Maeve Plouffe Interview
Get yourself excited for another amazing interview as we speak with Tokyo Olympian Maeve Plouffe to learn about her amazing Track Cycling career and her Olympic experiences! We find out just how on earth she went from pursuing a career in swimming to somehow ending up as a track cyclist. We also learn about which one event helped put her on the map to help her get towards Tokyo, and just what it was like to make the Olympic team ahead of a schedule which she had set out for herself. Added to this we learn about how the Olympics were for her, as well as just why her amazing abilities in a variety of different areas may help her succeed in several other Olympic sports along the way. It's a fun and informative chat that you simply can't miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast coming to you today for another interview episode. Very excited for today's interview. Our first ever taste of track cycling. Can you believe it that we've gone all these episodes and never spoken to somebody from track cycling? We're speaking today with Australian Tokyo Olympian Maeve Plouffe, who has just returned from Tokyo, funnily enough, and competed in the women's team Pursuit, where the team did finish fifth. And it's quite an amazing story, this story of Maeve's, because she really didn't expect to be on this team when she switched to cycling. It's a late start in some aspects to go to cycling, a sport that she never really set her sights on until a chance test changed her athletics career basically forever, and only a few years later ended up competing in an Olympic Games. It's a great story learning about everything that took her on that path, how many more Olympics she hopes to go to, the performances in Tokyo and how she thought the girls went, and even things around the mental training aspects of track cycling. It's very, very fascinating and a very insightful interview that I am sure you are going to enjoy. And you're about to enjoy it right now, because here is our chat with Australian track cyclist Maeve Plouffe.
BEN WATERWORTH: Always exciting to bring you a guest on Off The Podium, and I'm very excited for today's guest. Recently just returned from Tokyo, and as of today, she's speaking to us in quarantine. As of the time we're releasing this interview, she will be well out of quarantine and living up life. But having competed in her very first Olympic Games, and having a very interesting path into the sport of cycling, I'm very interested to learn a lot more about that journey, her experiences in Tokyo, and everything else in between. It's a pleasure to welcome Off The Podium, Maeve Plouffe. Maeve, first of all, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to chat with you today.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Thank you so much for having me. This is the highlight of my day, talking to someone who's not in quarantine at the moment. It has been a long two weeks, so this is great.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm just saying, you know your day's not very well when I'm the highlight. So thank you, but I'm also sorry at the same time. So I feel there's a balancing act going there. I'm actually intrigued to say that you're the very first track cyclist we've had on the show, which is interesting, because I sort of think of all the athletes we could get on Off The Podium, and we've spoken to many over the years, that you're actually the first track cyclist. We've had a mountain biker on the show, but never a track cyclist. So I'm even a little bit more excited, because it's one of those sports that, as Australians, we're generally pretty good at it. It's always one that gets a lot of coverage. We've had a lot of success in it. So it's one that we're very familiar with. But it's a sport that you didn't start out doing, Maeve. You were a swimmer. How on earth do you go from swimming to track cycling? I don't see the connection there.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah. So there's actually a lot of principles in swimming and in track cycling that are actually very similar and that cross over quite well. But I wasn't aware of that either. In fact, I didn't even think track cycling was a sport, to be honest. I didn't even know anything about it. My family doesn't do any cycling of any sport of any sort. And it was definitely something unfamiliar for me. I was actually picked up by the SASE Talent Identification Program when I was in my early teens. That's a program that comes around to schools, and they basically do some physiological testing. So they'll do the feet tests, they'll do jumps, heights, weights, everything like that. And they'll see if you're like a suitable candidate for any of the SASE programs. They didn't actually come to my school, but I went to a testing day for that, because I thought that maybe it was an opportunity to get into rowing or a sport like that. You know, I was a really, really sporty kid, and I was always looking for new opportunities. And I was actually, I didn't remember this, but my dad reminded me the other day that I was actually swimming the five kilometre open water state titles that day. And I was trying to make a national qualifying time. And so I'd just gotten out of West Lakes, which the South Australians will know is not the nicest place to swim five kilometres. It's not very nice at all. So I was probably 12 or 13 years old. I just finished swimming the five kilometre race, got out and went straight to Sassy, did my testing. And then I got a note in the mail saying, we think you'd be good at track cycling. And yeah, I had no idea what it was. And to be honest, I didn't actually really like riding my bike that much. But and I didn't know it was a sport, but I decided to go along. And when they put me on a bike, I realised like a track bike. I realised that this was not my hybrid mountain bike, slow thing at home. This was a nice bike and I really enjoyed going fast. And I did it for about six or 12 months in that in that program. So going out to the track once a week, I kind of put it around my other training. I was doing a lot of swimming at the time, and I was also running and things a bit. And I actually didn't really take cycling too seriously until a triathlon team called Fuse Multisport came to my school. So the coach, his daughter went to the school and he saw me swimming. And he asked if I could run and ride a bike as well. And I was like, well, sort of, yeah, I guess so. So we dabbled a little bit with triathlons. I was able to start riding on the road from there. And then as I got better with my cycling, that kind of just progressed from there, and I ended up taking cycling full time.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's interesting that it's very specific when they say, we think you'll be good at track cycling, because I guess there are ultimately a variety of disciplines for cycling. So it's very specific. I mean, what is it about the tests that show that, say, you're better at track cycling than road cycling or BMX, or, you know, something along those lines?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, that's a really interesting point. I think that a lot of the fitness testing was actually quite endurance based. So that sort of fits more of a track or road cycling discipline, although that would actually suit for mountain bike as well. I think it's just that SASE has quite a strong track cycling program, and they do like to start road cyclists and track cyclists with track. And that's kind of the pathway that they like to funnel riders through. Like a lot of athletes will do track to begin with, and then they transition on the road. We don't really have that same sort of multi-discipline pathway for mountain bike and BMX. But I would be really interested to see if they did have a mountain bike or BMX program, what sort of athletes we'd get for that as well, because that's something I've also never tried. And I think it would be really cool if you would have track cyclists who also dabbled in those other disciplines. But yeah, I did do when I was going to the track cycling program, obviously road is a really important part of my training. So I was given both options to do both.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm actually intrigued on a bit of attention just with your swimming days. You mentioned doing open water swimming. We actually talked a little bit about that during the Tokyo coverage when Carina won the bronze. We were intrigued to find out what is it that makes a swimmer go to open water swimming over lap swimming, because obviously it's a fairly newish discipline to the Olympic calendar. But in Australia, we think of swimming, we think of Thorpe, we think of Susie O'Neil, we think of the lap, we don't really think of open water swimming. So is there a decision as a swimmer that you go, I'm better suited to swimming in the open water than doing laps, or is it kind of, how does that work to choose open water swimming over the standard lap swimming?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Well, for me, it was that I wasn't good enough in the pool. No, the thing about swimming is that if you want to be an Olympic sort of prospect in the pool, you have to be making national teams like really young. You do have quite a young career. No, the open water for me actually kind of transpired from, I was quite involved in my surf life saving. And that is obviously open water swimming. It's a lot shorter. The surf life saving swim leg is only about 600 metres or so, but it's very similar principles. And so, yeah, I was definitely training in the pool more for a surf life saving sort of to race that event. And then I started entering in open water swimming competitions as well. So yeah, doing the five kilometre and the 10 kilometre. And also my team, my sorry, my club that I was involved in was quite good on like a state and national level at open water. And I just started getting like a lot more success in open water. Like I could place top 10 nationally in that, as opposed to the pool where like I'd be lucky to make a state final. Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: So with with the open water swimming career then, I mean, had that been something you pursued, never switched to track cycling? I mean, you mentioned they're making top tens of national teams. Was it something that realistic the Olympics were a possibility with that? And that's what you were aiming for at that point?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Um, I probably hadn't really thought too deeply about Olympics for open water swimming. I definitely enjoyed it. And like I was better at it than pool swimming. I was really seriously thinking about doing surf life saving sort of professionally. So obviously we've got that neutral grain Iron Woman series and things. And that was kind of always my dream, you know, move to Queensland and do the Iron Woman series or something like that, or even just continue as a swimmer, open water swimmer and go on to university there and things like that. I definitely always wanted to be a professional athlete though. I just hadn't really thought too deeply about what sport. I was really open to everything at that point.
BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, just on that though, just in the Olympics in general, of any of the sports that you were sort of dabbling in, were there any that you kind of looked at as a potential path? Were the Olympics something growing up that were like, wow, I would love to aspire to be an Olympian one day?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, I always wanted to be an Olympian. And I was training from such a young age so many times per week, like my parents thought I was crazy probably. I'd be up at four in the morning so that I could do a 30-minute gym session before my swimming session that started at five, and then I would go to school, and then I'd come home and train like that again in the evening. And that was when I was like 11 or 12 years old. So I remember I used to get one day off a week, and I'd go for a run on that day. Well, sorry, one morning off a week. So I'd wake up at five a.m. anyway. So I was always super trans fix on that goal. I remember I did get a school visit from, I think it was the Australian swim team when I was in school in Singapore. So I used to live there. And before the 2008 Olympics, they stopped by my school. And that's when I was like, oh, my gosh, these Olympians are amazing. I want to be like them. And so I think I just went into all these Olympic sports, trying to achieve the best, but kind of like spreading my effort across so many of them. The first time I heard someone say, like, potentially you can go to the Olympics was actually when I was doing triathlon. And I never end up really racing top level or anything like that in triathlon. I actually moved to cycling before I could. But that was definitely the goal. And my coach at the time said, look, like, you know, it's an Olympic sport. It's definitely an option. And we kind of phased out a plan to get me to Tokyo for triathlon. I remember, but pretty much within three months of making that plan, I made the switch over to pure cycling. And it was a big factor in picking cycling over surf life saving and other sports like that. I remember a coach at the time did tell me, he said, you can go to the Olympics for cycling. And that was kind of one of the things that actually did convince me. That was that was the tipping point. And I was like, yeah, you're right. Like, that's that's an opportunity there.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's really fascinating to kind of hear that background with the surf life saving because we spoke with Elise and Jordan Wood recently and sort of talked about the whole correlation in regards to canoeing and kayaking, that a lot of, you know, surf lifesavers switched to that, and they end up at the Olympics in in that sport. So, I mean, I don't know if you know this at the top of your head. I mean, are you the only surf lifesaver that has ever gone to the Olympics in cycling? Because again, it's sort of back to that question about swimming, that it's sort of not really correlated unless maybe you are doing the triathlon.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Surf life saving and cycling couldn't be more different. I'm sure that some people still volunteer in it and things like that. But the kayaking definitely has such a good correlation with surf life saving. And I actually do know that when I was talent transfer to cycling, I got a little letter in the mail saying you should try kayaking as well. And I actually did try kayaking for a bit. And I liked it. To be honest, I thought I had a better future in kayaking than I did with cycling because I was quite upper body heavy at the time. And, you know, it actually kind of suited me better. It's really interesting that I didn't pursue that any further. Actually, one of the main reasons was a bit more of an accident. I was doing my weekly cycling session and that's all I was doing on the bike at the time when I was 13 or so. And I fell off and I dislocated my shoulder and I couldn't. Yeah. And I couldn't. I didn't think it was that bad. I kept doing the sessions and stuff. And then I guess I had all this fluid in it or something. And for the next few months, I actually couldn't lift my shoulder up properly and I couldn't move it properly. So I couldn't swim for a few months and I definitely couldn't kayak. And that's kind of when I started picking up the cycling training a bit more to keep my fitness in. And in that time, I just decided to look like the kayaking is not really for me. But it's so funny because so many of my really close friends actually pursued that elite career in kayaking. And like most of my friends from SASE, from the gym and from Surf Life Saving, actually have gone on to do really well in kayak. And so I am aware of that correlation. And it does work really well. A lot of the Olympic kayakers will go to the Australian titles for Surf Life Saving and do the surf skis, which is really cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: Were there any other sports that they kind of suggested to you outside of cycling and kayaking? Do they sort of send you a list saying, hey, these are the top five sports we think would be suited to you?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Not really. Pretty much there's I think there's only five or so sassy key sports. So to even get two sports that they've suited is pretty rare. They do test a lot of kids. And I think the kayaking program, they get like 30 or so kids out of the 5000 a year, and they put them through that. And the cycling is really, really specific. I think they only get 10 just because the financial commitment to cycling is a lot. So they give the kids a bike and they do a bit more testing. So they'll actually get you on a bike and do VO2 testing. Once you make the initial cut, they'll like funnel it down even more because track time is expensive and kit's expensive and things like that. So two was I got two letters, but I don't think anyone really gets more than two. I think the other sports are volleyball. And that wasn't happening for me. My jump is not impressive. No, I was definitely an endurance athlete. And I think rowing might be another one. I'm not sure. I think there's another one, but I'm not sure. But I think there's four or five different sports that you can get selected for.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's actually really interesting to hear that and kind of that there's that talent pool, because I know we've had athletes on the show before where it's sort of more of a, they've been talent scouted to switch to a winter sport. You know, like if they're a gymnast, they're like, hey, like maybe you should try aerial skiing or, you know, we've had athletes on who have been, hey, you might be good at skeleton and kind of they make that switch. So, I mean, I'm not sure really if there's ever much of a transition from the physical physicalities of the sports that you do. I mean, speed skating is one that I know a lot of Canadian athletes go from cycling into speed skating. So it'd be interesting to see if one day you're going to get another letter all of a sudden from the Australian Winter Institute or something like that. Like, hey, hey, you could maybe try, you know, become our first female long track speed skater or something like that. You seem to be getting these letters. So who knows? Maybe one day.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: That would be funny, but I don't know if the world would be ready to see me try and ice skate.
BEN WATERWORTH: Who knows, right?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, we'll see.
BEN WATERWORTH: Keep going on a different route that way. So when, I mean, you mentioned before about sort of the bikes, obviously, you know, very different to what you've experienced before on that. But when you get on that track for the first time, I mean, what is the biggest thing that you notice? You mentioned you weren't really familiar with the sport. I mean, I've been to a velodrome and those things are scary. Like, you don't realise how steep they are and how scary looking they are until you actually are standing on one. So kind of was that part of it? What were sort of the things you were noticing when you first got out there onto a track?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, the banking of the velodrome is definitely the first thing everyone notices when they get to a velodrome. Like, you look up the thing and like, I don't think that most people in the general public who've never been to a velodrome understand that, like, you can't walk up the bends or even climb up the bends. If you even tried to climb up, you couldn't. Like, these are like 42 degrees. I think the one in Tokyo was 43 even. They are steep and you don't want to look down when you get to the top either. Even now, you just don't look down. That was the first bit of advice I got given. So it is scary, but I think with time, you definitely get used to that. And the other thing that I noticed from track cycling was, yeah, just that speed that you can get. And I love that it was purely physical as well on the track. Obviously, the bunch races are very tactical, and you need to be thinking and drafting. And those are incredibly tactical, to be honest. Like, that's the smartest rider out there. And I wasn't too good at those at first, but I've found my feet now. But I love just the purely physical events, like the pursuit and things like that, because it is the same as swimming or middle distance running, where you're just yourself against the clock. And that's something I really loved about cycling.
BEN WATERWORTH: And just on that, sort of when it comes to getting through the sport and working your way up, is it a case of that the Australian team are scouting people for potential team members for, say, the team pursuit and things like that? Or is it a case of they make those decisions up later on once they see how you're going individually? I mean, sort of how does that work, then, that you can become either, say, a team rider or an individual rider or you're doing both?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, it is actually really hard to make the Australian team a my sport because it isn't one of those sports where they kind of funnel people up and through. There is quite a distinct pathway of what you do. So you'll usually make your first state teams or something like that, usually a state development. So that's when you're like 13 to 16 years old. I actually never made the state development. I just went to a state title straight away because I wasn't very good. I wasn't very good. I loved it, but I wasn't particularly good when I first started. But I was training a lot. And when I first got given a taper, I suddenly just went so fast and I had no skills, nothing. But that's kind of where it clicked for me because I was just overworking myself. And so, yeah, you go to your first national titles. And if you get a decent result at a junior nationals, then you'll usually get put into a CISSA. So it might be SASI or QAS or VIS or just one of the state institutes. And that's kind of your pathway into the Australian team. So most people will be in that state institute for like five to ten years sometimes. You are in there for quite a while, and that's where you develop all your skills. You'll actually do a lot of road cycling there, so you have the option to like go to Junior Worlds on the road as well. And obviously you're studying things at the same time. Then when I got to sort of under 23, so I'd won a couple of national titles and had a few little call ups for World Cups. So I went to the Paris World Cup, for example, and raced with the senior team there, but I was by no means on the team. I was just kind of a villain. So if you're doing quite well at nationals and stuff, they might bring you in occasionally in the old ways. But what happened when I got to under 23s is they actually changed the structure and they made an Australian development team. So that was called the Podium Potential Academy. And they put me and pretty much the five or four other girls who were at the top of this national sort of range, but not quite good enough for Olympics yet. They were thinking more of like a Paris 2024 team. And they put like four of us in there. Sorry, I said five, but there was four of us who would make a team pursuit team. And we trained for team pursuit. And that's the way that the Australian track team goes is team pursuit is number one. And I'm just talking from endurance, not from sprints. Sprints are a completely different sport. People don't even realise, but it's totally different. But for endurance, yeah, there were four of us for a team pursuit team. And we would just do all the World Cups that the senior Olympics sort of squad wouldn't do. And we got lots of good racing experience. And we were actually full time athletes. We trained full time, but we were all between. We were all a bit younger sort of. Whereas the senior team was a bit more older, a bit more experienced. They were all world champions, et cetera.
BEN WATERWORTH: One thing I'd love to know when you are sort of working your way up the ranks in track cycling, is that you're obviously so attuned to having been a swimmer, Ironwoman, all those kind of things too, that when you switch to a completely different sport, and as you're mentioning sort of at the beginning, you're saying you're not very good, but then you obviously get to a point, mentally to try and kind of work through that, that you've been scouted to come to this sport. They're saying that you're suited to this sport, keep trying it. I can imagine during those initial phases when you're starting, and you may be thinking like, oh, well, they think I'm good, clearly I'm going to get on the track and I'm going to be great. But then you've got to work your way up to that level. I mean, kind of how do you get through that mentally to really get yourself in that zone and just stick with it? Is it just training? Is it just kind of pushing through those barriers to really get to the level where eventually you are going to an Olympics?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, well, I remember going to my first sort of national junior track series, and that's when you're about 13, 14 years old, like it's under 15s, under 17s. And I would come last in every race. I remember my dad even saying to me, he's like, you know, you're pretty good at swimming. You're sure you want to be doing this. And I did. I really did, because I did enjoy it. And I think that just came from the fact that my motivation has always been very individual. At the time, I didn't even care that I was coming last. Like, I look back on it, and I didn't care because I was almost so individually, like, transfixed that I just wanted to be improving my times and my best powers and like my individual result. Like, I was so transfixed on that. And I remember going to my first national title and, sorry, my first national championship on the track. And I got a silver in the individual pursuit, and I was so happy that I was crying. And one of the girls who was quite good at the time, and she'd won a lot of things in the sprint category, I remember she came up to me and she thought I was crying because I came second, was disappointed. And she was like trying to comfort me. And I was like, no, I'm so happy. I trained so hard my whole life, and I finally got a national medal. And to me, that was just such a big deal. And I went on to win a title in the time trial. So I won my first gold national title in the time trial that year as well. And, you know, it was such a big deal for me. So I think just like continuing on that trajectory, like maybe by other people's books, I wasn't the best. And I did get overlooked a lot of times, like I didn't go to the first junior world championships. I was eligible because I didn't make the team. And I did miss out on a lot of teams, you know, growing up. And I think my motivation was just improving myself, though, and improving my times and that. And I think that's what kept me going through all that time.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned about sort of the differences, say, between the sprint and the pursuit endurance. And obviously, there's key differences between so many of the track cycling events. Is it a case where, say, as a swimmer, you're going to maybe be that endurance swimmer? You're going to be a 1,500-metre swimmer, an 800-metre swimmer. Maybe you'll go into the 5k versus a 50 or 100 or 200. I mean, do you really kind of have to make that decision about the endurance versus the sprint? Or is there much sort of overlap? Like, you can do a sprint, but also still be doing, you know, a pursuit kind of thing like that?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: At the elite level, there's currently no athletes that will do sprint and endurance at the same time. So the sprinters kind of diverge, usually when you're in under-19s or as a junior. There have been a couple of exemptions. So like Elise Andrews, I raced her at Junior Worlds in the pursuit, and she kicked my ass, and then she's gone on to win Olympics over in the sprint now. So that's crazy. So there's a couple of exceptional athletes who will just jump over and make that switch. But for the most of us, you make that decision quite young. But the thing about being an endurance athlete is that you're actually a middle-distance athlete, and you're an ultra endurance athlete at the same time. So in running, you wouldn't have the guys who do a 1,500-metre also doing the marathon or 10-kilometre. Is 10-kilometre even a race? I think it is.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, 10,000 metres.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah. You wouldn't have them. But in track, a lot of the guys who... If you want to be good at an individual pursuit, for example, if you want to be a good endurance rider and make teams, you have to be good at that individual pursuit and that team pursuit. So those are both around four minutes long. But then you also probably have to be able to ride a Madison or any of the bunch races, which are like 30 to 45 minutes long. And you probably have to be a pretty good road rider as well. So road racers can range from a crit, which is like an hour, to a road race, which is five hours long. So you have to be good at four minutes and five hours, which is a massive range. And that's what we train for, which is really, really different from other sports. And that is something that is very unique to cycling. I wonder if in the future it's going to stay like that, or if you're going to have to be very specific moving forward, because even training, for example, for the individual pursuit now, is so different from training for the team pursuit, because they're both four minutes long. But in one of them, you're doing massive what's on the front, then swinging up and tucking in behind and doing few, so it's over under. Whereas in the individual pursuit, you're going out at a steady pace and just hammering it for three and a half minutes. So I do even wonder if those are going to become very different, and that if we're going to see athletes who are just super good at one and super specialised at one and not so much the other. But so far, most athletes who can do that to keep pursuit well can actually go and ride on the road well as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because the one thing I always find interesting about track cycling at the Olympics in particular is that it always seems to change slightly in terms of like, one year you've got a Madison, then you don't have a Madison, then there's a Kieran, then there's an Omnian. Like, things are sort of all that way and kind of it just is confusing. I mean, I know you've sort of got a good relationship with Brett Aiken, our gold medallist from Sydney in the Madison. I remember back in Sydney watching the Madison and the Kieran, like, being fascinated by these great events. But then come Tokyo, I'm watching the Omnium, and I'm thinking I need a physics degree to understand what anime is and that we're trying to explain to me on TV. Can anyone explain the Omnian? I don't know, but why do they change so much at Olympics in terms of the event? What is the scheduling? And do you know much about why they keep changing up at the Olympics?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: It is absolutely bizarre. So when my ex-coach, Brett Aiken, so he was my first coach, he brought me through all this.
BEN WATERWORTH: Pretty good coach to have as your first coach.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I know, I know. He's the reason why I'm here right now. And so he obviously won gold in Sydney, and there wasn't actually a women's Madison in Sydney. And not only that, the women's team pursuit was only three riders. That's something I've never understood because I never wrote it. It actually changed by the time I started. So, yeah, we've gone from not having women's Madison to having a women's team sprint with two riders. Now they're changing that to three after this year. Women's team pursuit with three riders. I'm pretty sure, and they had an omni in which used to include flying 200 sprints, individual pursuits, elimination race, scratch race, points race. So it was like the best all-rounded rider, and that was over two days. And then one day, they were just like, nope, changed it. And now it's all these kind of odd bunch races. So you've got a tempo race in there, and it's all written over like at the Olympics was one afternoon, which is crazy. And I mean, like, it's still a great race.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's entertaining, but I'm just like, what is going on?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, it's it's I wouldn't say it's the best rounded rider anymore. And sorry, before I missed, they also had a 500, 500 metre time trial on that. But it's a different race. So the riders who used to be good at Omnions, a lot of them are still good, but it's not the same. It's bunch racing now. And, you know, we're just having events thrown in and taken out. I would love it if the Olympic Committee would just stick to our world championship program because there are a lot of amazing, good quality races that actually aren't put in the Olympics, like the individual pursuit. Like some of the times that are being posted in the individual pursuit nowadays are incredible, like it's this amazing indication of just pure strength, just you versus the clock. And that's not in the Olympics. And I feel like that's the race that actually fits the Olympic motto and values the best. And that's not in there, which is such a disappointment. I think they're trying to make it interesting for the viewer. But in the process, so that's what they're saying they're trying to do. But in the process, I actually think they're making it more difficult and more complicated. So if you're not in the cycling niche, you don't understand it. Like, I don't think we can expect the general public to understand how Madison works. It's difficult. And same as a tempo race. Like, what is that? I think a lot of the athletes share the same frustration. You know, I think they could definitely simplify it, just move to like a world championships schedule, add in an individual pursuit. They could add in a points race, I think would be really entertaining. A good race to do, you know, you sprint every 10 laps and get 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, or 5, 3, 2, 1 points, sorry. And just events like that, which are actually pure sort of strength efforts.
BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, on that page, talking about say a scratch race. Now, you and I mentioned a little bit off air that I was at a championship you went to, the Oceanic Championships in New Zealand back in 2019. You won the scratch race at that, and a couple of silvers and bronzes as well. What was that experience like? You're talking about getting a silver medal at a national championship, to go on to become an Oceanic champion. I mean, that's a bit of a step up there. I mean, kind of what was that whole experience like to walk away with that amount of medals?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: That championship was actually probably the thing that started this whole Olympic journey. I'd actually come from a really bad injury. So I was over in Belgium and I crashed quite badly, broke my wrist, and I had quite a long recovery coming back because the whole team was still obviously overseas and joined themselves doing this big important training block that was really important for our training. And then, so this was the Australian development team. And then the Australian sort of Olympic team were starting to train up for the track at the time. They were getting ready for this Olympic. This was 2019. They were getting ready for their Olympic campaign.
BEN WATERWORTH: This was pre-COVID. We didn't know what COVID was back then, did we?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, pre-COVID, we thought that the Olympics were in 2020. And I remember coming back and just sitting on my ergo for weeks, weeks and weeks and weeks. So the stationary trainer and just punishing myself on this ergo, just doing so many hard efforts. And my power was so bad, I actually had to put a towel over my power metre because it would just make me sad. But it was just all about that perceived effort, just going so hard. And I came out of it feeling pretty strong, but I didn't think I was going crazy. And I went to the Oceania Championships, and I was just flying like I was feeling so good, and I had so many good races. And I think I got a medal in all of my events at Oceania, which was awesome because I did every event, which you usually don't do, like you usually pick and choose your races. And I was like, ask for it, I'm just going to do everything. And yeah, and I did. And I had such a great championships and yeah, I won that scratch race. And I think I pulled 10 seconds off my individual pursuit and our team. We pulled a massive amount of time off our team pursuit as well. We all did personal best there. So that was, I think, the thing that caught a lot of attention. And that opened up doors for me later down the track. So after that Oceania champs, I was given the option to train once a week with the Olympic squad because they had seven girls. And if they had eight, they could do two team pursuits. So I was allowed to come in once a week. And I treated that session once a week like my Olympics. Like I was like, if I've got to do so well in the session every week. But that Oceana was probably one of those like career defining moments, which is so funny to think because, yeah, it was just an Oceana. But it was a massive deal for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: The thing I loved about that event was that you had Australia and you had New Zealand, but then all of a sudden, you had Tasmania, you had South Australia, you had Southland, you had Waikato. You just got to have these regions. I remember covering it just looking around, and deep down, I'm personally covering the Southland athletes because I'm there writing for a local paper. But then I'm like, oh, there's Tasmanians and there's Australians. And then all of a sudden, there's Amy Kuer. I know she's a great Tasmanian and things like that. And you kind of got to get in the zone, but it was such a unique event. And it was fun. That's a really interesting championship. And one of the most interesting sporting championships I've ever been to.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I really miss Oceana championships. I can't wait for them to come back. You know, some of I would say that my best successes have actually generally been around Oceana championships, more so than nationals. I think I won a road time trial at Oceana once when I was in under 19s. And it was still to this day, one of the happiest wins of my life. And just because it's so much fun racing against the Kiwis as well. And just the depth of the bunch racing, the depth of the bunch racing when you get everyone together. And especially for someone like me, who at that time in my career, Oceana championships was like the highest level I would race. You know, I went to Junior Worlds once, which was obviously a higher level, but that was my international racing. So for the girls on the highest ones, they were like, oh, this is nothing. But for me and for the other sassy riders, we were like, oh my gosh, we're like, this is international racing. And we got to race like the top level girls at those races. So it's a really big deal.
BEN WATERWORTH: And you weren't green and gold. You're representing Australia. I mean, you know, that is a big deal. It doesn't matter where you are in the world to compete for Australia. I mean, that's got to be a huge honour to wear that uniform.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, yeah. I think we were in our like Australian development uniforms, I think. And then in the Oceanas before that, I would, I think I raced for the South Australian Sports Institute. But still, like, yeah, just to even go to New Zealand and to get a taste of international racing and racing against the girls who I later won't go on to race against in World Cups and stuff.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, I've got to ask, I don't know how much downtime you get when you're in Invercargill, but did you try a cheese roll when you were there in Invercargill?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: No, but I do remember one thing completely stumping me, and I'm not sure if this is a New Zealand-wide thing or just Invercargill, but I remember ordering a cappuccino, and they asked me if I wanted chocolate on top or cinnamon on top. And I have never heard of having cinnamon on top of a coffee.
BEN WATERWORTH: I don't know if that's an Invercargill or New Zealand thing, but I remember getting that asked a lot too, and you just kind of went with it. But yeah, I don't know if that's just a uniquely Invercargill or a New Zealand thing, but you find that out when you're in a... because you assume that New Zealand is just going to be the same, like, oh, it's just Australia Junior, like, everything's going to be the same. But I would have words said to me, and I had no idea, like, when the first time somebody said to me, Chur, I'm like, sorry, what? Chur? And they're like, Chur, what are you saying to me? It's like, thank you. Chur, cheese. Like, Chur, Chur, bro. Like, I was confused the shit out of me. And then, like, you kind of take a step back when somebody says, oh, I'm just going to lux the office. And you're like, you're going to do what to the office? I'm going to lux it. It's short for Electrolux, the brand of vacuum cleaner. They're going to vacuum. I'm like, OK, there is a different language going on here that I just am so naive I didn't understand.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: They've evolved.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, they have. They have. They're just going to learn now how to pronounce sixes better. And then maybe we can...
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, I have a theory that it's going to be even worse after COVID, because they've just been, like, geographically isolated. So, like, I do... My university degree is biology, so you hear all about, like, continental isolation, when we get these crazy animals and species evolving. I think the slang is going to evolve even further now. They've just been with themselves for that long. Probably the same as Australia.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, the sad fact is, when you live overseas, as I'm sure you're aware, you get in a zone, you get used to things, but then all of a sudden, when you're back to, say, Australia, like, I lived overseas for nearly three years. When I got back to Australia this year, I'm like, do we sound like that? Is that what our accents sound like? And then if I speak to someone back in Canada or back in New Zealand, I'm like, do I live around that accent for how long? Like, what's going on? Like, it's a weird sort of thing, isn't it, when you go from living in one place to another and sort of get back used to being in a certain place?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, you definitely acclimatise.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's a strange sort of beast of that. Obviously, you mentioned about Oceanics being sort of almost like a stepping stone, helping you get out there sort of to lead towards the Olympics. That was end of 2019, as we said. Now, COVID, we're thinking that a normal Olympics is going to happen in that point about eight or so months' time. At what point did you think to yourself, the Olympics are now a realistic possibility? I'm not having to wait till Paris. I can actually go to Tokyo instead of Paris.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, that was a big time, and that actually happened over a couple of months. So to paint the picture, I wasn't in the running. I thought that at my best, I could contribute a lot to the team. So I actually went and asked. I held a meeting with one of the head coaches, and I was like, look, I'll kick myself if I don't have a shot at making this team. And at the worst, I think I can help out. I can help get everyone to this level. I just want to contribute, and I want to be a part of it. And they were like, yeah, okay, cool. But once I got that opportunity to go into the training environment just once a week, I was giving my all to that session, and I was coming prepared and just trying my absolute best. And I got a phone call. I was actually meant to be going to Glasgow World Cup in, I believe it was October, I think, after the Oceania Champs. And I got a phone call, and they said, look, we're actually, we've seen enough from you. We're not going to send you to this Glasgow World Cup. We're going to send you with the A-Sport to Cambridge World Cup and to Brisbane World Cup. And I was like, oh, wow. And at the time, Amy Cure, I think, had suffered a bit of an injury. So I think I was sort of filling in for her. But regardless, I was, the team was sort of getting dwindled down. So pretty much after that announcement was made and after the Glasgow World Cup, the team of eight girls got cut down to six. And I was in that six. And I was like, whoa, because I wasn't even expecting to, you know, be in the eight to the end with. So suddenly the team had been cut and I wasn't, I'd moved up as well. And I was like, okay, here we go. And I was told not to even really expect to get a ride in in Cambridge. I was told like, you know, you're going to kind of be a reserve. And I ended up riding every round and including the final. And I was like, okay, this is pretty good. But I was very aware. It was a very stressful time because I was very aware that if I had one bad ride, potentially that was me done. Like they'd probably be like, you're at the, cool. Thanks for helping us out. So I was like, I can not screw this up. And so I went to Brisbane and it was the same deal. I rode all three rounds and I was like, okay. And we kept training after that. I kept training really hard. And by this point, the pressure was actually building up. And I would always perform on race day. I think that's something that I'm proud of myself for, is that I do always bring it out on race day, and I don't really crack under pressure. But because we were doing all this racing, it was just building up and building up. And then they were selecting the world championships team. And they said, if you don't make the world championships team, you can't make the Olympics. You're done. And I remember going to a trial race the day before. And it was bittersweet because I realised I had made the team based on one of my teammates not making the team. And so I didn't even really get... And that was for the world championships team. So we were getting told who was going to the world championships, and there would just be five girls going to the world championships, and there were six at this point. And I had two great world cups, and I was riding really well in training. I was giving everything my absolute all. So I really wanted to make this team. And yeah, we all got sat down one day, and they were like, OK, we've actually decided to cut so-and-so. And that was actually really hard to hear because I found out I'd made the team. So I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to the world champs. That means I'm going to the Olympics unless anything happens. But then at the same time, I was like, it's just hard because everyone gives it their absolute all in the lead up to the games. And this had been a three, four year endeavour for the other three girls who hadn't made the cut. So yeah, you did feel for them. So that was hard. But I think I definitely got to celebrate it after the world championships finished. And I had three, sorry, two really good rides. We didn't make the final. So two really good rides in the world championships. Like within myself, I was really happy with how I rode. The team didn't go as well as we hoped, but it was an improvement for me still, like I was still learning. And it was after that world championships when I knew I was on the team, and then it got announced and I was like, oh my gosh, this is actually real now.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which going right back to when you mentioned about how you'd always dreamed of becoming an Olympian. I mean, I can't imagine that that is a moment you can even put into words to realise that this is that childhood dream. You realise that you are now always going to be an Olympian.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, and that's it. And I don't even think I have really realised it. Maybe I'll realise it when I see my family and stuff. You know, I'm looking back on the fact that Tokyo was just two weeks ago, and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's done. Like, we've done this already. And I think I just always had my sights so set on like Paris or something that Tokyo was like a stab in the dark for me. Like, I just threw myself at Tokyo and was just like, I want to be part of this. Let me in. And like, perhaps like sometimes I probably came off as intimidating, and there were times when like I did have to absolutely just rattle it to get in this team. But at the end of the day, like this journey has gone so quickly and so fast, and it's been so hectic that it's crazy because I actually haven't had a time to sit back and reflect yet.
BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine you say sort of little something to your parents about, you know, hey, remember that time when I started track cycling, you said maybe I should stick to swimming? Well, hey, just got back to the Olympics. So, you know, just kind of worked.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I think my parents always knew that I was going to be a professional athlete in some ways. They didn't know what it was, but they were like, yeah, we always knew.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which obviously the delay of the Olympics, I can imagine from that joy of becoming, you know, an Olympian, you know, you're going to the Olympics, to Australia withdrawing, and then all of a sudden the games being postponed. What was that period like when you find out that, because Australia, if I'm not mistaken, was the second nation behind Canada to say, no, we're not going. And they hadn't announced at that point that the games were delayed. So there was every possibility that if an Olympics went ahead in 2020 as scheduled, that Australia would not be competing. So what are the motions like when all of a sudden it's, hey, I'm an Olympian, but I might not be going to the Olympics because Australia are not competing at the Olympics?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, so that time was really hard to take because, you know, I'd just gone through such a hard few months. It was emotionally really draining few months, and there was like lots of highs and lows, and I'd ended it on a massive high, and I was like, I've done it, I'm going. And then finding out that news, it was just it was devastating because I felt like I had earned it, and it just been ripped away from me. But then at the same time, I knew it was the decision that had to be made. And at that point, we didn't think we, for there are a few weeks there where we didn't think the games were going ahead, and we thought they'd been cancelled. And they were like, it was it was actually quite hard because I even remember announcing my Olympic that I'd made the team. And this is when COVID was like sort of just trickling through. And I remember like everyone congratulating me, but then everyone being like, oh, if it happens or like if you go like, and they're actually there are even some like nasty sort of people like, you're entitled if you think you'll go to the Olympics. And I was like, what? What am I supposed to say? This is my job, you know? And I remember it being quite hard because, yeah, you don't want to talk about the Olympics because people would be like, you're naive if you think they're going ahead. But then you had to have that hope and you had to wake up every morning and train like the Olympics were going ahead. I think that was the hardest bit is that we still had to wake up every morning while everyone else is in lockdown or when everyone was just stopping their jobs. And everyone, there's kind of jokes where people were like, oh, we've been eating unhealthy, we've been drinking and all this stuff, we've been partying during COVID. It was so much fun sort of thing for a little bit. And then it got hard, obviously. Whereas we were still having to wake up every morning training like we were getting out of this thing. And that was quite hard. But I actually didn't take any time off when I heard that the Olympics were postponed. So I think everyone else I know did. They all took like a week or two off just to process it and then get back into things. I just kept going full steam ahead. I was like, I just had to throw myself at it even more. And in hindsight, it was like I actually realised a few months in that, you know, the postponement was actually a benefit for me. And I realised that if it did go ahead, a whole lecture year of prep for someone like me who's young and has just started this team is the best thing that could happen for me because it is a team sport. And I was a new member of this team. The whole team had been training together for some four years and I had just made it in. And I would have been going to the Olympics with a team that I'd been racing with for like a couple of months, which is crazy. So that year I realised was a huge benefit for me. And I think that was like a mental turning point. And that's what gave me that motivation.
BEN WATERWORTH: When it comes to team cycling, how important is that team bonding aspect in terms of, you know, let's do some activities outside of just hitting the track and hitting the gym? Because I would love to kind of hear how that works in terms of the team camaraderie on the track versus off the track. Because, I mean, we're talking a soccer team, you can understand how bonding off is going to help you on the pitch. But how can bonding with the girls help you then on the track when you're racing at full power?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I would definitely say that track cycling team pursuit is more alike to soccer or a team sort of ball sport, as opposed to like a relay. So in a relay, we've got like you go, you do your effort, and then you pass it on or you hit the wall and the next person goes in and does it. And your effects, your, sorry, result doesn't actually affect the next person, except for in the overall time. Whereas in track cycling, what you're doing on the front is actually directly impacting what the person behind you is going to be able to do when they hit the front and how many laps you do on the front and the decisions you make out there. And the trust that your team has in you is actually going to directly affect the outcome. So I think team bonding is actually a really important part of it. And the group that we have is actually got a really good dynamic. We had a couple of more experienced riders, and then we had a couple of younger riders. And I think one of the main aspects is having that trust in every single person in the team that they're going to go do their job and do it to the best of their ability. And you do have to know the people on your team inside out because you've got to know what their tells are when they might be struggling or slowing pace because you've got to yell them to get out of there. You've got to know what they do when they're feeling good or if they're feeling good because then potentially they can go longer or do further. And also different roles, different wheels have different skills about them and different natures that they fill. So you've got to work with the team and get all the personalities together and figure out which person is suited for which wheel and kind of optimise that. It is definitely an optimisation task. And it's not like soccer or rugby or something where you kind of have your set position. You can be flexible, move positions around and change tactics, but you need to understand everyone's strengths and everyone's weaknesses. And you have to be really open about that in the team. We know each other back to front, and we know every weakness of every single person. I remember we actually had a meeting one time, and we all sat down, and we all just laid it down on the table. And this was quite a while ago, but this is when I first made the team, and I was like, oh my gosh, is this what this is like? And everyone was like, it wasn't just like your physical weaknesses, it was like your personal weaknesses, how you presented yourself, your personality. It was intense, but that's the level we have to get to.
BEN WATERWORTH: What are they saying? Like, you don't wear deodorant enough, or like you snore too loud. What are they saying to you?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Fortunately, it wasn't that petty, but it was just like everyone just has their little things. I think at my point, I was trying to strike the difference between, sorry, strike a balance between being like engaged and active within the team, and then talking too much and being too into it and being too intimidating. So my feedback was like, you need to like chill out sometimes. But you know, it's just about like, and you can't take anything personally. And it was actually a really hard thing when I first made the team, because we will do an effort on the track, and then we'll come in and we'll talk about it. And that's with every single effort. You're under the microscope constantly, and you're getting feedback. We call it feedback, but you're just getting feedback just from like every angle. You're getting it from the coach, and then you're getting it from four other girls on the team, and then you're getting it from the sports scientists, and then everything else. And it is constant. And it's like I had to ask a psychologist, like what to take in and what to leave out, because you can only absorb so much feedback. Sometimes it gets to the point where it's actually not constructive anymore. It's just like you can't take it all on. And it is difficult because you have to have a personality that does fit within the team. And it's really hard to find that personality and to make yours fit within the team, because it is something that you have to learn.
BEN WATERWORTH: The Team Pursuit is just a bonkers event. I love watching it because it is just so thoroughly entertaining, but it's just, it's bonkers, because there's someone who knows nothing outside of being a four-year observer of the Olympics about the sport. It's just, I watch it and go like, you guys are crazy. I'll be honest with you, I can't ride a bike. I've never learned how to ride a bike. There's an open admission on the show right now. But I can't even imagine what it's like to then to compete on that level, to go on those banks and kind of do it at the speed that you guys are doing. What is it about the Team Pursuit that just makes it so exciting for you though and all your teammates? Obviously, it's competing at the top level, going to an Olympic Games representing your country, but I can't imagine when you're out in the track, you think, oh, I love this. This is the best thing ever. But like it's kind of, I mean, what is it about it that just makes it so great?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I think when you're out there, there are actually some times, there's times when you're like, wow, this is great. For example, when your team is going well and everyone's just doing their role on the front and you're going past your coach and he's, so we actually have a little, well, like not whiteboard. It's actually like a little iPad that the coach holds up and he has our splits on it. So we're going around and say 15 second laps. That's if we're on a good day, but we're going around a 15 second laps. And you can't deviate, ideally, you can't deviate from that more than 0.2 of a second. If you do, everyone's going to be pretty pissed off at you because that's people's legs that makes you tired. So you want to be like on that 15 seconds. So when he's, and he's got little colours, this is how our team does it at least. Every team's a little bit different. But for us, we get showing colours. So a green means, yep, you're on. And when you're out there and you're just seeing like greens every lap and you're feeling good and you know everyone behind you is feeling good, and you know it's going to be a fast time, and you're like ready to bring it home, that is a good feeling. And it's a good feeling coming over that line and seeing that time and being like, yeah, we all did that. Like we all contributed to that. And then you get off and you're looking at the splits and it's like exciting. And like unfortunately, we didn't really have that moment at the Olympics, but there were so many times in training before the Olympics where we had those days. And we saw our times, like we actually broke the world record a few times in training in the lead up, which is crazy. And that's such a motivating thing to know that you're capable of doing that. So obviously it was unofficial, like you need to have stuff around there. But you know, to get those times and get those splits and get results with your team is just the best thing when it all comes together.
BEN WATERWORTH: What then, I mean, if you're setting world records in training kind of in the lead up to the Olympics, I mean, do you go in then thinking, well, hey, this is ours, we can get a gold. I mean, kind of what were the expectations of the team heading into Tokyo?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, we thought we could get a gold, to be honest. We didn't see why not. And I think that's the attitude that you have to have going into an Olympic Games. And it was probably the most prepared I'd ever felt within my team. And the best, I think, prepared the team all felt. It just happened to be that there was just one bad day on that first day, and that wrote us out of the medals. And, you know, hindsight is crazy. So we're going to have to go through and, like, look at our training all the way up to it. Maybe we peaked too early. Not sure. I haven't looked at, like, all the physiology behind it and the training and everything. But the fact that we were going a lot faster in training than we did at the Games does show that something's gone wrong. And I think it might have been more from the physical side of it. Perhaps we just haven't all come together at the right time or been on on the right time. But it is still really exciting for Paris. You know, that's something I've had to take away from it. I was like, I was so disappointed. Like, it's funny because, like, I was so excited to make the team, and then I come fifth, and I'm disappointed in that. Like, it's crazy how your bar changes. Like, I shouldn't be disappointed with fifth at the Olympics. Like, I think that's crazy. But like, I'm not going to lie, I was really disappointed with fifth. And I, but you do have to take something positive away from that because, like, otherwise you're not going to keep improving. So I think we can take away that as a positive and the lead up as a positive and a lot of little key things from that and move that into Paris and like, try and go a lot better.
BEN WATERWORTH: How does it work on the mentality side of things? Because I'm always intrigued in sports in the Olympics where, say, you don't make it to the medal rounds, but you still got to come out and try and finish fifth. Like, is there a motivation to just want to finish fifth? Or are you just at the point where you're like, fuck this, we're not getting a medal. Who cares about finishing fifth or sixth?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I was like, I went so hard on that fifth spot round, like, because, yeah, we had to do that. We had to ride for fifth, and I was like, like, I went so hard. I think, because I think in our sport, you can still go for a time, and I just wanted to put out the best time possible. Like, you still have to ride for your country, and you're still putting on that green and gold skin suit, so you're still going to give it your absolute best, and you also owe it to your teammates to give the absolute best. So I'm riding in a fifth, sixth final with that same fire that I would be for a first, second final.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, it's just always fascinating, because I can imagine there is that motivation to kind of come out. And as you were just saying, after this whole sort of journey and everything, and you get back home relaxed, you can always say, I finished fifth in an Olympics. I mean, that's a pretty cool thing to be able to tell people about. But it's just that interesting moment where, watching the Rugby Sevens girls coming out, not making that, and then all of a sudden they got to back it up, oh, we're going to go and finish fifth. It must be just such mixed emotions, as you're saying. I want to go out there and do it, but at the same time, it's like, well, why? It's kind of like, what's the point?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, no, it's definitely, but I think definitely having a team sport as well, makes it, like, increases that motivation, because you're just, no matter what you're writing for, for example, even when we're just writing a trial against no one else on the track, no one sees the results, and it's literally the only people that see the result is you and the coach. And, like, I will still go, like, full ham. Like, it doesn't, I guess, to me, it just doesn't even matter who's watching. Like, I would go, like, for example, today, I did a 20-minute max test, absolute full pelt in my room, and, like, no one's gonna, no one sees that, no one's gonna look at that data. I'm not putting it anywhere. That's just for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: You can share it now if you want to. You can press the coaches and all out if they want to know.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: You don't want to know the data for it, wasn't that great? But yeah, I guess just the motivation is so intrinsic that it's never even crossed my mind to kind of, yeah, not go my hardest.
BEN WATERWORTH: I love hearing about the camaraderie in the teams of the individual sports. For example, we've had a few people on from athletics recently and sort of just they've talked about how the motivation was so high amongst the team along that journey in Tokyo. What's it like during with the cycling team? Obviously, the men came out and got the bronze sort of in the pursuit. So I can imagine, obviously, you guys probably work a little bit closer. You're kind of doing the same thing. I don't know if that worked. But I mean, what is the camaraderie and sort of the team-mate-ness like during an Olympics and how sort of was it after the games had finished based on the performances that the team gave?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, so we're really close with the managed track endurance team in particular and also with the sprinters. So we train together pretty much all the time. We do all our training together. And the culture and the lead up to the games was great. Everyone was so amped for each other. We were all excited to see each other go, and we had really high hopes for each other, and they really think that bounced off for each other. That first day was hard because we qualified out of the medal spot. So our qualification meant that we couldn't get a gold on that first day. And I'm not sure if you saw, but in the men's track endurance team pursuit, the handlebars snapped off.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, just a bit of a break.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, which is like that's never happened.
BEN WATERWORTH: What happened?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I've never even seen that in my life. I've got no idea. I think it was just like a fault in the bars, but we've been riding those bars for so long now, and that's never been a thing. I think they're releasing an official report, but I'm not really sure. And it definitely didn't concern me. I think I wasn't even running those bars anyway, but regardless, it was just shocking, because we were like, what just happened? And then the boys obviously qualified out of that spot as well. And we all got back to the hotel, and everyone was just like, what the fuck just happened? We were just like, this was not how it was meant to go. Everyone was so shocked and confused. And we all got sat down in a meeting, and they were kind of just like, look, you guys can still go for a bronze medal. Everyone here, we had a shit first day, but it's not the end. And I definitely was really impressed how our team picked ourselves up for the next day and gave it our all. We took a huge chunk of time off on the next day, and we qualified, I think it was like 0.2 of a second. It was something tiny out of the bronze medal ride. It sucked how close we were to getting into that ride off. It was...
BEN WATERWORTH: Anyway... It's not frustrating still at all.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: But we were so close. But the fact that we took that much time off to get like... And came so close to getting that bronze medal. I do commend our team for that. That took a lot of guts. And then the men's team obviously did the same, and they did get into that ride off. And I guess it was just the most hectic few days of team pursuiting as well, because I think there was like four crashes in the team pursuit. Someone who doesn't watch cycling, they're probably like, oh yeah, high speeds, big helmets, can't see anything. Of course, there's crashes, but no, that's not an usual thing. There's never usually a crash in a team pursuit. There might be one, and everyone will kind of laugh at it, because they're like, haha, you crashed in a team pursuit. You don't crash in team pursuits. That's not what happens. And there were so many crashes in the team pursuit. And even when the boys won bronze, we were so excited for them. But the Kiwis crashing, that was so disappointing for them as well. And obviously, everyone on the team has a great relationship with the Kiwi men's team as well. So you did feel for them. So it was definitely just not what we expected the vibe to be. And as the week went on, we had a few more disappointing results. And it was hard to watch. It was hard to watch Madison teams and things like that just not go as well as they expected. But I think it's a hard lesson to learn, and it's hard to watch your teammates go through that. But I think it's going to make us so much stronger in the next few cycles because it's definitely... Without being able to race for so long, we're training our asses off every single day, but we're not racing, we don't know what the other countries are doing. We've kind of been out of that bubble compared to the people, like the Europeans and stuff, which has been a big disadvantage. So we really didn't know what we were going to be coming up against.
BEN WATERWORTH: But on that, as you were sort of alluding to there, it's got to motivate you sort of moving forward. As we keep saying, everyone keeps saying it's only three years to Paris, so it's a shorter cycle, but you've got things like the Commonwealth Games next year, obviously World Championships, World Cups. So you can take that disappointment, sort of bottle it, and then spur that on towards the success that will lead you into 2024.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, and I already am. So one thing I told myself that I would do is after the Olympics, win or lose, is that I would continue training up until World Championships, which are in October. And as soon as my race is done, I started training for World Championships. So I've actually been on my bike every single day that I've been in quarantine. Every single day, I've done efforts on my ergo every day, which everyone thinks I'm crazy for doing, but I'm so motivated for World Champs. I want to go and put out an awesome time in my races and also try some new events. We'll see what we do. I'm not even... The team hasn't even been announced yet, but that's like a massive motivation for me. So I'm going to channel that all into the World Championships.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just on the question about the team camaraderie, is there much sort of crossover or kind of, I guess, connections with the other cycling disciplines? So are you sort of, you know, working at any point with, say, any of the... I mean, road cycling is probably a little bit closer, but the BMXs or the mountain bikers, are they sort of... Because they're all cycling, you're sort of in the same family, or you're never going to bump into Logan Mart to celebrate his gold medal with him because he's in BMX and sort of doesn't associate with you guys in the lunch room or something like that?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, so traditionally, it was very exclusive and everyone was all split up except for the road cyclists. We generally have pretty good relationships with the road cycling discipline. Because we are in Adelaide, it is pretty limited to who's in Adelaide. So the people we mostly have connections with are the road cyclists when they come from Europe to Adelaide. Obviously, we see a lot of them then, but most of the time they're in Europe, so we don't see them. We have all the track cyclists in Adelaide. Then we have sometimes the BMXers, so Anthony Dean, he trains in Adelaide. He's based in Adelaide. He went to the Olympics for BMX race, so he trains in the gym with us, so that's cool. And it is cool seeing the BMX and the mountain bike and stuff like that. We don't have a lot to do with the mountain bikers, simply because actually they stayed in our hotel in Tokyo, so we definitely got to be around them a little bit for Tokyo. But other than that, they're in Europe as well, doing that whole World Cup circuit, et cetera. So that's sort of separate again. And then with the freestylers, that's only been a very new introduction. But I went out and watched Freestyle Nationals in, I think it was March or so. We happened to be in Melbourne at the same time, so I actually went out and watched it, and I loved it. I thought it was so cool. So I definitely think that we're, now that it's odd cycling, we're definitely being more, everyone's kind of getting to know each other a bit more, and there's been more cross-discipline sort of stuff. And we definitely, I watched all the BMX in Tokyo. I had it on all the time, the race and the freestyle. And we fly with them, for example. We flew to Tokyo with the BMXs as well and things like that. So we're definitely getting to know each other all a bit more.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because it's always fascinating sort of at the Olympics when you've got, you've got a sport where it's like cycling. Boom, there's your sport. But then it's sort of almost seen separate. I mean, you know, your indoor volleyball are not going to be hanging out with the beach volleyball, even though you're sort of playing the same sport with slightly different disciplines. So it's kind of...
MAEVE PLOUFFE: It is weird like that.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's unique, yeah. So I always like to see that crossover and to see where, you know, because I can imagine seeing like Logan winning the gold. Like it's kind of like you're under the banner of cycling. You've gotten a gold medal coming into the track meets. That's kind of like a bit of motivation, like great, cool, great start for the cycling crew.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: It was actually a bit like that because obviously the management of cycling kind of looks over all of that. So the people that manage like the BMXs are the same people that manage ASTRA, the same people that manage mountain bike and freestyle and sorry, and race and mountain bike. So it definitely, we definitely did all support each other from that perspective because Australian cycling team is Australian cycling team. We definitely have more of a connection with the other people in the Olympics who ride bikes compared to say the other people who do diving or swimming or running. It's definitely more of a connection with the other fellow two-wheeled athletes.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like to hear that.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: And the power cyclists as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Brilliant, brilliant. I'm discovering certain things in certain sports. We've had a few biathletes on and it's kind of that crossover between biathlon and cross-country skiing. It's not really there, even though biathlon is just cross-country skiing with a shooting element to it. It's kind of the same but a little bit different. It's very interesting to me to see that you're sort of doing the same thing but not, and how you can work together to compete with that team-ness and go, as you said, the Australian cycling team, doesn't matter what discipline we do, we are all the Australian cycling team.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, definitely.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it works that way. Now, I would love to learn more about your sort of this experience of being at the Olympics, because we've obviously had a few people from Tokyo on, and some who have, say, been to other Olympics and kind of comparing it. Obviously, it's your first Olympics, so you don't really have another comparison. But in terms of just the Olympic feel, like experiencing what it's like to be an Olympian there in Tokyo, a very different experience. But were you able to soak it up? Were you able to kind of just, you know, realise, hey, I'm in Tokyo, I'm at an Olympics, you know. Everywhere I go, there's rings, I'm getting free food, I'm doing all this kind of stuff. And were you able to do the closing ceremony, at least? I know you obviously probably weren't able to do the opening, but could you do the closing?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, it's really interesting because the cycling was actually quite far out from the Olympic Village. So we were a good hour and a half, two hours away from Tokyo. So we were out in the country. And we, as a team, didn't even stay. They had like a cycling village. So it was like a mini version of the Tokyo Village, but just for cyclists, how fun. And we didn't even stay in that because when we were preparing for the Olympics, we weren't sure how bad the COVID was going to be and how bad the situation was going to be. And we kind of identified that that might actually be a barrier to getting on the start line. And if someone in the village got COVID and passed it to our team, like we're screwed. That didn't end up happening to any of the cyclists, but we were staying in a different hotel regardless. So we pretty much had a whole hotel booked out just for us. It was amazing. It was such a cool hotel. But that part definitely made it feel more like a World Cup or a World Championship, which is good in some ways because it reduces the pressure. It made us feel quite comfortable. Like I got to race day, and it's so crazy. I wasn't even nervous at the Olympics. I thought this would be like peak nerves. And I wasn't nervous, which is cool actually. And I think I really got myself the best out of myself that day because it felt like another race to me. Then there were some aspects that did make it really feel like an Olympics, like getting on the kit and having the rings on the track and finally seeing other countries again, which was really cool. But yeah, I actually never got to see the village, and we didn't get to do a closing ceremony. So those are things that I'm really looking forward to, like maybe one day doing in Paris or even LA, and hopefully, in Brisbane.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I was going to say on that, because I was going to ask you about Brisbane, because I mean, you're still quite young, Maeve, and I was looking at the comparisons between yourself and, say, a certain Anna Mears. Now, Anna was 21 when she made her debut in Athens. You're 22, if I'm not mistaken. Her last Olympics in Rio, she was 33. You'll be 33 in Brisbane. Her fourth Olympics could be your fourth. I mean, I'm trying to work out here the parallels here, that there's plenty of opportunity and chances for you to keep going to Brisbane there.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, yeah, I would love to keep going to Brisbane. Obviously, I've got no idea what's going to happen in the next 11 years. So, yeah, who knows, but that's something that I think is plausible. And in cycling, especially women in cycling peak a lot later than, say, in other sports, like swimming, they tend to peak early 20s or so. Actually, there's a lot of people that are now peaking older. But in cycling, I really think a lot of the best female cyclists get it out of themselves when they're 28 to 30 range. And so that's when I'm expecting to see my best performances.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, we're going to close this out with a series of fun questions. Before I do, one thing I believe you are studying is both science and law, which...
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yes.
BEN WATERWORTH: How does that work? They seem slightly different. I mean, are you doing science, law? Is that kind of how it works? But I mean, how do you end up studying such different disciplines?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, so they are very different and definitely use very different sides of your brain. But when I was in school, I was a massive nerd. I love my academics and I could kind of always see myself going into science, especially biological science I've been very interested in since I was a kid. But I just couldn't give up the arts aspect of it. And I knew so many scientists and they were kind of like frustrated that they do all this great research, especially in conservation biology and things like that. And it just wouldn't be implemented because there's no, there's a gap between science and law and like legislation and informing that. So that's definitely been one of my areas that I'm super interested in is like, how can we adapt the law and legislation and policy to like actually implement this science research and to actually get good outcomes? Because at the moment, there's just this massive divide because no one can kind of translate science talk to legal talk, because both of them are horrendously like lots of jargon, very niche. The normal person, like when I read like legislation and legal speak, I guess to say, like it's horrendous, like it's difficult. And same as science papers. So it's kind of like almost a translator role. I think I would be suited to in the future. But, you know, I just applied for law school and I thought if I hate this, I could go into like arts or communication or something like that. But I ended up really liking it. And I love law now. And, you know, it's taken me some time to get good at it. But and like even now, I'm probably not naturally suited to it. Like I am science. Like I find science a bit easier. Law, I do find tricky. But, you know, I've surprised myself. And I really like, for example, I really like corporate law. And I'm looking to take sports law. So they are standalone degrees. And I could go into either pathway once I'm done sport, which is really cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: I just picture you Maeve is just that you're kind of like a child in the fact that when you're a kid, like you want to do everything, right? Like you're doing, you know, you really know one thing. And then you sort of grow up and you sleep. But like you haven't grown out of that phase. Like you're like, oh, I'm going to swim. I'm going to row. I'm going to cycle and triathlon. I'm going to do law. And you're succeeding in all of them. So, I mean, hey, you prove that it can happen.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I haven't grown out of it. I haven't grown out of it. But I don't know, it might drive me crazy one day.
BEN WATERWORTH: We'll see. I reckon you're going to be in Brisbane, but I reckon you're going to be competing in like the modern pentathlon or something by then. Just, you know, you're going to follow Chloe's footsteps and just go on to that sort of thing. There's a couple of winter games in between. Like, just keep on going through. You'll be playing for the Matildas and the World Cup and a couple of years, like everything. Ticket off the list. It's like the Maeve bingo, I think. You know, just kind of keep plugging along. Now, we close off our interviews with a series of fun questions. Now, as I always explain, these are based off a Team Canada questionnaire that they gave their athletes ahead of the Rio and Pyeongchang Olympics. A bit of a get to know you style questionnaire. And I always like to choose an athlete from Canada who does the same sport. And I have found a track cyclist back from Rio. Hugo Barrette. I don't know if you're familiar with Hugo at all.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I don't know him personally, but I watched him race in... Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. I was like to see if you know each other and things like that, how it's going.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I'm half Canadian, actually. I could go race to Canada if I wanted to.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, now you need to explain where that half is from. Which part of the country?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, all over. My sister actually just came back from Banff. She has been there for the last two years, and I'm really impressed. Anyway, that's unrelated.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I say that, we are a co-Canadian Australian, our co-host Colin is not with us today. He's in Winnipeg, and I was living in Victorian BC, so kind of spread a little bit around the place there. So we like to have that connection. But also, I will say, there's always an added homework element to this. If you want to take it, Maeve, you don't have to. There's a couple of drawing aspects to this. If you ever want to just, you get bored for your last day in quarantine and want to draw a stick figure or something, I don't know. But first question, and this is one that always makes me feel old. What is the first Olympics that you ever remember watching?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Beijing, 2008.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, definitely makes me feel old on that one. We'll move on. If you could be any superhero, who would it be?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, I don't know. This is like a thing about me is that I don't watch movies or anything. And I like literally, I've not seen a single Marvel movie or superhero thing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Like, I don't like it. That's probably a good thing. That doesn't ruin your taste in sort of franchises now because you're not so marvellous.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I'm completely uncultured, though. Like, people like, how have you not seen Spider-Man?
BEN WATERWORTH: And I'm like, don't worry, I've never seen Game of Thrones and people judge me for that. So it's one of those sort of things. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, I do really like a good caramel ice cream or like a chocolate chip. I can't go pure chocolate because that's just a bit much. And if I said vanilla, you'd be like, that's so boring. Vanilla's fine. Vanilla caramel or something, but like I love it when there's something crunchy in this.
BEN WATERWORTH: OK, good. I was getting excited when people answered vanilla because I'm very pro vanilla, and I think it needs to come out. And yeah, like vanilla bean or sort of French vanilla, sort of one of those ones. Amazing. If you were a baseball player, what would your walk up music be?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, she's a genius by Jett. That's a good like pump up tune.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good song. I like it. Is there much of that going on like pre-race? Like have you got the the AirPods?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, we all have our headphones in. Yeah, we all have our headphones in. We'll just pick like, yeah, they they we don't really sometimes in like six day cycling events, you do like a Flying 200 with your Madison teammate and you like they call it like a Flying 200 and you you get like your music to play and you like throw your teammate in and they'll do their lap. And I remember me and my teammate Brie, we did that one time we we chose what do we choose? I think it was like some Blink 182 or something. But like you can just just choose some funny songs like like everyone by the end of it was just like taking the piss out of it was just choosing the most ridiculous songs and the crowd are like, what is this soundtrack? And they didn't realise that the athletes take the songs and yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: I would just be out there going, strawberry kisses by Nikki Webster. Let's do that, you know that that works. All the old Bieber songs that everybody hates and things along those lines or something like that. Um, yes, the best nickname you have ever been called.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Best or worse.
BEN WATERWORTH: Let's go both. Let's go for I'm intrigued now for that one. Both.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I was gonna say I've got some really bad ones when I was swimming. Um, my primary school friend used to call me Mermaid. They thought that was really cute and like, I don't know if you remember Jemay private school girl, but she was always like, that's amazing. And I figured out I can go, that's amazing as well. So that one time in, um, and then in my adult life, like people just pretty much call me what their spell check corrects my name to. So like Mav, Mavis, Mavil, like anything like, like, and it just got taken too far at some point. Like someone was calling me Mavlova at some point and I was like, wow, that's um, geez. I didn't think that there were many ways that you could change like nickname or one syllable name, but yeah, no, Mav really took off and Mavis and Mavis and all sorts of things. And I hate, yeah. It's horrendous.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm just, I'm picturing more of a case if you ever were to try out for the Matilda's become a goalie. So then they could be like, nice save Mav, like, you know, like Mav and the Sabre, you know, like, I don't know.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I do like that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Things like that. If you kind of have, get a bit wonky on the bike, your team, oh, nice save Mav. Like, you know, there you go. You can use that for free. Um, growing up, growing up, who was your favourite sports team?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Um, I did really love the Australian swim team. Libby Trickett visited my school in 2008, and I was obsessed with her. I love that team.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's always fascinating when you were sort of mentioning before about sort of getting visited by it. Like, I remember, like, as a kid, I think I won some Telstra competition, I got a swim clinic with Grant Hackett. And like, as a kid, like, you just remember little things like that. You know, this is like the greatest thing ever. And yeah, you just you just admire and look up and like, I guess kind of on the side note with that, like, you mentioned to me a little bit off air about what you're doing in quarantine. But you said you were going to go to some schools and kind of visit sort of kids. So like, you now can be that person, you can be the Libby Trickett, that maybe there's going to be some young girl at a school you visit, and they're going to look up to you and go, I'm going to go to Brisbane and do that. Like, that must be a pretty cool feeling to make it go full circle.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: It is a really cool feeling. And it's something that I definitely started thinking about when I started going into Tokyo. And I was like, okay, this has to be on the top of my priority list is to like see kids and stuff, because even if you don't win, they don't care. They just like care that you're there talking to them. So it's a huge priority for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm going to ask one question about being from Adelaide. Crows or the power?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, power. Definitely. Yeah. My vogans coming out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Look, I'm a Carlton supporter. I have no bearing either way, but I just like to find out, you know, you've got to be one or the other, right? So it kind of works. Now, you sort of kind of answered this based on what you're studying. If you weren't an athlete, what would you be? I mean, you can make your mind open even more here, though. I mean, you seem to have a problem making your mind up, Maeve. So I'm wondering where this comes from.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, studying marine biology, so maybe like a scuba diving lawyer.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nice. Hey, there's your superhero right there, scuba diving lawyer. Hey, that's an interesting one. Yeah, Marvel and DC, if you're listening, take that one as well. Um, your guilty pleasure snack is?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, well, you already said this, but I love ice cream. Ice cream is the best. But like so is same as brownies. Brownies are really good. And then ice cream and brownies together is just mind blowing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nice. I really like Hugo's answer here. Poutine with bacon. I just want poutine now.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, yeah, that is the most Canadian answer.
BEN WATERWORTH: It really is.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: The only more Canadian thing he could have said would be like maple syrup with bacon.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Exactly. While listening to Nickelback or something like that and watching hockey, like just, you know, kind of adding on to that one. Do you actually just on the hockey thing, do you have sort of a dad hockey team that you have to go for being that he's Canadian?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, I stay out of that. I do not watch the hockey. I don't understand it. I don't get it. I think if I lived in Canada, yeah, I think if I lived in Canada, I'd be thrown into it and I'd get it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I guarantee you'll start watching it and then you'll make the Australian women's hockey team for like 2026, just based on how you do it. There is one. They've never made it to the Olympics, but you could be on that first team. So you've got history potentially there. Now, I always get intrigued about this question because I feel this is a more difficult question than people give it credit for. What is your favourite song lyric?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, God. Oh, no.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's one of those ones where it's like, unless you've got one straight away, like it's kind of like, wow, you've got to really think about it, don't you?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: No, yeah, that's definitely not one that if you had time with your quiz, you could definitely work that out. But that that's difficult.
BEN WATERWORTH: This is where you see it's a written one because they've got more again, like the drawing. You've got draw an Olympic medal, draw your favourite Canadian animal and draw a picture of yourself. So, you know, that's terrible, like, yeah, I would not want to see those.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Actually, I will say, it's a pretty good looking moose.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think we always get that because it's like Canadian animal moose. Yep. That's that's where you go to with that one.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I would have also drawn a moose.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Well, I want to see it now. Again, you got 24 hours till you're out. Go for it. What is the most recent TV show that you binge watched?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Binge watch, binge watch, I know you just said, yeah, I haven't seen Game of Thrones, and it was probably Game of Thrones.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's all right. I haven't seen Game of Thrones. Can't ride a bike. I'm embarrassing myself today.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Just excluding you.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's fine. I get it. I'm with the BMX guys at the other end of the lunchroom. I understand. Your favourite place in the world to compete is? Loved...
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, which VeloGames have I loved the most? You know what? This is almost going to sound boring, but one of the coolest competitions that I did was that Brisbane World Cup, because it was like a home crowd. And I went there for com games as well and watched and just like the vibe and the atmosphere for the Australian riders was just like intense. So that's like a massive motivation for me going to Brisbane is getting to race on that track in front of all those people. So I'm going to do like a future one and say, that's what I'm looking forward to competing at. Like, that's the end. I'm looking forward to that.
BEN WATERWORTH: I bet an enemy is an enemy's velodrome. Yeah, perfect, right?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, exactly, exactly. And like, honestly, I've loved everywhere else. Like, I love Paris World Cup. That was sick. The vibe there was cool. World Champs in Berlin was awesome. Even Junior Worlds was in Monte Chiari in Italy, and I really like Italy as well. I would love to go back there.
BEN WATERWORTH: I also love the fact you didn't say in the cargo. It makes me happy. Hello to all our listeners out there. Your favourite video game?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh, I don't like video games. The extent of my video games is Mario Kart on my Nintendo DS Lite in 2009. Yeah, I'm really bad. I'm really bad at video games. I don't have any brothers. I know that girls play video games heaps now, but growing up, my friends with brothers would be good at video games, and they'd play video games. But we had a Wii, and that's it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Everyone had a Wii, didn't we, at one point?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: My favourite video game is Wii Sport Bowling.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you ever get the 300? Because that was like always the challenge, right? You had to try and get the 300, which was always hard to get.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: I would get excited just when I got a strike, to be honest.
BEN WATERWORTH: Correct answer, I think. A final question for you. What is one thing you can't live without?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Like, obviously, my bike, that's a super boring answer.
BEN WATERWORTH: I would almost expect that answer.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yeah, yeah. Look, this is like I have realised in quarantine, that that is the one thing that I couldn't have got through quarantine without. I haven't, I've got my TV up there and I barely even turned it on. I barely use anything except for my bike. I've got my TV up there and I barely even turned it on. That's the thing I've used the most here, is my bike. I like it. Look, it's good transport. It's good transport as well. I love being outdoors, so my road bike helps me explore and stuff. My bike and I love my camera as well. That's another thing I'd say. I love my camera.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. Well, on that note, camera relates to things like Instagram. This is a place right now to plug Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, anything out there. If people want to follow your journey, Maeve, like plug where they can follow you.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Yep, it's just Maeve Plouffe, so just my name, and I'm sure the correct spelling will be on the podcast description or something like that, so don't worry if you can't spell Maeve, because not many people can. Not Mav, nothing like that. Yeah, just Maeve Plouffe, just my name for all of my socials. I've got Twitter, I've got Facebook, I've got Instagram, probably use Instagram the most. That's probably where you'll find me the most regularly. But if you do like Twitter and things like that, I do have that there as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: What about TikTok? Are you on TikTok?
MAEVE PLOUFFE: No, no. I've tried a little bit, like my little sister gets on it and stuff, but technically I could have a TikTok though, like I'm allowed to because I would call myself a 2000s kid. Like I was born late 99s. I think I'm young enough to have a TikTok, but I'm an awful dancer, so we'll just leave it at that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm that type of old person who says, I still think TikTok's that Kesha song. So kind of I just move on.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Oh yeah, good song though.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great song. There's a pump up song for you to use. Yeah, there's my walk in music. Maeve, it's been a lot of fun chatting with you today and learning a lot about the Olympic experience, your career. We're going to keep an eye out for you, of course. Moving forward to Paris, LA, to Brisbane, to 2036, to 2040. Hell, you'll be 2044. You'll be going on there on and winning multiple gold medals. But it's been a pleasure having you off the podium today and we thank you for your time.
MAEVE PLOUFFE: Thank you so much. It was fun.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a big thanks to Maeve there. A lot of fun learning about the sport. And of course, by the time, as I said in the beginning of this interview, that people are listening to this, Maeve's out. So, it's always exciting when you get out of quarantine. Done it a few times myself. So, I understand that feeling when you finally do get out of quarantine. But Maeve, thank you very much for your time. We've got some more great interviews coming your way. Stay tuned for those. And of course, to stay up to date with who we've got on, who's coming up, everything else in between. Hit us up on social media, Off The Podium, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all the best ones. And the other ones, we're not on TikTok or Tumblr or any of those ones. So let's just stick with the best ones. Also, if you want to subscribe to us on the channels of podcasting, search for Off The Podium, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher. They're the main ones. Leave us some feedback. We'd appreciate to hear what you think of the show. Maybe you've got some guests you'd like us to track down to get on the show. We would love to hear what you think and leave us a rating too. I think you should, because it's a good thing to do. And everyone likes to do good things, because it makes them feel nice. Ah, big thanks to Maeve. I'm gonna end this right now. I don't know what I'm saying anymore. This has been. Off the Podium. I'm Ben, and we'll speak to you next time.
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