Olympic Channel Podcast

Our new podcast focusses on mental health issues facing elite athletes, Olympians, and all of us! We checked in with Cecile Landi, Simone Biles' coach, Italy's short track speed skating legend Arianna Fontana, and human performance consultant Dr. Craig Manning.

Remember Jimmer Fredette? Basketball and #YouTube sensation? The former NBA player is re-inventing himself for the U.S. 3x3 basketball team. We caught up with him in our latest podcast as he embarks on his journey to hopefully represent Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Jimmer-mania all over again?

Olympic skateboarding bronze medalist Jagger Eaton joins Tom Kirkland on the Olympics.com podcast. The American shares his pathway to the Paris 2024 Games, why he is hoping to still be around for LA 2028, and what's up with him listening to country music. Plus hear the Team USA star talk through the skateboarding Olympic qualification process ahead of the Park and Street World Championships 2023 in the UAE.

Two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion Christian Taylor is making his comeback to triple jump after an Achilles rupture a year ago, ended his hopes of defending his Olympic title at Tokyo 2020. The American caught up with Ash Tulloch to discuss his journey back to competition and the challenges he faced along the way, including depression, doubt and questioning if he should continue in the sport at all. Taylor shares why Kobe Bryant's Mamba mentality has helped him as he works towards the athletics world championships in Oregon and Paris 2024. Vulnerable, honest and inspiring. This is a meaningful and uplifting conversation you don't want to miss.

High achieving athletes and Olympians guide you through the techniques they use to stay on top of their mental game. We spoke to Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medallist Jordan Burroughs, Olympic javelin champion Thomas Rohler, Rio 2016 badminton silver medallist PV Sindhu and teenage swimming world champion Ariarne Titmus about meditation, motivation, and visualisation.LINKS:Ed Knowles TwitterOlympic Channel Instagram

To celebrate our most popular episode of 2019 - we are replaying our chat with Simone Biles. We caught up with the history-making four-time Olympic champion gymnast at her gym in Houston for an exclusive interview. We also spoke to Olympic champ Nastia Liukin about why she thinks Simone is the greatest of all time.

There have been so many medical conditions, Finnish 100m hurdler Annimari Korte has lost count. Two rare conditions meant she couldn’t even swallow water and suffered pain similar to a heart attack. Slowly, she made a physical recovery and her dreams came true when she qualified for Tokyo 2020. But mentally, after all the trauma, she found it difficult to accept success.LINKS:Annimari Korte InstagramEd Knowles TwitterOlympic Channel Instagram

Figure skater and two-time world champion Nathan Chen sat down with Olympic champion Meryl Davis to talk about how he recovered from his 2018 Olympic performance to winning his third Grand Prix Final in 2019. He beat Yuzuru Hanyu in Turin but the pair share a mutual respect and love competing against each other. “(He) really fires me up, makes me want to take my jumps more and makes me want to be a little bit more aggressive with my skating. I think that's something that I don't feel quite as much when he's not competing with me.” LINKS: Meryl Davis Instagram Nathan Chen Instagram Ed Knowles Twitter Olympic Channel Instagram Gracie Gold episode

The 11-time world champion surfer still has a chance to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Olympic Channel Podcast sat down with surfing legend Kelly Slater to look back his career which has stretched out for nearly 30 years.

Battling cyclones, family deaths, relationship problems, and mysterious magic curses – Ben Ryan’s time in charge of Fiji’s men’s 7s team was truly inspirational. He gives insight into the difficulties he faced and also how he had to develop his own mindset to draw out the best from his players.LINKS:Ben Ryan TwitterAndrew Binner TwitterEd Knowles TwitterOlympic Channel Instagram

The 400m runner Salwa Eid Naser took a silver medal at the Youth Olympics in 2014 wearing a hijab and a full body suit. Fast forward to her incredible performance at the 2019 World Athletics Championships – she wasn’t wearing a hijab but now has nine tattoos and five piercings.“I don’t really care what people think. It’s my life and I do what I want.”LINKS:Salwa Eid Naser InstagramOlympic Channel InstagramEvelyn Watta TwitterEd Knowles TwitterThe consequences of the Caster Semenya ruling

Team GB hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh had a year from hell in 2014. “I started to ask myself some really big life questions. Why am I here? What is my value?” After breaking her jaw in the first game of the 2012 Olympics, she took a bronze medal on home soil. The quest for an Olympic gold seemed to be impossible after a disappointing performance in the 2014 World Cup. But the team did become champions at Rio 2016. So, how did she make her dreams come true? LINKS:Kate Richardson-Walsh Instagram David Childs Twitter Ed Knowles Twitter Olympic Channel Instagram Jordan Burroughs episode

US long jumper Lacey Henderson seemed like a dead cert for Rio 2016. But some personal issues came up and her performance dipped. A phone call when she was on holiday completely changed her life - and her outlook. Lacey is an amputee cancer survivor with a wicked sense of humour. She shares her story ahead of the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai.LINKS:Lacey’s InstagramLacey’s podcastOlympic Channel InstagramEd Knowles’ Twitter

Two Olympians were invited by Olympic Channel to run in the North Korean capital. Winter athletes Aimee Fuller and Mirjam Jaeger took to the rarely seen Pyongyang streets as the city opened its doors for an internationally-recognised marathon. The podcast explores how the trip came about, what the two women took from the experience, and future hopes.LINKS:Running in North Korea full documentaryAimee Fuller InstagramMirjam Jaeger InstagramEd Knowles TwitterUSA artistic swimming episode

He was challenging for the world title in 2015 when Owen Wright’s world changed forever. The Australian suffered a severe concussion that meant bleeding on his brain. It’s been a long and difficult road to recover but, now, he’s a contender for the team at Tokyo 2020 after winning a WSL event in Tahiti.Links:Owen Wright on InstagramOlympic Channel on InstagramEd Knowles on TwitterAshlee Tulloch on TwitterWhy skateboarding will be awesome at Tokyo 2020 

Two figure skating legends on one Olympic Channel Podcast. From his tough times in his coach’s basement to becoming a cultural icon, Olympic champion Meryl Davis speaks to her friend and USA teammate Adam Rippon about his epic life story.LINKS:Meryl Davis on InstagramAdam Rippon on InstagramEd Knowles on TwitterOlympic Channel on InstagramMirai Nagasu episode

She was the second woman to score a 'Perfect 10' at the Olympic Games.Now, Nellie Kim is a senior judge in gymnastics – it’s her job to analyse just how perfect things really are.The Olympic Channel spoke to the five-time Olympic champion about Simone Biles, the wider gymnastic field, and her own Perfect 10 experience.LINKS:Olympic Channel on TwitterAll Around episode threeEd Knowles on Twitter

She was the only athlete to compete for Russia in either track or field at Rio 2016.Her Olympic experience was not enjoyable.Darya Klishna had to take a break from long jumping in 2018 to recover mentally.The Olympic Channel Podcast spoke to her as she prepares for action at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.LINKS:Darya Klishna on InstagramOlympic Channel on InstagramEd Knowles on TwitterThe consequences of the Caster Semenya ruling

Double Olympic champion South African 800m runner Caster Semenya won’t be at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.New rules means athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) can’t compete in the 400m, 800m, and the 1500m. The three athletes who took Olympic medals home from Rio 2016 are all affected by the regulations. In this episode, Olympic medallists Margaret Nyairera Wambui and Francine Niyonsaba tell their stories.With world exclusive interviews, we’ve travelled the globe to track down people affected by this important legal case.

Two-time Olympian and five-time French national champion Mae-Berenice Meite captured the world’s attention by skating to Beyonce at PyeongChang 2018.But her complicated relationship with her body meant she sometimes couldn’t enjoy her career.“I didn’t like my body.“I got lost for a very long time… now I have more of purpose.”Mae also talks about her friend Adam Rippon, Yuzuru Hanyu, quads, and Evgenia Medvedeva.LINKSMae-Berenice Meite InstagramEd Knowles TwitterOlympic Channel InstagramAnatomy Of… episodeEvgenia Medvedeva and Jason Brown talk to Meryl DaviesThe tears behind the triple axel triumph with Mirai Nagasu