Joany Badenhorst Interview

Moving back into our athlete interviews today as we chat with our first Paralympic athlete in para-snowboarder Joany Badenhorst! In a fun and entertaining interview, Joany takes us through her amazing life story, from her terrible accident as a child right through her 'accidental' discovery of the sport that made her a Paralympian! She also talks up her incredible speaking ability that could just lead to a future job on our show, as well as telling one of the most unique and funniest jokes you will ever hear.

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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 move into our next 50 episodes, at least coming off the back of our 50th celebration. We hope you enjoyed our very special episode we put together with some of the best bits throughout our first 50 episodes. And moving on right again into another athlete interview in the lead up to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. And a bit of a different one for you today. It's actually our first time we can sit down with a Paralympian ahead of the Pyeongchang Paralympics in 2018. You're about to hear from Joany Badenhorst, a Paralympian in the sport of snowboarding. Matter of fact, Australia's first ever para snowboarder. She made it to the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, but cruelly was injured the morning of her event in training. And so I guess technically didn't get to take that start line for the Olympics, but so narrowly close to actually doing so. But Joany has a fantastic story in regards to just her career in general. Just a fantastic chat with her, hearing about how she got involved in the sport, kind of narrow misses, not only from Sochi, of course, but even narrowly making missing out on the London 2012 Summer Olympics. And just a fun chat in general. I know you're going to enjoy this one, and make sure you stick around to the end, because you will hear the most randomest, funniest joke you have ever heard in your entire life. Here is my chat with Australian para snowboarder Joany Badenhorst. It's a massive pleasure to be able to welcome our next guest here to Off The Podium. We've been doing some athlete profiles in the lead up to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next year in 2018. And it's a very exciting time today to be able to welcome our first Paralympian to the show. She was so close. Well, she was an athlete at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but just sadly, cruelly had to pull out of her event on the day of it due to an injury and has still been doing great guns throughout the World Cup since and is eagerly anticipating her actual time to compete for once. It seems that the Winter Paralympics next year, I do of course speak of Joany Badenhorst. Joany, pleasure to welcome you here to Off The Podium.

JOANY BADENHORST: Thank you so much for thinking of me and having me.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's a pleasure because we've sort of, you know, been doing profiles and sort of interviews with a variety of different athletes and in different sports and, you know, it's fascinating to kind of hear from a variety of different athletes going into the games next year. But as I said, you're our first Paralympian going into this. And I mean, just looking at your results, even from just the most recent World Cup season, you're obviously coming off the back of some amazing results too. And you must, I swear, you probably have just got a clock counting down to these Olympics next year after what happened to you in Sochi. I mean, you must just be going, come on 2018, where are you already?

JOANY BADENHORST: Yes, that's exactly how it's like. I've been planning the last four years down to the T, and we're in the crunch time now. So, you know, it couldn't be coming towards me quicker, but then also appreciating how far it's away, because it's a big deal and I need all the time to prepare.

BEN WATERWORTH: Is this kind of downtime for you though? Like, is that such a thing? I'm finding with a lot of the athletes at the moment that they seemingly are getting like a week or two off, and then they're basically straight back into training. I mean, is that what you're experiencing right now? You're two weeks off of the year?

JOANY BADENHORST: So, my two weeks off was a week off two weeks ago.

BEN WATERWORTH: Right.

JOANY BADENHORST: So, I've been back training, and I'm basically in my first training block, leading up to the Australian winter season, and it's coming to an end in about two weeks. And then I'll have a couple of days off, and then I'm straight back into the second training block. So, there's no time off in these last couple of months, really.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's incredible to think that, because obviously, I think too, with winter athletes, in particular here in Australia, is that, I mean, our winter is kind of, I guess, the summer for the North. So, it's kind of, you're still, I guess, in essence, chasing the snow, aren't you? Because, you know, I mean, that's what you need to do. I didn't even mention in the introduction, of course, you're a Paris snowboarder. So, you therefore are chasing the snow to practise. Is that kind of what you have to do then as well, is just follow where the snow is?

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, basically, my entire year is based around travelling and finding the snow. So, any time that we have that's away from the snow, we use it because it's so scarce. We use it to train and get ready. So, we're prepared on snow. I mean, we spend about six months, seven months a year on snow. So, whatever's left over, we train dry land, you know, in the gym, and other types of training to prepare us. So, it's never really away from training off snow. We do get about five months away just because of autumn and spring. But, you know, my entire season, we just travel and find it wherever it comes to us. It's great.

BEN WATERWORTH: And you must love snow, then. You must love the cold weather to have to kind of experience all this.

JOANY BADENHORST: You do. It would be so sad to say that I hate it, but I'm definitely a snow body. I would choose long pants and Ugg boots over shorts and thongs every single day of the week, every day.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm fully there with you. I am a fan of the cold weather. I live in Tasmania. That's probably why. But it's not quite that snowy down here a lot. But there's something I find about colder weather that it's so much more satisfying when you can get nice and snug and warm when it's completely hot. And you can only take so much off. And if you've got a good air conditioner, great. But it's not the same feeling.

JOANY BADENHORST: No, that's exactly it. And I find that snow in general, even if I'm not on snow, when there's just snow around me, it's such a calming thing. I think it's the colour and how snow tends to block out all other noise. I find myself at my most calm and pleasant when I'm surrounded by snow, which is so good for everyone around me.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, right now, so you're basing Griffith, I believe. So you're not currently surrounded by snow, it seems. It seems there's a bit of brightness going on there without the snow. You're just dying to get back to those slopes at the moment.

JOANY BADENHORST: I really am. That's why I'm currently alone because I'm probably not at the most pleasant right now. So I'm just sitting here with my family, avoiding me. No, I'm based down here. It's lovely weather. I mean, I should appreciate the sun while it's here because I don't tend to see summer a lot. So I'm appreciating it for what it is, but I am very excited to get back to it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now, you're originally, of course, from South Africa and came here to Australia, I believe, sort of just at the end of last decade. And you had your accident about 10, 12 years ago now, wasn't it? You lost your leg in a tractor accident and then obviously has kind of moved you forward into the world of power sports. You were sort of before the accident, though, I believe, still very athletic. You were involved in athletics and dance and all that sort of stuff. So this is always, I guess, for you being the goal to be an athlete, I can imagine.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, from the moment I could walk, I knew that I was going to be an athlete. Originally, I thought I was going to be a professional dancer. I had been dancing since I can remember, competing at the national titles and winning. I had my heart set on it, you know? And then after the accident, sport was my way of getting back to the community, being active and living a type of lifestyle where I wouldn't say that I have a disability, you know? Because right now, it enables me to do so much more with people and with sport. So after I lost my leg immediately, I just started kind of thinking about ways to get back to it. It never really stopped for me.

BEN WATERWORTH: And what was, I guess, comparing the para-sports program in South Africa throughout the time that you were there? I mean, you competed in the 2009 Youth Olympics, I believe. And then obviously came here to Australia, narrowly missed out on the Summer Games in 2012 for London. Are they comparable, kind of looking at how it's run in South Africa to Australia? Are they much different? Are they similar?

JOANY BADENHORST: Well, it's been eight years since I've been part of the South African team. But while I was a part of it, it was nothing like Australia at all. You were very much on your own. You were self-funded. There was no team funding, no government funding. And there were no real classifications for people competing. So I competed in under 16s and 21s when I was 12. There was just no other categories because no one in South Africa could afford to do sport because sport limbs, like the prosthetics, are so expensive. And in South Africa, there's no Medicare to help subsidise. So you were 100% on your own. And if you were not Oscar Pisterius, that was so lucky to have these sponsors help him get these expensive legs. You were 100% by yourself. So I remember competing for South Africa, and it was great to kind of get into that type of level of competition. But I had no trainers. I had no team. I had no uniform. I had nothing to kind of show what I was a part of. And that changed when I came to Australia. Australia's kind of mob mentality of sports and the importance of it in everyday life is so fantastic. From the moment I started competing for Australia, or even for New South Wales, you had a coach, you had a team, you had people supporting you. It's nothing like South Africa, but it's been so long, things might have changed because para sports made such a big debut now in all the different types of sports that you get. It might have grown, but from what I remember, I was completely isolated, even playing sport at that time.

BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, it's kind of an interesting sort of when you, I guess, anybody, as you mentioned Oscar Pistorius, you think of para sports in South Africa, you automatically think of Oscar Pistorius kind of obviously before everything that's happened with him. But that's kind of fascinating to hear that because I would have assumed maybe with the impact that he had on sport in general, not just in South Africa, but globally, that might have trickled down into the para sports community there in South Africa. So I mean, obviously, as you said, you have been there a long time. So I mean, do you think maybe it could have or has that now been negative given what's happened to him?

JOANY BADENHORST: Well, you know what, he put para sport on the map for the world and that all happened while I was transitioning over to Australia. And I know that his contributions to the para world has been so monumental that it changed South Africa and the way that they view it and the way that they approach it. And you know, it's changed Australia. Even after, you know, what happened, he still impacts like the way that he approached himself and himself as a professional athlete. That just changed so much for so many para athletes. It changed me the way that I saw it. Even leaving South Africa to coming into Australia, I took that different mentality into my own sport. You know, that I don't see myself as any different because I'm a para athlete. I still think I'm an athlete at the end of the day. And he's the one that kind of like introduced that idea to me. So I do think that it changed after what happened. But his initial influence into the world of sport was so monumental. You cannot cap it. You cannot change it, no matter what happens, you know. So he definitely made a mark, and it's been really positive for us most of the way, you know.

BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, I mentioned that you narrowly missed out on making the Summer Games in 2012 in London. And it was there, I believe, around about then, you were discovered by the snowboarding coach Peter Higgins, Australian Paralympic snowboarding coach. How does a snowboarding coach see an athlete in athletics and go, hey, I think she would be great in snowboarding?

JOANY BADENHORST: Listen, before I start this story, you need to know something about me. I have the most random things happen to me in my life. My entire life is like a bunch of coincidences that led me onto these extreme life pathways. If you can't tell from me losing my leg in a freak accident to now, sitting in Griffith training in summer for something winter. I had just decided to step away from athletics just because I had been training for so long, and I couldn't physically recover from my upset before London. So I decided to take some time off to finish year 12, and I really wanted to wear high heels to my year 12 formal. I mean, we talked to any girl. I had never worn them. I'd never felt uber girly because I was so sporty. I never went out for socials. I never did anything like that. So my year 12, that first year after taking off, I was like, you know what? I'm going to put everything I have into this. This is going to be something special for me. So obviously high heels. And I went to my prosthetist a couple of weeks before, and I told him I want a high heel. And he basically, he's German. So he just looked at me and he's like, I don't think that's a good idea because you are a hazard. And I could not believe that he labelled me as a hazard. Yes, I do see myself now as one, but still, I wanted those high heels. So he set out a challenge. He said, okay, fine, you bring a pair of high heels in here, and if you can do set exercises that I give you and still do it safely, I will give you that high heel leg. And a high heel foot is about $15,000. This is a big deal. And he said that he'd help me pay for it. And I took that challenge, of course. So I've got these ridiculous high heels. I mean, the ones that you see on a Saturday night out on girls walking like a hunchback of Notre Dame, going, why would you do that to yourself? I wore those and I step into the prosthetic office and he looks at me. He's like, you're joking. And I'm like, I am not. You're about to see something amazing. And I am running up and down doing these Russian squats, and I'm balancing on like plates. I can't tell you what I'm doing, like a crazy person in like shorts and like a jumper with these like neon high heels, which I did not wear to my formal gym that I am. And while I'm doing all of this, there's another patient that's getting a leg fixed and another person with him sitting in the corner, and they're kind of doing their own thing. And this guy is staring at me and I'm like, well, I'm running in high heels with one leg. He's probably going to stare. And a couple of days afterwards, my phone rings and this guy, Peter Higgins calls me and he's like, hey Joany, I don't know if you remember, but I was at the prosthetic office. And I was like, yeah, you were staring at me. He's like, yeah, listen, listen, you're legless. You're female and you obviously have balance. Do you want to try snowboarding? And I was like, what? I've never even seen snow. I don't skateboard. What do you mean? And he told me about the program and how it's making its debut into Sochi, although he wasn't confident that I would even be thinking of Sochi. I was more thinking of Korea. But he said, if you want to, the opportunity is there. I'm going to give you a couple of weeks to think about it. Let me know. And I hung up the phone and I told my mum and dad, I'm quitting my job and moving down to Jindabang because I'm starting to snowboard, which they thought was ridiculous. So I called him back two hours later and he's really surprised. And he's like, hey, what's up? And I'm like, oh, so I'm moving down to Jindabang pretty soon. So just FYI, I'm doing this. And yeah, he was just like, cool, let's do it. And I did.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's crazy. All from a guy just staring at you basically in a clinic. I get people staring at me all the time, but nobody's offered me to go to the Olympics. So maybe I need to pay more attention to them.

JOANY BADENHORST: It's one of the more positive experiences of random people staring at me. I get that a lot because obviously I am legless, but yeah, that was a good one, a goodie.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's crazy. That's crazy to think that. And I mean, I can imagine that it's not, I mean, as you said, you'd never seen snow, you'd never skateboarded. I mean, what's that like? As soon as he goes, okay, here's a snowboard, on you get, give it a crack. What's kind of that moment like when you're on this board and you're thinking, okay, here we go?

JOANY BADENHORST: I remember strapping in and he's like, strap in. And I'm like, listen, I don't even know what a strap is. He's going to have to point it out to me because I don't know. And he's like, okay, this is going really well. And I'm strapped in. And just before he kind of leads me up the hill, I remember just thinking, what have I done? Like, what am I doing here? How did I even get here? And then he gave him my first task. And as soon as he kind of uttered the words, let's start with this, my mind just switched over and I was like, let's do this. I'm here now, no turning back. I'm going to commit to it to the end. So that's what I did. He gave me my first task, which I failed miserably. But you know what? I had like a lot of heart before I failed miserably. And that's what you mean, clearly.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's obviously what helped you out there, Joany. So at that time, given that it was making its debut there in Sochi, I mean, when you qualified for the Games, you became Australia's first ever female para snowboarder. Are there many other female para... I mean, you see just going around Australia in clinics and basically staring at people going, you need to come try out for me, or were you kind of it?

JOANY BADENHORST: No, I was it. There were a couple of other girls at the time doing it, but just because of the way that the classification worked for the different types of amputations, different types of girls, it just wasn't realistic at the time. Now it's a bit better because we've broadened our classification range. But at the time, I was it. And currently, you know, there's not a lot of girls out there in Australia wanting to give this a go. So I'm still it. It was just a fluke coincidence, you know, and it worked out.

BEN WATERWORTH: And then how long? I mean, given that, as you were saying, he mentioned that perhaps, oh, Sochi might not be on the agenda, more so Korea, you obviously are good enough to then make 2014. How long was that between getting discovered and your qualification? Because I mean, if this was after London, I mean, that sounds like you've only got less than 18 months, basically, to kind of get from discovery to on a plane to Russia.

JOANY BADENHORST: I had been from my first day on snow until getting my wild cod in Canada. It had been six months. Six months.

BEN WATERWORTH: Six months.

JOANY BADENHORST: Six months. Yeah, it was I didn't initially go for Sochi. Sochi wasn't in my head as the end game. But one thing about me is I go 100 percent. If I didn't make it to Sochi, that would be OK for me because I wouldn't I wouldn't approach that time given differently. So I just gave it my all and really worked hard. And for Sochi, it paid off, you know.

BEN WATERWORTH: So I was very lucky and that's obviously an incredible feeling then to achieve that. So suddenly and also given that, as you mentioned, to you, the disappointment from initially not making London. So it's kind of these these crazy coincidences that you're talking about. I mean, this is just amazing to think I couldn't imagine that when you when you don't qualify for London, that you're thinking to yourself, oh, well, I might be in another Paralympics at least in 18 months time.

JOANY BADENHORST: I couldn't believe it. That's one thing I've been incredibly blessed with so many opportunities. You know, I've been given that opportunity and I just really wanted to take take it and make the most of it. Yeah, and I was very lucky that it worked out because I know for a lot of athletes, they work just as hard and it doesn't work out that way. So I was very lucky that at that time, it was an option for me. You know, right now, it wouldn't be an option for me just starting. It wouldn't be realistic. So very lucky.

BEN WATERWORTH: What are the main differences, I guess, and challenges for a para-athlete in the sport of snowboarding compared to sort of a non-para-athlete when it comes to that technique? Because, you know, I mean, obviously, you know, everything from the stance on the board and I mean, even just the different types of snowboarding, the different events. I mean, I can imagine that there are different challenges for yourself compared to, say, an able-bodied athlete in the same sport.

JOANY BADENHORST: Oh, definitely, like, at the end of the day, we try and keep our technique, the technique, the snowboard set up, the equipment that we use. We want to keep it as close to able-bodied racing as possible because at the end of the day, we want the athletic side of us to shine, not the equipment side, you know. So we try and keep it very, very similar. My setup, apart from my prosthetic leg, is very much like any able-bodied racer. But the struggle is, off-snow, we still train like able-bodies, but we obviously are missing a leg, which means I can't do everyday exercises that are key for snowboarding the same way. Squatting, lunging, you know, strength exercises. I need to be so careful not overdoing it on my left amputated side because if I do an injury to it, it takes four times as long to heal. So training needs to be approached with outside-of-the-box thinking mentality. You cannot go into training a para-athlete the same way you do an able body. It just doesn't work that way because our bodies don't work the same. And then when you transfer that on snow, because we're missing part of our body, those initial techniques that you need to, you know, get the results of turning and absorbing are completely different, but you still need the technique to kind of snowboard. So we need to find different ways to approach it, different stance, different way of moving your body, activating completely different muscle groups to get the same end result, you know. So, and I think it's a lot of work. People don't realise how much more work amputees or any other disability need to put in to get the same result as an able body because we have so much against us. To get that end result that's the same as an able body takes, takes a village. So, it's a big struggle and it just seems like we do the same, but there's a lot that goes in behind the scenes to get that same result, you know.

BEN WATERWORTH: And I watched one of the videos of you on YouTube and you were sort of mentioning in that about the costs of the legs can be upwards of $25,000 and you were mentioning there about when you were, the dance about how you kind of wanted your high heel leg. I mean, is that kind of then a different type of prosthetic that you're using to compete as well? And what are sort of the costs when it comes to these prosthetics when it comes to competing?

JOANY BADENHORST: So they range, all different price ranges depending on what country. And I'll use my, me for an example. So I use a different snowboarding leg for snowboarding. I don't have one leg that I transfer like some athletes because of the type of amputation I have. So I've got no knee ligaments in my left knee. It dislocates, you know, when you think about dislocation. So I need a knee brace and the knee brace needs to be able to fit on to my prosthetic leg. So that's about just $2,000 as is. That's without any of the basic equipment. Now, the feet we try and keep as simple as possible because if you're doing jumps and riding berms, creating that type of force, it's very easy to break a fake foot. So, so easy. So it needs to be replaceable on the spot. But those, even the most basic feet cost about $12,000. So that's already, you know, $14,000. And then to have a socket made, all the components of the leg, my snowboarding leg cost in total with people working on it between $55,000 and $70,000. And that's for one, that's not spare parts included. That's just the leg, and I break it every single year. And then a walking leg, you know, might be from $22,000 to $30,000. That's below knee. If you're missing a knee, you're looking at hundreds of thousands because a mechanical knee is so incredibly expensive. And it's getting less expensive because it's, there's a lot more product out there, but then it's also getting more expensive because the, you know, technology going into it is just absolutely insane in the moment. So my snowboarding leg, when you look at it, is very plain and basic, but we do it that way so it's easy to replace. But there's a lot of stuff going into it, like the knee brace, the type of foot that I'm racing on, all of that. So it's tricky, but we try and keep it simple.

BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine that's a lot of the reason why your parents at the time when you first said, hey, I'm going to do snowboarding, might have been like, holy hell, how much is this going to cost?

JOANY BADENHORST: They had no clue. So I spoke to Pete and I was like, Pete, okay, so what is this going to cost me? He's like, oh, make sure you've got some spare money in the bank. And in my head, spare money is like, I don't know, $3,000. $32,000 later. Wow. Yeah, I'm snowboarding. So it's not spare change. And that's just that $33,000 right now. I'm lucky because I have a sponsor that actually provides my legs for me. But before then, I was paying for all of it, and I was starting out snowboarding. So it was such a long and expensive process to fine tune what I needed on snow. And because I couldn't snowboard, I didn't know what I needed. I didn't know what I needed to feel. I didn't know how I needed to fit. I only really figured that out last year. So I needed to chop and change every single week, and that all costs money. So it was quite expensive, and I had no one in Australia to kind of guide me because there were no other girls or no other MPTs in my similar position to go, this works, this doesn't work. I just headed in blindly and like tried it out until I didn't fall, basically.

BEN WATERWORTH: Have you found then, I guess, throughout the competition circuit over the years, have you then made close friends with some other para-snowboarders, I guess, along the way and kind of had them help you, kind of a mentoring role, so to speak, given that you're coming basically, as you're saying, from a country where you're it, you're the only one?

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, I think that did happen to an extent. Obviously, it's still a very competitive sport. So even with legs, people don't like to give away their secrets, which is hilarious. But, and I'm the same way.

BEN WATERWORTH: You don't want to give away your secrets.

JOANY BADENHORST: But you know what, if you actually did have a problem, we've got such amazing athletes and mentors on our circuit. If you went to them, they would help you. They would give you names. They would give you options, different brands. And they all had such an amazing medical team behind them that they were willing to share. So if you were struggling, your prosthetist can kind of get in contact with their prosthetist, talk about, you know, different options, and then try it out on you. So because we're so amputationist, so incredibly individual, there's nothing directly that you can say from one athlete to another that will go, that'll fix your problem. At the end of the day, you need to figure it out. But it's just like kind of brainstorming different, you know, avenues you can look into. But yeah, I had incredible people helping me and mentoring me that helped me get here to where I am now with my legs.

BEN WATERWORTH: So tell us about the actual events that you do compete in in the sport, because obviously, you know, as we know, we're snowboarding, there's a variety of different categories. I mean, I'm reading here Bank Slalom and Snowboard Cross seem to be sort of your, I guess, your favourites. Are they the two main ones you compete in any others as well?

JOANY BADENHORST: No, these are the only ones at the moment available to us as para snowboarders, and they are the two main ones. I think the main one would have to be Board of Cross, which is just like the able-bodied circuit, but we also do Bank Slalom. So Bank Slalom is basically going down a hill. It's based on time, so whoever can get down the quickest. And it is so difficult. It doesn't look difficult because it's fairly straightforward. You've got turns, and you've got a couple of rollers, and then you've got the finish line. But the technique that goes into actually doing it properly is more difficult than you think. So from that point of view, I very much enjoy it because I like nailing technique. Whereas Snowboard Cross is like a bag of everything. You need strength, you need speed, you need power, you need mental endurance to kind of go full speed down the hill. It's like a really fast pace competing with someone next to you, kind of like fighting it out for the right spots into turns, over jumps, and heading into that finish line. Yeah, it's the two main events. I do love them both, but they both come with very big challenges, as anyone else would know that does them. It is quite the struggle.

BEN WATERWORTH: Because, I mean, Snowboard Cross really just seems like you can be the best in the world at it. You can just like be so darn good, so darn fast. You got the best technique, you're number one, no matter what. But on competition day, all it takes is just you go around a corner, someone gives you a bit of a bump, you're done, that's it. Thanks very much.

JOANY BADENHORST: Well, that's exactly it. Like, Snowboard Cross is always down to the day. It depends on the snow, it depends on the people next to you, how they race, their race technique, your race technique, and kind of how they come together. It comes down, if you just accidentally hit a bump that just got there before and it throws you off, it can mean the race for you. So it's, I think, more exciting because you truly don't know, you know how you want it to end, and you know what you can do to make that happen. But you don't truly know what's going to happen in the race. Whereas Bank Slalom, you're on your own, and you are the only person that can do it right. And it all depends on you, whereas there's so many different elements in Snowboard Cross. It's just so exciting.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now tell us about Sochi, because I mean, you qualified for the Games, and I believe you basically got a leg injury during training the day of competition. I mean, how does that feel? I can't imagine that's a very good feeling. I mean, I read one interview that you gave that you said, as soon as that happened, you were thinking straight to Korea. But I can't imagine that at some point, you're like, oh, shit, like, seriously, this has happened today.

JOANY BADENHORST: You could not have put it better. I don't even, I can't describe the level of annoyance and frustration that goes into something like that. So basically, we get a couple of training runs before the event starts. I was number 12 of the girls, which means the last of the girls to either train and also compete. So I was the last girl on course for training before they shut down all of training and started the event. So we were like 25 minutes out of the event. And I go down and I misread a feature that I've been having trouble with all day. Because you know what? I'm not the best snowboarder. I was not the best of the girls out there. I was so fresh and so new. It was very easy for me to misread and misunderstand the course. And I hit it and I landed upside down, tomahawking through the bee netting. I collapsed my hip. I broke my knee. And I got taken down in the bucket a couple of minutes before the actual race started. And you know what? I went down in that bucket. And while I was going down, I closed my eyes and I just said to myself, how can this happen again? Like I had a flashback of London again in front of my eyes. I had a flashback of my actual accident because I wasn't sure how severe my damage was because I was in so much pain, I couldn't think straight. And I just came down to the bottom and I was just like, Joany, are you kidding me? Like how can you do this to yourself again? You are so dumb. You're incredibly dumb and I'm angry at you, no one else. And then I got to the bottom and I saw my beautiful dad waiting for me. And he's just smiling and happy that I'm okay and my eyes are open because he's been through this once before. And he just looked at me and at that moment, I was like, no, that's so unfair. You've never seen me even compete. And the one time you fly to Russia to see me compete, I do this? No, that's no, just I'm going to do this again and I'm going to do it right. And I think that's when it flipped over. I was like, yep, Korea, you're on my list.

BEN WATERWORTH: So they already got then the tickets for Pyeongchang next year, ready to go then?

JOANY BADENHORST: They're so, I've got the most amazing parents. I've got a little tin savings bank that they kind of constantly drop notes in. They're just like, it's Korea. So they're definitely going. We've been saving for a while, so they won't miss it for the world.

BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned at the top that you had a great season coming into this. Just before I go on that. So are you officially qualified for the games next year? Or is that kind of just inevitable? You just got to basically wait till it happens.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, you know what? There's a lot of criteria that I need to meet. I've satisfied the majority of the qualification criteria. By the end of the day, it's down to your national sporting organisation to offer you an invite. So regardless of what I've done or haven't done, I think come November this year, this is when all athletes would actually find out whether they have qualified, regardless of what they've done or not done. So I've satisfied a lot of the criteria, but now is not the time to know it, really. They're waiting a couple of months to make sure, to get everyone in and everyone out who they want. And then you're offered a position.

BEN WATERWORTH: Right, right.

JOANY BADENHORST: You never know what you've been in.

BEN WATERWORTH: We're extremely confident. We're saying you are there, but I mean, worst case scenario, you get a great family holiday to Korea in March next year.

JOANY BADENHORST: I'm going to be there. They don't even know this, but I'm going to show up even if they don't invite me as their biggest supporter. But all systems are going. We're training as though we've already gotten the invite, and we already have a room key at the Athlete Village.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's good. That's easy. But great season for you. Obviously, a variety of podiums there, and you also got the Crystal Globe, I believe, as well. Take us through your season. It sounds like you're definitely peaking quite well heading into the games next year.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, I'm very lucky that, you know, it's been such an incredible season for me. It did start out a little bit rough because I've been dealing with a lot of medical issues on my left leg, the amputated side. I've got, because it was such a traumatic amputation, I've got so many residual issues that are lifelong struggles that I need to deal with. And when you add all this amount of training to it, it just aggravates it. So going into the season, I was constantly in pain. I couldn't train properly. And my coach was so incredibly patient with me, and we were working on ways to kind of minimise the damage. So my first couple of competitions in the Netherlands and so did not go well. I did not ride confidently because of the pain that I was in, and I don't think that I was physically ready. And then I came home and I regrouped, and we worked on a training strategy, and it worked out. I got back overseas. I was confident and I was ready, and I competed in a couple of World Cups, and I got my first gold ever in Lake Tahoe. Thank you. Incredible. And as soon as that went, I think something clicked inside that just told me I knew that I could do it. I always knew that I could, but there's always doubt in my mind. I get very anxious when I race, but after that, I was confident, you know, so I definitely approached every competition with the right mindset. And we had our World Championships in Canada, and I was lucky enough to walk away with two bronze medals, both one in Bank Slalom and one in Border Cross, which was very unexpected because Border Cross is so difficult. You never know what's going to happen. We were just over the moon, to be honest. I was. And I had my team. They were all incredibly proud. They were all very supportive, which is great. It's very important to have a team around you that kind of shares in your triumphs and accepts when you don't do so well, and they kind of support you in that. And then it all led up to the final World Cup, which was in Korea, but that was also the test event. And we went in guns blazing. I don't think I've ever been so eager and ready for a competition. And you know what, it did pay off. I walked over with two Silver's, and I did things there that I didn't know that I was physically capable in racing. And it just really confirmed, you know, what I want and what I can do, and what I still need to do over this training period, you know, to be the best of the best, or, you know, at least go into every competition, knowing I can give my all. Yeah, and all the medals and podiums over the season, was good enough to get me the overall crystal globe. Great. Yeah, it was insane. I was so happy.

BEN WATERWORTH: Is it a literal crystal globe, and you come home off the plane, and be like, hey, everyone, look at this giant thing I've got.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yes, it looks like an upside down beer glass. It is literally a crystal globe, and my parents are just so, they've never seen anything like it in their lives. So it's actually standing on our coffee table, and they love to bring it up in conversation. It's like, oh, yeah, this massive crystal figurine, like it's no big deal, but it's kind of a big deal. They just love it, and I enjoy them doing it, so I don't have to do it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, Mum, Dad, maybe you should do it this time.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, it's amazing to have something like that in your house. It's something that I will always be able to look back on and just really appreciate what I was able to do in my younger days. Fantastic.

BEN WATERWORTH: Don't worry, I often try to hang on to younger days. I just turned 30 this year, so I'm kind of just remembering what it was like to be young there, Joany. So anyway, I want to get into some of these fun questions in a sec that we ask all our guests. But I mean, outside of obviously your snowboarding, I mean, kind of just looking through a lot of your social media and your website and everything, that sort of stuff. Looks like you're involved in kind of workplace safe New South Wales. You've got a bit of motivational speaking going on there. And as I said, I watched some of the clips on YouTube, and it definitely seems like you've got a knack for this, Joany. I mean, you're very well into this. I think kind of, you know, once you go off and win all your golds next year, you can turn this into a career, maybe a TV presenting gig. You've got the gift of the game, I feel. Put me out of the job.

JOANY BADENHORST: You know what? I love talking about myself. Well, I do. But I think the thing is, I've been given this amazing story to tell with my accident that I can't keep it in. I love telling people, you know, what happened to me and helping other people realise what they want in life. So I go to schools and I talk to young kids because my life as an amputee growing up, you know, in school systems was tough. There was a lot of bullying. There was a lot of misunderstood information. People didn't really know how to act around me. And that influenced me as a child, you know. It wasn't great. So I love talking to kids and telling them that it's okay to be so different. You can still do things even though it might look different or seem different or feel different. And then my accident was workplace related because it happened on a farm on a tractor. And I think my family suffered through so much trauma because of a small mistake that I made that I find that it's incredibly important to go out to workplaces and make aware that people need to be safe and they need to think about other people. So I love talking and I love sharing my story and I love inspiring and meeting new people. So yeah, I just love talking.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, look, there you go. If we ever need somebody to cover us here or you just want to join a podcast, we can put you on the books and you can become one of our co-hosts. And hey, you've got yourself a job.

JOANY BADENHORST: I love it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Thank you. We've always wanted to have an Olympic gold medallist on the show in terms of being a co-host. So look, you know.

JOANY BADENHORST: Oh, you're going to regret saying that later. I'm definitely going to be spooking up your email going, Hey Ben.

BEN WATERWORTH: As I said, we need that extra boost. And as we've said to a few guests here, in terms of when they're on that podium next year in Pyeongchang, getting that gold medal around the neck, they're going to think, Hey, what a great interview that Ben Guile, Colin, gave me. Like, fantastic. And when you're there, you're thinking, Well, you know, this is now my future career being on that show. So hey, cool. Win-win.

JOANY BADENHORST: I will always look back to this day.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good. I expect it. Now, as I sort of mentioned to this off air, and a lot of our guests, what we're doing here, we're going back to a bit of a segment we did during the Rio Games last year where we read over some Canadian athletes' answers to a questionnaire. And Colin, our co-host over there in Canada, has been putting this to all the Canadian athletes. So, of course, we're like, look, we're going to do it here in Australia as well. Why not? So this is called My Name Is, and they basically start off by saying, my name is, they say their name. So obviously, we know your name. We've been talking to you. You can say it if you want to, Joany. Joany, what's your name?

JOANY BADENHORST: My name is Joany.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good. Thank you. Just wanted to make sure we've been talking to the right person for the last half an hour or so. What is your favourite Olympic moment?

JOANY BADENHORST: Favourite Olympic moment? You know what? I have a favourite Paralympic moment. That works. And yeah, that was when Oscar Pasteri won his first gold, and when he actually got... he went on competing in Able Body Olympics as a contender, and I thought that that was just brilliant. I think that's one of my favourite moments.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good one. I like that. That works. If you could choose any Olympic host city, where would it be? Now, and I kind of guess this... I mean, look, you can think summer, winter. I mean, you're more winter. Of course, you'd want to think that aspect, but I mean, look, anywhere you want, you've got that power.

JOANY BADENHORST: OK, anywhere in the world. I think that Cape Town would be fantastic in South Africa. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. The wine is fantastic. Yeah, I think that they'd be able to pull it off.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, we've not had an Olympics in Africa, so that would tick the boxes. So, look, IOC, I'm sure you're not listening, but hey, we'll shoot you through a message. What do you like to do most in your spare time?

JOANY BADENHORST: I, cliche, but I love reading and doing art. I just started printmaking for the first time, and I'm completely obsessed with it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, so printmaking is that like, I'm trying to picture what that is, but I'm dumb, so I'm not even going to have to guess what that is. Explain that to somebody dumb like myself here, Joany.

JOANY BADENHORST: Basically, you've got a little sheet of rubber that you take little tools with and you etch out all these pictures. You paint it and then press it onto paper, and then whatever you've etched is the negative image on it. Yeah, it takes a lot of patience, which I have none of, which is really good. And it never turns out the way you want it, which is me in life. So every day is a surprise.

BEN WATERWORTH: Sounds perfect. And next thing you know, you're going to have some random guy staring at you for ages, getting a phone call a couple of days later and offering you a job.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, in the local gallery etching people's faces. All of my works are abstract because that label just goes with everything that I do.

BEN WATERWORTH: There you go. I like that. We can't really do this one. They've got you draw a picture of yourself. I mean, would you print make a picture of yourself? How would you draw a picture of yourself?

JOANY BADENHORST: Definitely abstract because it won't look the way. But I always said that my spirit animal is a raccoon. So it would be a raccoon-esque. Yeah, a little bit dodgy, sometimes very funny. Yeah, and always up to no good. I feel like that would be the encapsulating image that I would draw.

BEN WATERWORTH: I kind of want you to draw that and tweet us that picture now.

JOANY BADENHORST: Sounds like a challenge accepted. I will.

BEN WATERWORTH: All right. You've heard it here first. What is the weirdest instruction a coach has ever given you?

JOANY BADENHORST: The weirdest couple, one that springs to mind is slow down later, which was the most terrifying one I've ever heard. Just someone yelling, slow down later. And you're like, really? There will not be a later. And then also starting to snowboard, trying to get into a heel carved turn, I was told to sit on the toilet. Find that very strange. Sit on the toilet.

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm picturing two things there. That sounds a really weird way of starting that conversation, considering what you just told me. But when you're laying in that bucket there in Sochi and hearing that advice of slow down later, you're like, yeah, OK, you could have told me that before. And then next time you just happen to be on the toilet after you've been told that by your coach, you're thinking, I'm not snowboarding right now. What's going on here?

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, basically, I was just like, I nailed that advice. Basically, I did slow down later. Well, the netting kind of slowed me down later, but that's all right. Details.

BEN WATERWORTH: Details. Details. What is your favourite workout?

JOANY BADENHORST: My favourite workout, dons. I find the same routine very, you know, soothing, but also I can find it very boring. And because my leg's so weird, I need to incorporate different elements to warm up in the morning. So my race routine every morning includes three songs where I pump out like incredibly like experimental dons moves. And I just love it. I come out of my room so pumped and excited for what my body looks like it can do. It's disturbing, but fascinating at the same time.

BEN WATERWORTH: You need to post this on social media. You got all the listeners right now going, we need to see this.

JOANY BADENHORST: Oh, one day. I think that that'll be like my lead up to like let people into who they would be supporting at the next Paragames. Just like a little snippet of who Joany is. Just me like crumping aggressively in the room. Like a Maroon 5 song.

BEN WATERWORTH: Hey, hey, look, you know, if anyone's going to crump to Maroon 5, you know, you can start a trend.

JOANY BADENHORST: I don't think that's the trend anyone wants to start. You know what?

BEN WATERWORTH: You know, never knew Maroon 5 could be used for such a thing. But hey, look, you know, there's always a first person to do it, you know. If you could have lunch with any one person, who would it be?

JOANY BADENHORST: Emma Watson.

BEN WATERWORTH: Emma Watson. Oh, you didn't even think about that. You were straight into it.

JOANY BADENHORST: I love her. She is my favourite person ever. Her or Jennifer Lawrence, because Jennifer Lawrence also is my spirit animal. So it would have to see who says yes, but it would be between those two.

BEN WATERWORTH: You know, you could just reach for the star, invite both of them, and then, hey, you've got a great lunch date with both of them there. So, you know.

JOANY BADENHORST: Best lunch date ever. Can you imagine? Oh, we'd have so much to talk about.

BEN WATERWORTH: You can totally pass on my number to both of them. That's fine. My, what is your favourite? I don't know where this interview is going. What is your favourite sandwich?

JOANY BADENHORST: Oh, turkey, cranberry, a little bit of like fresh spinach, yes, on white bread, like fresh baked white bread.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer. It's got, you draw a picture of a Canadian animal. This person has drawn what is meant to be a cougar, but it looks like a very demented cat. So, I won't get you to draw a Canadian animal, maybe an Australian animal, but you add that to your self-portrait.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yep, I will add that. My animals are quite quirky, so yes, I would probably draw a koala. Like a drop bear.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, make it a drop bear. Scare the Canadians. Colin's listening to, what the hell is a drop bear? I'm not going to Australia. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

JOANY BADENHORST: Okay, yes, all right. To be able to speak every language in the world.

BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, do you speak any other languages?

JOANY BADENHORST: I'm actually taking German at the moment. My home language is Afrikaans, and I understand Dutch and then English. So there's a couple, but I'd love to be able to speak Spanish. I think it is the sexiest language ever. I mean, I would probably not be sexy speaking it because my facial expressions don't match what I'm saying, but I would really give it a go.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I can't maintain languages. That's definitely a bucket list thing for me is to learn another language, but I automatically go into shutdown mode, like, what's hello in Spanish again? What?

JOANY BADENHORST: But I just love it. So that would be it. It's all talking to animals, but either way, it would be like a speaking thing.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I like that. You're definitely on the speaking page there again. You don't need to send us a resume to get a job on this show. You're already putting it out there. What is the best candy in the world? This is very weird. These questions that basically are asking these Olympic athletes about food and superpowers.

JOANY BADENHORST: But anyway, that's fine. Best candy in the world. That's actually really difficult. I can't remember the last time I had candy candy. But in South Africa, we used to get these lollipops called fizzos, and they had sour powder in the middle. So you would suck it until it went to the core, and then it would be bursting with sour stuff in your mouth.

BEN WATERWORTH: Sounds interesting, all right.

JOANY BADENHORST: That's just corruption.

BEN WATERWORTH: The worst. Everyone who loves sour stuff right now is going, they sound really good. And everybody who doesn't, because what are those warheads or whatever they are, where generally it starts off sour, then it gets sweet? I've never heard of one that starts off sweet, then gets sour. That's kind of an interesting way of doing it.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, that's all. Salt watered taffy. I also really enjoy it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, that's a good one. As a kid, who was your, what was your favourite sporting team?

JOANY BADENHORST: My favourite sporting team as a kid. I am going to be honest with you. I did not watch a lot of team sports. I grew up without a TV on a farm in South Africa, so we didn't really watch a lot of team sports, but my family or us as a family, we supported the Springbok team incredibly. So the rugby team, obviously.

BEN WATERWORTH: And is that still a thing? So even when they're playing the Wallabies now, you're still in the Springboks?

JOANY BADENHORST: Listen, if the Springboks are playing anyone else, we still go for them, but Australia is home, so no, the Wallabies are.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer. Particularly against the All Blacks, you got to go to anyone against the All Blacks too, like, you know. Sorry, New Zealand.

JOANY BADENHORST: We love to have you nearby anyway.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. What is your favourite sports movie?

JOANY BADENHORST: Sports movie? There's a couple that come to mind. We watched, my team and I watched a snowboarding movie recently that was incredible to say the least. I think it was called Cloud 9. Or Hot Dog, the snowboarding movie. I do enjoy that, but those are team favourites. But, like, if you're on a serious note, is it We Are Marshall? Is that the, is that what it's called?

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about.

JOANY BADENHORST: I think Team Dies On The Plane, except for this one. Yeah, I, you know what? I'm a sucker, I'm very emotional, and the credits can be rolling before the movie starts, and I'm already bawling my eyes out, but that's a sign of a good movie.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes. Unless you're watching a really bad movie against your will. I don't want to see Twilight again. Why are you making me watch Twilight again?

JOANY BADENHORST: Let me just say that Twilight was also not bad. I mean, bad that I look back at it now, but when it came out, I think it spoke to me as a person. Now, not so much.

BEN WATERWORTH: I remember watching that with my partner at the time, thinking, wow, there's 90 minutes of my life. I will never get back. We do a film and TV podcast as well, and we jokingly say, like, sending your request for any films, we will recap our review, except for Twilight. We will watch every movie from every country in the world until we finally get to do a Twilight recap. So you can hook us up with some good South African films.

JOANY BADENHORST: Oh, yeah, no. South Africa is so well acclaimed for their films. I will send through a couple.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good. All right. Now, there's another drawing one. They like to draw stuff. What would the coolest Olympic medal look like? Now, this person again has drawn what looks like a bell on a rope and a circle around it.

JOANY BADENHORST: Cool, cool, cool.

BEN WATERWORTH: Add that to your list of drawing homework. I'm giving you homework. Why am I giving you homework?

JOANY BADENHORST: No, I like it. Challenge. I don't know what a cool one would be. Automatically, I would be like, yeah, fake leg hanging from, you know. But I think that's only applicable to some people, and I don't want to be so confining. I'll have to think about it. I'll come up with something pretty creative.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good. I'm looking forward to these. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

JOANY BADENHORST: Anywhere in the world? I love Canada. I would easily live in Canada. I just think it incorporates all the different seasons and areas so well.

BEN WATERWORTH: Any particular part? Now, I'm not going to tell you where our co-host Colin is from. Let's see if you can end up in the same area as him.

JOANY BADENHORST: I do enjoy BC. I do enjoy BC. So I think Vancouver. I do love Vancouver. That area. Where's he from?

BEN WATERWORTH: He's from Winnipeg. So I don't know if you've been to Manitoba. It's nice. Look, I was there last year. It's not too bad. I do enjoy Vancouver. I shouldn't say not too bad. That sounds horrible. It's nice. Winnipeg, Colin, sorry if you're listening. Vancouver is very pretty. The whole country is great. I'm with you. I'm a huge fan of Canada. I love that country. When you were little, what did you always think? For example, this person said, when I was little, I always thought that I was a princess and now I'm a queen. That's their thought. When you were little, what was something you always thought?

JOANY BADENHORST: I thought that I was pretty amazing, and I invented a lot of cool stuff, but it just ended up being super dangerous stuff, and I was not being cool at all. I thought it was going to be like, oh, you know what? I also thought that I was going to feature in an Indiana Jones movie, because I used to go around. We lived on a farm, and I used to dig up old dead, this sounds so strange. I'm going to stop it right there. I just thought that I was going to like...

BEN WATERWORTH: I kind of think you need to finish that sentence there, Joany. Now we're like, no, no, you've got to finish that sentence.

JOANY BADENHORST: We had a slaughtering section on the farm, and bones would go there. So I would be dressed up as a mini Indiana Jones with one of my mum's turkey brushes that she used to baste things with and just brush dirt for hours, and then I would discover a random bone. I didn't even know if it was leftovers that my mum threw out, and just come home and go, imagine what this was, mum. This could be amazing. She's like, that was last night's dinner, Joany, go and put it away.

BEN WATERWORTH: All of you are going, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da.

JOANY BADENHORST: My favourite, favourite theme songs ever. Oh, Indiana Jones. What a man.

BEN WATERWORTH: They're filming the new one now, aren't they? The new one's due out very soon, so there you go.

JOANY BADENHORST: I did not know that. I think that should be on the list of movies to watch.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, casting, casting directors out there for Indiana Jones.

JOANY BADENHORST: Like, what do you call those people that like sub in for other people?

BEN WATERWORTH: Understudies.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yeah, understudies are like a, someone I can feature as like a legless person. You don't even need to use my face, just my leg. You can have it. It's so fun as long as I feature in it.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yep. You get accredit in that one. You get to hang out with Harrison Ford. Look, you know, perfect. Perfect. Now, your final one here. This is, I've actually made it to the bottom of this for once. I'm quite proud of myself. My favourite joke to tell is...

JOANY BADENHORST: Quickly, ask me if I'm a strawberry.

BEN WATERWORTH: Are you a strawberry? That's just one of those random ones where it's like, I think you're expecting this amazingly, you know, interesting answer, and you're just like, no.

JOANY BADENHORST: My team hates it, because I love it so much. I remember being in Austria in the elevator with a couple of the border cross races from their Olympic team, and they didn't speak a lot of English, and I was just kind of like chilling, trying to break up the awkwardness, and I'm like, oh, do you want to hear a joke? And they're like, yeah. And I was like, ask me if I'm a strawberry, and they're like, are you a strawberry? And I was like, no. And I started laughing, and they looked at me like I was some deranged animal that followed them home.

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. You've heard that here on the show today. The funniest joke you will ever hear. That's an incredible way to end this, Joany. Thank you so much. I will say best of luck for next year. We'll obviously be keeping everything, you know, cross for you going into that, and obviously rooting for you very hard here in Australia. And for sure, we'll get you back on the show post-Korea, talk to you about your two gold medal wins, and you know, obviously your future and being an Indiana Jones extra and a podcast host.

JOANY BADENHORST: Yes, thank you so much for having me and tolerating me. Ah, this has been so much fun.

BEN WATERWORTH: I think we've definitely been missing a female voice on this podcast, so there you go, we could have our future co-host of Off The Podium right there. Big thanks to Joany again, fantastically fun chat, and we'll definitely be keeping an eye on her in Pyeongchang next year. We've got more interviews coming your way, stay tuned. Myself and Colin have a couple more lined up, and we're always looking forward to bringing those to you. You can of course like us on Facebook, Off The Podium Podcast, that's where you can find us. Use the hashtag Off The Podium if perhaps you're listening to these and want to tweet about them as you're online. And we of course appreciate any sort of feedback along the way as well. Maybe there's an Olympian past present future that you want us to get on the show. We can reach out to them. Or maybe you are an Olympian past, present or future, and you've stumbled across our podcast and you thought, hey, I'd like to talk about my career. So you can get in contact with us, of course, on our Facebook page and let us know your thoughts. In the meantime, thank you once again to Joany. Thank you once again for tuning in to Off The Podium. We'll be back very shortly for another athlete interview. And until then, we appreciate your company. Good night.