Off The Podium - An Olympics Podcast Ben Waterworth, Colin Hilding & Jarrod Loobeek

It's a sport that we love but a sport we've somehow barely covered, but today we go about fixing that as not only do we bring equestrian back to 'Off The Podium', we bring for the first time the discipline of dressage to the show as we speak with one of Australia's best riders in the sport Jessica Dertell about her career, Paris prospects and also to learn more about just what dressage is! We find out from Jess how she got involved in the sport and just what it was about dressage in particular that tickled her fancy. We also learn the intricacies of the discipline and why it may be one of the hardest Olympic sports to fully master. Added to this we learn just what an Olympic appearance would mean to Jess, why Australia has always seemingly struggled in the discipline despite all our other equestrian success, and just how influential the great Andrew Hoy is to her and her fellow riders. It's an amazing chat that you'll get a lot out of, so tune in and get riding!

We're excited to get back into the great sport of triathlon today as we speak with Aussie triathlete Natalie Van Coevorden ahead of her push towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games! We find out from Natalie about her quick progression in the sport, from being poached at a young age right through to finding herself on the very competitive World Triathlon Series. We also find out just what happened around her Tokyo qualification and why she wasn't selected and how she is using that disappointment towards her Paris 2024 tilt. Added to this we learn just why karaoke isn't going to be on her agenda any time soon, learn more about her experiences at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and find out just how she thinks she would go against Emma McKeon in a triathlon. It's a fun and amazing chat that you should already be listening to! So get to it!

An absolutely massive chat coming down your speakers today as we speak with an athlete who not only owns a piece of history, but is set to take the reigns of one of the biggest teams at the Paris Olympics. Anthony Nesty is a swimmer from Suriname who in 1988 created history by winning Suriname's first (and only) Olympic gold medal in the 100m butterfly, and further added to this tally by taking bronze in Barcelona in the same event. And if that wasn't enough for Anthony he is only months away from coaching the US men's swimming team at the Paris Olympics, with all the eyes of the world fixated on his team of superstars. In this great chat with Anthony, we learn about his rise through the swimming ranks and just what it meant to Suriname to have an Olympic gold medallist. We also learn more about the developments in swimming over the years and how different athletes are that he coaches now compared to himself when he was competing. Added to this we find out just how the mood is in the US Swim Team ahead of Paris, how they are feeling about Australia in the lead up to the Olympics and just whether or not Chairy can play a part in the team in July and August. It's an amazing chat with an amazing individual that you won't want to miss!

Our latest episode in our classic Olympic Opening Ceremony series is here as we once again go over an Opening Ceremony we have already covered in looking at the 2018 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony from PyeongChang in South Korea! Has this Opening Ceremony actually improved since we watched it six years ago? How excited are we to have so much mascot interaction in this ceremony? Why are we still disappointed by the lack of Psy, even though there is technically Psy in it? Are we in awe of the soprano singer still? Are we slowly becoming nostalgic for Thomas Bach (Olympic Champion Fencing) and his very long speeches? And does this episode make us want to re-visit some other recent Opening Ceremonies for another look? It's all here in another epic episode that you won't want to miss!

A very special mid-week episode of Off The Podium coming your way today to celebrate 100 days to go till the Paris 2024 Olympics! Direct from the Australian Olympic Team's opening ceremony uniform launch in Sydney, we speak to Aussie Chef de Mission for Paris 2024 and Olympic legend Anna Meares, as well as Olympians Michelle Heyman, Tilly Kearns, Mariafe Artacho del Solar, Tom Green and Nick Malouf about their thoughts on the uniform as well as just how they are preparing for the Olympics in just 100 days time. It's one massive episode to celebrate one massive occasion that you simply can't miss!

It's a return to the Winter Olympics today as we sit down with Aussie Olympian Jenny Lyons to chat about her incredible skiing career across two different sports that took her to three Olympics and a whole bunch of success along the way! We learn from Jenny just what took her into skiing and what the scene was like in the sport of alpine in Australia during her early years. We also find out about her three Olympic appearances and her honest assessment of why the Olympics weren't always the best experiences for her. Added to this we find out about her bronze medal at the X Games in 2012, what Australia needs in order to get more people involved in alpine skiing and just what could lead her out of retirement once again to give a fourth Olympics a crack. It's a fun interview that you will get a lot out of so be sure to tune in!