Devin Heroux Interview
A special interview coming your way today as we speak to CBC reporter Devin Heroux about his amazing career and Olympic broadcasting experiences! We find out just what brought him to the industry and how his passion and love for sport helped spur him from Saskatchewan right through to the biggest sporting event on the planet. We also find out just what his experiences were like in Tokyo covering 51 straight days of both Olympics and Paralympics action and just how he will use those experiences heading into Beijing. Added to this we find out just what great idea he has for a new medal tally idea and also talk about one iconic Canadian sporting moment that he was lucky enough to be a part of. It's an incredible chat that you will want to listen to immediately, so get to it!
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 for a bit of a special episode. We are speaking with somebody who is probably a lot more familiar to our Canadian listeners than our Australian listeners, a man who would have been very familiar during the Tokyo coverage as well as the Pyeongchang coverage a couple of years ago on CBC, Devin Heroux, a reporter who got a bit of prominence actually during Tokyo for his love of 7-11, which is actually something we don't really talk too much about in this interview, but we learn a lot from Devin in regards to how he got started in journalism and what led him to want to cover the Olympics right through to his memories and extraordinary moments during the Tokyo Olympics as well as Pyeongchang. And looking ahead towards Beijing and how he will be involved in the coverage of CBC throughout those games as well. Very, very fun chat this one. Really, really great to learn a great insight from Devin and everything to do with his broadcasting career. And I even get a sneaky question in the end about a certain little sporting event that he was able to cover a couple of years ago outside of the Olympics, and one that I very much was very jealous of. You're gonna enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed recording it. Here is our chat with CBC reporter Devin Heroux.
BEN WATERWORTH: We have a special interview for you today on Off The Podium, as we are going to learn a little bit more about the broadcasting side of things and what it's like to cover An Olympic Games. And I'm just saying this right now, I've often said when we speak to some athletes from some sports that, that's my sport, I played that sport, I did this. But when it comes to real things, what I want to strive towards An Olympics, it's what this man does, because this man is doing probably the only achievable thing I can ever do to An Olympics, and that's go to one and talk about it. He's best known to our Canadian listeners as a sports and news reporter on CBC, and he's recently returned from Tokyo, both the Paralympics and Olympics, and is I think also heading to Beijing very, very shortly to cover those as well. It's a pleasure to welcome to Off The Podium, the one, the only Mr. Devin Heroux. First of all, Devin, pleasure to have you here on the show. Welcome to Off The Podium.
DEVIN HEROUX: Ben, that is the most relatable introduction to anything I've ever done in my life, because you've hit exactly why I am a sports journalist, because it was never good enough to do any of the bloody things that any of these athletes do. So it is an awesome pleasure as well to be joining you. And yes, if you can't beat them, write about them.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly, exactly. Cause you do get to a certain age, right? Where you're like, oh, the Olympics, this would be great. And then when you probably tried 50 different sports and realised you were crap at all of them, you're like, well, maybe I should talk or write about them. That could be my next best option.
DEVIN HEROUX: I mean, I'm sure, you know, you probably have done some research and you'll know that the closest I ever came to maybe entertaining that idea was with curling. And there was a time in my life when I won two high school city curling championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where I thought I am destined for greatness for the five rings. That all came crashing down.
BEN WATERWORTH: You still got time, right? Like, I mean, you know, kind of this plenty. You're still young. Like, what are you talking about? I'm still looking at curling for as an Australian. Like, we've never had a curler at the Olympics. Come to Australia. You probably be our number one curler in five minutes.
DEVIN HEROUX: Do you know, there are many Canadians that have left our borders and gone to the roaring game in many places around the world to live out their world champion.
BEN WATERWORTH: Dale Bixness, we thank you for him. Very much so. So we've got one of them here in Australia. He's one of our greatest. Exactly. Did you have a light bulb moment sort of growing up outside of that, that you wanted to pursue broadcasting? Was this something that you actually always wanted to do?
DEVIN HEROUX: That's a good question. And I was actually talking to my mother about this the other day, how sort of serendipitous my career has been, Ben. I love sport. I've been reminded recently, sort of in the wake of the pandemic, and let's be clear, of course, we're still in the throes of it, aren't we? But our Toronto Blue Jays went on a pretty magical late September, early October run and just missed out on the playoffs. And I went to the games as a fan. I was spending way too much money on overpriced resale tickets just to be at the Sky Dome in downtown Toronto. And as I was walking down to the stadium and sitting in these horrible seats at the Dome, I was reminded of my love of sport, and I was reminded of my love of watching sport collectively with people and riding the wave of the emotion. And it got back to my 10 year old self in Saskatchewan going to Rough Rider CFL games and just being completely swept away by, like I said, that collective experience, the joy of your team winning, the heartbreak, which happens more often than not, of your team or your athlete losing. And I was just swept away in it. Sport has always meant community to me. And I just wanted to have the best seat to it all the time. And the way to ensure that was to be a journalist. I mean, I was 14 years old volunteering at a community television station, pulling cables for sporting events, sort of begrudgingly at that time in my life, thinking one day I will be the talent to roll in a half hour before showtime and not be pulling these bloody cables. But it was just this innate want my entire life. And when I was 16 years old, I was on CBC radio for the first time talking about the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. And one thing led to another. And in one way or another, I have been with the CBC since I was 16 years old. So more than half of my life now. And I fell into it. I fell into it. I think I have the best job in the world. And I'm told by that, by many, many people on Twitter and emails and everything else, that how is it that you get paid to go watch the biggest sporting events in the world? And I probably asked myself that question. And there are probably moments, Ben, where I feel like the biggest imposter every day I go to work and go, what do I need to do today to keep this job? That's literally all these years later, what I'm doing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, incredible, incredible. And I mean, growing up in Saskatchewan, I mean, obviously the Rough Riders, I mean, that's just a whole province thing, right? Like you talk passionate fan bases in Canada, where you've got one province behind one team, it's the Rough Riders.
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, that's it. And, you know, my dad won tickets for us to go when I was 10 years old. It was a November day in Saskatchewan, Chile, but a perfect, brilliant, sunny day. I mean, Ben, when I'm telling you this, it's so vivid to me because it had such an impact on my life. And, you know, we sat in the end zone that day in Saskatchewan. There were 31,000 people at that game, Saskatchewan versus Hamilton. The Rough Riders went on a magical run that year. And I thought, this is what the Rough Riders do every year. And if anyone listening follows this team, they're horrible. They're horrible. So they got me. They got me at the beginning and I was hooked. But yeah, it is such a community thing. And of course, I grew up in Saskatoon. The games are in Regina. It's a two and a half hour drive there, two and a half hours back. So you're driving five to six hours to watch a three hour game. And we all do it. And it's kind of like a provincial celebration when the team plays. And that, you know, my being from Saskatchewan, Ben, really, really paved the way for how I approach sport, but also how I report on it and how I share these stories. And I think it resonates with people because all people want to feel is they want to feel it. They want to feel what was happening. And that's what I try and do with my reporting.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I think I can definitely relate to that. So I'm from Tasmania in Australia. We're a smaller state, and we're also not really represented in the big national competitions and things like that. So when we do have a team, it's a big deal. When we have an Olympian, it's a big deal. We all know who our Olympians are and our players who go on to play in our major sporting leagues. It's that sense of community. And you're right, kind of when you're reporting on that from a more personal level, whereas if you're in Toronto or Calgary or Vancouver, where it's kind of just standard, that you've got these players all the time, it's a little bit different, isn't it?
DEVIN HEROUX: And I'm so glad you said that, because I've talked about this many times throughout my career, is in Saskatchewan, there was always this us versus a world sort of feeling. And how I, you know, this is a great segue to the Olympics and my love of the Olympics, but how I fell in love with the Olympics was during 1998 Nagano, when our curling team from Saskatchewan, Sandra Schmerler, the late, great Sandra Schmerler, went to Nagano and took on the world and kicked ass and won gold. And it was the first time in my life I felt like the Games were closer than they've ever been. Like they were an hour down the road from me, this young woman from bigger Saskatchewan with three other women who were literally like your next door neighbours. They were hilarious. They joked on the ice. They were like the people next door. And now I'm watching them on my TV then and they're winning Olympic gold. And it was the first time in my life and I'm getting goosebumps telling you this to this day. It was the first time in my life where I went, wow, we are from this small prairie province, but we can go and take on the world and be the best at what we do. And I fell in love with the Games and I've been an Olympic and Paralympic junkie since that time. And then to be in Pyeongchang and be broadcasting Curling with one of Sandra Schmurler's teammates, Joan McCusker, all those years later, let me tell you, I had a lot of emotional moments because in what freaking life, in what dream, do all those years later, do you get to be broadcasting with the person who was on the ice winning gold, who allowed you to believe all of your dreams? Pretty, pretty spellbinding stuff for me, and my life has sort of always been like this, and I hope that never runs out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which again, I love hearing things like that, because we often speak to a lot of athletes on this show who were saying, they're watching an Olympics, and then four years later, they're on the same team as Tessa Virtue, Scott Moyer, things like that. They never could imagine they'd be teammates with them, but it does happen in your industry as well, where you are in that privileged position, where you get to interview these people, but then there you are in a commentary box with someone like that calling it. So it's interesting how you can strive to be an Olympian, but there's still that level of that broadcast side of things, which is the Olympics literally covering it, while broadcasting is going to the Olympics.
DEVIN HEROUX: You nailed it. And I always joke about that on Twitter, when I'll be out running and doing like a sweaty video, a breathless video, like updating people on my Olympic preparation. And you know, when you say that, I think about it and I do it half jokingly, but it is the Olympics of what we do as well. And it's not lost on me when I'm at these games and when I'm in the commentary tribune or in the press box where I am. And I get to these events really, really early so that I can carve out a little bit of time for me to remind me of the grandeur of these moments that I'm covering. Because if you've been to an Olympics, here's what I'll say about this, and I'm kind of all over the place, but this is what's coming to mind when you and I talk about this. When you're there at a stadium, and in particular in Tokyo, when these venues were empty, it's kind of lacklustre. Like when you're sort of waiting around for everything to happen, it's a very lacklustre experience. You're still at the Olympics, but you're like, where the hell is the buzz and the pomp and the circumstance? It was so bizarre, Ben. But then, you know, I was at the Tokyo Aquatic Center a lot of the days. But then when a Canadian wins a medal or gold medal, I'm pacing just like every Canadian in the press box, watching these races, because for that 30 seconds or two minutes or however long the race is, it is still for an Olympic medal. And that will never get old.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's because it's that balancing act, isn't it? That you're there to do a job, but you're still a Canadian. You're still there cheering for your athletes to win a gold. You kind of got that professionalism versus that, oh, the head versus heart. Like, what do I do here?
DEVIN HEROUX: I hate it. I hate it, Ben. I hate it because I do. I'm kind of old school in the sense that, you know, there is no cheering in the press box. And let me tell you, the shadiness of my eye rolls at the international journalists who are literally waving flags in the press box and cheering. And I'm just going, what in the hell is going on here? However, it does give me a little bit of a licence to like, you know, maybe give a little clap, a little golf clap in the background.
BEN WATERWORTH: I remember being at a cricket match in Hobart once, and it was like Australia versus India, and you had the very big Indian contingent, of course, very passionate about cricket, more so than even we are. And yeah, they're going off when something little happens, and we're all going like, well, this is a bit unprofessional, but they loving it, so why not?
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, yeah. And the other thing if it is, is you are such a fan, and I am such a fan of sport and Canadians winning and of a great story. So, you know, your adrenaline naturally is pumping, but then I have to reel myself in and go, Devin, you have to write a thousand really brilliant words in a very short amount of time. Reel it in. Now is not the time to be celebrating in the press box. So you're right, it is this weird thing. And, you know, there were some really brilliant moments at National Stadium when André de Grasse was so good for Canada. I had a front row seat to it. In fact, I was in the mix zone and had to do the national live interview with the guy. And you're so in awe of his athleticism, and yet you got to sound coherent and smart and together and really all you want to do is go, how the hell did you just do that, André? And sometimes, you know what, that's not a bad question in my eyes because some of these post-race or post-event interviews that I watch, the first question takes you out of the moment. And as a viewer, I don't want to be taken out of the moment. I want to revel in what I just felt when I was jumping up and down in my living room. And now I get to hear from the person who did it. So, you know, I try and strike that chord. And for me, Ben, I'm trying to do this a different way, which is authentic communication, vulnerable communication, because I think we get better answers from the athletes in those moments. I think they appreciate that.
BEN WATERWORTH: And because you're in that very unique position, as you sort of mentioned there, you're doing that interview that everybody in Canada, that's the first one they're ever going to see with Andre, that moment, moments after he's won that gold. I mean, yeah, he's going to do 101 interviews in the preceding 24 hours, but you're the one who's got him directly after the race. They're those thoughts straight away. So it is a sort of the most unique interview that he will do, because that's coming straight off the track, then he's walking to you, and that's the thoughts of that moment.
DEVIN HEROUX: I loved that you said that, and never have I felt more pressure as a reporter than at the Tokyo Games, because, you know, you set that up brilliantly in saying this is a big interview, because yes, they're going to speak to all these other media outlets, but this is their national broadcaster. When they see that CBC logo, they know who they're talking to. And what was so crazy for me when I was doing all these interviews is normally the athletes would have their family, they would have their friends, they would have that brilliant moment that we're so accustomed to seeing where they run over, they get the hugs, they get draped in the flag. Those are brilliant scenes that play out. They didn't have any of that. So when our Canadians won a medal, we were literally the only other Canadians they were spending a once in a lifetime moment with. And like you said, you don't want to cross that boundary of fan, but in a way I could justify... I wasn't jumping up and down. I wasn't hugging our athletes, but I went a little extra this time around just to say, you should be so damn proud of what you accomplished in this empty stadium, in the backdrop of delays and all of these unknowns you delivered in the biggest moment. And so before we went on air, before any of those, I really made sure to let the athletes know they had done their country proud because they had nobody else to talk to in that moment.
BEN WATERWORTH: We talked a lot during our coverage. Colin, our Canadian co-host, he's based in Winnipeg, he's a big fan. He couldn't make it sadly today, but I've got to give him a shout out here on the episode. But he mentioned a lot during the CBC coverage of the limited personnel that CBC obviously had there in Tokyo. A lot of it was from studio in Canada over to Tokyo. We had a similar thing here in Australia, but I think from what it sounds like, we had maybe a few more personnel on the ground in Tokyo. But how many were you? Were you it? Were you the only one there? Or did you have other reporters at certain venues able to cover the different events?
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, so we have an interesting setup at the CBC where we kind of have a broadcast unit and a digital unit who will file, copy, be doing a lot of the social commentary, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. The kids are on the TikTok. I'm not on the TikTok these days, Ben.
BEN WATERWORTH: All right, like that's, you know, that's all I know.
DEVIN HEROUX: Exactly. And so from what I heard, we were about a third of what we normally are in terms of size. I was the only Canadian reporter in the entire country to stay for the Olympics and the Paralympics throughout all of that. I have the unique position at the CBC to sort of bounce between our digital senior writer for CBC sports to go in on CBC news. And we have a 24-hour news channel, which I'll do live hits on every day. We had an unparalleled amount of social YouTube type of shows, which I would be on as well. And then we have the main Olympic broadcast, which of course I got thrown into the prime time show at the track and field in the midst of all of this as well. So it was the heaviest lift of my career. They were about 18 to 19-hour work days every single day of the Olympics and Paralympics. And I was there for 51 days. With all of these restrictions, with a 7-Eleven diet, which my stomach is still recovering from. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. It was like cheat day every day.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're allowed when you're pulling those hours. I mean, come on, perfect excuse, right?
DEVIN HEROUX: And Ben, everybody was saying, how are you not gaining weight? I mean, listen, it was 45 degrees. I was sweating out every piece of onigiri and sushi and chocolate bar and pokey stick and ice cream. But it was a real challenge. And, you know, I would be lying to you if I didn't tell you, you know, this was the most rewarding and enriching experience in my career, but it was the most challenging. And there were some, you know, athletes will always tell you on their path to greatness. They would sort of look yourself in the mirror moments of what am I even doing here? And there were a few of those moments, you know, where my eyes are so bloody bloodshot and you're just trying to get through the next day where you're like, how the hell am I going to make it? It's only day eight? What? And then you kind of get over that hump, and then you're going, but no, it can't end. It can't end. You know, so that's what I always say. But yeah, it was just so special for so many reasons and the history of it, and what these athletes and what these organisers and what these volunteers have done really pulled me through it.
BEN WATERWORTH: So how then does that work if you're the only reporter when it comes to being at the venues when the gold's out? I mean, obviously, you're going to be there the night Andre's running because you're assuming he's in with a good shot. You're going to be at the stadium during the gold medal final for the women's football. You know, you're going to be at the Aquatic Center when someone like Maggie's got a chance to go there. But like, for example, say the weightlifting, when Maude's winning a gold, like, do you know, do you go there, do you prevent that, or is that one that maybe you just you can't get to when a bit of a shock gold maybe comes Canada's way?
DEVIN HEROUX: You nailed it. You absolutely nailed it. So what we do, and you know, I've done a couple of these major events now. So what we do is we look with the most fine-tooth comb over that entire schedule months out, which is such an, it feels like Christmas Day for me because you're literally, it's like Christmas every day at the Olympics, and you're going, where are we going to win these medals? So we literally scour over that schedule and go, what are the priorities? What medal events are taking place? What are Canada's best chances? So, you know, I would probably categorise them as like sure fire medals, could have a surprise, and then that shock gold weightlifting mod, right? So we staffed it the best we could, myself and my colleague, Jamie Strachan, were the two lead writers on the ground. So him and I would divide and conquer, and you can imagine the negotiations going on there for those marquee events. And then you sort of just divide and conquer. So I was getting to two or three venues every single day. I was writing the lead results file for every one of those events every day. I was doing a news network preview and wrap up in a lot of circumstances. My usual prolific tweeting and everything like that. So I've always said, if you're going to the venue and you do not know this athlete and you do not know what this story is, and usually I have anywhere from 300 to 500 words written on the background of the athlete, the journey of the athlete, in the women's soccer match, foot football match example, you know, I had a lot of that story already written because in the chaos of those moments, and could it have been more bloody chaotic and stressful than the women's gold medal match? I mean, that is a reporter's nightmare when you are filing on file, you know, like, are you kidding me? Like, LaVe makes this save to keep the match alive?
BEN WATERWORTH: We were on air recording our episode, and we were watching it live, like, as two Australians, Colin wasn't on that episode, and we're like shitting ourselves. What is going on right now? This is insane. That was our favourite moment of the entire Olympics.
DEVIN HEROUX: I might have shit myself in the press box at Yokohama Stadium that night, partly because of what was going on, and partly because I knew that there would be hundreds of thousands of people reading my match recap. I haven't said this yet, but I'll tell you, talk about vulnerability. If there's one story of the games that I could have a mulligan on, it is that one. Because the CBC, we were a well-oiled machine. I was very impressed by us. We had results stories up within two minutes of the conclusion of knowing that they had won the medal. We have never been better than that. So we're talking, I needed to have that vial within 30 seconds of the finish. So for that women's soccer match, I had probably about 500 words to the desk, 30 seconds at the conclusion of that final kick. But then I would do a write-through, Ben, of every story after I had talked to the athletes. But Christine Sinclair, all she wanted to do was party. And can you blame her after all of that? I wanted to party with her because I had the pass that got me on the pitch, so I was with the team. But do you think they were interested in talking to me? They gave me all the time in the world, but they wanted to be in the champagne celebration, so it took a really long time. So my anxiety level was through the roof because, you know, part of you wants to say, hey, let's just do the freaking interview so I can get this thing to bad. So it was probably about two hours after the conclusion of the match that I finally got the second right through with like some coherent, beautiful, like poetry of the moment. But even then, I don't think it was my best. I mean, it was the most read story. I think it had 1.3 million views of that story that day, which kind of blows my mind. But I felt pressure. This is a historic moment for Canada. And you better damn well find the words to match that moment.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's insane, because it's like that was what? At about 1, 2 a.m. you would have filed that Tokyo time, but of course, what, Toronto time? That's about midday. So it's kind of, it's that time different sort of angle where you're like, your adrenaline and that, but you know that it's kind of obviously back home. It's a little bit of a different time of day for them.
DEVIN HEROUX: Well, and I'm knowing that Canada is waking up to this, and they're going to have an entire day to read this. And now you're right. I filed it at 2.30 in the morning. So you're exhausted. That was, I think, the second last day of the game. So I'm just like, I'm on my last life. Like, I'm like, I'm like telling myself like an athlete on the final stretch of a marathon. I'm like, you can do this, like pounding away on the keyboard and like reading it over and looking at these egregious errors. But I got it. I got it. And it was a really awesome way to close out the games. That moment, that moment with more than five million Canadians watching that game on CBC platforms. That was a special moment. Canadian women kick ass. Canadian women were brilliant in Tokyo.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of, I mean, we talked a lot about the impact that that gold had. I mean, through all the Olympics that you've covered and witnessed, I mean, how do you feel that gold medal stacks up in terms of Canadian Olympic history, not just summer, but summer and winter Olympics?
DEVIN HEROUX: This will go down for as long as I live. It's one of the most famous victories for Canada at the Olympics. And the fact that it was the first ever traditional team sport gold medal. Like, you know, in all the history of it, Ben, it was so historic that you could have a checklist of all of the things that it was a first of. And to me, the most brilliant one is that this was the first ever traditional team sport gold medal win for Canada. And the fact that it was this women's soccer team that since London and that bronze medal and then another bronze medal in Rio has really been building and then to have the disappointment at the World Cup and all of these questions about whether Bev Priestman was going to be able to get... They were a video review away how many times throughout the event from never advancing. They couldn't score a goal for the life of them. Even the tune up matches, they couldn't score a goal. It is the most Cinderella story run I can think of. And to have Christine Sinclair as the anchor to all of that, as one of the greatest athletes in Canadian history, who is so incredibly underappreciated, and she's underappreciated partly because of the person who she is. The most humble to a fault person, the most deflect any attention and spotlight, but was so cool for me, Ben, is when her and I were sharing that moment and speaking about what that all meant and the legacy, as you and I are talking about right now, she immediately went into advocacy mode and said, and can you believe that an Olympic champion team of women soccer players do not have a professional team to go home and play on when we get back to Canada? I mean, she knows she is one smart cookie. She knows what she's doing in that moment, in the biggest moment in this country. She's using that platform to say there is a generation of young women and ladies and girls who need something to aspire to. And so to me, this is what this is about, creating a new wave of soccer players in Canada.
BEN WATERWORTH: And do you see that happening? I mean, one thing I noticed when I was living there, obviously the men's CPL was very fresh and seemed to be taking off well, obviously with the Men's World Cup co-hosting in 2026. So the sport seems to be growing, Alphonse Davies and all those kind of things that are happening there from the men's side of things. But how much do you think this will, will there be a women's league now, a professional league, things like this? Do you think these steps will kind of flow into place now with the success of what they did in Tokyo?
DEVIN HEROUX: I think so, and I hope so. And I'm forever the optimist. But, you know, they really have to capitalise on the momentum. And there's a lot of, a lot of conversation, which is sort of always been ongoing, about women in sport and put women on TV. I'm proud to be working for a broadcaster, whereas one of our pillars, and this was recently introduced about a year and a half ago, two years, one of our four pillars at CBC Sports is equal representation on every broadcast platform we have. We have 50-50 men's and women's coverage. So from Instagram posts to Twitter posts to the story on our main landing page to the sports we're showing on our main network, it is 50-50, Ben. And we are nailing that commitment. So I believe a women's league is eminent in Canada. But you talk about sort of this golden age of footy in Canada. I mean, I just bought my ticket to this World Cup Qualifier at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada versus Panama next week. And people are clamouring in this country about this soccer team. They're going to Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton to play Jamaica and Mexico. Edmonton is freaking cold in November. Alfonso Davies is going home to Edmonton. That place is going to be electric. Canada is showing, and this is what's exciting to me, Canada is showing that it's not just the cold winter ice sport nation that it's been for so long. It isn't just curling and hockey anymore. Our track and field athletes, that long distance 5,000 metre silver medal by Mo Ahmed, to me is one of the greatest medals in Canadian Olympic history, because no other people outside of the African countries wins medals in those distance events. And now we have a Canadian duet in the pool, on the track, on the pitch, tennis athletes, excelling finally in this country, because I think of those who paved the way. And that's what I think this soccer win is going to do in Canada, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I loved. I mean, as I mentioned, I was living in Victoria, and I sadly didn't get to go to any Pacific FC games, but I've been watching them, seeing them recently beat the Whitecaps and going through to the semis of the Canadian, all that kind of stuff. It's amazing. And obviously Australia's got the World Cup and a couple of years, the Women's World Cup, so we're going to be cheering outside of the Matildas, of course, we have to go for the Matildas, but we'll obviously... I'd like to switch, obviously, with Beijing coming up. Sort of what you're talking about there in terms of just that level of pride that Canada are taking from the summer athletes, when obviously you're so focused on winter. It's kind of the opposite of what we have here. We're obviously so focused on the summer. Come winter, we're sort of looking at these athletes, and we're on this show trying to talk the achievements up of some of these people. But how is it then kind of, with such a turnaround for you, you spent 51 days in Tokyo, you've come home for a bit of time, and I'm assuming you're not that far away from probably getting on a plane again to Beijing. I mean, how are you looking forward to kind of switching focus so quickly? Because this is not how it generally works for you between summer and winter Olympics.
DEVIN HEROUX: This is not how it works. And now I have a new appreciation for my colleagues who, you know, in the 80s and early 90s were doing this turnaround, right, when they had the Games as close as they did. Yeah, same here. Listen, I was having Beijing planning meetings in Tokyo. So I would have those 18, 19 hour days of coverage come back to my hotel room, munching on 7-Eleven, and going into Zoom meetings to talk about what our coverage is going to look like in Beijing. And I haven't talked about it a lot, but I can tell you, it'll be more public in the coming weeks. But yes, I will be the only reporter yet again staying for the Olympics and the Paralympics in Beijing. So I am mentally preparing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Can you imagine that's a bit more challenging for a winter, though, for Canada? Because while 7 gold for Canada is great in the summer, that's almost the minimum requirement for a winter team right now, with the success you guys have had recently.
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, I mean, if there are only 7 gold medals at the Winter Games, there's going to be a national summit, right? And who knows what we're going to expect. It's weird, Ben, because you'll know that the Summer Olympics are just such a behemoth of an event. And so, yes, Canada wins a few more medals because, you know, I believe we had 29, a historic amount, in Pyeongchang, which I was at, and I covered, I think, I can't remember how many gold we had. Was it 11 in Pyeongchang? Ten or 11, off the top of my head, yeah. I think I covered eight or nine of the 10 or 11. Wow. It was wild. I was really right place, right time, good planning. But there are so many fewer events in the winter games that I actually prefer them for that reason alone, because I just feel like there's less chaos and less sort of where do I have to be and like keeping my eye on things. And I will sometimes have to write stories remotely. That's been made easier because of this pandemic, and we're all just so used to doing the post whatever on Zoom. But yeah, I mean, listen, I'm going to be focused on the curling because that's my thing. And we know that there isn't a more gruelling beat to cover at the Olympics and curling because it is the only event that not only goes every day of the Olympics, but it actually starts two days ahead of the Olympics now because of mixed doubles. So February 2nd is go time for me because we're the defending Olympic champions in mixed doubles. And then curling is every single day after that. And there are nine to ten hours of curling every single day of the Olympics. And I am Canada's national curling reporter. And we are, for the first time ever, Colleen Jones and I, the queen of curling, we're hosting that curling show every day throughout the Olympics. So I will be doing that show as well as running to the speed skating, the men's and women's hockey, and figure skating, and whatever else I can get to in my limited hours throughout all of that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Devin, I mean, look again, if you need a random Australian assistant at CBC, you can afford it. I'm happy to put my hand up, because we like to call the Winter Olympics on this show the real Olympics, because you know, you mentioned about sort of the events, like this is a thing that the Winter Olympics, to us, there's no dirt events. There's not a single event in the Winter Olympics where I could say, no, get rid of it. Summer Olympics, well, that's a whole other conversation. But that's the beauty of it. I'm trying to pitch myself to our national broadcaster here in Australia to be the Nordic Combined Consultant. Because, you know, I don't know how big the sport is here in Australia, and we won't have any athletes. But hey, if people are staying up to one o'clock in the morning wanting to watch Nordic, so if CBC needed a Nordic Combined Expert, I'm happy to put my hand up.
DEVIN HEROUX: You're in, you're in. You can have that. And that's a pretty cushy, nice sort of gig, Ben.
BEN WATERWORTH: Hey, I can't imagine there are many people clamouring for it too much. We actually, we spoke to Nathaniel Maher, a Canadian Nordic Combiner, and he gave a great interview sort of talking about how, you know, sort of it does struggle a lot in Canada, kind of that sort of sport. And, you know, that's a whole other topic there. But I mean, the beauty for us as Australians is we don't see these sports. Like you talk about, you know, eight, nine hours of curling, you've got a curling show every single day. Literally in this country, nobody could talk about curling at all until the Olympics are on. And it's generally one of those sports they show five minutes of, here are the Norwegians' fancy pants at these Olympics, and then they move straight back onto something else. Australians and curling just don't go together. We actually have a pair in the mixed doubles, Dean Hewitt and Tali Gill, who are on the cusp.
DEVIN HEROUX: And they're good.
BEN WATERWORTH: They are. They are very good. They're good. So they're on the cusp of being our first ever Olympic curlers.
DEVIN HEROUX: In fact, if I'm not mistaken, they went on a magical run in Stabanger, Norway at the Mixed Doubles World Curling Championships in 2019. They came in fourth, and I believe they lost a semifinal, maybe to Sweden or maybe to the United States, or a quarterfinal, one of the two.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think it was Sweden off the top, because we had them on the show. And yeah, I'm pretty sure it was Sweden. But yeah, I mean, that's what we talked about that. We just, because it was baffling to think that that basically got no coverage in Australia. Like here is, and this is where we have these winter athletes on. They punch so far above their weight in this country. And it's come to the point in Australia now that if we haven't won a gold since Vancouver, and yet all of a sudden we'll go in and come out of Pyeongchang. Oh, disappointing. Only two silvers and a bronze. That's not disappointing. That's freaking amazing that Australia has won three. I grew up when we got a bronze, and it was like street parties. Like this should be celebrated now. Australians are getting cocky at the winter. This isn't good.
DEVIN HEROUX: That's hilarious. And actually, you know what I want to say to that? Because, I mean, you guys are brilliant in the summer games. But, you know, Canadians are now having those expectations as well. And when I think about winning 24 medals at the Summer Olympics, and 29 medals at the winter games, like, I would like to see where Canada ranks if you combine Tokyo and Pyeongchang in the medal standings, because, so you're telling me Australia won three medals in Pyeongchang?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yep, we did. Two silvers and one bronze.
DEVIN HEROUX: And how many did Australia finish with in Tokyo?
BEN WATERWORTH: 48-49. We had 17 gold. Was it 48-49 in total at the top of my head?
DEVIN HEROUX: So 51 medals. So you put the 29 with the 24. We beat you. There you go.
BEN WATERWORTH: Colin, take that. That's how you do it. I like this, Devin.
DEVIN HEROUX: That's Colin. I mean, I think this is really how we should be doing them. Outstanding, should we not? But it just goes to show that in this country, we are more balanced, you know, when you look at 29 and 24, than a lot of nations in the rest of the world. And I think that's something Canadian fans got to be reminded of. And Ben, I think you just gave me some Twitter ammunition.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do it.
DEVIN HEROUX: Because I haven't thought about this.
BEN WATERWORTH: Hey, this aggregate, but this is the thing, like it's perfect like that, because that always does fascinate me too, kind of these, I guess, aggregate countries. Like, I mean, obviously, you know, the US, you got China, you know, Russia, like the standard countries you're looking at. But we were obviously talking a lot during Tokyo about freaking Norway. We're like going, Norway, stop winning summer. This isn't good. You're too good at the winters. We can't have you being good at summer as well. Now you've got Canada doing it. So what you're basically saying is come Beijing, Australia's got to actually start winning some of these fucking golds that we had promised for, right? So Laura Peele, you're the world champion, Crystal Globe, no pressure. Get that gold. You know, Scotty James, gold. You got to do it. Jared Hughes, get the gold. Like, no pressure.
DEVIN HEROUX: Get that gold. No, you have the weight of a country on your shoulders.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's got to click. It's got to click all of a sudden to come through that.
DEVIN HEROUX: Amazing.
BEN WATERWORTH: One thing, well, two things actually to sort of close it out. One Olympic based, one more of a personal Ben Waterworth has to ask you about the experience because I'm incredibly jealous about the question. Out of all the Olympics you've been to, do you have sort of a favourite? And also, how many have you been to, I guess, kind of on top of that and sort of what has been your favourite that you have gone to?
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, so I've done, I did the Pyeongchang Olympics, I did the Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland. Now I've got these Summer Olympics under my belt and of course now going to Beijing. And Ben, let me just say, if I only ever cover Olympics for the rest of my career, every two years, the rest of the way, and having started going to my first games when I was 31 years old, you know, I want to set an Olympic record for most Olympics covered by a journalist.
BEN WATERWORTH: Brisbane 2032, here you come then, you've got 11 years, perfect.
DEVIN HEROUX: Hey, that is marked on my schedule. I have every intention on being there. Oh, live, what would be some of my favourite moments? I think about Ted Yon Blomman, the Dutch speed skater who defected to Canada, as the Dutch would say.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect place to get them from, right? That's where you want them.
DEVIN HEROUX: Exactly. Exactly. When he won gold at the Oval in Pyeongchang in the 10,000 metre and sticking it to his rival, Sven Kramer, that was incredible. That was incredible to watch and speak to Ted Yon. And what was neat for me about that story in October, leading into February, I went to the Oval in Calgary and spent a bunch of time with the speed skaters. And on sort of this nonchalant, calm, random afternoon in October, Ted Yon set the Olympic Oval record in the 10,000 metre. And I was there with his fiance at the time watching him that day. Just pure coincidence. And I interviewed Ted Yon after that, and he looked at me, and I'll never forget the way he looked at me, Ben, he said, I think I can do this. I think I can do this at the Olympics. And to see that come full circle and the lead of my story be on an idle, random, October afternoon in Calgary, Ted Yon Blomen knew this moment could happen. That is a journalist's dream to be able to have that sort of lead when everybody else in the world is literally saying, Ted Yon Blomen of Canada has one gold setting an Olympic record in the 10,000 metre. I had this nugget of this guy knew this moment was coming months before it materialised. That's magic. That's magic to me as a journalist. And then, you know, there's moments at the Paralympics. You know, our wheelchair curling team lost a heartbreaking semifinal game to China and then came back and won bronze and Marie Wright, a single mother of three, three or four daughters from Moose, Saskatchewan, my province, whose husband left her after she had a horrific tractor injury, became paralysed. Husband leaves her. She has young daughters to raise, and she never quit. And there she is at the Paralympics telling me with tears in her eyes and two of her daughters that she raised now cheering on their mother, saying, I never thought I'd be on a podium in my life. Now, at that moment, and I'm getting emotional talking about it because Marie Wright, to me, sums up the journey of an athlete and serves as a reminder of what we are all capable of. And so that's why I do this work because I'm afforded the perspectives of someone like Marie Wright to remind us that A, maybe life isn't so bad of whatever I'm going through and B, to never, never, ever give up on your dreams.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great message, Aaron. Yeah, absolutely. It's kind of those moments you're getting to share, just all levels of being there and part of that just, yeah, absolutely amazing. I have to ask, Devin, I'm a Raptors fan. You were there. You were through the run. Can you make me jealous about what it was like? You talked all the way back to the Rough Riders. You want to do this as a living. You get, you're there through all of that. I believe you were in the rooms afterwards. Were you not celebrating with them?
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how does that rank on everything that you have covered?
DEVIN HEROUX: That's like top one of all the ones.
BEN WATERWORTH: Bright Ben.
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, I wouldn't often tell someone they should be jealous, but this would be a moment that I would be jealous of. It was truly sensational. That summer of 2019 in Toronto, when I got to travel with the Raptors and then go to Arthur Ashe and cover Bianca Andrescu's historic championship is a time in my career I will never forget, and I will never take that for granted, but specific to the Raptors and that final series, to be able to fly back and forth to the hallowed grounds of Oracle, knowing that these are the last games ever and signifying the end of a dynasty and knowing that the Toronto Raptors, let's be honest, Ben, if you're a fan of the team, they might never win a championship again or the foreseeable future. And to bear witness to that and to be in the locker room with all of what transpired in the place that it was transpiring in and to be drenched, you talk about no cheering in the press box, I was sitting in the stands in Oracle Arena because the press box was overflowing, that they had to make makeshift desks for the media in the stands. So I literally watched the game in the bleachers with these rabid crazed spoiled Warriors fans. And I'm cheering for the Raptors.
BEN WATERWORTH: You can't help it, come on.
DEVIN HEROUX: I can't help it. And you'll remember how game six finished with the confusion and the chaos of it all. And the cool thing for me is I'm trying to fight through the crowd to get from the nose bleed seats in the middle of all of that. And guess who's in front of me, leading me through all of it down to the floor.
BEN WATERWORTH: I want, you know, tell me, I'm not even gonna guess, I'm ruining your story. I'm caught up in it, Devin.
DEVIN HEROUX: No, no, no, no. Chris Bosh.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, wow.
DEVIN HEROUX: Out of all the people to be walking down at that exact moment, the daunty figure of Chris Bosh So I sort of just pushed him ahead of me. Him and I talked about it. He was so giddy about what had happened for the Raptors. I was so giddy, and we kind of just tried to talk, but really had nothing coherent to say. Yeah, and then to be in the locker room, sprayed by champagne, to be the cigar swirling around, and then to see Kawhi, you know, to see Kawhi celebrating with his family and seeing how much that moment meant to him. Like, I had sort of snuck around. I tried to be a detective of where the moments could unfold, and the media sort of missed it because they were with Norm and Serge and all those guys who were hilarious and, like, just partying out of control. But Kawhi was off to the side with his family, and I'll never forget him popping the champagne bottle and going to Swig It and then looking at his mum and letting her have the first sweet taste of victory. Those are moments, Ben, etched into my mind that will play over and over like the best movie I could have ever imagined for the rest of my life. And you talk about fear of matching words to the moment. I wrote the story of the Raptors historic win. It's, you know, when athletes say it's something, it's something they'll never be able to take away from me. I'll never, nobody will ever be able to take away that magical night in June at Oracle Arena to close out that arena when the Raptors won that championship.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're getting me emotional already. I remember being on a couch, an Australian Raptors fan in New Zealand, watching that on a Friday afternoon, crying my eyes out. So, just that moment for yourself. Like, just, I mean, I'm expecting when you write your book one day that this is just going to be, you know, the largest chapter in your autobiography. Come on, Devin, that, I mean, a book in itself.
DEVIN HEROUX: Yeah, yeah. You know what? I will write a book. I will write a book because I have been blessed of being in the right place at the right time. And in closing, Ben, you know, I feel so, so immensely grateful to do this work. And people who have followed me for a while now sort of know that when I show up at a sporting event, sort of this unbelievable drama unfolds. And I think any journalist has to have some luck throughout their career to be assigned to the right stories at the right time in history to sort of elevate their stature as a journalist because they're sort of awarded and provided these moments. And early in my career, I've been awarded and provided these sort of really awesome moments. And I just hope, you always hope as a journalist, that the luck and the words never run out.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like that. That's a perfect way to end that. Just before we do let you go Devin, people who want to stay up to date with you sort of throughout Beijing and everything else along those lines, where can they follow you? Instagram, Twitter, places like that?
DEVIN HEROUX: All of that, all of that. At Devin underscore Heroux, D-E-B-I-N underscore H-E-R-O-U-X, and I will be tweeting. I apologise in advance for the photos of my plants, my scarf collection, my cereal bowls of coffee, but I promise you will get the sporting updates you need.
BEN WATERWORTH: You just made me want to follow you even more. I already do follow you. I kind of just want to follow you again just for making it that exciting. Devin, it's been an absolute pleasure, mate, to learn about everything that you've talked about today. Best of luck with Beijing. And yeah, this might be the first interview that I think we didn't spend the portion of it talking about, 7-Eleven, so you're welcome. And I look forward to the CBC call up for Nordic Combine. I'll give you my number so they can make sure they give me a call up for Beijing.
DEVIN HEROUX: I'm waiting for you to be the official Nordic Combine correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive, massive thanks to Devin there. So much fun. I am just absolutely jealous that he got to do all that with the Raptors, but I'm also incredibly excited to be the CBC Nordic Combined Expert. So I'm essentially gonna be working for Channel 7 and CBC during the Beijing Olympics. So I'm gonna be a very busy man, apparently, when it comes to being the Nordic Combined Expert coming up in the coming weeks. But a big, massive thanks to Devin there. And I'm actually extremely jealous that I am not gonna be in Canada to be able to see his great coverage during the Beijing Olympics. So I sincerely hope that Colin will be able to keep us up to date with Daily Devin. I feel we want Daily Devin antics. And I wanna watch the curling show. I really want a curling show here on Channel 7. If you're listening, again, I'll do the Nordic Combined and the curling show. I've done entirely coverage every single day during the Beijing Olympics. So there's another idea for you out there. In the meantime, we are very, very close of course to Beijing. We are very close to our 200th episode. So you can sniff two big things really coming soon here on Off The Podium. If you want to stay up to date with everything that we've got, of course, coming out for you, you can subscribe and all good podcast platforms out there. Simply search for Off The Podium. Subscribe, leave us some feedback. We'd love to hear what you think of the show along the way as well. And of course, social media, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. It's where you stay up to date with everything that we've got going on there. And if there's a guest you want us to get on the show, an episode, topic you want us to cover, why not shoot us a message? We'd love to hear from you. Or just let us know what you think of the show. Once again, big thanks to Devin for his time. As always, a special shout out to Jason Momoa. My name is Ben. This is Off The Podium.
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