David Morris Interview

Continuing on our interviews with athletes in the lead up to next years Winter Olympics and today we speak to 2014 Sochi silver medallist in the men's aerials David Morris! In a fun and entertaining chat, David goes over his preparation in the lead up to the games next year including taking us through his training regime and his mindset as well as different expectations going into his third games. He also gives a crack at the 'my name is' questions with some very interesting answers!

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.

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BEN WATERWORTH: Welcome back to Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast, as we continue our ongoing series in chatting to past, present, and future Olympians in the lead up to the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. And very excited to be able to bring you today's guest, 2014 silver medallist in the men's aerials, David Morris. Now, if you listen to a lot of our episodes where we went back in time, our vault episodes, from interviews that I had previously done on a former radio show of mine, you would have heard one of those chats was with David Morris back from 2014, only a couple of months after he did win that silver medal. But he was polite enough to join me again to have a bit more of an in-depth chat about Sochi, about the future and kind of leading into the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. And if you did hear that interview, you definitely would have heard how entertaining and great David is to chat to. And it's definitely the case once again here. And a very fun interview, very funny guy, and definitely a great chat, one that I know you are going to enjoy. So without further ado, here is my chat with 2014 Olympic silver medallist David Morris. Continuing on our athlete interviews, and sort of tying it in with previews of different sports as we get closer and closer to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in Korea. I'm very excited for our next guest here. The sport of aerials is a fantastic sport. It is a very entertaining sport, and a sport that Australia has been very successful in over the years. And one of the most memorable moments from the 2014 Sochi Olympics from an Australian perspective was when this guy walked away with a silver medal. And just one of my favourite moments still, the reactions and everything else that came from it. I don't think I've ever seen somebody happy to win a silver medal, but it was still definitely a fun time. I do, of course, speak of David Morris, and he's on the line now. David, welcome to Off The Podium.

DAVID MORRIS: Thank you for having me. I'm glad I can be a memorable moment for some people, even if it's just one, that's okay.

BEN WATERWORTH: Plenty more to come, though, David, as we're going to discuss, I feel, throughout this interview. And yeah, obviously, you know, you and I have spoken before a couple of years ago on one of my other shows, The Brink, and kind of just sort of speaking to you about that, it was interesting when I spoke to you then, that was, I think, only several months after the medal win there in Sochi. Yeah, very, very fresh. It's kind of opposite now, isn't it? We're less than a year away from the next one. You've got to kind of put that in the back of your mind and lead up now to the next one. I mean, how are you feeling right now, I guess, kind of less than a year out? And going into your third Olympic Games?

DAVID MORRIS: I would... I'm nervous, actually. I was feeling pretty confident, and because it's sort of... It's one of those things that's in the future, and it's coming, and then suddenly it's, you know, two years out, and then it feels like a week goes by, and it's one year out, then it's ten months out. It's all happening very fast. And I woke up the other day after, I think, having a dream about the Olympics, and I just woke up, I was just really nervous again. I was like, yeah, I have the butterflies in the stomach feeling. I have the expectations and the dread of what would happen if it goes wrong, all these, all the normal feelings. So I'm nervous, I'm excited, I'm confident and not confident at the same time with the whole world, we're in a very strange feeling.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's like you're a teenager again, going through puberty, it sounds, David.

DAVID MORRIS: Pretty much, yeah, that's what sport is like sometimes. You get a bit moody in good days, bad days. Sometimes you want to cry in your room, you want to talk to anyone, and other days, like, look at me.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, the life of an Olympic silver medallist, it's a very difficult one. But, I mean, sort of how is the preparation, I guess, from this point on? I mean, you obviously just, I think, back in Australia, still, you're just here for the ski awards, I believe, in the last week, and kind of moving forward now sort of into the Australian winter, at least. Is it time off? I mean, is there such thing as time off between now and February? I mean, what's happening right now before the Games?

DAVID MORRIS: What a lot of people find hard to understand sometimes is we don't really have time off. Like, we'll have a week at home or two weeks at home to sort of relax. But the relaxing time is simply recovery time, like you're resetting your system, you're letting your brain relax, and you're letting your body recover to start up again. Even when we're being lazy in quotation fingers, it's actually time used on purpose so you can get straight back into training without being tired day one. So at the moment, I've been in the gym working on heavy weights and stuff for the last month, trying to get my squats higher off, my agility, my cardio, all that stuff up. And then we're going to head over to the US for the entire summer. We're going to be over in Utah for four months, jumping off water ramps into a pool over there, one of the facilities, and working on the big, the starting, I'm going to talk a couple of days. We'll be working on our basic skills, working up to the harder ones, come back home for about a month, a bit more of a fitness camp thing, and then take all the skills to snow and try and peak at the Olympics two months later. So it's just a building process. And we start at the start again. And the fitter you are at the start, the longer you last. Because once we sort of start training properly, there's no real time to make massive gains and things in the gym. So you have to get it all now, which is what we're doing, and then try and hold it for the rest of the year, basically.

BEN WATERWORTH: And when it comes to gym training for aerials, I mean, what is the focus, then? Is there a particular part of the body that perhaps people who sort of don't really think too much about that side of things when it comes to training for something like aerials that you really do have to focus on?

DAVID MORRIS: We focus on a bit of everything, and you're not wrong, because people have looked at me in the gym, and I've had a few comments, like someone's come up to me like, you know, what do you do? Because you can't kick us, because we don't do anything specifically related to our sport other than maybe like landing drills. And I said, oh, I do aerials, and you know, we have to get pretty strong. And they're like, yeah, you don't look like much, do you? I said, no, you're right, we don't. We're just, we're small and compact, and we're strong for our size. Bodyweight ratio is quite high. But yes, definitely a lot of legs, we do a lot of squats, deadlifts, leg press, a lot of core for maintaining, you know, a body line, more of flipping through the air and twisting. And when you land, obviously, you need a solid core, and it all has to be connected to your quads and your glutes, and with your upper body to have, you know, a strong shape when we're spinning and flipping. Upper body is probably less important for doing the actual sport, but very important for when you do badly and you crash. I've seen a lot of boys on the triple cough up blood at the bottom of the hill from landing on their back, because they're scrawny little guys, and they just don't have enough padding around their ribs, so they bleed into their lungs, and they're coughing up all this blood at the bottom. So luckily, I haven't done that, because you do lots of bench press and lat exercises to just make it, you know, your torso really strong. So when you take it, hit it or hurt, but it doesn't do enough damage, you can go back up and hopefully do another one, because it hasn't hurt you too bad. So a lot of the strength is for when things go wrong, and then the rest of it is so that you can do it properly.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's just kind of interesting sort of just looking at it that way, and I can imagine sort of as you're saying about people at the gym who may be coming up to you, like, what do you do? I mean, what's their reaction? Aerial's like, oh, OK, go you, mate. I mean, what do they say to that?

DAVID MORRIS: It's like, oh, Aerial's, what's that? Is that the long jumping one? Like, no, it's the flipping one. Like, oh, you jump out of the helicopter. No, we do flips. Funny, it's not a well-known sport. We're trying to obviously work on that with Olympic medals and World Champ medals, World Cup medals, and our team's very good at it, but it's just not a widely-known sport still, which is a bit of a shame, and I try not to boast about it because someone comes up and says, hey, what are you doing? Like, are you any good? I'm like, well, actually, yes, I am. Pull out the medal. Like, hey, there's a medal in my pocket. What a coincidence. I carry that with me all the time. No, I don't top myself up that much. Not all the time. But people's reactions are like, oh, that's pretty cool, and I don't go on about it. But yeah, we're not obvious athletes. We're all different shapes and sizes. There's not a particular build that makes you the best aerialist, but a little bit shorter, lean, and very strong sort of is what it is. But there's a lot of people that look like that.

BEN WATERWORTH: The interesting stat I found about recently when it comes to Australia at the aerials is that I think aerials is the only sport in which Australia can say, we lead the overall medal tally in the history of the Olympics.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: And it's kind of...

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, we have five of the 12 medals.

BEN WATERWORTH: Which is crazy, because if you bring that up at like a trivia night and say like, OK, Australia leads a sport in the Olympics, both winter and summer. What sport do you think it is? People are going to say swimming or, you know, athletics.

DAVID MORRIS: It should be swimming or... Yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: But it's kind of... It's fascinating. And that kind of... It baffles me that it's sort of, at least even out of the winter sports, you know, obviously we know winter athletes and sports in Australia aren't incredibly known, but I would assume that aerials is that one that people know, because that's the one we win the medals in.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah. It's a shame that it's not more popular, and it's been... Three of us have won the five medals. Alisa got two, Lydia got two, I've got one, so I probably have to get one at the next games just to keep up with them, because it's unacceptable to not be at the same standard as those two. But yeah, we've done very, very well in the last three games. We've won five medals.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's crazy.

DAVID MORRIS: Four games. Yeah. It is crazy, and hopefully the trend continues. We have an amazing team this year and the next coming year that are all capable of getting on the podium. And we did this year at World Cups. Everyone got a medal, and that's a very big deal. And even at the World Championships, which we can talk about in a minute, we all made the finals in the first round. There's like two-round qualifications where you can do one round, and if you don't make it to that round, you do the second round. And our whole team got through the first round, and we just left the competition early and watched the rest of it on TV at home, because we have a very strong team, so I'm confident in thinking that yet we could add another medal or two to the tally.

BEN WATERWORTH: And this is a thing too, I think, really leading into Pyeongchang, and it's not obviously outside of freestyle skiing. I mean, we've had so much success, I feel, in the last sort of, you know, couple of years in all winter sports leading up to this, and it's sort of, it's interesting, the thing that's kind of in comparison to our co-host Colin in Canada, where we sort of have to explain to him, it's like, Australians don't really hear about this until like a month before the Olympics, when Channel 7 will pump this out, look how good our athletes have been over the last couple of years, and all of a sudden, like, oh, wow, Brittany Cox, she sounds pretty cool, you know, Chumpy Pull, and I remember him from four years ago, David Morris.

DAVID MORRIS: Great number one in the world.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. We actually had her on the show recently, so it's kind of, it's interesting that we sort of have this. But I mean, is, I guess, kind of on that perspective, does that work for positive or negatives as an Australian coming into these? Because you're up against athletes from countries where this is their life. You know, we're talking about Canadians, you know, all the European countries. This is, to them, is as big as, I guess, AFL and rugby is to us. I mean, it kind of must work as almost a psychological edge for you guys, because it's like no one expects the Aussies to do well. But hey, look at this, Olympic silver medal.

DAVID MORRIS: Yes, being the underdog is an advantage. That depends who you are. I prefer it. I like to come in to any competition with low expectations from everyone, but knowing personally that I'm capable of winning. So that if you do badly, I guess, you have an excuse like, oh, but no one expects me to do badly. If you don't feel bad about it, you can just learn from the experience and move on without people sort of giving you a hard time. So the fact that we're not talked up until the last minute is kind of good. But at the same time, it'd be nice to be known earlier so that, you know, we can work on getting sponsors and getting some more media attention and making the Winter Olympics a bigger thing than it is, because obviously I'm biased because I'm not a Summer Olympian. But I think the Winter athletes are absolutely incredible. Our whole team, there's so many dangerous and crazy sports that I know people love watching, even though it's not as popular as Summer sports. But who doesn't like watching something that at any moment, someone might explode out of their skis and flip over the fence or someone's going to take them out from the site, like anything can happen in Winter sports. That's what makes it so cool to watch. But it's just, yeah, you're right. It's talked up at the last minute, and people don't see the work that we've put in. And so when someone doesn't perform well, they're like, oh, that person really sucks. But they've worked so hard to get there, and maybe they had a bad day, which does happen, because anything can happen on the day. And Winter sports are very cutthroat. You make the smallest little mistake, and that is the end of your competition. And this is the thing that I...

BEN WATERWORTH: And this is the thing I really like to try and talk up, is the fact that I get more excited for the Winter Olympics than I do for the Summer Olympics. I love the Summer Olympics. I'm not talking them down, but I mean...

DAVID MORRIS: I think they're great, but clearly we're better.

BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely, of course. You know, it's kind of just that fascination thing, though, as you were saying, like just the different sports. And it's kind of, you know, like the Summer Olympics, yeah, you're going to be really sort of paying attention to the ones Australia is good at. And you look at things like, you know, badminton and things like that, whatever. Whereas like the Winter Olympics, it's like everything I'm fascinated by, even curling, David, I want to watch more curling because it's curling. Well, who wouldn't want to?

DAVID MORRIS: Very attractive people in curling.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's why I want exactly the great pants and all those sort of things that the Norwegians wear and everything. But it's it's just all their fashion is amazing. Oh, it's incredible. But I just I really and the thing is, I remember growing up and I'm sure you're the same. And we're very similar ages. So it kind of I guess you grew up kind of with the coverage of how Winter Olympics were in Australia. And it's sort of you think about sort of the nineties at Lillehammer Nagano, kind of it wasn't as in your face as in when you get to Salt Lake, Tarrin, you know, Vancouver, where it's kind of almost as extensive as we get for the summer games, which is fantastic. And it's kind of it's only getting better. So this is kind of the thing which I like that the Winter Olympics get bigger and bigger. But I really would love to see these winter sports become more of a thing for Australia's knowledge, because really it's kind of, you know, you walk down the street and you would say like, hey, name me three of our Olympic medallists from the Winter Olympics. They're going to say, you know, Bradbury, you know, Lydia, Tora Bright, not to take away from their achievements, but it's kind of it's a case of it's still not there. And I just hope this changes.

DAVID MORRIS: That would be nice. And Australia in the Winter Olympics is still sort of a fresh thing. We haven't been there as long as in a summer game. We don't get as many medals. So it's not as they're not like you open the newspaper. It's like, oh, I've got 15 more medals because we just don't get those kind of numbers because our whole team is tiny. We'll send as many swimmers to the Summer Olympics as our entire Winter Olympic team. So we don't get crazy amounts of medals. But with the ratio of how many athletes we send, we do very, very well. And given we're a country that most of athletes can't actually train here because the conditions aren't right or the sports aren't available here, we do extremely well. And people should be proud of that. It's just a lack of knowledge, and it's no one's fault. It's just people just don't hear about it enough. But if they were to pay attention to what just happened this last Northern Hemisphere winter season, it would blow your mind because the whole Australian team smashed it this year. We're not just turning up to competitions to take up extra numbers. We're not just participating at the events. We are taking names and being pretty loud and getting ourselves known out there. We have, like we just mentioned before, Britt Cox is world number one in moguls. She held the finished the Crystal Globe. She had the gold bib the whole way through the competition. She's the most successful freestyle female athlete in the world this year. The moguls team smashed it, aerials team smashed it, snowboard, cross, smashed it. There's just so many good people that you don't hear enough about. I'm not entirely sure why, but if people to just look back on, hey, let's just check out the winter results, watch some videos, it's spectacular.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Completely agree. And the one thing I'll say, sort of great success that we're having is, the one that we really need to work on though, David, is Nordic combined. That's the sport that I really want to push for Australia's attention. I worked last year with Modern Ventathlon with Chloe Esposito. Nordic combined, it's going to happen.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, I mean, I thought about that. Someone's like, oh, you should try Nordic combined. I was like, oh, I could just skip the jumping part. Yes, but then there's that other bit which requires cardio. And I don't do that nonsense.

BEN WATERWORTH: You don't do that in the gym. That's not part of your regime.

DAVID MORRIS: No, I mean, I have. They have some of the fittest athletes, the cross-country skiers, but at no point could I find myself enjoying any moment of being out in the freezing cold, short of breath, not running out of your nose down your face, and just going for it out. I'm like, no, at no point could I force myself to do that. And they're amazing, but no thanks.

BEN WATERWORTH: No, no. Yeah, we'll get some people involved, kind of like how you guys come from gymnastics. We'll just get those marathon runners, strap some skis on them, push them down a hill. That's right.

DAVID MORRIS: Try to see how long your lives go.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I've seen cool runnings. It works for bobsledders and sprinters.

DAVID MORRIS: I mean, all the sports are mental, and people look at our aerials and like, oh, this is the craziest sport. And I'm happy to play that card because I like to talk aerials up, but ours is not as insane as it seems. It's very calculated. We do skills, we've practised a lot of times, and I'll look at a sport like moguls, which doesn't seem as mental to some people because like, oh, I can ski, I can sort of do moguls. I'm like, yeah, but they do moguls at extremely fast speeds. Then do a flip or two, then do some more moguls, then do another flip, and then do some more moguls. And we just do one skill and ski down this lovely hill with nothing in our way. And then you have like ski and snowboard cross where they're racing as fast as they can, and people can take them out halfway through the race. That's terrifying. That's way more crazy than my sport and lose skeleton. Like any of these sports, they're all mental. So each to their own, I like to say, yep, aerials is the coolest and the scariest, but that's just because I'm biased towards aerials. Some of the other athletes, they're mental.

BEN WATERWORTH: We all know it's curling, David. We all know that's the scariest, the most mental of the winter sports. Come on.

DAVID MORRIS: I mean, you could pull a hammy, any one of those rounds, and that's the end of the competition for you.

BEN WATERWORTH: I always keep saying, I keep saying that like, you know, my longstanding dream to be an Olympian, the only sport I feel I will ever have a shot in is curling. And I know there's really not that many curlers in Australia. There's a high percentage I could train myself up to pushing stones down ice, you know.

DAVID MORRIS: Maybe if they make darts, an Olympic sport.

BEN WATERWORTH: Possibly, podcasting.

DAVID MORRIS: You might have a pretty good shot. God, yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: You know, don't know about that.

DAVID MORRIS: I'm no good at it. I wouldn't even compete in it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Hey, you know, we could train you up. I reckon it would be easier to train you up as a podcast, so it's me as an aerial skier, but, you know, who knows?

DAVID MORRIS: Anything is possible if you apply yourself.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. I like that attitude. I like that. You mentioned the World Championships and obviously, you know, the great season that sort of, you know, every Australians had sort of in their sports. But yourself, congratulations. Bronze at the World Championships. And I mean, how was sort of the mental state going into it and coming out of that? Was this an expected result? Were you disappointed you didn't get the gold or at least your favourite silver? I mean, how did you come out of the World Champs there in Spain?

DAVID MORRIS: I'm at no point disappointed when I walk away with a medal. I don't care. Gold, silver, bronze. It's a victory because you're on the podium. My mental state coming into that competition was pretty terrible. I had had a very unsuccessful season. I was not jumping to the standard that I expect from myself. Just the lack of communication between me and my coaches about what they expected me to do and what I was sort of trying to do. And I felt that every time I wanted to do this, I would disappoint them. And then everything fell apart. And it was just me not talking to them about what I wanted. And then I just was crashing and doing bad takeoffs. And instead of being in the top 10, top 6, where I expect myself to be, I was in like 27th, 30th place. And I was like, what is going on? So we had a talk. I thought, look, guys, this is what I want to do. And I don't want to work on the stuff that you've been telling me. And at the end of the conversation, we realised that we're actually all working on the same thing. And my brain was just doing a crazy athlete thing. And I walked out of there way happy. And I was like, yeah, I'm just going to go and do my normal thing. Came into World Championships having not really landed in any competition. And then suddenly, because it's an important competition, World Champ, my brain switched on and I started landing stuff. So I think it's... I just perform at big events now, I think. I just turn up. I'm like, yeah, I'll try and land today. And there's all these other people like Brit Cox, totally wasting their energy, trying hard all year, being super consistent, world number one all year, and following it up at the World Champ. I thought, why would you waste all that energy when you can just turn up on the day? No, I don't recommend that. That's just seems to be how I work. But I turned up, I was super nervous, but I had nothing to lose at that point. I had unfortunately made myself the underdog by not doing very well, and then just started putting down nice jumps and landing it and got all the way through to the top six, our third round of finals. And we're not allowed to repeat a skill once you're in the final. So I had either a skill that I hadn't practised for the whole year or an easier one, and I was like, well, look, I'm in the superfinal. I'm here to go for the win. I'm just going to throw down the skill that I haven't practised yet. And I was absolutely terrified. I was shaking up the top. I was quite unconfident about what was going to happen. And my coach at the top went, look, just go for the jump and start spinning like you normally do and just wait for the ground to come at you. And set myself up to jump. Halfway through the skill, I watched the video, halfway through the skill, I see my head go, oh, there's the ground and figure out what was going on. And then put on my feet and we walked away with a third. So that to me was absolutely a victory. Sure, a goal would have been amazing. World Champion is a sweet title to have. But I didn't expect to do that well that day. I think I was more surprised than anyone else when I landed my skills. So walked away and it was a great finish to the season. And a World Champs medal is definitely one of the big sort of four things that I wanted to achieve in the sport, like just a medal at World Champs. I wanted a World Cup win, Olympic medal, and the gold bib at one point. And I have all four of those. And I think for me that's very satisfying to have performed well in all the sort of areas that you can do well in, just to sort of cap it all off.

BEN WATERWORTH: And how, I guess, when we had Lydia Lasser on a couple of months ago, and we sort of talked to her obviously about, I guess, the development of the sport sort of since her time away from it, now that she's come back into it, and she sort of commented very interestingly about sort of how she felt it hadn't really progressed a whole lot compared to when she was competing against. Is that the same in the men's side of things as well?

DAVID MORRIS: The men's, yeah, it's a tricky thing to talk about, because obviously I'm a boy, so I'll have a certain perspective on things that females won't have. I'll say very carefully, I think the boys have been capped off at very hard skills for a long time. We can add another twist, like people... Anton, who won the Sochi Games and beat me, did five twists and only did four. So more people are doing five, but a quad-twisting triple flip is a very high standard jump, and a lot of people are doing that. I think the boys are sort of peeking at what we're capable of doing as athletes. The girls, I'll let girls comment on the girls. You know, that's none of my business, and I don't know how they use strategy in their competition because I don't have to use the same strategy. I do something totally different. So I'll look at the results of our team and go, hey, look, well done. You guys got results. That's a big deal. That's what matters. And whether the sport's going up or down, Lydia can comment on that because she's female. But I'll stay away from the controversial topic of commenting on the other sex.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good play. That's generally, I think, the best thing that any man can do when it comes to that side of things is just not comment and basically say that women are right.

DAVID MORRIS: Back away very slowly.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, yes, exactly.

DAVID MORRIS: I think all of our girls are great. I know it. And without avoiding the topic, I think everyone out there tries their absolute hardest. I think they're out there. They're risking injury every single jump they do. They put it all on the table and someone walks away with a win. And no matter whether it was the hardest skill or the easiest skill or if your hardest skill doesn't happen to be a good one because you're not up to that standard yet, it's irrelevant. If you're out there competing, we're all proud of all the athletes to be out there putting it down and trying their hardest. And that is really all that matters at the end of the day.

BEN WATERWORTH: And in terms of, I guess, the depth of the men's field sort of since Sochi, you know, how are you finding it? Have there kind of been new athletes that have emerged since 2014 that are really kind of pushing it now towards Pyeongchang next year? Is it kind of the same group, sort of real pushing for it? I mean, how are you finding, I guess, your fellow athletes and sort of the competitiveness level of the sport?

DAVID MORRIS: They make it hard for me, that's for sure. I thought I'd come back and be like, yeah, a couple of people have retired, and maybe even like three people did it. It's just not easy. Some of the guys have stayed on who are absolutely amazing. I mean, I had some younger athletes come up who I've watched over the years. I'm like, oh, I hope I don't have to compete against them because when they get good, they're going to be amazing. And now they're good and amazing, and it just makes my life difficult. So the standard is very high. The competitive feel each day is incredible, and everyone's pushing everyone to do better. And it's probably about half the field who are capable of winning on any given day, which makes it exciting and annoying at the same time. But I guess the advantage that I can go in with is experience and that I know that an Olympics third time around, luckily for me, won't affect me the same as it will for some new people. Just like at the world championships, I didn't have a good lead up, but when I got there, I was like, this is just another competition. And I saw a lot of people make silly mistakes because they got all hyped up that it was a world championship and started trying a little bit harder or just something got to them. And I just went out there and did my normal day of jumping in, came over the medal, so I hopefully can take that into Pyeongchang and all these amazing up and comers. I'm just going to sort of rely on the Olympics getting to them a little and their anxiety going up a little bit and then making silly mistakes. I'll just go and have a fun day and do my thing.

BEN WATERWORTH: Psychological edge. You know, that's what you can hold over them, I guess.

DAVID MORRIS: And that is huge in this sport because this sport is psychological. The actual jumps that we do are not difficult. People watch them and go, oh, that's crazy. But if you break it down to the basics, it's really not hard to do it. It's forcing yourself to do it when it's windy, when the conditions aren't right, when the jump's a bit of a funny shape, all these things. We know when the pressure's on, but the jumps you do are not hard. It is, I'd say, 90% psychological.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's crazy to think that. I love how you describe that of like, yeah, the jumps really aren't that difficult. I probably couldn't even jump off one of those without, you know, crapping myself first. But, you know.

DAVID MORRIS: But that's psychological.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, true, yes.

DAVID MORRIS: You can physically ski and stand up. I know most people can't even ski and stand up. And that's all we have to do coming to the jump. Ski straight, stand up tall, and do not move. That's not physically hard to do. Then you wave your arms around a little bit, and spin, blah, blah, blah. Not overly too hard to do, but can you do that while you're coming into a four-metre-high jump at 70-plus kilometres an hour, and you're going to do three flips? That's the psychological part. Standing up and skiing?

BEN WATERWORTH: It's not hard.

DAVID MORRIS: Yes, forwards or backwards landings or land your head. That's a little bit skill-involved, I guess, but the rest of it is very technically easy. It's just forcing yourself to do it when you're terrified.

BEN WATERWORTH: I can see why you work as a motivational speaker at the same time, too, David, because, again, you just make it sound so simple. It's like, ah, silver medal at the Olympics? Come on, anyone can win one. What are you talking about?

DAVID MORRIS: I go and talk to a bunch of swimmers. I'm like, I know you get competition anxiety, so do I. But luckily for you, you won't die if you make a mistake when you jump into the pool. I mean, you could drown. That would be terrible. Terrible, but I don't think you'll explode out of all your limbs if you dive in the wrong way, but we might. If you're not paying attention or you're a bit tired, you can probably still do your race. We might end up in the hospital. I just break it down to very basic comical sort of things, but just talking to people, you remind them that, look, you're good at what you do, do the technical things right, and the rest of it just happens.

BEN WATERWORTH: I really felt after Rio, you could have been needed for the Campbell sisters just to be like, look, guys, look at David Morris. He's got you, David Campbell, you're not Jimmy Barnes' son. But it's like, you know, put you in there, talk to the Campbell sisters and just sort of, you know, we had a bit of a running joke against the Campbell sisters, nothing against them, but, you know, pulling a camel, we try to kind of put that into the choking terminology of Australia. That's a bit mean, I feel, but, you know.

DAVID MORRIS: Oh, look, yeah, we make fun of people. That's normal. People make fun of me. Like, my brother is on me all the time that coming second, and how that's like not a win. It's the best of all to lose. I'm like, hey, look, you're not wrong. But it's comical. You know, people need to be able to laugh at themselves, and athletes make mistakes, and we have to live with it. And people do forget that we make fun of someone, and we're like, trust me, they know what they did. People know when they mess up, and they have to live with it for a long time unless they can redeem themselves. So it is tricky, but you can have a laugh.

BEN WATERWORTH: There's a level where you don't want to cross, of course.

DAVID MORRIS: There is.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, of course. Yeah, that's kind of...

DAVID MORRIS: Most people can take it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Most people. Most people. I guess kind of...

DAVID MORRIS: I mean, I'm definitely one who can take it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Alright, cool. I'll just make sure I bring out these insults. I was going to plan to talk to you about...

DAVID MORRIS: I can take it and dish it equally.

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, good. We should have kind of one of these, you know, what, epic rap battles or something like that. Yeah, yeah.

DAVID MORRIS: Just insult each other. Someone's like, no, I'm done.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. Mic drop out. I guess kind of going into Pyeongchang too, I mean, obviously sort of going back to what I said in the very introduction, you know, your... I guess yours was the real surprise coming out of, you know, Australia's success in Sochi, and kind of it was such a feel-good story. And, you know, everybody got to know you. I mean, I remember talking to you when you're on the brink, sort of just your reactions and just so... You know, that's, I guess, what was so endearing to yourself. But leading now into Pyeongchang, when I guess going back to when we were saying about Australia, we'll start to take notice of you guys a month before the Games, and people, I guess, will remember you and know you now. Is that added pressure that now people kind of know you as an Olympic medallist, and not just, I guess, from the fan's perspective, but these competitors, these new guys, they know you are a medallist from four years ago. So how do you kind of work that into that psychological aspect you were talking about?

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, some things work in our favour and some things don't. Athletes who I compete against know that I can perform at a big event on the day. And again, proved it this year with Turbo Season and peak at the important events. So they know that I can bust it out when I need to, and that's a good advantage for me. For people adding pressure on to the next Olympics, definitely it's going to be different because people know who I am. They've seen me get a result. And of course, Australia as a country will expect a repeat or better because they know that we're capable of that kind of thing. I just know, the fact for me is that my expectations are way beyond what anyone has of me. Mine are the hardest out there. So no matter what anyone says or anyone's opinion, mine is always going to be harder. And I will celebrate with myself or punish myself more than anyone else could possibly do so. And that's probably the hardest pressure is mine. It doesn't help to have additional pressure, but I also try my best without being like a recluse, not to talk myself up overly too much. I know a lot of people, they get in the media like, yeah, I can come and win. Here, look at me. I'm like, that's fine. But then you go in with expectations, and when you don't pull it off, people turn on you very quickly, and I think that's a little sad. So I would prefer not to do that. So I'll come in very quietly, and I always answer the question, what are your expectations? And what I can tell people for sure is that I will go out there and try my absolute best. I will do the hardest skills that I need to do in the moment to get through each round, and I will do whatever it takes to progress through the finals and get as far as I can. I can promise that the rest of it is out of my hands. It's a judged sport. All I can do is get a score, and I have no control over scores given to other competitors, or do we run in who lands, who doesn't land, any of that. So I just go out and do my job, and that's it. So expectations can be that you're going to see me go out there and give my very best, and the rest is up to winter sports, because anything can happen.

BEN WATERWORTH: And I guess that's kind of the thing with Australia too, with expectations, which I really found after Sochi, was that we went in with, I guess, all these outstanding medal hopes, and sadly some of them didn't obviously come away with the medals. And it almost felt like the overall perspective was, oh, we didn't win a gold, we only won three medals, we're disappointed.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, we didn't do as well as we expected, which is a real shame.

BEN WATERWORTH: But it is, isn't it? Because going back to the 90s in Australia and the Winter Olympics, remember the days when Zali Stegel wins a bronze, and it's like the greatest thing ever. Now we've kind of fast-forward 14 or 16 years later, and it's almost like, I mean, it's good in one aspect to think that we're at a level now in winter sports where we go in with expectations of winning multiple golds. But on the flip side of that, I kind of think it's sad, because, I mean, this is the Olympics, this is the pinnacle of sport. It's kind of, you know, at the end of the day, if you can walk away with three medals, I think that is fantastic, and particularly at the Winter Olympics, you know, a nation like Australia to win sort of three medals and come away with it. I think it's kind of, it's a good and a bad thing, I feel, that we have that level of disappointment after 2014.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, well, just turning up for the Olympics is an achievement, and a lot of people underestimate the amount of work you have to put in to just turn up. And walking away with medals is amazing, and yet, we didn't win a gold, you know. I got a medal that people didn't expect. That was a win. Lady didn't win a gold, she got a third, but that was her second Olympic medal. And she performed a skill that no woman had ever performed on snow before, and walked away with a third place. Tora got a second Olympic medal, and there are a couple of people that we're expecting the podium that didn't, and that's winter sports. You have a bad day, you get knocked out of a race, and that's it. But what people also didn't realise is there were a lot of athletes who didn't get in the podium position, but did their personal best at those games. They got the best result they've ever got in their whole career, but because it wasn't a medal, they didn't get talked about very much. And I got up on the stage a couple of times, and Lydia and I got all these awards, which is wonderful, of course, but I always noticed all these other athletes standing beside me who came up like, here's all the athletes from Victoria, or here's the athletes who made the top 20s, blah, blah, blah, but they'd always interview me and Lydia because we were the medal winners. And one speech that I gave, I grabbed the microphone and I thought, look, I'm just going to actually talk about everyone else on the stage here. And this person here went to their first Olympics, they got a personal best. This person here is at their second Olympics, and they've just come, you know, they came back from an injury and still got up to standard. And I just talked about everyone else on the stage because they don't get recognised for their amazing achievements, just turning up, being an Olympian, getting a personal best, and pulling it off on the day, because their families know all about their struggles, but no one else got to hear about it because they didn't get a medal. And I think that's something that the Summer Olympics has that the winter don't. You hear about a lot of the athletes, where they do well or not, but the winter ones are all about the winners, and that's it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's a great way of doing that, actually, because look, I mean, sort of all jokes aside about my, you know, failed Olympic ambitions, David, but like I would know from a personal...

DAVID MORRIS: Hey, don't give up, don't give up yet.

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm not, I'm sturdy, I'm still young, right? Come on.

DAVID MORRIS: If I was still sturdy, I'd be pretty past.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, there you go, exactly. But I mean, the thing I find that, look, if I ever had or ever will make the Olympics, let's be positive, you know, I wouldn't care. I mean, I'm sure I say this now and on the day, I probably would care. But look, if I crashed out and just failed, still there's going to be a part of it. Look, I made the Olympics and kind of, you know, just that dream of getting to walk out in that opening ceremony and just represent your nation and just like everything that comes around with it. You know, I just, I think to me, that would just be the most proudest achievement I could imagine. And, you know, obviously you've got the added bonus of coming away with a medal, but I'm sure kind of looking back on your career, David, if you had never won that medal and you had never won the gold, you will win in Pyeongchang in about 10 months time. You still could look back and say, well, I'm a triple Olympian. I mean, that's kind of, you know, obviously something you can tell the great kids about.

DAVID MORRIS: It is a big deal. Yeah. And I experienced something very much on that topic. So my first Olympics in Vancouver 2010, all I wanted to do was turn up. I wanted to go to the Olympics, be an Olympian, represent Australia at the pinnacle of sporting events. And that was always my dream. The result didn't matter. But in saying that, walking out of it with a 13th place, which was very good for me at the time, but just one spot short of the finals, I would tell people, yeah, I've been to the Olympics. And their first question was, how did you go? And they didn't understand that the Olympics was the peak of my sporting achievements. But all they wanted to know was, how did we go? And to say, oh, I just missed the finals. They were like, oh, that's too bad. I'm like, but you don't understand how important it was to be there. And then what I realised the second round was, it's not about just turning up. And for some people, turning up is absolutely great, and you should be proud to call yourself an Olympian. You can't take that away, absolutely not. But turning up and doing your best is more important than turning up. So some people, and as it was me at the start, I just wanted the uniform and to be like, yeah, I'm an Olympian. But if you don't turn up and perform your best, people walk away disappointed. So whether your best was 20th and that's your personal best, people will walk away very satisfied with their Olympic career. If they turn up and 20th is their best, that's fine. And I think they need to be recognised for that as well, not just, oh, you didn't make the finals or you didn't get a medal, because turning up and performing on the day is what it's all about.

BEN WATERWORTH: And that's the thing that's kind of, I guess, kind of my admiration for yourself, like your reactions of winning that silver medal, just, you know, acting like you've won the gold. And I sort of remember in Rio last year when Annamie's got that bronze, and I think the interviewer at the time was kind of like, look, you must be disappointed. Obviously, you didn't win the gold. And she was like in tears. She was so happy. And like, I just, I respect that.

DAVID MORRIS: I have a medal.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, it's a funny, funny thing that people, and I've been asked, oh, you're so close. You just missed out. At no point did I miss out. I never had a gold medal in my hands. I was, at the start of the day, I was in last place because I hadn't competed yet. Everyone was in last place. I just kept getting higher and higher up the ranks, and I was in 12th, and I was in 8th, and I was in 4th, and 3rd, and 2nd. So I earned a 2nd, I earned a silver, and someone performed better than me and earned a gold, but at no point did I lose a gold medal. So how can I possibly be disappointed with what I achieved that day? Because I earned a silver, and if it's a silver, bronze, a 4th, a 5th, you still earn that position. It's not like everyone's in 1st and they lose positions. That's how some people look at it, and that's very wrong.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, no, I couldn't agree more. And it's fascinating, I guess. And I guess it's not just an Australian mindset. You know, it's, I guess, it's just a people mindset really, isn't it? I mean, some countries, I guess, deal with it a little bit differently. But I guess kind of we, as a nation, I mean, even looking at Rio, you know, it kind of came out of that, like, oh, we're disappointed. You know, we didn't perform up to expectations. You still walk away with seven gold medals, people. I mean, go back to 1992 when you're only, you know, winning seven, and that's celebrated. It's kind of, as I kept saying, like, we peaked, I feel, in the early 2000s with Sydney and Athens and even Beijing. It's kind of, that was really when all the, you know, real training and money's going in there, because we've just hosted the Olympics. And of course, it's going to trickle down and we're going to be overtaken. And it's kind of the opposite with the Winter Olympics. I feel like we are performing so damn well that three medals, no matter what colour, if you walk away with three bronze medals, we should be holding that as high as walking away with ten, you know, gold at the Summer Games, just based on how we are compared to, you know, Canada and Norway and all these other countries.

DAVID MORRIS: Exactly. Because you look at the countries that are winter sport countries. I'll just talk about winter sport for a second. So yeah, we beat the Canadians. So in aerials, I beat Canadians, I beat the Americans, I beat some of the Belorussian, Russian guys who, that's their country's major sport. And that's an achievement. We constantly beat countries who should be better than us because they have access to facilities, and they were brought up in the snow. And we just turn up and like, I will give this a go. We're always proud of our achievements, yeah. And sometimes like for swimming, for example, it's like, oh, this person came seventh. Well, that's not that great. You're like, but how much did they miss out? It could have been 0.02 of a second. And that might be seventh, and the result seems terrible. But if you look at the standard of competition, they might have missed out by the most minuscule amount, but the number they were given at the end doesn't represent that.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly, so we'll see how that goes next year, in terms of just how it's received and everything. But I really hope...

DAVID MORRIS: It will be interesting.

BEN WATERWORTH: Of course, I obviously hope we win 30 gold medals and just dominate the shit and come away with our number one. But even if we walk away with the bronze, I'm still 11-year-old Ben watching Zali Steglin Nagano remembering how amazing it was that we got a bronze medal. So I'm still that mindset. So we'll see how it goes. One thing, though, actually, it's interesting before when you mentioned about Lydia and Alyssa obviously have both walked away with two medals from aerials. You've got a bit of, I guess, statistics on your side when it comes to going back for another medal next year, David.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, I'll have to get one because they won two in a row, so I better do that if I win the gold.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, exactly, gold goes with that. But also I will say that every single Australian to have ever won a silver medal at the Winter Olympics is always a dual medallist. You look at Dale Begg Smith, he's obviously won a gold to go with his silver, and Tora Bright won a gold to go with her silver. So what colour are you going to win next year, David?

DAVID MORRIS: Oh, look, I'd be happy with any. Like, if I've got another silver, that's fine, because obviously gold doesn't go with all my clothing. It's not really my thing, but I can make some adjustments if that's what happens.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, yes.

DAVID MORRIS: I would, yeah, realistic expectations, if I can put them, is I do expect to make the top six, and after that, it will absolutely depend on what skills people throw down and if they're capable of landing them. So last time, I can say I got a little lucky because the guys didn't land the really hard skills, and statistically that was kind of going to happen, but people are getting better and better at it. So I am working on the hard skills, five twists, a couple versions of it, so that if I need to bust it out, I can do it, and if I land it, it's basically guaranteed a medal rather than hoping for the best. But yeah, if I can put something like that down, I would expect to get on the podium, and that's what we're here to train for. We're not here just to turn up. I am training to win. I wouldn't have come back. I had a year off after 2014, and I didn't come back just to turn up and have a go. I want to come and equal or do better, and I will be disappointed if I don't, but at the same time, three Olympics is a big deal and something I could be proud of for the rest of my life.

BEN WATERWORTH: And one thing I will say about the sport of aerials, it's kind of one of those unique sports where almost you're sort of allowed to cheer when somebody fails.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, it's one of the things where you're like, yeah, just hold my composure for a minute, and then I can cheer. We cheer if no one gets hurt. Like, if they hand drag on the ground and lose enough points, like, oh yeah, if someone crashes, we go a little bit more quiet because we are all friends, and a lot of sports claim that. But my friends are up there training, and I do not like to watch anyone get hurt. No one does. And when they do well, I am legitimately happy for them, and they're happy for me when I do well. And when people step up on the podium after having a bad season like I did, and I got up on the Worlds podium, I got a big cheer from all the guys because they knew that it had sucked the whole year, and I just pulled it off on the day. So, yeah, we cheer sometimes, or just give a little grin, like, yeah, that's my medal secured. Thank you very much. But we always feel bad for them because we have seen them work the whole year, and to miss out with a silly mistake or a crash is not kind of for anyone.

BEN WATERWORTH: Is there trash talking and sledging in aerials? Do you kind of have things that you can say to each other on the way to the slopes?

DAVID MORRIS: Oh, definitely. There's friendly banter, which is all the time, and we train and compete together, so we get it pretty much every single day. There's a couple of things that you don't say, which you're trying to freak people out or make them make a mistake in the air, which is not very cool. But you can tell people that, oh, my jump is going to be better than yours, don't even bother going out there, that sort of stuff, just to give them a little something to think about. But we keep it pretty light because it is intense up there, and it is dangerous and serious, so we keep it to a professional level 90% of the time.

BEN WATERWORTH: 90% of the time.

DAVID MORRIS: Occasionally, it gets a little out of hand, and then some coaches have to step in and be like, settle down, everyone.

BEN WATERWORTH: The hidden underworld of the fistfights of aerial skiing.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, it's funny. People are pushing in the line, trying to get an extra jump. It's like, God, just get in the line. We have it. We have a step line. We know who's next, don't mess it up. It's always funny. But it's fun, and I love that up there. People are just having a great time. And even on competition days, I think the Olympics will be a little bit different because it is a huge one. But at the World Champs, we're at the top, just having a great time making jokes and telling people, well, you were lucky to get through that round. Like, oh my gosh, you know, I was. And that's why I do it. It's not a job every day. Sometimes it's just a fun time with your friends.

BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic. It's what we like to hear. It always makes it a little bit more worthwhile at the end of the day, too, even if you've sort of had a slightly disappointing day, you can still celebrate with your mates at the end of it with their success.

DAVID MORRIS: Yep. If you can walk away smiling and you're in one piece, you know, how bad was it really?

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.

DAVID MORRIS: Get another go at it another day. And you walk away and you go, yep, nothing broke. Everything's good. A little bit sore. Getting the ice bath. And then I'll try again next week. So, life's not so bad.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Good way of looking at it. Now, we've got some of these fun questions we're going to get to in just a moment, sort of based on our Canadian counterparts. But just quickly, just sort of touching outside of sort of all aerial skiing and everything, just I'm noticing on your website, you've released a book here, David, your motivational speaking. I mean, it seems like you and you're very active on social media. I feel tag your book, tag your social media here. You're allowed to advertise yourself a bit here, David. Do what you can't do until a month before the Olympics on Channel 7.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah. Yeah. So I've written an autobiography. It's written by me. So when you read it, you know, there'll be a couple of spelling mistakes, so I'm not perfect. But you can tell that when you're reading through it, it's me talking. It hasn't been changed by anyone. It's just my narrative. And it started off as a diary, basically, when I started the sport. I had a couple of really bad days when I first started, and I thought, you know, this is not for me. And my coach said, hey, look, write it down and then read it next week. And so I wrote, yeah, this sport sucks. I really hate it, and then I read it next week, and I realised, wow, I really overreacted. It was just one or two bad days. I was added to it and added to it as a sort of therapeutic diary. And then over the years, more and more stuff started happening. I thought, you know what, I'm going to keep this going, because if I pull this off somehow, all these hurdles and all these problems that I've gone through are going to be so epic. It's going to be such an epic win at the end if I can pull it off. So I finished it after Sochi, and it's got a lot of pictures in it, because I love my photography, so I sort of describe a lot of the places and things through pictures, and I've got videos on my website related to the book. So if you go to arielskiier.com, that's aerialskiier.com, you can check out the autobiography section. I'm going to drop the price down before the Olympics. I think I'm just going to sort of basically give them away for like $5 past the postage, because I've got plenty of them.

BEN WATERWORTH: I'd rather buy one, David, but maybe I'll just wait a couple of weeks in.

DAVID MORRIS: Exactly, yeah. No, I'll probably change it in the next couple of days. I really want to share this story and hopefully inspire some people, or people can learn from the book in some way about, oh, you know, who's had to get over these problems, or who's had to learn from this experience. Because it's not about making money. It's about helping next generations of people, or young kids who don't think they're capable of it. I'm like, yeah, I was a young kid once, too. I didn't think they were any good at it, so I want to share that book. It was fun. It was fun for me to write it out and get it all out of my system, be like, oh, I've written it all down, and I can let that all go and move forwards from that. Well, social media, I love sharing photos and making stupid videos, and I pretty much own the at arielskiar tag across the board.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's good that you got on top of that. I'm sure other people would have been fighting you for that one there for a while.

DAVID MORRIS: I'm not sure how, mate. I think my brother and dad were on it, like, oh, we've got you, arielskiar, mate. I don't even know what this at thing is, and these hashtags, and they're all over it. And so now I'm like, oh, you guys did well, because I've just owned that one. Yeah, I love it. I like sharing what's going on. Some people are interested, some aren't. That's fine. But for those who are interested, I'll keep adding content.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's great. We'll definitely tag it all up on our pages when we post this up with it, because, yeah, I mean... Thank you... . followed you, obviously, since the Sochi Olympics, and it's always entertaining seeing it. The photography, I will say, like, it's fantastic seeing sort of the pictures that go along with your posts, because they really do... I mean, it's a sport that I think is great for photography, because obviously seeing, you know, you guys in the air upside down with your arms pointed every which way, it looks fantastic.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah, upside down 15 metres in the air, you can't really take a bad photo of that.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly, exactly. So it will definitely tag all that up there. But these questions now, again, as I sort of say with these...

DAVID MORRIS: Alrighty, here we go.

BEN WATERWORTH: Born from Canada, so if these are terrible, please blame our Canadian friends. And so...

DAVID MORRIS: I love putting blame on people, it's my favourite thing.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good, good. And basically, they were asked to fill these in just before they went off to Rio. So we're going to take this on that mantra. So it starts off by saying, hello, my name is... And clearly you are David Morris, we know that. But it says here, and I'm Canadian, but you're not, so we can change that.

DAVID MORRIS: I'm Australian, yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: You are. Now, we can't really get you to draw a picture of yourself right now, but how would you draw a picture of yourself anyway?

DAVID MORRIS: I'll put a little stick figure upside down with skis hanging off and some spirals around it, and maybe a really terrified face.

BEN WATERWORTH: I almost feel like you need to draw that and send it to us, just so we can put that up.

DAVID MORRIS: That could be the next one on Instagram.

BEN WATERWORTH: Here's how I do that. What is your favourite ever Olympic moment? Now, this could be, I guess, one of your own or one that you've witnessed, I guess, in your lifetime.

DAVID MORRIS: I'll be, this will be a little bit biased, and it was Lydia's jump in Sochi, and she did a jump that only the men do, and she basically bridged the gap between men and women in the sport of aerials. So a lot of other people probably wouldn't have really understood the significance, but I saw her build up to that skill from the start and slowly progress over the year towards it and in the games and watched her get through all the final rounds and sneak in, and I was like, I don't know, she's gonna get into the final round and have a shot at it. But she did, and she was there to compete that jump, no matter what, and it was unbelievably inspiring. And I can say that it was crazy impressive because I do that skill, and it's scary. And she had done maybe two ever on snow, and it might have been the day or the day before. So it would have been terrifying and absolutely new ground for women in the sport. And she went and did it. And every time I watch it, I get goosebumps. And I'm so proud of her for just going out there and doing what she'd set herself to do. That was her task, and she got it done. And it was the absolute best moment I've ever witnessed.

BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic. And we love Lydia. As I said, we had her on the show recently. And yeah, 5th Olympics next year. Wow, do you think you can make it to 5, David? You've only got 2 more to go after another 8 years on top of Pyeongchang. I mean, it's not long.

DAVID MORRIS: Well, look, I've retired like 4 times now. So every time, like, oh, you're going, I'm like, no, I'm done. And then I return. So I cannot be trusted with my statement. So don't listen to anything that I say. I will see what happens, and I'll probably retire and then be home, be like, no, I'm bored. I'm going back. But I have no idea. I haven't thought past the day because I'm putting all my energy into that evening. And then once I've done that, the future is waiting for me. And we'll see what happens then.

BEN WATERWORTH: You are the John Farnham of aerial skiing, it seems.

DAVID MORRIS: I try my best, yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: You're the voice, David. You're the voice. Except you're the aerial skier at this point. If you could choose any Olympic host city, what would it be?

DAVID MORRIS: Ooh, that is a good question. I would love to have it somewhere in Europe because the culture and everything there is incredible. And the fact that they really are big fans of winter sports. I think the crowds would be huge and the atmosphere would be absolutely amazing. I don't know. I'm a big fan of Switzerland, actually. Okay. So anywhere in Switzerland.

BEN WATERWORTH: Somewhere in Switzerland.

DAVID MORRIS: It would be pretty good. Or Oslo or something where they've had it before.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yep.

DAVID MORRIS: Stockholm.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yep, that would work.

DAVID MORRIS: Sweden or Norway. But yeah, I don't know. We've been to so many cool places. Look, if they could have it in Melbourne, Mount Bullock, that would be great. But we'd be jumping into dirt. But the home crowd would be awesome.

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, could you imagine this? Like, I mean, what was the Royal NHG one they did? Was it Smiggins Hole back in Salt Lake? You know, sadly didn't quite take off. But look, Beijing's having the Winter Olympics and kind of... How far away is the snow? It's something ridiculous, isn't it? So I guess, you know, it's kind of... It could be a possibility.

DAVID MORRIS: When we train in Beijing, they build a jump out of scaffolding inside the Bird's Nest Stadium. Epic. So stuff can be done. Or maybe we should just have it in Auckland so that Aussies can just make a quick trip across.

BEN WATERWORTH: True.

DAVID MORRIS: Not a big deal.

BEN WATERWORTH: You gave me the idea there with the Bird's Nest. Let's have the aerials going off in the MCG. 100,000 people. I mean, that would be the best aerial skiing event ever.

DAVID MORRIS: It absolutely would be. And they have tents to make the snow in. So we've jumped in, basing in positive temperatures. And we've had snow to jump on. So it can be done. So if they want to sit, maybe in like Eddie hat, because they can close the roof and maybe freeze it inside a little bit. Temperature. Melbourne it is.

BEN WATERWORTH: Done. Melbourne 2028.

DAVID MORRIS: I don't care about the other winter sports. Clearly downhill is not going to work anyway, but I don't care about that anyway.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, this is where you have the downhill in Tasmania. We've got Mount Wellington. We've got a big slope. You can just kind of, kind of bend it down a little bit. It's a bit steep, but you know.

DAVID MORRIS: It's a shorter course, everyone, but we really want you to battle it out.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. Oh, just the Australia-wide Winter Olympics. We can make it work. The first Olympics you remember watching was?

DAVID MORRIS: Atlanta.

BEN WATERWORTH: Atlanta. Whoever's this?

DAVID MORRIS: What I mean, what's that? 96.

BEN WATERWORTH: 96 it was. 21 years ago. The Atlanta Olympics can now drink in America.

DAVID MORRIS: That's the ones I remember watching certain things from. And I remember one of the young Canadian divers who I think he was like 14 or something. And he, I think he won a medal, but he's now, I think he's still going, but he was smashing at the time of this tiny little kid. And everyone was like, oh my gosh, he just made it through to the next round. It was unbelievable. So yeah, that's the first I remember really watching and remembering things from it. Beautiful.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now, he's sort of a non-Olympic based one. If you could be any superhero, who would it be?

DAVID MORRIS: That's another good question. Um, I mean, obviously Superman is a good answer. I've just, you know, watching all the Marvel comics, Thor would be pretty good. I wouldn't mind biceps like that. Um, anyone who has time travel kind of abilities is pretty cool. I think any superhero has got time travelling abilities, so I reckon that's going to be the coolest thing ever. Look, like the Flash or one of those guys. That could work. You know?

BEN WATERWORTH: We just combine all of them.

DAVID MORRIS: I'll go with the Flash.

BEN WATERWORTH: The Flash. All right.

DAVID MORRIS: Yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: Done. Yeah.

DAVID MORRIS: Flash will do.

BEN WATERWORTH: Thank you, Flash. What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?

DAVID MORRIS: Peppermint chocolate chip.

BEN WATERWORTH: Peppermint chocolate chip. Good choice. Yes.

DAVID MORRIS: Don't even need to think about that.

BEN WATERWORTH: You were straight into that answer. That was coming out of your mouth before I even finished the question. Well done.

DAVID MORRIS: I mean, no, I don't. I'm on a very good athlete diet. Ignore that.

BEN WATERWORTH: I didn't hear that. I didn't hear that. What do you do in your spare time?

DAVID MORRIS: Photography, and I make videos and little video edits. And usually, I'm bouncing on a trampoline or doing something active.

BEN WATERWORTH: Awesome. That's what I do too. Not sitting on my computer all day and podcasting.

DAVID MORRIS: Surprise, I haven't seen you around.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm bouncing on a trampoline right now. Can't you hear it? What is the weirdest instruction a coach has ever given you?

DAVID MORRIS: Stop trying.

BEN WATERWORTH: Stop trying. Wow. Okay.

DAVID MORRIS: Yep. So our sport is one where if you're too hyped up, it's no good. And if you're too relaxed, it's no good. There's a lovely bell curve of effort. And sometimes I go into competitions so hyped up on and so concerned about the mechanics of it that I stuff it up. And one of my coaches just said, just stop trying and go and do what you can do. And just went and did my thing. So the less that I tried, the more consistent that I am because our training paid off.

BEN WATERWORTH: There you go. That's very interesting to hear that.

DAVID MORRIS: I wouldn't tell that to many of my athletes, unless that was similar to me. You're like, I need you to try harder. But sometimes, stop trying so hard. Just go.

BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine that as a motivational speaker that doesn't really work too much. Like guys, just don't try.

DAVID MORRIS: No, it doesn't. It's very event-specific or moment-specific. But occasionally, it's just like, I need you to switch your brain off right now and just turn and go.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good point. Now, just a couple more of these. So, just to pick and choose, if you could have any lunch with any one person, who would it be?

DAVID MORRIS: Do I have to be a real person?

BEN WATERWORTH: You can say whoever you want to be here.

DAVID MORRIS: Because a lot of people scoff at this answer, because it's my favourite person on TV, Doctor Who.

BEN WATERWORTH: Doctor Who.

DAVID MORRIS: You can have lunch anywhere.

BEN WATERWORTH: Look, that works.

DAVID MORRIS: At any time.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. You could do it right now.

DAVID MORRIS: I could have already had lunch a couple of times today in different places. No, if we're talking real people, who would I want to have lunch with? I reckon if I could have lunch with the Jamaican bobsled team, just to have little white me sitting at a table of these huge guys, it would be the funniest looking contrast thing ever. And they're looking at my plate like, are you going to finish that? I can finish the plate.

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, there you go. I think next year, you're going to kind of sneak out from your aerials, go to the bobsled track there in Pyeongchang.

DAVID MORRIS: I'm liking the photo with them.

BEN WATERWORTH: Do it, do it. I want to ask this one because I kind of, I just read a little bit on you here, which I didn't realise until right now. And I kind of feel I have to ask you this question because I'm going to like your answer. As a kid, who was your favourite sports team?

DAVID MORRIS: Sports team? Hmm. Oh, that's hard, actually. Because I didn't really follow many sports as strongly as some people do. I go for Carlton.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good boy. That's what I wanted to hear. It's embarrassing, but we're proud fans of it, David. Come on, stand by the blues.

DAVID MORRIS: Quiet fans. Carlton, I'd watch like Melbourne Magic play. I don't know. I was a gymnast back then, so I just watched the gymnastics team.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's a team.

DAVID MORRIS: That would have probably been one of my favourite ones. Yeah, I guess it would have had a team. I've never been a specific sport fan. I've never stuck to one. I like to take things from all sports, and I've never been like, oh, I'm not a true football supporter, because I watch the game and be like, just play a good game, and I'll support any team that plays well.

BEN WATERWORTH: I had to get you to say Carlton. I don't think I've interviewed a Carlton before in the show.

DAVID MORRIS: Carlton, unless they're doing really badly, then I'll watch any other team and be like, oh, you deserve to win. Well done. Yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's the Carlton way. I think we're now leaving games early, so it's kind of like, oh, we're losing it three quarter time. What's on TV at home? Better leave.

DAVID MORRIS: Oh, the game started. We should probably leave.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Trust me. Trust me. The other day when we meet Sydney, my dad and I kind of go, oh, we might actually win this game. Like, what's going on?

DAVID MORRIS: This is worth celebrating.

BEN WATERWORTH: I know. It's like, wow, we'll take it when it comes. Look, David, this is such a pleasure to chat with you. We're going to obviously keep an eye on how things go in the lead up to Pyeongchang. And I for sure don't doubt that you are going to come home with a gold medal. I'm just saying it right now. No pressure at all. We're calling it on this day. On the day when that gold medal goes around your neck, I want you to think back to this moment and think, God, that podcast host Ben is a good guy. He made me win this gold medal.

DAVID MORRIS: He called it, didn't he? He called it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. And of course, people can visit aerialskier.com. As I said, we'll link everything on there for your book and for your social media and everything else. But best of luck, mate. Fingers and toes crossed and bring home the gold.

DAVID MORRIS: You can believe that. Thank you very much for having me.

BEN WATERWORTH: Such a fun time, and we are very much looking forward to seeing him compete. Next year, I've definitely turned around and said he's gonna win the gold now, so either I'll look like a genius, or I've jinxed him big time. Hopefully it's the former there, not the latter. So all fingers and toes crossed going for David next year into the Olympic Games. We've got more athlete interviews coming your way, just stay tuned. To us, Off The Podium on Facebook is the best way to stay in touch. Of course you can subscribe on iTunes, on Stitcher, follow us on both of those and you can leave us feedback. Remember to rate us on there. We always do appreciate your feedback as well. Colin also lining up some great interviews as well, so we've got plenty still to come as we get closer and closer to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. In the meantime, thank you for your company, thanks to David once again, and thanks for tuning in to Off The Podium, where we'll speak to you next time wherever you are hearing my voice.