. Flu to Perth. No, she did not. Watch the competition. She came to Australia. She met my family. Wow. She came to my house for dinner. And, like, for me, I'm like, all right, well, if I'm going to go over the big, like, being a country without my support system, I want to be in a school that's really going to, like, look after me and take care of me. Yeah. She clearly showed that. Yeah. I mean, science is still delivered. Yeah. And then for me, like, hadn't been to Oregon, like, all much of America. So I looked at the map, and I was like, it's right above California, and California, I've seen in the movies. And from Perth, in Western Australia, we're like the same as California, like, beach, sun, beautiful weather, you know? So I was like, Oregon, just above that, we got this, it's going to be just like Perth. Oh, wow, right. Yeah. Yeah. Little did I know. Reality hit you real quick. Yeah. And, like, I went almost, like, straight from the Olympic Games into college, and I remember thinking, like, I was so mentally and physically broken, because, yeah, that the injury I did day one actually broke my nevicular bone. No way. Yeah. So I was like-- And you competed on a broken bone? Yeah. But I'm a-- I'm a-- I'm a-- I'm a-- I'm a-- I'm an, like, I'm an uneven bar specialist. How-- how much do I actually-- Fair. You're like, hit us landing. I'm going to suck, but we'll power. I'll just, like, chop it off. Don't worry. I've seen one with landing. It's been done before. Yes. I did that as well. Yep. Yep. I mean, it's the Olympic Games. I'm not going to know. Yeah. But, um, yeah. I was in my head. I was like, am I going to do four more years of this? I'm like, I'm really, like, was so burnt out. Did you know that it was, like, not as intense? Mm. You didn't know anything. I didn't know much. I did not know. Because, I mean, they're definitely watered down comparatively. Sure. Yeah. How was that transition? Um, like, difficult for the first year. Just anywhere when you're adapting and when you're new. For sure. But it was the best decision of my entire life and, like, I felt like the program, the support, the coaching system, everything at Oregon State, I learnt what a compliment sandwich was. Like, I love a compliment sandwich. Isn't it interesting that we call it compliment sandwich though? Because, like, when you get a sandwich, you're like, I want a chicken sandwich. We name it after what's in the middle and what's in the middle is your critique. Yeah. Why would we call it a sandwich? We call it a sandwich. Yeah. Or some people call it a shit sandwich. I'm like, that doesn't really sound delicious enough. No. But no, like, I, because I went from, like, not getting coach, getting ignored, if anything. Yeah. To getting, like, that was amazing. You need a so much pay. Yeah. Great. I was like, what is that? You're like, I want LSD right now. Like, I am on a high. I try. Yeah. College music is so freaking fun too. Like, all your teammates cheer for you. Like, the culture is so fun. Like, it's like, it's essentially like a victory lap of your career. Yeah. As much as yes, it's, it's very competitive. Like, I do think a lot, a lot of the times for the Olympians anyways, it was like a big victory lap. Oh, my God. It just, for me, I was just like, training went from being this dreaded part of my day. Yeah. To my favorite. Aw. It was, it felt like back in love with the sport. Yeah. And they really treated us as human beings and wanted to take care of us as a human first. And then an athlete. And like, even from like the, the body standpoint, it was, can you perform? Can you do your skills? It wasn't like what you looked like in a leotard or anything like that. Yeah. Like, let's prioritize that. How do you feel? Like, how do we make sure you're not injured? And they rewired your brain to think like that. So it was like, even like, how do I train smart? How do I? Yeah. Listen to my body. How do I rewire my brain? Because look, I, like, I came straight from the Olympics right now. Yeah. I'm an Olympic. You know? Yeah. I'm never going to be an ex Olympian. And then I got to America. And every time an American found out that I had just been to the Olympics for gymnastics, every single one of them asked me the same question. You want to-- What was the question? For every time, like, I'd bring that up, and the question was, so what medal did you get? Shother fucker. Now, I thought this was interesting. Like, one, like, we got to the Olympics and we made team finals. We had our national champion, unfortunately, get injured. But we still made team finals and finished six, which, to date, is still the highest result Australia's ever got. So amazing. Okay. Like. Six, you know? Yeah. What medal did you get? Oh, you just got like deflated. But it also, like, made me, like, review that whole process, and our goal was to get to the Olympics. You're like, I won. Yeah. But-- Yeah. And I did my-- And we did. And we did. Yeah. But also, it made me go, why was our goal just to get there? Mm. America did not show up for the free t-shirt. No, they did not. No. And we even found that with our first year, like, we went to Pac-10. It was Pac-10 back then. Yeah. Pac-10 championships. And even the mentality within the team was like, you say LA's the number one. You say LA's the number one. Like-- Well, I can't. We beat it number one. Well, yeah. It's based on one me. Yeah. Like, that year, we came second by less than a fall. Wow. And we had falls. Like, on beam. Like, there was falls. Like, even that freshman year was a massive very why, because I was like, what do you mean UCLA? And-- What do you mean UCLA is like, really good? I'm like, we're really good. Go, babe. We love the diluvial confidence. Go, babe. What do you mean? Like-- I think my favorite thing ever is when you guys do the freaking wood shipper thing. Oh, my God. That's shit. The ones that get it, get it. The girls that watch college now say, no. There's like this-- What is it? It's like-- It's the chainsaw. It's the chainsaw. Oh, my God. It's so funny. And I'm just like-- Oh, y'all are hysterical. So my coach-- both my coaches went to Oregon State and did gymnastics. One of them did cheer, but the other one-- do you know Whitney? Yes. Watson? Yeah. She's my coach. She was my teammate. That's so wild. I had no idea. I'll have to face them or something. I know. That's so funny. Yeah. It was just-- but even that mentality, like, after that freshman year, we-- As a team-- Don't we're good. I remember. Yeah. I mean, we did a re-haul. It was like-- Yeah. Wait. Like, OK. No, we're not just going for number one. We're going for national championships. Like, we're going for national championships. Yeah. And I-- I loved the-- like, it's a difficult process because you feel like a delusional optimist. Yeah. But I loved that process of, like, let's go all in. Why not? All in. Yeah. What's the harm? Yeah. And then-- That's the thing. As long as you're not disappointed with the outcome and you understand that she's part of the journey, like-- Yeah. I don't think there's anything wrong with being delusional and confident. I think honestly life requires it. Yeah. I love being delusional. If you-- Right. I love it. Tell me otherwise. I don't care. I'm like, I'm going to be famous. I guess even watch. You can watch. Just wait. Yeah. This way you can see it. I love it. No. But it's, like, it's required, truly, especially in gymnastics because it's so mental. And it's like-- Yeah. The whole sport is delusional. Like, what the fuck do you mean? We're flipping on a four-inch beam. That's so sweet. And we expect to land it every time. Like, it's actually the most insane sport ever. And you're telling me that, like, you are worried about-- No. Like, we're super heroes. Gymnastics for me will always be the greatest sport of all time. Yeah. It's the goat of sports, really. No, it really is. Yeah, the goats. Yeah, true. But, yeah. It worked as a team because we came back to Pac-10's the next year, and we won for the first time in a year. Yeah. Don't point me out. But I think it was, like, 16 years or something. Oh my god. Probably back when Tommy was on the team. [LAUGHS] But yeah, right? I mean, wasn't she on the team? I mean there, I'm not sure. I just know what it's like. I'm pretty sure she competed for Wednesday. To me, she was just. I was recruited by Wednesday. Hey. Yeah, of course you were. Yeah, before I went to my Arizona State official, I was gonna go to, well, it was technically like, when you do college camps, did you guys ever do? Well, you didn't obviously, but did you ever hear about them? Yeah, and then like, it was huge when I was, you get like her dead. Come back through the summer and actually coach them. Yeah, you get to get coached. And so I went to Arizona States and then I was supposed, I literally had like a flight booked and everything to go to Oregon States. And then I was like, nah, I'm gonna commit. Yeah. And so I ended up committing to ASU. But yeah, Oregon State was like second to the, it was honestly like, I know it's not like, California beach vibes. It's more like Cal Poo in the morning. Like, rainy, little tree. It's a pretty, just cozy up with the nice book. Yeah, but it would be soup season. But I remember like, it is a college town. And it's, it is. Did you go to the supermarket or the grocery store and people know you and they want to talk to you and? Corvallis is really cute. It's gorgeous. No one locks their doors or their cars. Like it's just, it's, it was the most wholesome four years. And yeah, I just, I loved every bit. And totally changed my life. It really armoured me with that confidence that I didn't get as a kid. Yeah, like if you had left the Olympics without a college experience, like, I'm so curious what you probably would have been like. Me too. Yeah, probably just been like a big dim mentality. Yeah, like just a bag of rocks. Yeah. And I like, I have teammates that really still really struggling. Like, you don't get that, you know, whether that's that acknowledgement or that the accommodation or the help or anything that. Yeah, no one's going to hold your hand in your head. Yeah. But I think college does, you know, they give you that pat in the back. They help you. They hype you up. Like, they care about you as a person. Like, I, I remember like being so like shocked when like my coach asked me like, how are you and your boyfriend? Like, tell me about him. Like, what do you like about him? And I'm like, why do you care? Like, why do you want to know me so bad? Yeah, I think like, we have like two male coaches as well. And I think it's so funny to have like this team of, like, women and girls, like, totally. I remember like one time I got this is so embarrassing, but it's such a funny story. You know, when you have a partner in whatever and you curate like a sex playlist? Yeah, of course. Can we talk about this? No, it's funny. You can do it. Rating is this, this is podcast. So like, sexy time playlist with me, okay. Right. And I remember like one time, I'm in the gym. It would have been off season. And I was like, when you like thrown on your playlist or whatever, and I think my coach was like going through my playlist and I was like, oh my god, I got my five out of it. Oh my god. I would have literally melted right then and there. Don't worry. I did, but no, I was like, whatever. Yeah, with life. This is life. This is life. That's so funny. Yeah. That was like, put it on. Put it on, actually. Put it on. Put it on, actually. Put it on. Put it on. Put it on, actually. Put it on. Put it on. Put it on, actually. Put it on. Put it on. Put it on. Just pony. Just brown that guy. Oh. And they were traveling for a meet and he goes, are those not going to set off the metal detector? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. And she was like mortified and I'm like, I mean, just aren't it, just I want to be like, yeah, probably. I'm so dead. If I pat me down this way. Well, I want to pivot into obviously your career ends in college. So then what did you do after that? No. One of the things like, for me, my senior year, I learned that my dad had cancer. And again, just like the program there, the coaches, this was like right in season, showed full support. In fact, they flew him out to America. And my dad had never been to America before and he got the vagus experience. He came to like a couple of meets, like we did a breast cancer of me as well. So the pink house and he was there for that. And then my last semester, I switched everything mostly online and went back, but like because you were done with seasons, you could swap that. But also like again, like you were armoured with confidence and I fell in love with gymnastics all over again. I was like, this is the greatest sport. And I felt I knew my body better. I was better after four years in college than my 11 years in Australia. So when I went back, I was like, now I still got this. Yeah, I should have felt an element. I'm like another Olympics. Not lonely. I should have deferred a lot, like a year, gone for the London, but I was, I didn't know I could do that. And then I was so mad because the spy scouts played at the closing and I was like, no, I was like, what? No, the spy scrolls. No, the spy scouts. Oh yeah. Whatever, that is what it is. But I went back and I begged to go to national championships. And I was 19 in Beijing and my nickname was grandma because I was the oldest on the team. I was going to say 19 for the Olympics is pretty old compared to like, I mean, Kaila Ross, my teammate went at fricking 15. Yeah. And you have to decide when you're going at like 10. So it's like, what the fuck? That's not even you deciding. No, what I mean. Right. So for me, I come back, you know, four years later and they're like, no, things really changed. She's great grandma. Yeah. You're too old is what they said. But I like, I knew and you know when you know, like there's a different level of self belief and self confidence. And I was like, I'm, once you tell me I can't do something. I'll show you. Same. It just fires me. Oh my god. I'm the same way. I'm like under dog mentality through and through. I think I love when people underestimate me. Oh, yeah. It's my favorite. I'm like, actually tell me I can't do it. I'll do it 12 times over. Exactly. I will pull that into my coffee and drink that. Thank you. It's happening now. It's already happening. It's on. You know what? Maybe we should start training again. Yeah. This is firing me up. LA. It's not far away. Yeah. It's not that far away. And I don't even have to go anywhere. Perfect. But for me, I was like, I'm not taking no as an answer. And I heard that six weeks later, I was at national championships and period on my seventh title on the uneven buzz. Let's go. Yeah. That's a big FEO. Yeah. Exactly. I took my college experience and two national championships. So I was still baffling around, having fun, cheering on my competitors. They were like, what the hell? Moving my board. I should be so happy for me. Doing the coaches job basically. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Basically just doing that. And from that national championships, you know, one another title got invited back to onto the squad. And then there was a rumor put around that I was on drugs because I was so happy and joyful. At the competition. I was like, and that's Australia, like, there is a bit of a we call it tall poppy syndrome. If someone starts doing well or they're happy or they're joyous. Like, yeah, they try and like, cut it down and bring you back down to their level. We call it tall poppy syndrome. But I was just like, whatever. I'm like, did you have repercussions from that? Um, you know, like internally, you're like, that's not a nice room. Yeah, for sure. And especially like, did you get drug tested? Of course you do. As a man, I've been drug tested. I mean, yeah, I was gonna say you've been getting drug tested for forever. So it's like, okay, the purpose of the pudding babe, like look at the evidence. But it doesn't like once a room hits a room is like, you know, fortunately. But at the same time, I don't care. I love the sport. I love it. I think armor, whatever. Oregon State. Like, yeah. My black and orange is in my blood. Let's go. So. It's in your hair girl. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, for me, I did another World Championships and then Commonwealth Games. And that was a very interesting one. I know America don't compete at the Commonwealth Games. Yeah. I've never heard of it. But it's like a mini Olympics just for Commonwealth countries. Oh. So you get the full uniform, the full kit. It was held in Glasgow, Scotland. And for the first time in my experience in my journey, a team, an Australian team for gymnastics was announced months before, which is odd, like normally. Whoa. Maybe because we get injured so easily. They're like, let's hold off. We don't hold off until a week prior. Yeah, yeah. And then we'll announce our team. But I remember we got announced. And I was like, this is really interesting because I made that team. And I was fully mentally prepared to retire after that competition. Like I wasn't even thinking Commonwealth Games. And I then I was like, okay, I have like a little bit of power here. Yeah. Because we've got like a couple months now. Hmm. This is interesting. Now like, I'm 24 at that point. I've got bills, rent, food, like everything like that. I've got a job. And I'm trying to train full time to represent my country. And I was like, this is interesting. And I stopped going to training. I was like, hmm. How do I like, I don't know, get something out of this. Yeah. Stop going to training. Got the phone call. And I'm like, I'm sorry. I have to work. I have bills to pay. So they start paying you. They covered some of the bills. Hell yeah. Yeah. As an exchange. She's a business woman and training. Genius. I mean, as they should. I just think like in moments like that when you. If I'm representing your country. Yeah. Thank you. You should be paying me. They do that now though, I think. A little bit of. Maybe not in Australia, I don't know. But Australia is not fantastic at it. And even if so, if there is some support, it goes on. to the girls. It goes to certain girls. Okay. Not every girl. That's weird. So I just tried to like push the envelope a little bit. Yeah. And then even say, look, if we're showing up to a training camp for six weeks prior to this competition, I think you should be covering some of our bills. Or at least, at least over 18, like something. Because otherwise you have to work. Yeah. And you're taking work off. Thank you. So I tried in that moment when I had a little bit of smart, you know, I had some leverage. I tried. Now, I'm not sure if that's continued on to this day. Like, I knew that we got a little bit of help and a little support. And I'm like, yeah, cool. Yeah. They did not love that though. Anyone that's, you know, going to change things. They don't love that. But the Commonwealth Games was honestly the greatest camp ever. Normally in gymnastics and the Olympics, we compete first week, right? Yeah. So the option to go to opening ceremony is like, it's real, it's kind of like off the table. Yeah. Yeah. And realistically, it's not the greatest. You're just standing around for hours and hours. Yeah. But I was like, for Commonwealth Games, we were competing in the second week. So we actually had to go. Yeah. That's cute. And I remember, we boarded the plane and I waited till the very, very, very, very, very, very end. So then I could walk down the aisles and see which seats are free. Like, not even go to my seat. Yeah. Like, and I was like, oh, there's a row. And so I got like the best sleep. Oh, the Glasgow genius got off. I'm like, of course, I'm going to open ceremony. None of the other girls did. Really? I don't know if it was like just their tired or they didn't want to. Yeah, they wanted like rest. I was like, I'm the low. This is whatever I'm going. Yeah. And I think you were also in a healthier mindset of like, this is probably my last competition. I'm going to like do everything and like, live it up. Yeah. Yeah. That's what we do. And stuff. But we still had an exit plan. I was like, no, we'll go Australia. A, we go out pretty early. Anyway, I'll do the role. I'll, you know, and then I'm just going to leave. Yeah. I'm just going to run out of the stadium. There you go. And so for me, I had, I had lost my dad at that point. And so I'm sorry. For me, I found ways to like bring him in because he was the fun in my life. He was the joy. He was the why not. And so I like wrote on my shoes. And then in the opening ceremony, I actually did handstand walked. It's the most of the track, actually. Stop it. Yeah. So everyone's like, the crowd was amazing. I was like, the track was awesome. Yeah. But it was like, it was just such a core memory that I'm just like, I get to piece that everything I've learned along the way in my journey. And even Tanya, when I lost my dad, she just hadn't had anyone around me that experienced grief or loss. And she just said, take your favorite things about your dad, like the qualities, the values, and install them in yourself. And that way a part of him will always live on through you. Oh. And that's stuck. Like it really stuck with me. Yeah. So like to have that there at the Commonwealth Games was just like, it was such a different, such a different mentality. We had coaches that actually trusted us, trusted our abilities. So they weren't on us all the time and let us like roam and let us like believe in ourselves. Yeah. So you were able to heal your relationship with gymnastics through like collage, but also an elite. Yeah. Which is really special. For the most. But then we did a world championships. And that was the, yeah. I was like, oh no. You're like, wait, never mind. Talks to me. Talks to city is back. It's back. And it's infected. Cause like, osmosis is so real. It's so real. Like they say that where the, we become the average of the five people we spend the most time with. So like, wow, I've actually never heard that. Yeah. Obviously, I know like the saying, you know, you, you are who you surround yourself with. Yeah. But wow. Yeah. You become the average of the five people you surround yourself with. So and like, once you learn that, you're like, you learn to call real quick, holy crap, real quick. And then even when you go deeper into like terms of like you become what you consume. And that's not just like your nutrition, like what kind of media am I consuming? Yeah. Yeah. What, what kind of shows am I watching? Exactly. Like podcasts are we listening to? Hey, this one. Yeah. It's a great one. It's a great one. Don't worry. Yeah. But it's, it really is. You start thinking about that. And even the thoughts that we feed ourselves. Yeah. Not just come from other people. Like, what's on loop here? What's on rotation? So yeah, it was after that world championships. I was like, this is not for me. This is not my, I can't, I can't go back there. I can't. And I was already like going through grief and loss and depression at that point. It's too much for me. Well, especially when the glass has been shattered to some degree, when you've been away. Yeah. It's like coming back is like. Yeah. It's like coming back to when the talk is like toxic as boyfriend as you're just like, you can't. Like, you're like, wait, I'm like, actually. Yeah. I now I see all of the toxicity that it is. And it's no longer normal because you've been away. Yeah. And you've had like nice dining. You don't go eat out of the trash again. You know, no, 100 percent. Maybe sometimes you have, if you're desperate, if you're desperate, but yeah, for me, it was like, no, I can't go back here, especially. I've seen a better way to do it. Yeah. Like, and you did everything that you wanted to do. Yeah. So it's not like you were able to, it's not like you left with regrets, yeah, which is so beautiful. Yeah. So then when after your career ended in gymnastics, did you get into ninja? So random. I don't know. It was, it was so random. And for me, after gymnastics, I actually opened up a cafe and my dad was a plumber. So I called it the leaky tap. I know. I was like, I studied like new media communications and other minors in college and went into hospital. Okay. No idea how to make a coffee, but whatever we're going to figure it out. Yeah. I want like, it is that like, is it still around? I ended up selling it. Okay. When I committed, but I remember I was, it was years later, like years. And I felt, I've fallen in love with what I was doing and the opportunity to make someone's day through hospital. And then I got a phone call. And it was like, hey, like we're doing this show in Sydney. We'd love to fly you over. And you just got to like, just run some obstacles and, you know, but, you know, you're a former Olympian. So, and I was like, you know, well, I think they used the word X Olympian. I was like, no, no, no. You're like, no, no, excuse me. So I was, but I thought I was doing this show called Wipeout. Oh my God. I've always wanted to do Wipeout. That's what I thought was doing with the big red balls. I've always wanted to do it. Wipeout. If you hear this, if you see this, we just want to come on and we want to try it. Right. This the life jacket. I always, I grew up watching that show. I would so do it. This legit. What I thought I was doing. It's nothing like that. So I was like, free trip to Sydney. I'm gonna go to my train or anything. No, I was you raw dog to American Ninja Warrior. Oh my God. Well, I got there. First of all, they invited me and so in my interview, they're like, so why are you here? Like on Australian Ninja Warrior. And I was like, I couldn't say because you called me. They asked me. Yeah, because you asked me. So I was like, I mean, it a perv on the hot guys. Obviously. Oh my God. It was amazing. It was so good. So dad. And then like, oh, we like the scroll. Yeah. She's tbgall. Oh my gosh. And I did. I'd like, I like, I really was like, what would dad do? So I wrote Australia on my top, like for Australia. He was like, Oh, he was a lyrical. He was a fun. I worked two, two, like a. Yeah. He leaned into it. I totally leaned in. And then with the way that Ninja Warrior works is they show you the obstacle course about an hour before they start filming. Shut up. You don't get to try it. You don't get to test it. I know. What? What you see. I thought you've been doing it like for months now. And the obstacles are always a reveal. It's like, these are new obstacles. It's. I throw up. No. Like, is that worse than competing beam? Yes. Yeah. I feel like it would be because I mean, with gymnastics, it's still pressure. They're still like, but it's the same shit every time. I done my routine a thousand times. One hundred percent. So you step on that platform. You're like, I don't even know if this thing is squishy or hard. It's terrifying. So you don't even know if things move or anything. When not an hour before they show you the course. They give you the rules. And then they send a test or through as to a demonstrate. So you get to see it being done at least one time, but you can't do it. Correct. Correct. Yeah. I know. And then Australia and America show you guys. That's crazy. I had no idea. I mean, obviously I've watched the show, but like so different to gymnastics. Holy crap. So different. Yeah. So you learn to visualize. They should make real quick. They should make that known on the show that would make the show so much more interesting. Right. Like, why don't they tell people that? I don't know. I feel like. Like, now I'm so much more impressed because I think like in my head, I'm like, oh, well, if they've been months of training, like, how hard could it really be? Right. No, that's, that's it. No, like, that's actually so hard. You didn't learn the monkey bars before going on. Yeah, it was, it's, it's a very interesting concept. Holy crap. And I think so much respect. Part of me is like, if you did let us run it at least once, you'd see more crazy stuff, because we'd have the confidence to like bust out silly moves or whatever or go fast or or I was going to say you shave off some time and be way more impressive instead of like kind of putting your foot in the water and testing it. Oh, yeah. Oh my god. No, it's like, it's so hard. It's so crazy. But in America, and the athletes get to watch each other and you get told you run order as well. Okay. And it's an advantage like watching. Yeah, absolutely. You see strategy. You see different techniques like, and you're like, oh, maybe I should try that. Like that works for them, obviously. Yeah. So America runs it like that. Australia thrown in a backway house. We don't know. run order. You have to stay warm for hours and hours and hours. We filmed the show between like 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. I did hear that because they want to be like, "Petch Black, the whole." It's TV. It's TV. And so that way, like you would not survive. I'm such a morning girly. I'm not an hour. I'd be like, "It's time for bad. I quit." I have to flip. I'd become like vampire schedule, you know? Oh my gosh. And that was like the most wildest experience. Like we filmed on an island called Cockatoo Island. There were no cockatooes, just sea gals. We did like jet footage, like all throughout the day. We're doing interviews and B-roll cooking in the Australian sun. Yeah. And then you get shown the course. And I was like, "This is not Wipeout." That's when you found out that it wasn't Wipeout. I was like, "These obstacles are not Wipeout. Where is my life jacket? Where are the red balls?" I'm like, "This is real stuff." And I was like, "I kind of wish I'd trained." And then, yeah. Thinkfully you're a barbarally. Because I am not. And I can't do that shit. My skills do not translate. Well, I don't think body awareness, I think, really helps from diagnostics. For sure. And just like muscle strength in general. Like we're so strong. Body endurance, all that stuff. But like the balance obstacles spin and dip and move. And I'm like, "The beam never wants to move around me." People like you'd be so good at balance. I'm like, "My balance stayed still." Yep, stays doing state. I knew where it was. I knew where it's going to be. Yeah. It's different. I had to learn in a lot of new things. But season one, I got. So how did that first one go? You can YouTube it. It's horrendous. I get to the warped wall though, somehow. Again. No way. I look like an infant giraffe getting there, but I get there. And I face planet three times. I don't know how to run up a wall. Oh, and that thing is steep. How high is it? Like what, 12 feet? I think it's 14.5 feet. Oh my god. Yeah, but so high. Yeah, I just, I kissed it three times. The red lights came on. I did not go through to the next round. But I wanted to. So then you got the edge. Oh man. It maybe it's good that you didn't get through. Yeah. I think it's a blessing. I can really. Yeah, I kept a fire under you. Yeah. And so I flew back to Perth. I was all upset. But I was like, I was like, I have to learn this like Google Ninja Warrior. Perth had a ninja gym. I was like, who has a ninja gym? The show hasn't even aired. Like, and because we filmed the show and then like nine months later, it aired. So for nine. Oh, that's wild. And they just had a ninja gym randomly. Yeah. Inspired by the Japanese and the American show. Oh, there you go. Oh, so you got to train there? I started training there. Really hard. You know, it started. Well, because then you're like, well, what if I actually trained? Yeah. I would have knocked it out the park. Yeah. How do I learn how to do these obstacles? And it's smart. Build my strength back up. And yeah, the community again was very much like collegiate because everyone was there supporting each other because this sport is unforgiving. And there is no room for ego in Ninja Warrior. Everyone goes in the humble bus. Yeah. Everyone jumps on. All aboard. Oh yeah. Who do those guys go? So it felt like I found my community again as well, which was really nice. I love that. And then when you've been doing it for how long? We're closing in nine years now, I think. Holy crap. Yeah. I know. And you still love it. I love it. I've accomplished a lot in it. Yeah. And it's shifting. It's changing. We're going like race vibes for the Olympic Games, which is not my strength, but I love the aspect that, you know, whether it's swimming, running, ninja, anyone who's never watched the sport before can understand what a race is. Yes. 100%. Yeah. So it's a bit more better. It's better for the viewer. Yeah. I mean, like, yeah. As a gymnast, like, why are we watching swimming? That is so boring. Sorry. No offense. I mean, fair. The idea of doing swimming sounds horrible to me. Mad respect. Yeah. I don't know how you look at that black line again, again, again, again. Yeah. Yeah. That's why we have gymnastics. We need to be stimulated. 100%. That's so exciting. So when did you find out that it was going to be an Olympic sport? And then how did you feel about the idea that you were going to be potentially a second Olympian in a different sport? No. So that's not my personal goal, but it's not it. There's this sport called modern pentathlon. Okay. That has a question running, like laser shooting, fencing and swimming. So it's like, okay, you are a complete athlete. Yeah. You're like hybrid. Yeah. And it's based on like, you know, things that were done, like, everyone knows what a kid still pick up swords. I can stick. So you're like, it's a really like what was done as a basic and in Tokyo. I think it was Tokyo Olympics. One of the athletes punched a horse on live TV because it wasn't doing the jumps. Punch the horse in the face or hit the horse. And the Olympic committee said, no, absolutely not. This sport needs to go. It needs to be replaced or not coming back to the Olympics. Yeah. So I think what modern pentathlon did was like, what are we going to use to replace this? Now with obstacle racing, they can still date a sport back to that like, the army style training. Yeah. That gladiastile training. So it's like, it's still like core, foundational, but it's now being like modernized. It has that entertainment factor. Yeah. And so I got asked to go to Turkey in the test event and demonstrate this sport. Oh my god. And help the modern pentathlon coaches and officials and athletes sort of start like maybe adapting to this as a fifth discipline. And like, I didn't think I was going to race and I ended up like going there and like racing in their World Cup and coming away with the gold and period. And then I like borrowed someone's Australian top because I had no idea like I had to represent my country either. But yeah, we did such a good job. It's like demonstrating what this sport is could be how a little adapt and helping the pentathlete athletes, modern pentathlete athletes, like sort of adapt in a training session. And yeah, it got accepted as the fifth discipline for L.A. 2021. So we're going to see like, you know, ninja or obstacle racing feature for the first time ever. Which is cool because to get a sport into the Olympic Games, there was oh my gosh. Yeah. You suddenly hope to jump through and we formed committees and I was a chair member on that. And like, yeah, that feels like I didn't know it at the time, but like looking back now, like that's really cool to like help pave the way for future. And whether it just stays in the modern pentathlon or whether, you know, ninja becomes its own sport. Because again, like the racing can still evolve. It could also add another discipline like rock climbing. Got it. Okay. And go back to technical moves and things that are traditional with ninja, where you don't get to train the course. Yeah. And bring elements of that end that climbing has. They stay in the back. They don't see their routes. They have to do so. So are the ninja athletes having to then that want to go to the Olympics? They have to now be learn four other sports. And you've seen some of the young ones. I know in Australia, some of our younger ninja's started pivoting. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is really cool. What an opportunity. And so like some now they have that early kind of heads up to start training. Yeah. That's cool. Well, I'm glad that they announced it with enough heads up, like two years, I feel like is a they announced it of like four with four years. Because they, you know, and I really do feel for the athletes that had invested so much into a question because as an olympian or as a gymnast, you're like, you pay to do the sport. You're not paid to do the sport. So there's a lot of love. There's a lot of passion. Yes. Thousands, thousands of dollars. The cost you're in is so expensive. So expensive is so so exclusive. Which again, made obstacle racing more enticing because we sat and now see it in like local parks and it's accessible. It's more accessible. Yeah. Some more athletes are more likely to jump in. But yeah, whether down the line, whether it's Brisbane Olympics or future, we might say ninja is a standalone for me. Well, like, I don't have that urge to again go like poor hundreds of thousands of dollars into. Yeah. To that avenue, but I would still like to promote it. I was going to say that's so cool. You can be an advocate for it because you can speak on it. You have obviously so much empathy for the athletes that want to do it. Yeah. And so, and you obviously have experience as an olympian. So it's like, you have a really cool position. I don't know. Let's just like marry this old. Yeah. This is a great thing. You're like Olympic mama. Yeah. I know. I'll come to LA. Yeah. You're going to come to LA. Obviously. I mean, you're going to come back. Yeah. I'll basically leave it. I know you argue a lot. Yeah. I know I am. Yeah. Which is great. Well, I'm so glad we could do this. I have a fun little segment that I want to do. And we've never done this on the show before, but I want to try to see if we can do it. Cool. And if it fails, then we do rapid fire instead. Yeah. But I just know with gymnastics, there's this universal like trauma bond that we all have as gymnasts. I love it. And I thought it'd be really fun to do like a little question round, where we try to answer the same. Perfect. If we had universal experiences, I think also to it's interesting because like Australian versus American experience might be different. And like voting queen, this like a monkey that part. Yeah. All right. Let's get into it. We got to set up. So give us a second. Okay. We did it. We're back. We've rearranged. Welcome back. This segment is called. Okay. This segment is one draw. - You love that. - You love that. - Yeah. - Question number one, are you ready? - Yes. - The truck bucket has no water. What do you do? Three, two, one. - Spit on your hands. (laughing) - Look, it sounds nasty, but you gotta do what you gotta do. - I still do it to the state, even if it is water. (laughing) - That's gross, crazy. That's disgusting. - What's your secret? (laughing) - Secret sauce. - All right, question number two. - Okay. - You're about to do your beam series on your nervous. What do you do? - Countdown. - Three, two, one. - Look behind. - Oh. - Ooh, what'd you say? - Oh, like technical cues for me. - Okay, cues. I feel like every gymnast looks behind them to make sure the beam is still there. - Yeah. (laughing) - It doesn't move. - It moves. - I know, but it does. - You still have to check. - Yeah. - 'Cause maybe, one day, it's not there. (laughing) - All right. - And then your fact. - Question number three. - You're about to compete and your leotard keeps writing up. What do you do? (laughing) What do you use to keep it in place? Three, two, one. - Bum glue. - Bum glue. (laughing) - It was an Aussie version, which is a bum glue. - Yeah, but you might be more accustomed 'cause you have like the best behind. Where's I have a pancake. I'm like the white girl pancake bum. My leotard went nowhere. (laughing) - Wait, just like super glue. - No, there's like a special type of formulation but glue. - Yeah. - But like, okay, so I would get spray tans for me and then I would also forget that I had the but glue on. I'd run to the bathroom 'cause I have the nervous pee. Rip off my leotard, I rip off my spray tan, and I'm like raw. - Oh, no. - Yeah. - But then there's a rule in gymnastics where you can't pick your wedgie, so. - Yeah, you get deducted if you touch your leotard. - Yes, so either cheeks are out or you got to glue your ass. - You can't do anything about it. - No. - I think the judges are perched for that. - That's kind of wrong. - Okay. - That's weird. Question number four, you get a rip on bars. What's the first thing you put on it? Three, two, one. - Joke. - Tape grip. (laughing) - What did you say? - What? - If I'm like in training or in competition, I get a rip, I just rub more chalk in it. - Oh. - Yeah. - Australia's are built different. - Y'all are built different. - Well, we make a tape grip. - We made a tape grip before? - Yeah, absolutely. - Yeah, I was in the moment. My head was like in the moment. - The shock. - It was when I was training for Beijing and I was a bar specialist. I'd do my bars three times a day. And like my ribs were disgusting to the point where like the bar would look like a candy cane. (grunting) - Yeah. - No, it was just covered in blood. - Oh my gosh. - Yeah, yeah, but I had to. And so like for me, it was like (laughing) 'cause I'm jokin' there. - Yeah. - Like have to like build second skin with the chalk. - Yeah. - Blair. - Well. - I was, I was not cut off for it. - If you have a luxury in the time, tape grip, Photoshop. - Question number five. You're watching someone compete beam and they start wobbling. What does your body do? Three, two, one. - Lean. - Yeah. - You're correct. I did it with my body. - You do it with your feet. - Lean with them. - Yeah. - Yeah. - I don't know why. - It's lean with them. - You can, oh my god. The clips. - You guys are so empathetic. - I know. - Well, it's like you really are invested in these people. And you know how hard it is and you want the best. - Yeah. - So it's like, you're almost when you're up there with them. - You're in it. - You're a totally body. - Oh my god. - You're in it. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And I love when there's videos that show us doing this. - I literally was like the group of like, the people behind, you just see them like. - Oh. - Even the coaches, the coaches do it too. - Just shared trauma. - Yeah, literally. - Because it's sometimes more nerve-wracking because you have no control over them. But you want the thing. - And you see it coming to like way more. You see like they're super off and you're like, oh shit. - Yeah. - You know. - Lean with it. - Lean with it. - What is it? - Okay. - Question number six, you're waiting for the judges to salute you on beam. What are you doing with your feet? Three, two, one. - Pointing and flexing. Why is nothing coming out of my mouth and my body? (laughs) - My body. - My toe's in there. (laughs) - Point. - In flex, in point and flex. - Yeah. - Why do they do that? - What is this saluting? - You salute to go. - Yeah. - It's like you're- - Pussley. - They salute you though? - Yeah, they go like this. And then that's your cue to salute them. - Oh, okay. - And that's basically you saying like I'm ready? - Yeah. - And before you have to pause and before like we saw someone get buyers get deducted at the Olympics 'cause she didn't present for long enough after her routine. - Wait, what? - You didn't know that? - No. - Oh my god, whoa, whoa, whoa, watch it. I think it was on beam, she did it and then she got deducted 'cause she just did too quick, right? And then so on floor when she went to floor, she overdid it. - That tracks. - I love the diva, I like the diva energy. - Here it is. I saluted and the camera guy got in front of the judge and so the judge didn't see me salute. So then I vaulted and they go, doesn't count yet to go. - No. - In college. - Yeah. - No way. - Yes, I had to go, I was first on vault. - I had to go back at the end of vault and then run to floor and compete floor first. I was like, what the fuck? - No. - Yeah, kind of like yeah, that's, that's weird. - Like guys you saw it, come on. - Yeah. - They were like, well we weren't ready. You're not doing the vault. - Yeah, and I was just sitting there. - No, I didn't salute until you were ready anyway. And the green light went on like, what do you mean you weren't ready? It's not a good enough excuse. - No. - But I think the toys thing like that's maybe like nerves or anxiety. - It's like a way to get it out. - Yeah. - Don't cramp, don't cramp. I don't know. - Interesting. - Give a lot of nervous text. - Okay. - I didn't learn how to speak though. Cause my ass is becoming like way too embodied. - Your answers are the same as mine though, but it's universal. - Okay, question number seven. You get chalk all over your hands and need to clap. What happens? Three, two, one. - Poof. - Yeah. (laughing) - Is there a word for that? - Poof. - It's like kind of explosions. - Poof. - Yeah. - But there's a ripple effect. - It's like the LeBron James. - Yes, exactly. - Yeah. - Have you ever done it for a photo shoot? - Of course. - It's like the bass. - Yes. - It's so good. - Yeah. - But then you have to inhale it sometimes. - Yeah. - Yeah. - It's not, yeah. - I feel like there's just chalk in my lungs forever. - Yeah. - It's part of me now. - I feel the same way about the pit. I've gone in the pit. - Is that like the trash? Is Alice going to limp the gymnast if she's ever been in the pit before? - All the time. - It's the same, yeah. The foam pit. I feel like I'm just. - In, yeah. - In hailed foam. - If it's like real. - No, you're inhaling like dead skin cells. (laughing) - We're going to move on. - No, it's ever going to even begin. - We're going to do a peak clean out. - Oh my god, every like few months. - We kind of loved it. - We find lizards. - We found like dead mice. We found people's Rolex watches. Some engagement rings. - That's a good find. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. We always hunt for money. - Broken nails. - All right. - A lot of money. - Question number eight. You're about to tumble and your ponytail is loose. What do you do? Three, two, one. - Write it out. - Yeah, I think competition. You've got my choice. - Yeah. - Just take it. - Yeah. - You just have to. - Yeah. Maybe you rock it out. - As your ponytail ever. - Did you, you had a pony, obviously. - I had a bun. - You had a bun. Did you ever come out mid routine? - Like to be honest. - That's a good question. I don't know. It's only happened to me in training. - Training for sure. - For the competition, I'm like, I use like 12 hair ties. - Yeah. - Yeah, like. - Your hair is like - It's not happening. - Like giving you like real like fake bow talks. - Yeah. - Like a facelift. - Is it hurt your scalp? - Bro, I was like bold for like five years after college. I like tension LP show on my scalp. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - You pull that so tight. - The shit you do, man. - Yeah. - You gotta do it. Gotta do it, though. - Question number nine. Your coach says one more and you mess it up. (laughing) What does that mean? - You're going in. - Three. - Three. - Two, one. - Five more. - Yeah. - You're going in. - Probably five. - There's no such thing as one. - One more until you get it right. - Yeah. - I have deep triggers with one more. Just one more. - I literally was like just don't tell me one more. That's how we tore my Achilles. Just one more. - That's right. - Yeah. - I would just tell me I have five more. - Yeah. - Just tell me. - Then I can just mentally be prepared. - Just say do it again. Don't even tell me how many more. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Just but realistically, like if they were like five more, you're like, I just did 20. What do you mean? - Yeah, it's fair. It's psychological warfare. - It is. - It's kind of smart. (laughing) - They just gaslight you to keep going. - I still tell myself that. - Just go more. - Yeah, for sure. Three more. - Yeah, just one more. - Do another. All right, question number 10. Your coach says everyone on the line. What are you about to do? - Line up. - Count us down. - Three, two, one. - Line up. - The condition. - Oh, really? Well, obviously if they're on the line, they're already lining up. - Line up. - Well yeah, we do line up. - What is the line up? - But if we go on the line, we're doing sprints. We're doing suicides. - No, yeah. - Did you do a lot of sprints in gymnastics? - Oh yeah. - Hang. - Did you know it? It's like, we had different. We had like, bike conditioning and other stuff like that. - If you were in trouble, they'd be like, all right, line up on the line, and then we have to do conditioning. - Oh, way. All right, we're definitely different for that. Australia is like, line up. You're about to start. - Get the screen down. - Yeah. - Oh yeah. Maybe that's a very American thing. - If you're going to tell the gym before? - Yes. (laughing) - Is that how? - It's like the same thing. - When I coached through a freaking exercise bullet, a ball at one of the girls. - No. - Yeah. - And it knocked her over. - Oh my gosh. - You know, I've been to Russia and they sadly punch. - Oh, yeah. - That's insane. - And then the gym. - That's insane. - We'll still show up with a gift for their coach 'cause it's a great privilege to get coached there. - No. - You can miss me with that. - Thank you for punching me in the face. - Mm. - Of wild. It was wild to witness with your own eyes. - Holy crap. - Yeah. But yeah, line up for conditioning. - Oh my god. Maybe we should launch another podcast called Let's Unpack some trauma. We'd be able to get no gymnastic kosher. Yeah, just gymnastics are crazy. Mm-hmm. Yeah Question number 11 you're doing conditioning and your coach Turns around like turns her back to you. Okay. What happens? Three two one stop You're all a bunch of cheaters. Oh my god. I know great shame. I'm sorry But it's too like you do you slack up. I'm tired It's like they're only brave yeah, and then you they're going to turn back and look again So you can continue anywhere. Yeah, just a quick breathe there. It's just like a Yeah, I will say I should get in trouble a lot for cheating growing up because I was really bad at counting Still to this day struggle. Yeah, I would I have to set a timer. I'm like all work out or something else. No literally of course I'm just daydreaming thinking about something else like my ADHD would just take over and then they're like that was 20 Not 25 and I'm like fuck if I know. Yeah, I've been thinking about what I'm gonna eat tonight literally It's true, but I think like a part of that as you grow up so young in the sport Yeah, it's part of it So you're doing it because you have to not because you want to like you don't understand the benefits of actually doing it Yeah, you just know that you have to do it. Oh, yeah, but now like as an old athlete I don't cheat no because you're like This is for the benefit of your yeah, I'm cheating myself. I'm paying for stuff not my parents You know, it's a system in 10 to me like I physically can't cheat now because I know that I didn't do that rep And I won't sleep so I'm like, you know what? Yeah, so but yeah, and you know, yeah. Oh, yeah, like off Alright here we go and get him milkshakes a freaking in and out and you're in the gym doing 10 pressing asses in a row like you for real I'm gonna take a break. Yeah. Yeah, all right your coach tells you to point your toes during conditioning What do you immediately do? Three, two, one, close out in my brain What came out of my mouth Because I'm out of my head We what was the answer for that this is point them harder. Oh, okay I was gonna say like make my toes cramp like my toes would start cramping really yeah, you always just have to point. Oh, yeah Your toes start to cramp. Yeah I was too dry boy Do you have the nice pointed? No, no mind's ugly. So you were the same but you had to wait to work harder Oh, did they had they put me in a weird contraption? It was like a wood Yeah, you ever did the toe pointer thing. Yes, oh my god, and now I'm sorry jellis I'm envious of the girls that just have this Natural like ballet point. Don't even get me started What's it like to be God's favorite? Okay, you need to get a little extra grip on being what do you put on your feet chalk? Three two one chalk you put chalk on your but we weren't allowed to use chalk So you just wiped your feet on a mat in in club in club in late. You could Oh, and then yeah, yeah, no in club are our coach had a rule that you couldn't because they were like you're gonna get beams all chalky So we just but wouldn't everyone want to talk on the beam no because your feet get really sweaty some people do yeah And then if you slip then you eat shit. Oh, yeah, cuz the beams like leather Yeah, and you could like if someone's gone before you and you know this way Oh, yeah, they see their footprints. You just wipe it down. They wipe it. You just like hope for the bus to be honest We were allowed to use chalk in our training. Yeah, I think we yeah, we were I think rough even college. Did you use honey on your hands? No, the Europeans did other ones people did, but they didn't wear grips Yes, true They didn't wear grips, but then when they came to train with us because we had some people that came to visit They would make the bar so sticky and grippy and I loved it Oh, you literally put honey all over their hands and then would go on to the bars Then we had like the aftermath sticky boss. Oh my god. It was the best. I loved it And I didn't I was such a like crazier phenomenal grip strength like my grip is nothing like yours Like I mean also lost like 50% of my muscle in my arms, but dude like your forearms are nuts Yeah, but you can run like an athlete and we all have amazing votes. We all have our strengths Yeah, all right. How about this for a competition competition day. Okay. This is for competition day experiences Don't trigger me. You're waiting for your floor music to start and it doesn't. Oh What do your teammates do? Three two one. No music No music But cool. I'm your whole routine. No, they start clapping. Where's an awkward clap? Just like yeah, I say I say clapping Yeah, halfway there. Yeah, it sounds like your teammate so like on the vibe on the tune Yeah, like they've evolved with the times to create their own song My day that just that club. Yeah, like for the beat and you would just you would just do the routine to them Just like raw dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's horrible. I only had to do it like Three three times maybe in my career, but it would usually happen like it just stops like halfway through your routine Yeah, which is also the worst because you're like not even expecting Yeah, but if your music stops before you even go then you just hop off the floor. They figure out the floor music Oh, okay But like there's also nothing worse when like mentally you're prepared and you're like so ready You're like a doctor run and do a flip. Yeah, like wait. No, no, no You have to go back off the floor and you just like have this weird walk of shame It's never happened to me person But it's teammates yes, yeah, and then also in our stadiums the crowd get involved. Yeah, and the crowd Kind of fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was great And then you can like breathe because you don't have to keep up in time. True life hack You land a dismount perfectly in practice What are your teammates? Yeah, oh Wait, wait, wait, okay, do we you know this wait? Like it's like for every skill I think it's like universal It's like a couple Okay, I'm curious what y'all are gonna be. Okay, count us down in practice. Yeah, I'm practic I mean anything in anything You ready three two one nice. Oh, okay. What'd you say yes? Yes, we say nice Like yes, I don't know why we're like nice. Let's go I always say let's go. Everyone knows that you guys are so incurring to each other. We love it like it's so It's such a good feeling Stick City population us a Okay, this funny you forget your floor choreography mid routine That happened to you I think once yeah, what do you do three two one improvise But they're blankly for one second And it feels like an hour and then you just start picking up someone else's choreo that you know But did the judges know your choreo does the judges like know your choreo so can you kind of like no it's optional routine So they don't know your choreo. Yeah, so you can kind of like Free style a little bit Vanessa, but they they know yeah, it depends on how bad like if you're really good at improvising You could probably cover it up, but like I know there's been a few times where yeah, I'm not like that I don't look like a natural dance I'm fortunate lay on the angelic your spacing will be off and then you're awkwardly trying to like figure out how to get back to the corner That's like a whole thing. Yeah, but I used to have like level seven when I first started getting an optional routines I had like mental blocks with my floor team. I kept forgetting It's bad like a lot And now floor is my best event It's so that it's so it's so entertaining. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you got it and forget that one Crash Well, this one's interesting. Okay. You're waiting for your score and the judges are taking forever What do you assume? three two You just did your routine. Yeah, and you're waiting Seconds turn into minutes. No, I'm gonna. I have a think of this so much. I assume and I assume like a million things in the I know I assume like the worst Yeah, three Two one of messed up basically just got like a fall the dog's in Like they probably gonna like give me a really low score really usually when they take forever They're counting up your bonus, and so that if you didn't get the bonus. Okay, or if they miss something then your score gets Doc like crazy. Yeah, so I'm like all I'm gonna get a zero. You don't think they're discussing like how amazing We are wow. No, she really nailed that never they deserve a 10. Oh, I was I didn't know just the banner redhead usually they're like this was shit. Yeah. How do we? Give her not a zero. Yeah, it's I reckon it's like usually a technical thing. Yeah, okay It's usually with regards to bonus if a skill isn't worth something or what yeah, I'd laugh though if they were just Discussing like what they lunch orders. I know right The turkey You fall off beam in competition. Mm-hmm. What's the first thing you do? You fall off being mid competition. What do you do? Three two one look at my coach. Oh, that's cute Because I look at my mom like what the fuck do I do How many times can you fall on beam before they're like you should probably just wrap it up. That's a great question I actually don't know we're too good to know Well, so I didn't really do been my first year 'cause I had a broken foot. But all three years after that, I did, and not once and comp did I have a full. - Whoa. - That's what I'm saying. - That's great. - That's great, you're saying. - She wouldn't know. - That's insane. - Anything about falling. - I think the most I'd ever fallen on being was like three times. - In one routine? - In one routine? (laughing) - Yeah, we gotta be Olympics based. - But sometimes mentally, it just happens. Like you just, you go down the spiral, but like, I don't know if the beam I used to hate it, until my coach like helped me think technical. - Yeah. - I had technical things to think about in the routine 'cause I'm very easily distracted. - Yes, I am. - Like in the crowd, if it smells like popcorn ice. - No, I think that's why I thought. - Is this a gymnastics thing? I feel like a lot of you guys are just all over the place. - Yeah, but you do think there's so many things that like, honestly, we'd be bad if you didn't have ADHD. 'Cause you're having to take into account so many different things at the same time. But did you ever have trouble getting over on your pivot? - You're pure wet on bars. - Oh. - I had that one time. I literally did kick-ass, couldn't get on my pure wet. Kick-ass, tried a pure wet again, couldn't get it. Kick-ass, I think it's like six in a row. My coach's like, all right, just come down. (laughing) - I have one fun beam story though. - Okay, period. - This was elite, I was learning. And in our elite gym, there was like, soundproof glass at the top and there was a cafe. And then one week it was called Country Week and all these country male boys would come up for the sports comp. - Oh my god. - And I remember thinking, I'm on beam. Like, I'm gonna impress these. - Oh my god. (laughing) - And I did like a switch leap. - I'm thinking like, I'm so impressive but I was not thinking about my technique or the beam. I totally missed my front foot. - Did you split it? - Split the beam. - Oh no. - Like wrapped around, like, full on the floor. - Oh no. - So like, with beam, like, you need to be switched. - You need to lock that. - It has to be. - Like, an inch, you're gone, you know? Like, it's-- - It's a slam slam. - Yeah. (laughing) - That's die a ball. - I've never heard that. - That's right. - That's die a ball. - That's great. - I've only claimed slam once. - In competition? - No, no, no. - Just in general. - Oh, just in general. - I did do a switch side once on the beam and the whole beam went down. - Yeah, that was cool. - Oh, wild. - Yeah. - Wow. - I don't know, like, if like one of the little bolts came out or what, the whole thing fell down. - Wow. - Yeah, it was amazing. - I would have trust issues for the rest of my life if that happened. - Yeah, it wasn't filmed, was it? - Of course not. - If you're in a hotel hallway with a long stretch of carpet. - Oh, that's the best. - What do you do? Three, two, one. - Practice rolling back, cancering back, cancering back, cancering back, cancering back, cancering back, cancering. - Cute. I just said practice my beam routine. - That too. - Yeah. - Really? - Yeah, it's like-- - Do it space? Oh, hell yeah. - Yeah. - Oh yeah. - Nothing was off limits. - I just came from Vegas in a hotel and I was looking at the whole way. - And you're like-- - And you're like triggered. - And you brought you back to like-- - I'm like, do I set up? - Yeah. - A camera and just some flips right now. (laughing) - There's nothing worse than the carpet slippery and you're just humbled so fast. You've got socks on. I'm usually bad for it. Well, yeah, for sure. Still good. - No. - Someone finds out that you did gymnastics. - Oh. - Maybe you just met them. What's the first thing they ask? - Okay, I've got two. - There's two. - There's they both. - Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. - So first one. - Three, two, one. - Can you go back to it? - Yeah. - That's the first thing they ask. - First thing, yeah. I'm like, it's kind of the whole drop. - Yeah. - Being upset. - Second. - Part of it. - Yeah. - Three, two, one. - Can you do splits? - Yeah. - Are you flexible? - Can you do splits? - Yeah. - Usually they're quite perverted. - Yeah. - Usually like creepy older man. - No. - I know. - No, I know. - It's unfortunate. - Or third bonus is, did you go to the Olympics? - Oh. - Really? - Yes. - People just always assume. - Yeah. - Oh, gymnastic. - That's true. - It's like, pick up a book, tuck some drawers. I don't know, go to which college and ask me. - What college and ask me, go watch. - Personally, I'm fine with that question. (laughing) - She gets you to say. - Like, yes. - I got the answer, I got the answer. - I'd be stoked. - I'm like, fuck yeah, I did. - But yeah. - I don't know about you, but I feel like because of those questions or that mindset, I've like, learnt to put a defense on. - Yeah. - Like a defense. - Yeah. - For the final question, you retire from gymnastics, but you still have dreams about one specific event. This could be. - One event. - Yeah, this could be nightmares. - Yeah, it does need to be. - They're usually nightmares. - Yep. - They could be good dreams, I don't know. - Not normally. - Okay. - Which event? Three, two, one. - Falling on bars. - Oh. - Yeah. - Beautiful. - Yeah. - I'm a bar, so I mindset the kick cost to handstand it. - Mine's like, oh, that's the worst. - Mine's like, I'm retired. And then they say, you have to vault, raw dog. Like, no experience. And I, yeah, I'm like, shitting bricks. - No. - Like if I'd gone to my head, I have to vault. That's like the, yeah, that's the nightmare. - I love that you love vault. - Oh my god, I love this. This is so fun. Okay, I'm going to go back to my spots for a seclude. - Okay, that was so much fun. I'm literally like sweating, that was so fun. I can't believe how many things we got at the same time. I'm actually shocked. I knew that we had a similar experience. I knew that gymnastics was very universal, but like, I didn't know it was that bad. Anyways, I just have to say, thank you so much, Olivia, for coming on. This was such a joy. I am obsessed with you. We're sisters for life already. I already know, we're gonna be friends for a long time. So thank you so much for coming and be sure to follow on everything. She's got some really exciting stuff going on. She just filmed for American Ninja Warrior again. Are we allowed to say that? - Why not? - Okay, let's give it a listen. It's T-zone. - T-zone. - Yeah, so we gotta tune in, make sure we watch. And obviously tune in to athletes after hours every single Wednesday. We have new episodes for you and really exciting guests coming on soon. So stay tuned. Love you so much. And I'll see you next Wednesday. Bye. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)