Danielle Scott Interview
As we continue to get closer to the Beijing Olympics, we’re thrilled to bring you an interview today with one of the biggest names in Australian winter sports, aerial skier Danielle Scott! Danielle chats about her journey from gymnastics through to aerial skiing, including which legendary athlete helped recruit her to the sport and just what it was like transitioning between gymnastics and aerial skiing. Danielle also talks about how important the mental aspect of the sport is, what that feeling is like during a jump and landing it perfectly, as well as teaching us just what great pump up songs are needed to really get the adrenaline flowing in a competition and what her hopes will be for Beijing in a few months’ time. It’s another great interview that you can’t afford to miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast coming to you today, again, for another interview. We are loving bringing you these interviews. Got some great ones in the pipeline, and this is another one of those great ones. Danielle Scott, one of the faces of winter sports in Australia, one of our most prominent athletes. Of course, an aerial skier, two-time Olympian from Sochi, and Pyeongchang is on track to be a three-time Olympian in Beijing. This is a great chat from Danielle, great story about how she got into the sport, has such a promising career as a gymnast, including creating records at the AIS, which you'll hear about in this interview, and then that transition across into aerial skiing, kind of the process involved, how she got involved in terms of the training and the transitioning from gymnastics across into aerial skiing, and everything else between how she felt about her two Olympic appearances, how she's tracking ahead of Beijing. It's a lot of fun. You're going to learn a lot from Danielle here in this chat, and I know you're going to enjoy it. So you're going to hear it right now. Without further ado, here is our chat with Australian freestyle skier Danielle Scott.
BEN WATERWORTH: Super excited for our next guest today on Off The Podium, a two-time Olympian, 11-time World Cup medal winner, and a two-time World Championship medal winner in the sport of aerials, one of our favourite sports we love to talk about when it comes to the Winter Olympics, a sport that we all know Australia has a lot of great success in and continuing to build that success moving forward. She's one of our stars of winter sport, one of the biggest guests we've had on this show, and one we've been excited to get on for quite some time. Danielle Scott is joining me today. Danielle, first of all, welcome to Off The Podium. It's a pleasure to have you on the show today.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Hello, everyone, and thank you very much for having me.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's very exciting because obviously aerials is such a great sport that we love on this show, Australians love in general, and one of our most successful Winter Olympics sport, I should say, and one that I'm always fascinated to speak to people about because this is one of those sports, Danielle, that I always watch and go, why do people do it? What's the appeal? But then I think to myself, well, who wouldn't want to flip upside down really high and potentially crash and hurt themselves? So I'm sure you're thrilled to always talk about the fact that you do one of the craziest, most unique and interesting sports in the world.
DANIELLE SCOTT: And you're exactly right. I think that's why I chose to do it. I was originally a gymnast, and I'd always had hopes and dreams of going to the Olympics in that sport. But unfortunately, the program just wasn't strong enough. And I saw the writing on the wall and wasn't going to make it. And I was kind of looking for the next challenge. And that's when Jackie Cooper, five-time Olympian, was knocking on my door saying, hey, do you want to do aerial skiing? And I was like, this sport's insane. Yes, I do.
BEN WATERWORTH: I always love that kind of connection, how so many people get into the sport, particularly from gymnastics. And if I'm not mistaken, were you the youngest ever athlete to ever be offered a scholarship for the AIS at the age of seven for gymnastics? Is that still true to this day?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yes, that is correct. Yeah, I just had that fire in me from such a young age, I guess, and very competitive and driven. And my parents couldn't get me out of the gym. I lived and breathed it. And so they took me down to the AIS in Canberra. And yeah, when I was seven, they said, we want you here full time. And I did some trial camps, and I came back when I was eight. And then I guess my parents kind of figured like, look, gymnastics is your life, but it doesn't need to be, because they only study English, maths and science, and the rest is gymnastics training. So I kind of did sort of stints at the AIS and then kept training at home on the Northern beaches.
BEN WATERWORTH: When it comes to that Olympic ambition, I mean, sort of given your age and kind of obviously that period of your life, Sydney was just around the corner. Was it kind of the Sydney Olympics that spurred that on? Had you seen Olympics at a younger age? Kind of what was that ambition? Where did that ambition come from to become an Olympian?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, absolutely. The 2000 Olympics was pretty inspiring for me. I remember watching the gymnastics and going to a couple events and thinking like, wow, this is the coolest. Look at these girls and guys. This is their life, and it just really inspired me. So I was kind of looking at the 2004 Olympics. I would have been 14 at the time, which is a pretty good age for a gymnast. But yeah, things go the way they go. And that was pretty cool just to at least have the Olympics in my hometown.
BEN WATERWORTH: At what point when you were doing gymnastics, was it a case of, okay, this might not go how I want? Or was it a simple case you were still going to pursue that until you got that sort of knock on the door by Jackie Cooper that ultimately made you switch to aerials?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, so I retired at the ripe age of 13.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, senior age.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Exactly. But in gymnastics, by the time you're 18, you're pretty old. So I think having seen that I wasn't really going to make the 2004 Olympics, I kind of started to look elsewhere, and I started doing other sports. You know, I did everything from athletics to soccer to diving. And I love that because gymnastics was a very sheltered life. So it wasn't until aerial skiing came into the picture, and they don't actually take you until you're 16. This was back then anyway, because it is an adult sport, you know, it's very mentally driven. So I think I sort of got in touch with it around 15, and they said, awesome, come back when you're 16, and we'll take you.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's interesting you mentioned diving. We had Laura Hinkston on just before the Tokyo Olympics, and sort of she was a gymnast, and then she mentioned that diving was what she chose, and she had sort of explored the possibility of aerial skiing as well. So I mean, when you made that decision to go to aerial, did you seriously consider a sport like diving elsewhere, or was it kind of the really sick nature you thought you'd be more suited to something like aerial skiing over diving?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, I guess I did diving on and off throughout my gymnastics just because we had it at school. So that was always really fun, and having that natural gymnastics ability, like we kind of just got into the competitions and did pretty well, but I had to make that decision whether I wanted to pursue it full time or not. And I think I just had such a sheltered life from gymnastics, and diving was quite similar, that yeah, I kept looking elsewhere, and then aerial skiing came up, and I honestly knew nothing about it. Like, I'd never been to the snow, I couldn't ski, and I think that challenge really sparked my interest, and I never looked back. It was something that I knew I was going to continue on with.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to say, coming from the northern beaches, I can imagine that's kind of as far away from the snow as you can get. So, had you ever seen snow at that point when you eventually kind of went and put on the skis for the first time?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, so I had snowboarded once before actually putting skis on for the first time. So I had a little bit of an idea, but that was only one time. And then my parents actually ironically met skiing in Austria. So they'd always had a love for the snow and for skiing. But because I was in such an elite program for gymnastics, we were never allowed to do any other sport or take any time off gymnastics. So I just never got that opportunity. And I guess it's pretty funny that I've now wound up in a winter sport after that's where mum and dad met.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to say, it's almost like fate if they met skiing. I feel like that's kind of what it was meant to be. Yeah.
DANIELLE SCOTT: So they obviously love it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, what was kind of the opinion like in, I guess, the gymnastics community, particularly back then when, say, you know, Alyssa Campbell hadn't won the gold yet, sort of was nearly just around the corner around at that point, of course, people switching to a sport like aerials. Was it frowned upon? Was it like good luck? Like, that's a good idea for you? I mean, kind of, I'm guessing it's different now given the success we've had in aerials. But what was it like back then when you say, oh, I'm going to go try to aerials now rather than stick to gymnastics?
DANIELLE SCOTT: A lot of my friends, they sort of said, what on earth is that? And I tried to recruit another girl to come along with me because she did gymnastics as well. And everyone was kind of like, I don't get it. What is it? Oh, it's winter sport. Like, where are you going to go? Like, does Australia even have enough snow? It was just like the unknown. Like, I was going off into the unknown. And then, you know, I'd go away for a two week training camp, and I'd come back and I'd be like, wow, look at my quad muscles. Like, I've been skiing. They're massive. Like, this is crazy. And everyone was just kind of like, that's awesome. We don't get it. But like, we always know you're an athlete, so she must be good at it.
BEN WATERWORTH: They've got those positive moments here where they're trying to spur you on a little bit more.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Exactly, yeah. But I don't think anyone ever frowned upon it. They were just kind of like, yeah, we know you're always been crazy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you remember that first meeting with Jackie and sort of saying that you weren't overly familiar with the sport? Were you familiar with Jackie and sort of who she was and the success that she had had in the sport when you did first meet her?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, a little bit. So after hearing about just Elisa winning gold in 2002, that was obviously a big moment. And then my mum bought me her book, which then I read and I guess figured out a bit more about the sport. So then meeting Jackie, we actually met in the Qantas lounge at the airport because she was flying out to somewhere. And it was also surreal. I was like, oh, wow, she's like, this is her life. Like she's in and out of the airports. Like how exciting, like she's travelling and all of that. And so I had an idea about the sport, but to be honest, like I'd never seen it live. I'd never seen anything other than the footage on TV, which for Australia wasn't exposed that much because we are a summer orientated country and the results weren't that big back then. So yeah, it was going into the unknown still.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because it's interesting with Salt Lake, because obviously, you know, we come out with two gold, but all the coverage is really around Bradbury and his amazing goal that he won and kind of, yeah, Alissa's gold almost got swept under the rug a little bit just because of the uniqueness of Stephen's win. But I mean, it is a sport that sort of in the 90s, you know, with Jackie, with Kirsty Marshall, like we had so much success on the world stage, it just didn't cross over to the Olympics. So it was such a breakthrough win when Alissa won that gold in Salt Lake to finally, I guess, stamp Australia's authority on this sport that we were doing well at, just not on the main stage at that point.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Absolutely. And even, you know, Kirsty Marshall back in the day, like she was getting such fantastic results that it was just that coverage between, yeah, summer orientated country and the winter season being opposite to it. So not many people knew about it, but the Olympics has driven more attention to it. So it's great. And obviously those results should be exposed because we've got such a rich history.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. When it comes to the first time then, when you're, OK, I'm going to do this, I'm going to switch sports, I'm going to try this, where do you start from? Obviously you've got the acrobatic skills down being a gymnast and obviously, you know, working on those transitioning to a sport. But is the first thing that you've got to learn to ski, you've got to learn to kind of go down a slope and kind of the eccentricities of that. I mean, kind of where does Jackie begin you at when you are literally starting day one on a new sport?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, great question, because they obviously look at my gymnastics career and the skill that I had there and I guess just the drive to learn, you know, whatever tricks they were. Because a lot of technique from gymnastics is transferred over, but at the same time, you have to completely forget that technique and start fresh. So, yeah, first things first was strapping the skis on. And I just remember being like, wow, these things are so slippery. Like, what am I doing? And then I skied in Mount Bullough, Australia, for two seasons before heading overseas to Snow Basin in Utah. And it's an intense ski program. So a lot of people kind of joke like, oh, but you're an aerial skier. You only have to go on a straight line. And yes, we do. But you can catch an edge on that icy inrun. It can be sloppy snow. That's even harder. You know, you're dropping from five stories high. You have to be able to ski out on that 39 degree icy landing hill. So to say that skiing isn't important is pretty big understatement. Because, yeah, we spent probably two, three years of intensive ski training to begin with.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's crazy. I mean, look, as having been someone who stood on skis earlier this year, gave up after about 10 seconds because how slippery it was. I definitely understand that. But maybe I do need to do the whole two year thing to try to get used to it. So yeah, there's still time.
DANIELLE SCOTT: It takes time and can be frustrating. And especially when we went over to America, because they've got this awesome powder that everyone says is amazing. And we've been skiing on icy slush in Australia, and we're like, we'd fall over every metre. We'd be picking up our skis. We'd be stuck in the snow. We'd be absolutely exhausted after just an hour of this fresh snow in the States. And we didn't understand why people loved it so much. But it's because you have to persist and you have to learn how to deal with those conditions. And then once we'd obviously got past that, we absolutely loved it. And, you know, you're addicted after that, I think.
BEN WATERWORTH: At what point do you then get to go on the jump? Like, is this kind of a case of get the skiing down, Pat? Or is it like straight away shove you in the deep end? Go on, go on, Danielle, go over that. Do a flip. Come on, show us what you can do. At what point are you, I guess, ready to try to start doing the tricks over the jumps?
DANIELLE SCOTT: So we do at least a year or two of skiing. They obviously want us to be safe and capable. So once you can show that on snow, they'll take us off tiny little jumps on the snow and just sort of get that feeling in the air before we go on to the water ramp. And I started out in Lillydale in Victoria, which is a interesting place. It's a muddy pond that I think it's actually really good for us starting there because we don't know anything different. And you kind of scoot around on this plastic surface. So it's called meanies and it's like a really prickly, spiky kind of plastic surface that we spray water on it so you can carry your speed all the way down the ramp and then land into the water. And we start off very small and slow and we kind of just, you know, do hundreds and hundreds of jumps and work our way up into those bigger tricks, which, yeah, the coaches obviously want us safe and progressing as needed.
BEN WATERWORTH: As you do. Do you remember your very first jump? Do you remember kind of that very first time you went over one? And I guess what was going through the mind when you were realising that, wow, OK, this sport is something else or something along those lines?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, for sure. My like very first upright jump, it was kind of just the biggest rush. It was like, you know, you're going down this surface, which you wouldn't otherwise ever stand or ski on and landing into the water was pretty fun. But I think doing my first backflip into the water was probably the most memorable because that's sort of the real start of being an aerial skier going upside down. And I absolutely loved it. That comes natural to me from being a gymnast. So, yeah, that was probably the biggest moment.
BEN WATERWORTH: What was your just in the gymnastics? I mean, what was your speciality? What was your main apparatus? It was kind of your your speciality when you were doing gymnastics.
DANIELLE SCOTT: I love the beam. That was always really fun for me. I think a lot of people see it as very intimidating, but I probably had more grace and flexibility than the like power and sort of grunt for the vault. And yeah, I think I liked being the most.
BEN WATERWORTH: When it comes to transferring the skills in from that apparatus, I mean, sort of a little bit different to some of the other ones. But I mean, when it comes to sort of the trick aspect of aerials, how similar is it to the tricks you're doing in gymnastics? Because I mean, from an outsider's observation, you know, it looks a little bit more rigid and a little bit more straight. What you're doing in the aerials, whereas in gymnastics, you've maybe got a little less time to kind of do these sort of tricks, because you're not going as fast as you are on the skis. I mean, is that the obvious answer to that? Or is there kind of more to it when it comes to transferring those skills from one sport to another?
DANIELLE SCOTT: So the aerial awareness is what we take over from gymnastics. It's that quick reaction, you know, the decision making, the air to change your rotation, the flip speed and things like that. The technique is similar, but not really because it is so much quicker on a beam or on the floor. When we come off these jumps, you know, we've got so much time in the air where we, it's all physics, really. It's tilt twisting. So similar to trampoline. But yeah, it's the quick reaction that you take from gymnastics with a different technique coming off the jump.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I'm sure you can train until the cows come home on those skills physically. But how do you train on the mental aspect of that, those reactions? Because obviously, as you're talking about there, it's so quick. You're doing it so instinctively when you're in the air and you're doing these tricks. But is there a way you can sort of get yourself mentally into that space with training outside of the physical aspects of those tricks?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, for sure. A lot of variables do actually affect us. So whether that's the snow temperature, the wind, you know, even the sun, which way it's facing, that can all come into play with those speeds and how the jump's going to go. So visualization is a big one. You have to visualize each range. So you can be small, medium, or large, I guess is one way to put it. And if you're skiing at the jump and you didn't feel that tailwind, you know, you've got your coach there calling to confirm which range you should choose, but there's a lot going on. So if you haven't pre-visualized and sort of mentally prepared for that, you're obviously not going to make the decision in a split second. So that mental preparation is huge for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because I always love watching it, sort of everything from the moment you're at the top of the hill, you've kind of got that real focus in your eyes, and you kind of, you know, you're getting yourself pumped. And then even just the manner when you're going down the slope and kind of the arms go up, and then just everything about it, I can imagine that's such an adrenaline based rush from that moment when you're in the air to a perfect landing and just all the excitement that comes out. And then even then with the coaches, I love it when they cut to the coaches, and they're there yelling at you in the air, and then you land, and they're jumping up and down. I mean, it's one of those great sports where it's over and done with so quickly, but it's just the adrenaline I can imagine you feel is incredible.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, it's pretty incredible. And I think that's what's so addictive about it is when you hit a nice jump and you have that strong, comfortable landing. It's just like the best feeling ever. And we are out there every day doing hundreds and hundreds of the same jumps, and you kind of get on autopilot or you lose sight of that feeling. So that's where the competitions come into play, and you really try to get that feeling back and put it down, because the coaches see the same thing day in, day out. You feel the same thing day in, day out. So everyone's just so elated when it goes to plan.
BEN WATERWORTH: What's the timing when you're in the air? How long are you, on average, in air for, basically, to pull off the tricks that you were doing?
DANIELLE SCOTT: It depends on the jump that you're doing, but I guess a triple is about three seconds from leaving the jump to landing. It sounds very quick, but it's actually for us, it kind of feels like slow motion. You know, each flip you focusing on all the different things that are happening. And yeah, it's like kind of flying, I guess. But even though it's only for three seconds.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because I think it's always a case when people think of winter sports, they often think of ski jumping as the one with kind of the highest, I guess, flight. But you guys are pulling higher jumps, aren't you, than the ski jumpers, right? Because you're kind of going more vertical, where they're kind of almost doing sort of a vertical horizontal style, aren't they?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, totally different sports, which I think for a lot of Aussies, they do get it mixed up. Even my friends, when Eddie the Eagle came out, they said, oh, we saw the movie, and I was like, cool, do you like it? And they're like, yeah, yeah, we finally got to see what you do. And I was like, oh, that's not what I do.
BEN WATERWORTH: Hugh Jackman's not hanging around me, don't worry.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, completely different. They're obviously going for distance, similar in that, like the wind and the speed and all of that can affect you. But yeah, our apex in the jump is quite high.
BEN WATERWORTH: When you sort of got more into the sport and kind of, you know, got deeper into it, was there a goal like all of a sudden you realise, OK, I might be good enough for the 2010 Olympics, 2014 Olympics, kind of did you set yourself a target to an Olympics that you wanted to achieve?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, that was it was obviously a big challenge going in, having never skied before, not knowing much about the sport. I started skiing in 2006 and then doing my first jumps on snow in 2008. So for the 2010 Olympics, that was way too soon. So it was kind of obvious that 2014 was going to be my first ones. And that was just the building blocks to get some triple twisting double somersaults ready and kind of go off the timeline that the previous girls had done because, you know, they've been doing it for many, many years. And we kind of based the timeline off that. So my first Olympics in 2014, I had that triple twisting double, but I went in there knowing that this was all for experience. Like I was still a very young athlete and just went there to do the best with what I had.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it must also mean at that point in the sport, I mean, given where we talked about it, Alyssa's success obviously went between a bronze in Turin and then of course Lydia winning the gold in Vancouver as well. So I mean, we've gone gold, gold, bronze in three consecutive Olympics. I can imagine that the vibe in the sport must have been really, really high with the success. And I can imagine then learning of people like you've obviously learnt from Jackie. I'm sure you've learnt from Alyssa. I'm sure you learnt from Lydia, kind of being a teammate. I mean, that must really kind of help you as you enter the world stage to the success ultimately that you're going to go on to achieve throughout the sport.
DANIELLE SCOTT: For sure. Yeah, it was very inspiring following in their footsteps. And it was almost like it was just expected, you know, that's how we were expected to perform and following what they did. I think we had the trust in knowing that it was going to work out. And one of the girls previously said, like, you know, success breeds success. And it is very true. So we've had such a successful program, and I'm pretty grateful to be a part of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: What was the feeling like then sort of only just starting out on the world stage and getting a bronze at the World Championships in 2013? I mean, pretty good feeling, I can imagine. And a year out from an Olympic Games as well. I mean, you must have been feeling pretty high at that point.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, that was huge. Yeah. I'd been in the sport long enough to know what I was capable of and where I was heading. And to get my first podium, I think, was that guaranteed recognition that I've been looking for. It was like, OK, I'm ready. I want to be out here more often, and I want to be competitive. And that was just the best feeling, because it was the year before Olympics. I knew that I wasn't the best in the sport yet, but I could see that it was coming.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, I mean, on that Olympic experience, as somebody who set yourself at such a young age, like, I want to be an Olympian. I mean, do you remember that first Olympics and kind of the experience? Are you taking in the fact that you are at an Olympic Games, you are an Olympian, or is it so focused on competition that maybe it was your second Olympics, where you kind of took that more in a little bit more, because you know what it was like the first time, so you can experience the sort of things around the competition more so than just going there to compete?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, it's a good question. Because for my first Olympics, like, you still worried about qualifying, like, you still have to get there. It's not guaranteed that you'll go if you're on the team. So that was nerve wracking, even though I knew that it was all for experience. So once I'd finally qualified, it was like, wow, I can actually enjoy this. You know, I'm finally an Olympian. So I'd say I'd enjoyed it, but it was still so overwhelming. Like, it's so different to World Cups and World Championships. It's just an incredible atmosphere, and the world stage is so much bigger because all the other disciplines are there. So coming to my second Games, it was like, okay, I've done this before. Like, I know what to expect. But at the same time, the pressure was so much higher. Like, I was coming in from being number two in the world, and it was like, this is it, you know? I know what I've got to do. I've got to get the job done. So, yeah, that pressure was... It kind of almost took away from enjoying it. But even still, it was, yeah, just a phenomenal experience.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're allowed to blame Channel 7. We know how much pressure they put on with those little clips beforehand, Danielle. It's fine.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Well, unfortunately, I never get to see those because we're always overseas. Really? Yeah, so I didn't actually get to see much of it. I mean, I'd hear snippets or, you know, friends would film the TV quickly or whatever. So that was pretty cool. But yeah, unfortunately, I didn't actually get to see much of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, we will record the ones for Beijing and we'll flick them over to you so you can see them sort of all afterwards there. With Sochi, though, so you miss out on the final basically on a count back. Is that correct? How does that work? I mean, this is the weirdness of this sport sometimes from an outsider, where I'll talk about 2018 in just a second as well for a certain other Australian athlete. But how do you lose out on a count back making the final?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, yeah, this was really frustrating. So Jamboda from Kazakhstan, we both scored the same score. And when that happens, they then go back to the way that the jump is scored. So there's takeoff, air and form, landing, and they basically choose the air and form part of the score. And she got a higher air and form score, but I had a higher landing. So it was heartbreaking because, you know, her landing wasn't great, but I guess my air and form wasn't great, and that was the deciding factor. That's just the way it goes.
BEN WATERWORTH: Interesting, which I mean, again, it's sort of one of these sports where, I guess if you're sort of seeing it every four years, like not like myself, and it's kind of, you know, you don't follow it all the time, so you don't know how it all works, it can kind of be a case of, okay, that's bullshit. You know, as an Australian, I'm going to get that. But I mean, is that something you know going into it? Like, if this happens, that is the case? Is that explained fully? Is that how it is always on the world stage? Or does the Olympics have a different tie-breaking system or something like that?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, no, we know this going into each event. I suppose it just doesn't happen that often. Like, I can't say I remember anyone else getting the same score other than Dave. And yeah, it's just one of those things that takes you by surprise, and it's just the reality of it, and you've got to move on.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, we're still not over 2018 with David. Like, that's just bullshit. I mean, it's three years removed. I mean, come on. He landed better, and he... Oh, God, what happened there? Can you explain that to us? We're still not over it.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, I know. It's honestly the most frustrating thing ever. And especially for the coaches, too, because they're trying to fight for the athlete and for the country and all of that. And the judges are from, you know, a variety of countries. So it's just a battle. You know, you can debate it till the cows come home, but at the end of the day, a decision has to be made. And sadly, it wasn't in Dave's favour.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, gosh, maybe they just have it against... They have it against the Australians. Let's just use that excuse. We can always put it that way. But I mean, in 2018, going into that as the number two, you talk about sort of the pressure on that side of things. I mean, obviously not to come away with a medal, I'm assuring you went into that, you know, expecting or hoping to get a medal. But I mean, how do you feel in general your 2018 performance went compared to that 2014 appearance?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, I guess going into 2018, I was really comfortable with my training. I'd been jumping really well leading up to that season. And then right before the games, we had a pre-Olympic camp in Finland, and I actually had a pretty bad crash and kind of injured one of my ribs badly, which meant I didn't get that much training on the site in Korea. But I think the weather really put a lot of us women in a bad headspace. It was tough out there, and unfortunately it was the lowest scoring final in history for women because of those conditions. So we all walked away pretty heartbroken, knowing we could have done better. And just in comparison, the men had a pristine night, and it was the highest scoring final in history for the men. So we know that the weather is a factor, and it's something that we deal with every day. It's just really disappointing when everything that you've worked for comes down to such a sad ending.
BEN WATERWORTH: But I mean, with that aside, though, can you sort of reflect now and say, obviously you made the final, so you are an Olympic finalist. I mean, can you take any solace from that, despite maybe the disappointment you felt at the time?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, for sure. I've still got to be super proud and grateful for how far I got. Even just to have that opportunity is pretty special. So I never forget that. And we're always learning, like it's all experience. And hopefully I can take that with me to the next Games.
BEN WATERWORTH: And after Pyeongchang took a bit of time away, and I believe you only returned to competition earlier this year. So sort of was that a case of just taking some time away, dealing with some injuries, kind of what brought about that bit of a break before returning?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, I definitely needed a break, whether it was physical or mental. The sport had been, I guess, quite taxing. There is a lot of politics behind the scenes too, which didn't really help the situation. And yeah, I decided to take that year off, which was good. I really did need that, and I probably had the best year of my life just exploring Australia and doing a lot of things that I had never got to do otherwise. So that was good. I came back refreshed. I was ready to go. I had an awesome summer getting back on the water ramp and getting back into the sport. I started doing triples again, which they now allowed me to do. And then sadly, when I started that winter season, I basically fell over on my face. I wasn't doing a jump. I wasn't skiing or anything. And I did my knee. So that was my season gone, just like that, which was pretty frustrating. And I think at the same time, it was also a hidden sign that I wasn't ready to come back. You know, I thought I'd taken enough time, but maybe I hadn't. So I kind of came back to square one, went home, started rehabbing and really thought about what I was doing. You know, did I really want it? Like, how was I going to make this work? And just from there, I just kept building and building and building. And luckily enough, you know, I have got through another season very successfully since all of that happening.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I mean, very successful. You win a gold medal basically in your first World Cup event on returning, fourth in the World Championships. I mean, a pretty decent season. You must have been pretty proud to sort of get back out there and yeah, doing quite well, obviously.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, it was a dream come true. I honestly couldn't have asked for it to be any better than that. And I knew I had unfinished business and that right there was, you know, I needed to come back. I got to finish that business.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is it the passion then that kind of, you know, through those moments when you're injured and you sort of thinking about the sport, taking a break, but is it as soon as you get out there and gold medal or not? Like, is it just straight away? Okay, this is why I do this. This is my passion for it. I'm glad I'm back essentially.
DANIELLE SCOTT: For sure. And I think I'd lost that passion through, you know, just the hard times, not getting the results or whatever over the years. That passion had gradually diminished. And I love the sport. I love the feeling of flying. I love challenging myself, and I just needed to find that again. So getting back into competition, I think that's my natural place that I excel in. So it was, yeah, it was everything I wanted it to be.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which in this unique times we're living in right now, obviously, kind of just having experienced the Tokyo Olympics, we're all sort of still summer centric. But I mean, we're months away from the Winter Olympics. It's hard to believe how close we are, which I guess my next question, Danielle, is how are we tracking now for Beijing? What is the plan now between now and Beijing? Is there an upcoming season? Sort of the qualification? What is the process now for you to get to your third Olympic Games in a few months' time?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, it's really not that far away. We are still on track. I feel for the Tokyo guys who had to postpone for that year, it would have been really tough planning. But for us, we are still on track. And I started qualifying with everybody else last season. So getting that podium in D Valley and just World Championships experience and that kind of thing, that's the start for us. We will have a bunch of events before February next year that counts as qualifying. So no one's guaranteed to go at this stage. We all have to qualify. And it's just building from there pretty much. So, yeah, February is just around the corner. And let's hope that we, you know, COVID doesn't get in the way anymore.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, fingers crossed. Is it a case of, because I know in some of the winter athletes we have spoken to, sometimes you might not find out you're qualified until like a week before the games, essentially. Is it a similar thing for aerials, that it can be that late until you know when you're qualified for Beijing?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, it's pretty funny like that, because I think Brittany Cox, her first Olympics, she didn't actually know she was going until two weeks out. So she's just this youngster at 15 being like, oh yeah, like I'm skating well, like everything's going good. And then suddenly like packing bags, like you're going. And it's just like, whoa, like everything happens so quickly. So yeah, you could be not knowing until literally two weeks before, which is pretty cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: And are there are there quotas when it comes to, say, Australian athletes? So can Australia send as many as qualify? Or is it a case of it's capped at maybe two or three sort of skiers per country, something like that?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, so it's worked out in the disciplines. Each discipline can have a maximum of four athletes per country. But that's also spread across like the freestyle, which is moguls ski across aerials, half pipe, all that kind of thing. So depending on how good the country is in freestyle, that'll determine how many spots you get. So aerials might get four, but ski across might only get one and things like that. So it's still pretty competitive within each country because people like Canada, their athletes have qualified, but their country just didn't have enough spots to go. So to see this out for that reason is pretty frustrating for them.
BEN WATERWORTH: We had Andy Norty on the show a while back, and she talked about I think her first Olympics she could have gone to. She was like the fifth best mogul in the world. But because Canada only had four spots, she couldn't go. So it was kind of something crazy like that, where you can't make it, because other people in your country are that good, essentially. What's the comradery like amongst just the freestyle skis in general? Are you close with people like Britt Cox, Maddy Grain, people like that who are in the same banner, but obviously doing something a little different? I can imagine with the new facilities you've got going in Queensland at the moment, that you're all training together a lot more. So I can imagine you guys are all very close.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, yeah, it's so good. The mogul team is probably the closest team that we have because we share that water ramp, which is cool. So Matt and I will go for surf, or Britt and I will go for mountain bike and things like that, which is awesome because as aerialists, we are direct competitors. It is an individual sport. So to be close with the mogul guys who aren't necessarily those direct competitors is really fun.
BEN WATERWORTH: And what's with the new facilities that are now just recently opened up? I mean, this is obviously groundbreaking for winter sports in Australia. I mean, just how good is that going to be for us, not only in the short term, but in the long term? I mean, is this something where a lot of people can get recruited a lot more now with these great facilities that are out there, that really train up our next generation of freestyle skiers?
DANIELLE SCOTT: I'm so excited just for myself to be able to train on it and home soil right now. But also for the future of the sport. Like for me, I didn't know what the sport was. I'd never seen it, never experienced it, didn't have a reference of it. But now kids can come and actually watch us train and you'll see the school groups pull up and they're just in awe. Like they can't even imagine what this facility is for. So a lot of, you know, divers or other athletes have come past and said, oh, when can I try it? Like, this looks like so much fun. So just the wealth of the sport is going to continue to grow and we're putting that money back into Australia. You know, we're not at the mercy of other countries just to train.
BEN WATERWORTH: The footage I love watching of it is when you're coming off the ramp and you're going to land, it's kind of like in the pool. I'm guessing it's almost like a spa sort of bubble aspect, because when you're obviously landing in the water, is that to try and I guess recreate as best as you can a flat surface to land? And is that all done specially so that you can recreate that as best as you can? Because it looks fascinating when you sort of crash into the water and you're almost bobbing up and down straight away.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, so the bubble is mostly for breaking the surface for us to just decrease the impact. It also gives us a bit more of a reference to spot, so we're not looking at like this crystal blue infinity. But we also cut holes in our skis to allow the water to come through because the impact that we take jump after jump is pretty huge. So anything we can do to make that landing softer really helps. And also it's a 39 degree landing hill on snow. So for landing into water, it's kind of like half a belly flop is a good landing on snow. So it's not the most comfortable way to train, but it's obviously the safest way to train.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm always intrigued though, when you land and you're obviously in the water, so you're getting quite wet, do you have those giant, I think it's like a dream world or wet and wild, they have those giant dryers that you can go through to kind of get yourself ready to go for the next one. Do you have those? I mean, these Queensland, I can imagine, you probably dry pretty quickly, but I don't know. Do you have something? Because otherwise you're just going to be wet like all day.
DANIELLE SCOTT: It's a great idea. We should get a drying system. But no, we're basically wet all day. People are amazed that we put on wet ski boots, but there's no point drying them out when you do one jump and they're wet again.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm just always wondering that, because maybe I'm just one of those people that I get uncomfortable when my clothes are wet, like chafing, all that kind of crap. Going to an Olympics all wet and ski boots and stuff? I don't know. We like to wrap up our chats with a series of fun questions now. These are based off the Canadian Olympic website. In the lead up to both Rio and Pyeongchang, they got a series of their athletes and got them to kind of fill in a little questionnaire. It was called My Name Is. And just a bunch of fun little questions here, where we're going to learn some interesting things about you today. So are you locked and loaded? Are you ready for this? Are you prepared?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Ready to rock.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good. That's the correct answer. You're one from one. What is your favourite Olympic moment?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, this is a bit biased, but I'd have to say Lisa Campbell winning gold.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're allowed. You're allowed. We're waiting for somebody to answer their own, which you can come back on next year and go winning gold in Beijing. That's a perfectly appropriate answer. As a kid, who was your favourite sports team?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, favourite sports team. I guess it would be the Matildas. I played soccer in high school. We were pretty good, but not that good. And yeah, the Matildas were always inspiring for us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Very exciting time for that in this country. Obviously, with the World Cup a couple of years away. So yeah, obviously, and Sam Kerr doing great things for us on the world stage. So for sure. If you could be any superhero, who would you be?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, I mean, Wonder Woman's a favourite. You just want to get out there and save the world and be Wonder Woman.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, there's an idea for for Olympic uniforms for Beijing, for the ski team, Wonder Woman outfits, you know.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're preempting the medal wins. So come on, AOC. I'm sure you listen, get it happening. Who are your favourite music artists?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, OK, this is a good one. When I'm jumping, I just love any fun, upbeat kind of stuff. But I think Rihanna really gets the vibes going for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there a particular Rihanna song that kind of maybe is a go to to get you pumped up when you're on the top of the slopes there?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, Umbrella kind of gets the day going. And then Rockstar probably is when I want to get a good jump.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good choices, good choices. My co-host on this show, Colin, massive Rihanna fan. So I know he's listening to this right now and he's loving you even more. So there you go. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Sushi, 100%. I wish I was going to Tokyo, because that would be very easy to stay nutritious there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. I was going to say that the village there, you'd just be queuing up for the sushi trains basically, all the place. Where is your favourite place to compete?
DANIELLE SCOTT: It was Norway. Obviously, because I got my first podium there, that was a pretty special place. But then it moved to Spain, because the atmosphere and just the mountain was just so much fun. Everyone's having appraisals in the sun, the music's playing down the bottom. You go up, you have a ski, we go up and train, and then you come back and you watch this epic sunset. And it was just, if I was there training or on just a trip with my friends, that's probably the place I'd love to go back to.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there a place, and you don't have to answer this, because I'm guessing you probably won't, is there a place where you just don't want to go to compete? You go, oh crap, I'm going to go there next.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Like, I guess Belarus is one of those places that we always sigh when we're going to. The weather can be pretty warm, and it's just slushy rain, and things are a little bit more difficult, so probably Belarus.
BEN WATERWORTH: And rivals too, right? Aren't they our traditional aerial rivals in Belarus?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, yes, we got to beat those Belarusians.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Classic sporting rivals in Australia. No one talks about the Australia v Belarus rivalry in aerial skiing. Come on, make it more of a thing. What is one thing that you've always wanted to do?
DANIELLE SCOTT: I guess it would have been scuba diving, but I finally did that, so I've got a thing of a new one. It would probably be just go sailing around the world. I love sailing and haven't done enough of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: And you could be bloody good at it, and there you go, you could win a gold in Paris.
DANIELLE SCOTT: I'll get Matty Grave to teach me. He's a good sailor.
BEN WATERWORTH: You could be like, you know, I don't know if it's one of the mixed events they're going to bring in, but by then you could kind of do the laser class or the 420, something like that, you know, like, jeez, I like this.
DANIELLE SCOTT: You're talking like you're off to Ariel's.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I mean, you know, we had Yana Pitman go from sprinting to bobsled. We can do the opposite, winter to summer. Come on, like it can be a thing. Done, all right. You're welcome. I expect these thank you speeches when you win the gold in Paris from you and Maddie. Come on now. I love these questions to winter athletes because I mean, you guys obviously are chasing snow half the year or more than half the year. So summer is kind of a rarity, you can imagine. So what is your favourite thing to do in summer when you get to experience the summer?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, go surfing. Just get some waves and hang at the beach.
BEN WATERWORTH: You didn't even hesitate with that one, did you?
DANIELLE SCOTT: And that's why being up in Brisbane is the best, because we're not used to being able to go to the beach.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. What is your favourite movie?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Oh, A Million Ways To Die In The West.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like it. Nice one there. I'm going to alter this one, because obviously this question to a Canadian athlete is my favourite place to visit in Canada is, but I'm going to change it to what is your favourite place to visit in Australia?
DANIELLE SCOTT: Inside the sport or outside of the sport?
BEN WATERWORTH: Let's go with both.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Inside the sport would be up here in Brisbane. I think everybody's got to come and check out this new facility, because it's insane. And then outside of the sport, I'm going to say Tasmania, where you are right now, because it is just like this crazy, raw, untouched land that has epic mountain biking.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like you sucking up to me. It's usually the other way around, but good. Did you go to Mona when you've been here? I mean, it's always a question standard everyone from Hobart asks now, because we're proud of Mona, but is the place you visited?
DANIELLE SCOTT: I didn't get to Mona. I was hoping to, but we ran out of time, so I went to Derby, and Mona's on my list next time I get there.
BEN WATERWORTH: All right. Well, yeah, 100% recommended as well. Your favourite cartoon growing up? What was your favourite cartoon to watch growing up?
DANIELLE SCOTT: I don't know if you remember this, but Little Catdog.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, yes, Catdog. Absolutely. Yeah, that was, I just had the stuffed toy. I think I got it like at a agricultural show. You want it like on one of those, you know, throw an axe or something. But yeah, what was that song? Like One Fandai with a wolf and a perp, everyone's falling in the. Memories. Wow. Can you listen to that on the slopes in Beijing, please? Like put it in the iPod, ready to go.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Get mashed and quenched in a mega remix.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. Begging for one. Oh, memories. Love it. Well, this might answer the next question. If you had to do karaoke, what would you sing? Geez. The final question here. If you could be an Olympian in any other sport besides your own, what would it be?
DANIELLE SCOTT: I think now that surfing is involved, I would say surfing, but before these games just gone, I always love looking at the team sports because they had so much fun being a part of a team, and I've always been an individual athlete. So yeah, it would have been soccer or hockey, I think would have been fun to be a part of.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good choices. I like it. I like it. Danielle, it has been a lot of pleasure having you on the show today to learn more about the sport, and obviously in the lead up to Beijing in only a few months' time, we're going to be keeping a very close eye on you and wishing you all the best of luck for that. Before we let you go, though, if people want to follow you, kind of see what you're up to, the progress, everything along those lines, social media, give a shout out, kind of where people can check you out in the lead up to Beijing.
DANIELLE SCOTT: Yeah, come and find me at Danielle Scott Ski on Instagram or Facebook. It's kind of where I put all my adventures and things happening in and out of the sport. So send us a message, and yeah, thanks for all the support.
BEN WATERWORTH: We will be cheering you on all the way, but it's a pleasure having you on the show, and bring on the cat dog gold. That's all I'm saying right now. Cat dog gold for 2022.
DANIELLE SCOTT: It's gonna be a good year.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a big thanks there to Danielle. Great chat, great insight. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing her hit the slopes in Beijing and continue the success that Australia has in the sport of aerials. Interesting, actually, to think that Pyeongchang was the first time since Nagano Australia has not meddled in aerial skiing. That goes to show the level of success that we have had in that sport. And I'm still saying it, as you heard me say in that chat, we're still not over David Morris' being robbed. David Morris, I should say, not there's multiple David Morris's. We wish there were multiple David Morris's, but David Morris being robbed in Pyeongchang. We're still not over that, right? That's still a sore spot for all of us Aussies. But yes, we look forward to watching the aerial skiing come Beijing in a couple of months. You can also watch the Pyeongchang one-shot online. Next week, though, another great interview where cracking two firsts here on Off The Podium. The first time we have an athlete from Biathlon, and the first time we have an athlete from the country of New Zealand. That's right, we're crossing over the Dutch to bring you a record-breaking athlete, New Zealand's only ever biathlete. Her name is Sarah Snowsell. And you're going to learn a lot about her time in the sport and how she's still heavily involved in the sport of biathlon as well. She competed back in Vancouver, narrowly missed out on making the team in Sochi again, which is a very interesting story, actually, when it comes to why she wasn't back out competing at the Olympics for Sochi. But it's a great insight to learn a lot more about biathlon, a sport that I'm sure for most of our Australian listeners, they know very limited things about. Our Canadian listeners maybe know a little bit more about it, but not to the extent, perhaps, of some of the European nations. So it's great chat, and you're going to learn a lot. And I can guarantee you now that I do not make fun of Sarah's accent because there's a reason why behind that. So stay tuned for that. In the meantime, hit us up on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. You know where they are. Search for Off The Podium on those. Hit us up and send us a message to say what you're liking about the show. Maybe suggest some guests or potential episodes. We always like to hear your feedback. And on that feedback, if you're subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, any of those services, why not leave us some feedback? We love to hear what you think of the show and ratings, of course, help get us exposed out there a little bit more and spread the word a little bit more. Maybe we can crack the top three of these spots, Olympic Podcasts in 2022 and number four, of course. So why not crack the top three and actually get on the podium? Off The Podium can be on the podium. I think there's some sort of message in there somewhere. Once again, a big thanks to Danielle. Tune in next week for Sarah. And in the meantime, have a great week. My name is Ben.
Comments