Off The Podium - An Olympics Podcast

A massive interview coming down your speakers today as we chat with 2x US Paralympic track & field star Noelle Lambert about her journey in the sport, overcoming many obstacles to get to the peaks she has achieved as well as covering some of her extraordinary pursuits outside of her athletic career. We find out more about her early days playing lacrosse and how that shaped her into the incredible track athlete she is today. We also find out just how she was able to rise so quickly in athletics, and what that means for her continued progression through the sport. Added to this we find out why she wasn't joining the chocolate muffin trend in Paris, find out whether Jeff Probst still has a potty mouth and learn more about a fellow athlete on Team USA who probably owes her a medal or two. It's a wide-ranging chat that you can't miss! So get to listening and enjoy! If you wish to support Noelle's Born to Run Foundation you can do so here: https://theborntorunfoundation.org/

Are you pumped to get into another Opening Ceremony review? And even more so given we're finally doing an Opening Ceremony from the 'golden age' of ceremonies? Well if you weren't before, you will be now as we bring you our review of the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony and go over all the classic moments that made this such a memorable one! From awkward volunteers yelling and shovelling random snow, to over excited speech readers and Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado banging drums, it's an incredible opening ceremony that you simply must revisit! So take a trip down memory lane, get your slam poetry ready and your sky canoes packed as we bring you an epic episode that you won't want to miss!

We're on target once again with our next episode as we bring you back into the great sport of shooting by chatting with Australian skeet shooter Joshua Bell to learn more about his career and unique discipline. We find out from Josh the specifics of skeet and just how it differs from other disciplines such as trap. We also learn why Australia is missing that Olympic medal in the discipline and why he believes he is on track to become the first ever Australian skeet shooter to medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in three years time. Added to this we hear about his 'kid in a candy store' moment during his Olympic debut in Paris, find out how the disappointment of not making both Rio and Tokyo helped him towards his first Olympics in 2024 and learn just why climate change is set to change shooting in the coming years. It's another insightful and entertaining chat that we know you won't want to miss!If you want to help Josh on his way to LA, you can donate to him here: https://asf.org.au/projects/joshua-bell/josh-bell-eyes-set-on-la

He delivered one of our most memorable interviews of all time in the lead up to the Paris Olympics and he is back to tell us about his Olympic experiences and more as we bring back to the podcast the amazing Teremoana Jr Teremoana! After setting not only the boxing world on fire in Paris but the entire Australian sporting world, Teremoana goes over what it was like for him on the ground during his Games debut and opens up about why it's actually difficult to talk about his time at the Olympics. We also learn why he believes he left Paris as the true winner of his division, and why he takes his defeat in the quarter-finals in a much different way than you would expect. Added to this we find out more about his return to the professional ring since his Olympic debut, hear about his unique experiences in Monaco and find out what a certain Australian sporting legend told him about a possible career change in the future. It's another incredible chat with one of our favourite guests that you won't want to miss!

It's been a while since we've brought you a Newscast episode but that's about to change today as we bring you all the latest Olympic news to get you pumped and excited! Ben is joined by Jamie Lyko to go over all the big happenings in the world of the Olympics over the last month, with plenty to cover! We have a new IOC President, some venues finally happening for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics as well as some very interesting ideas for future city hosts of both the Summer and Winter Olympics! We also bring you some other updates including finding out how Team OTP members have been doing and updating you on some exciting things coming up on this show! It's a bumper edition of your favourite type of episode as the Newscast returns in style!

We're shooting back into your speakers today with the return of one of our favourite guests, Australian shooter Sergei Evglevski, to hear about his experiences at his second Olympics in Paris and everything else in between. We find out from Sergei just what happened on the ground at the Games and how he is now reflecting on his performance more than eight months later. We also learn just how the sport has reacted to the viral nature of a certain other shooter in Paris and whether that is a good or a bad thing for professional shooting. Added to this we find out from Sergei what the deal is with his new found obsession with Powerade, whether or not the AOC has learnt how to spell his name properly and why 2024 turned out to be the best year of his life. It's another epic interview with an epic guest! Tune in!

Luke Perry has risen the ranks of indoor volleyball, going from the suburbs of Perth in Australia right to the very top tiers of the sport in Europe to be widely recognised as one of the top liberos in the sport. But how does a kid from a country that has little volleyball coverage go to the biggest stage in his sport to become one of the best players in the world? We learn from Luke more about his journey and discover just how a promising Australian Football career transitioned into volleyball. We also find out just how he was able to navigate the tricky volleyball landscape coming from Australia, and just where the sport currently sits down under as it prepares to host another Olympics in seven years time. We also find out more about just exactly what a libero is and learn why any volleyball fan on the planet needs to get to Poland to fully experience the sport. It's one wide-ranging chat that you won't want to miss!

History was made last month in Australian winter sport when for the first ever time at a World Cup, Australia swept a podium in the women's freestyle skiing aerials at Deer Valley. In fact it wasn't just a podium sweep for Australia, with the top four places all belonging to athletes wearing the green and gold. Finishing third in that event was Abbey Willcox, who secured her third career World Cup podium in the process, and today joins us on the show to talk about that moment and her extraordinary career in the sport of freestyle skiing. We find out from Abbey just what that moment not only meant for her, but what it means for the entire winter sports community in Australia in the lead up to the 2026 Winter Olympics. We also find out just what it means for her push towards a potential Olympic debut in Milano Cortina and what it would mean to her to reach that goal after the heartbreak of not making the team in 2022. Added to this we find out just how she is now using the love of the sport to drive her in her career, which teammate she thinks would be perfect on reality TV and which 1990s banger is always on her playlist ahead of each competition. It's an incredible chat with Abbey that you won't want to miss!

Since first joining us on the podcast in 2023, Stacey Hymer has continued her rise through the sport of taekwondo that saw her go all the way to her second Olympics in Paris in 2024. It was a rise that also saw her took gold at the Pacific Games in the lead up to her second Olympics, a gold medal that Hymer used as a spurring point as she pushed to break Australia's 24-year medal drought in Olympic taekwondo. And although an Olympic medal wasn't to be for Hymer in Paris, she took a lot away from her time at the Games in a whole variety of different ways. In this great chat with Hymer, she details exactly what those ways were and lets us know that even despite losing in the first round at the Olympics for a second time, still is still able to reflect back on her experience as one of the greatest days of her life. She also explains how she is using her added Olympic experience towards growing the sport more in Australia and just how she hopes to use that in a push to a third Olympics in LA in 2028 and just what she may use it for in Brisbane in 2032. It's another incredibly open and honest chat with Stacey that you won't want to miss!

Since last appearing on this podcast, Grace Brown has gone on to massive things. The Australian cyclist created history in Paris at her second Olympics by becoming the first ever Australian woman to medal in the road time trial, a medal that just happened to be gold. The gold medal was Australia's first of their record breaking Paris 2024 campaign, and also happened to be the first ever summer gold medal for a member of Team OTP. Grace then added two World Championship gold medals to her name a month later, and retired from the sport. And in another great chat with Brown, she goes over her incredible 2024 and just how she was able to achieve such amazing success, and how some unique lead up events that many would find hard to deal with might have actually helped her on her path to glory. We also find out how her Paris experience compared to her Tokyo experience, learn more about those damn village chocolate muffins and also discover why there could be a bit of skateboarding or breaking in her future. It's an epic chat with an epic individual that you won't want to miss!

With another 50 episodes in the bank it's that time to bring you another BEST OF episode, as we go over our last 49 episodes that brought you memories, laughs and everything else in between for THE BEST OF OFF THE PODIUM PART 9! You'll hear the best bits from episodes 401-449, which includes our entire Paris 2024 coverage as well as some incredible interviews and hilarious special episodes! It's the episode that will bring you all the memories and entertainment you need today! So click away and get to listening!

Now that we're less than a year away from the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, we're continuing to get excited by speaking with some great winter athletes on this show! And what is even better is when we bring back a former guest for another chat, as we welcome back Canadian freestyle skier and Olympic medalist Lewis Irving to learn how his preparation is going for next year and just what we can expect from him at the 2026 Olympic Games! We learn from him how a serious crash not long after we spoke with him in 2023 has shaped his lead up to his third Olympics, and how his miraculous recovery from the crash has helped spurred him on in his performances since. We also find out about some significant Canadian Olympic history he could create next year and what it would mean to him to achieve that. Added to that we find out about the best place to eat at in Quebec, how his Italian is shaping up for next year as well as just where in the world he experienced some of the best poutine he has ever had. It's another incredible chat with Lewis that you simply can't miss! So get to listening to avoid disappointment!

We're taking a brief break from our recent winter content to go back to summer and also return to the Paralympics today as we chat with Australian paratriathlete Jeremy Peacock about his incredible career and journey in the sport as well as his Paris Paralympic experiences! We find out from Jeremy about why it took him so long to get involved in his sport as he opens up about some very raw challenges that he had to overcome in order to reach that point. We also learn more about his Paris experiences, including whether the fact that he is a Paralympian has fully hit him yet. Added to this we of course talk about poop in the Seine, all things to do with Phryge and finding out just which of his main rivals he likes to beat more than others. It's another incredible chat that will lift your spirits up higher than the Eiffel Tower today, so get to listening and get pumped!

We're now less than a year away from the 2026 Winter Olympics which means we're back to bring you our fifth LOOKING AHEAD episode where we go over all there is to look forward to about the Milano Cortina Olympics next year! We go over why these Games are set to be so unique with their geography, and whether we like just how much they are spread out or wish things were a little more compact. We also go over the new events and new sport set to take the Olympics by storm, hear the official anthem for the Games that perhaps might be better suited to another annual European music event and of course go over every aspect of the mascots of the Games and see if we can work out what on earth a stoat actually is. Added to this some extra fun shenannigans in extra fun Italian style and you won't want to miss a second of this episode! So tune in, get stoated and change your windows for another epic time!

A very special episode to close out the month today as we sit down with one of the most well known Olympic historians on the planet, Philip Barker, to learn about his career in the world of the Olympics and learn more about his very unique profession that we all pretty much dream we could have! We find out just how Philip got in to the Olympics and how that path took him towards his current profession. We also find out a vast variety of incredible Olympic stories and facts, as Philip goes over some unique insights into the Olympic bidding process and where we sit with it now, as well as the general celebration that each city has when it comes to hosting the Olympics Games. Added to this some great talk about everything from Antwerp to Brisbane, and you are in for one hell of a historical ride from one hell of a smart man. It's one of our most unique interviews ever, so get to listening to avoid disappointment!

We've never hidden our admiration for Olympic pin collecting on this show and we have always wanted to dive deeper into what is often called the unnoficial sport of the Olympic Games. Well today we are finally doing so as we bring you a very special episode on what it takes to become an avid Olympic pin collector as we are joined by German pin collector Yorick Spieker to learn more about the unique hobby and just how big of a hobby it actually is! We learn how Yorrick found himself at his first Olympics as a 19-year-old and how he was then able to acquire his first pin. We also learn how different the art of trading was 30 years ago, and how he was able to build such an extensive collection over the years having only attended two Olympics. Added to this we learn more about the etiquette of pin trading when actually at an Olympics, just why there is an endless amount of Olympic pins out there with no perfect collection ever possible and find out how asking for a certain pin in Paris could've very much led to the death of someone had they given it up. It's an amazing chat with so much to learn from, so get to listening and get more excited about Olympic pins! 

After returning to the slopes last week with a great returning winter guest, we're doing the same once more today as we welcome back Australian skeleton racer Nick Timmings to find out how he is prepping for the 2026 Olympics, how the Beijing Olympic experience was for him in 2022 and everything else in between! We hear from Nick about why his Beijing experience wasn't exactly what he was hoping it to be but how it helped spur him on in continue in the sport and track towards his second Olympics next year. We also find out how his Beijing experience enabled him to have a different Olympic experience in Paris last year and contribute to the Olympics in a much different way. Added to this we clear the air and talk about the elephant in the room when it comes to a certain co-host of this show and his comments about Nick during the 2022 Olympics, find out why Tasmania was one of the coldest places he has ever been to and cotinue our campaign to get a sliding track built in Australia for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. It's an amazing chat that once again you won't want to miss!

After starting the year off with a bang last week, we're continuing into 2025 with another massive interview as we welcome back one of our favourite guests to the show in Canadian ski jumper Ale Loutitt to catch-up on her impressive achievements since our last chat and look ahead to what we can expect from her at the Milano Cortina Olympics next year! With a World Championship, Junior World Championship, World Cup overall bronze and a World Record being added to her resume since our last chat, just how does Ale compare each of these achievements? We find out, as well as finding out whether we are her good luck charm that she needs each time she heads into a new season. Added to this we learn about a puppet called Gary, how getting injured actually helped her towards more success and find out how even jumping 10cm could get Ben a record he would proudly own. It's another amazing chat with an amazing guest that you won't want to miss!

An absolute treat coming your way today on the show as we chat with iconic Canadian Paralympian Chantal Peticlerc to learn more about her incredible career that saw her go on to be the equal most successful Canadian Paralympian of all-time! We find out from Chantal just how hard her competitive instinct drove her across her career, including some very unique methodologies she used in order to achieve even higher standards. She also talks about the impact of THAT race in 2000 in Sydney against Australian Louise Sauvage and how that was a turning point in not only her career but also how the Paralympics were talked about globally. Added to his we learn more about her role in the Canadian Senate, work out which pieces of memorabilia mean more to her than her medals and find out just how of a direct line she has to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It's an amazing interview that you simply won't want to miss!

We're on target to break a drought on this show today as for the first time in a few years we get back to the great sport of archery! And what better way to do it than speaking with Aussie Olympian Peter Boukouvalas about his recent experiences in Paris and learning more about the great sport he competes in! We find out from Peter about which other sport he could've been an Olympian in and just what unique thing happened to get him to switch from that intro archery. We also learn about the very unique training regimes from his sport and just how intensive it actually is. Added to this we find out about his Paris experiences, his take on being involved in the Opening Ceremony and just what he has to say to the many people who doubted that he could ever make an Olympic team. It's an incredibly open and deep chat that you definitely won't want to miss!