Mariafe Artacho del Solar Interview
Another super exciting interview is coming your way today as we speak with two-time Olympian and Olympic silver medalist Mariafe Artacho del Solar from the great sport of beach volleyball about her career and her recent success at the Tokyo Olympics! We learn from Mariafe what it was like to experience playing on the famous Copacabana beach in Rio and how that Olympic experience helped spur her on to further success before the Tokyo Olympics. We also learn from her the importance of mental preparation in beach volleyball, how her hugely successful partnership with her partner Taliqua Clancy came about and just why she isn't stopping at two Olympic Games and wants to compete all the way up to Brisbane in 2032! It's one fun chat that you won't want to miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast. We are coming to you today, once again, for an interview episode. You know we love bringing you these interviews. We've brought you plenty of good ones so far, and we've got another good one, not just a good one, a great one today, because we are getting our second taste of the sport of beach volleyball with another Olympic medallist, a recently returning Olympic medallist, one half of the Australian duo that got a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Mariafe Artacho del Solar, of course, teamed up with Taliqua Clancy to win that silver medal there in Tokyo. And this is a fun chat. We learn a little bit about her previous Olympic experience in Rio, of course, competed back there, sort of how her and Taliqua got together and sort of what that led to and everything else around the performance at Tokyo, what it means to become an Olympic silver medallist, the quarterfinal, of course, that we so well covered on this show in regards to Australia versus Canada and everything else in between. This is a fun chat that I know you are going to enjoy. So without further ado, here is our chat with Olympic silver medallist from the sport of beach volleyball, Mariafe Artacho del Solar.
BEN WATERWORTH: So, so excited to be able to welcome our next guest here to Off The Podium, a two-time Olympian, recently returned from Tokyo with a nice piece of jewellery around her neck. She is one half of the beach volleyball pair that took a silver medal for Australia in Tokyo. And so excited to be able to learn a little bit more about her time in Tokyo and everything else in between. Please welcome Off The Podium, Mariafe Artacho del Solar. Mariafe, first of all, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to have you on Off The Podium today.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Thank you. Thanks for having me. And I'm impressed by how you pronounce my name. That was actually pretty good.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm going to also, I'm being very honest with you this morning. I was just honest with you off air, and I'm going to be honest with you on air right now. I may have written it down yesterday phonetically and have been practising it for the last 24 hours because during our coverage, when we were talking about you and Taliqua's performances, I butchered it every single day. So don't listen to our Tokyo coverage from the second week, and you'll still like me for what I just pronounced your name.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Nah, you did pretty well, so well done.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's obviously been a couple of weeks. You're in quarantine. I don't want to talk to you about that. That's boring. I mean, how is it to be still referred to as an Olympic medallist? Is it something you've gotten used to yet? Is it something you just want everybody, as soon as you walk into a room, to go, Olympic medallist? Mariafe, here she is.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Well, to be honest, it actually hasn't sunk in yet because we went from such a high to being locked up in a room for two weeks. So once, one, it feels that this happened so long ago and we actually haven't felt like we celebrated properly. So we, like, I personally don't feel like it's real yet anyway. So I hope once we get out, it will sink in and make it feel a little bit more real.
BEN WATERWORTH: This is an interesting way to ask this question because I always ask our medallist guests what they do with the medal. And given that you, again, you're in quarantine, I mean, I'm guessing, is it just still in its box, in its suitcase? Do you have it somewhere that can motivate you or?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: It moves places. Sometimes I have it here on this table, depending on, like, who I just finished doing a podcast or an interview or a Zoom with. But yeah, it moves from, I've got the executive room, the executive suite here at the Stanford. I'm so grateful. So I've got so much space. So it goes from my bedroom to my bedside table, to the lounge area to the car. Like, it moves around.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm actually honestly surprised you're not wearing it, because I often would ask, once you've won it, you wouldn't want to take it off. And I just think, given it's so fresh in the mind, you're kind of probably a bit bored there in quarantine. You want to always wear it, because at least that would keep you entertained.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, look, you're not wrong, but like, I don't know. This is just a little bit, like I said, so anticlimactic. And I just can't wait to get out, because I just want to be able to, like I said, feel it like it's actually happened, and be able to celebrate with our family and friends, because obviously we weren't allowed to have them in Tokyo with us. So yeah, I just, then I reckon once I get it out, I probably won't take it off.
BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, you got in the executive suite, I'm guessing probably Qantas may be up front a little bit there. You got a bit of an upgrade in the point in the plan, but I mean, can you get, given the weird situations, it might not be something you've been able to do yet, but were you able to get free stuff? Could you wear the silver medal with you and Taliqua and sort of walk around the village and get maybe a bit of a bump up in the line when you're lining up for the food? I mean, does it work any favors yet?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Oh, well, I mean, in the village, you're kind of surrounded by all this gold, silver and bronze medallists. So you're not the only ones that are VIP in that kind of sense. But no, I mean, we did wear it in the closing ceremony and we had it with us in the plane. So all the Qantas crew were loving it. And yeah, we weren't as much as we could before we got locked up in here.
BEN WATERWORTH: The one thing that I've been fascinated about speaking to some returning Tokyo Olympians, once we particularly competed in Rio, it's kind of that, I guess, the disparity between the different types of games, because everybody went into Rio thinking, these are going to be really weird games. These maybe aren't going to be the standard Olympics. They're going to be a bit different. Fast forward five years later, and no one could have ever imagined what Tokyo was going to be like. But sort of just looking back on your Rio experience to your Tokyo experience, were you glad that you were sort of at least able to experience your first Olympics as being a normal quote games where you had crowds, you had sort of more of that village atmosphere? I'm sure you were able to do a lot more than you were able to do to Tokyo. And then compare that to your Tokyo experience, because we're speaking that a lot of our debutants in Tokyo, obviously, they don't know any different, but it's obviously going to be a little bit of a different experience compared to your first Olympics that you had in Rio.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, for sure. I mean, Rio was a really great experience. It was cool to get to know what the Olympics is like and be surrounded by all these incredible athletes and really realise what it really takes to be on top of the podium. And that really motivated me to come back home and treat the next Olympics being Tokyo as business time for me. So I guess it did help that I already had, and well, both of us had already been to one and we knew what to expect. And we obviously knew that Tokyo was gonna be a very unique experience. But despite not having a crowd, for me, I didn't really feel it any different. I didn't notice the difference. I went into this Olympics with like a mission. I was so focused and I had a goal and like I didn't really notice anything else, but when I was on court, I was there to do my job. So I didn't really realise the difference, to be honest.
BEN WATERWORTH: When I think of beach volleyball and the beach in general, I mean, the two countries that always come to mind are Brazil and Australia. So it sort of, it always fits very well. So was there, at least with that sort of atmosphere in Brazil and sort of Copacabana Beach and kind of, you know, that uniqueness that it had, obviously Sydney had it on Bondi, kind of, you know, had that atmosphere. But I mean, with everything you're saying aside, I mean, I can imagine that of all the places you've competed in the world, that that was one of the most unique ones to be able to, not only in Olympics, but, you know, Copacabana Beach in Brazil. I mean, that's sort of a dream I can imagine for any beach volleyball player.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: I mean, Brazil volleyball and football is like a religion over there. So it was definitely a huge event. The crowd was just on fire. The energy was pumping. The atmosphere was insane. So it was definitely something I'll never forget, walking out into that epic stadium. And I might be biased, but beach volleyball was always the best event and the best venue at all the Olympics. Like Tokyo, the stadium was incredible. It would have been super cool to have it packed. But yeah, I mean, regardless, it was still an awesome event and everyone did such an amazing job to make it feel not so like different, I guess.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I was gonna ask about that because we loved sort of watching it and that you still had the DJ, you still kind of had everything there that you would have generally in that. And that obviously helps you out on the court. I'm sure you and Taliqua and all the other players, because you're so used to that atmosphere. You're so used to the sort of the pump up nature of it. So do you sort of appreciate that the organizers there in Tokyo still went out of their way, that even though there were no crowds, they're making everything else, I guess, as normal as possible.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, that's what beach volleyball is all about, you know? The crowd gets involved, the music's always pumping, the DJ's getting all the people involved as well, and it's like a huge party. But like I said before, once I kind of was in the court, I didn't even notice the music, like everything around me just became white noise. So yeah, it's kind of, yeah, that's what I mean, like it didn't mean, I didn't even notice there was no crowd.
BEN WATERWORTH: We spoke with Kerry Pothass several weeks ago and sort of talked about her journey and kind of how she got into the sport and everything along those lines. But I'd love to sort of hear the story about how you and Taliqua came to be, because you didn't compete with Taliqua in Rio. You both competed, but were in separate partnerships. So sort of what brought about you two coming together and was it maybe the best decision that ultimately ever happened to you? Because here you are as Olympic Silver Medallist, Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist, World Championship. It's obviously worked very effectively since you have come together.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, Tia and I actually played a Junior World Championships back in 2012 where we won bronze. And we knew that we had something special. We had a unique connection. And it's not something that comes very natural with any partnership. So we knew we had something there, but it wasn't meant to be at that time. And we both went our separate ways with different partners. And then the opportunity came to team up in the end of 2017 again. So we obviously took it and we thought it was a great time for us to get back together as a team. And we won our first three international events. So we obviously knew again that the connection was still there. And it was just a natural, unique, I guess, yeah, like connection, like I keep saying. And it just makes it so much easier on court because you're able to do all these plays and all this stuff. You're on the same page, you got the same goals. So I think that's a really big factor of why we're such a successful team. Like I said, it's not something that happens naturally with anyone. So to have that, you've got to make the most of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I enjoyed sort of with Kerry, she was talking a lot about that mental preparation and the lead up to Sydney and kind of on your, what you're talking about there with Taliqua. I mean, do you sort of go out of your way to work on that mental preparation? Do you speak to someone like Kerry and Nat sort of, and get sort of some tips about what it's like going into an Olympics to, I guess, work on that mental conditioning so you can perform on the big stage and go for the medals that ultimately you were aiming for?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Oh, yeah. I mean, the mental and emotional side of the game is almost more important than the physical side of things, because if your mind is in a good place, then the physical stuff just comes. You know, everyone at that level is talented. Everyone is a great player. So it's a matter of who can mentally stay in it for longer and stay stronger for longer, and you know, be able to perform under pressure and under really, yeah, pressure situations. So yeah, it's a big part of our game, and we work a lot with the site. We work a lot on that kind of stuff. And yeah, Nat has actually been a big part of our team in the last few months, especially, just sharing her experience and, you know, kind of reassuring us that we're on the right path and all that stuff.
BEN WATERWORTH: Going into Tokyo, was it gold or nothing? Was it kind of that was the ultimate goal? Like obviously, I've heard in Olympians is to walk away with a gold medal, but kind of both that you had an Olympics behind you, you'd had such success in the preceding years. Where was it going in going, okay, we've got this, we can come away with a gold medal?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: I mean, our goal since we teamed up right at the start was to walk to have an Olympic medal by the end of our campaign. But then as we started, you know, competing and making semifinals every event, we were, we thought, well, we're actually more than capable of achieving a gold medal at Tokyo. So we're like, why not? Like, let's go for gold. And that has been our goal, yeah, since we set our values and our teams. And we actually ticked off every single goal that we put ourselves for this Olympic campaign in the last three years. And yeah, the last one to tick was the gold medal. But, you know, regardless of the colour of the medal, we're still sort of proud of our team and what we were able to achieve. And all the circumstances and all the adversity that we had to go through.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was the year delay for the pair of you a hindrance or a help, because of sort of hearing, you know, varying answers with this one, that it's helped a lot of people. But then on the flip side, had it gone ahead in 2020, that maybe you were peaking very well at that stage and it might have been a similar, maybe slightly better result.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: No, I think it was in a way an advantage because we had that extra year to prepare. Well, it brought its cons and pros about it. We had an extra year to prepare and really work on the technical things and all that. And we're both young. As a team, we're also very young. So for us, that was an advantage. But at the same time, it did brought a lot of... We weren't allowed to play any events internationally. So preparation wise, it wasn't probably ideal because last year, we would have had that rhythm from coming from lots of events. But this year, obviously, we played nothing last year. And this year, we only played three events in Mexico that early this year, whereas all the rest of the world played every single event. So that obviously had a little bit of, I guess, extra thought in our minds going into Tokyo. But yeah, I mean, it was something we could put in control. It is what it is. And we just had to put our focus on the things we could control. And that was what we did out there on the court. And again, we knew, we were confident going in, that we were capable of getting a medal. So yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: On that page of the disadvantage of not being able to play as much as you usually would, is there a weird advantage that some of the other teams out there that are playing more than you're able to? They're a bit going into any match with you is a bit of an unknown. They haven't seen you much in the last year. They don't know where you're at in terms of your performance. They don't probably sit down on YouTube and get secret tapes from Australia to find out how you're going. So can you kind of, even if it's a mental advantage, thinking that, hey, well, they don't know how good we are. They don't know how much we've been working our butts off in the last 12 months since they last saw us. So they have no idea what they're about to face.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, I think for sure. I mean, and we did make huge improvements and progress in that year for our team. So I think, yeah, I mean, every team would have, I guess we didn't really change too much our game style, but we just deliver it better. And I guess that would have, yeah, put a lot more pressure on other teams to be able to keep up because we do play a very physical game. We use the whole night along, where we don't tend to play that up and down game. So yeah, I know a lot of teams don't like playing against us because it could be very tiring. But yeah, I mean, it's again, another strength of our team.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I love hearing that in terms of the different styles of play that you can get from the teams. And you mentioned sort of before about kind of working through the mental side, the strategic side and that sort of stuff. How quickly do you have to adapt to a strategy in a match of beach volleyball in a tournament like the Olympics? I mean, I'm sure you go into every single match going, okay, this is our opponents. This is what they're like. This is what we're going to do. But of course, you have to adapt. If halfway through the first set, you're finding yourself down and where you're not being. I mean, how quick of an adaptation sport is beach volleyball that you have to quickly overcome that strategy?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Oh yeah, I mean, very quickly. You always go, I mean, we play against all these teams all year round. So we know each other's game very well. But yeah, you always have an idea of the tendencies and what they do, but they could go and completely do something else. So you always kind of have to make sure you focus on what you're doing at the end of the day. But yeah, if you're going with plan A, and plan A is not working, you have to be very flexible and be able to be aware, like have this awareness, okay, that's not working. We definitely have to change something. And sometimes you're not in that mental space where you are able to quickly figure something out, but other times you are. So sometimes you walk away from games and be like, oh, like, just couldn't figure it out. Like the game ran away from us. But then other times we're like straight away on it and we're able to flip the game around. So I guess, yeah, it comes with a lot of experience as well and be able to, regardless of what's going on in the school, have that mental calmness and composure to be able to still be aware of what's going on and what you're able to do next if it's, if something's not working.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you have, and you don't have to share this if you don't want to, because obviously I'm going to ask the question, do you have a secret? Clearly you don't want to share that if you don't want to, but do you have sort of a secret kind of mental preparation that maybe either before a match or sort of in the lead up you like to do, you know, maybe putting on the pods, listening to some tunes, you know, reading a book, like doing some yoga. I mean, kind of what sort of that routine to really get that mental preparation ready before a match?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, I like to do meditation just to get myself in balance and in that calm mental space. And sometimes I listen to music, I don't really have that much of a strict routine. Sometimes I listen to music to get myself pumped up. Sometimes I just like to be present and just in the moment of what's going around me. So yeah, I don't really have a set routine, but we're both different. Everyone's different. Everyone requires their own preparation and their own way of getting ready.
BEN WATERWORTH: I've got to ask then, if you are listening to the tunes, Mariafe, what are you listening to? What's on the pods? What are you jamming out to?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: A bit of a mix, really, sometimes. Like I love Bets of Tokyo and sometimes I love Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift. A very mix of music.
BEN WATERWORTH: It actually makes me happy when people flat out say, I listen to the Biebs, because I feel we're coming around on Biebs. 10 years ago, you would never say that in public. Now, own that shit. Like just listen to him. And there's nothing wrong with it, is there?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: He's great, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: It works. And one thing actually on there, kind of on a tangent with Biebs, but it's Canadian and everything along those lines. We're co-hosted by a Canadian, and we were, I believe, on air during your quarterfinal. And of course, Colin, you know, Canada, they know their medal hopes probably a little bit more out there because they maybe don't have as many in the summer than in the winter. So they're talking up like, oh, Sarah Melissa, yeah, this is a lock. We've got a gold here. Like this is just on a journey. Obviously didn't work out too well, and I don't know if he still recovered from that. But obviously when you go on your way to win an Olympic medal, you want to go out there and beat the best. So to knock off the world champions in a quarterfinal, I mean, that's a pretty good feeling, Mariafe. I can imagine after that match that you and Taliqua just going, okay, wow, well, this is happening. We did that, and now look how close we are to that gold.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, look, it's really interesting because we're such good friends with those girls. We train all the time together. We had a training camp right before Tokyo with them in Switzerland. And Mel was one of my best friends. You know, I think she's one of the best players in the world. You know, she's just a beautiful girl. And we knew it was going to be a hard battle. We knew it was going to be one of our biggest game. I mean, that game was definitely a gold-worthy match. And yeah, it was a pity that we came up against them early in the tournament. But I mean, to be the best, you got to beat the best. So yeah, I think it was just a high quality game by all four players. And it was a great game to be a part of, to be honest.
BEN WATERWORTH: When you win the semi-final, of course that guarantees you a medal. So you go into that final match knowing, well, we've achieved the goal of winning an Olympic medal. And of course you go into that wanting to win a gold. But how does that mentality affect in some way knowing that I've at least got a medal? Because again, you don't want to lose. I realise that you don't want to lose, but I can imagine it's a different mentality to when you say go into a bronze medal match at the world championships, because that's win or nothing. You've got to win to get a medal. Whereas this time around, well, if we don't win, at least we get a medal. I mean, does that play in your mind much, or do you just block that out?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: And coming fourth is worse. I'd rather come fifth, because you have to play two more games and you lose points. It's like, nah, I'll take the fifth over the fourth. But yeah, I mean, winning a semifinal definitely is a sense of relief, and knowing that you're just one more game away from that gold medal. So sometimes you could treat it as, okay, like we're on the podium. Let's just play free. Let's just enjoy it and have fun. But yeah, I mean, I mean, yeah, like, obviously it wasn't our day at the Olympics. And we, like the first couple of points, we started well, and then we had some opportunities to, you know, really make that little bit of a break. And we just didn't take that aggressive opportunity. And then they felt in rhythm. So, and with that team, you know, they're a great team, and we've come up against them quite often, and we're always kind of one for one. So, you know, we had to make sure we really came aggressive right from the start, and they got in a rhythm, and it just, you know, it was a bit harder to catch up. But, but yeah, like, I don't know. It is kind of a little bit of relief, I guess, when you're already in the final, and you know you've got a medal. But yeah, you always want to win it or not, end it on a win.
BEN WATERWORTH: You always want to win, but it's that weird sort of situation you're in that by losing your, I mean, you two still looked incredibly happy, and that's what I really appreciated about watching that, because you watch it like as a fan, like, ah, damn, not gold. But then you kind of forget that with forgetting it with you two, because then all of a sudden you're on the podium, you're beaming, you're smiling, you've got that Olympic medal around your neck, and obviously the disappointment's there, but you're still so happy. And that's what I love about the Olympics, is when you still see kind of this celebration and happiness that you haven't achieved that ultimate, ultimate goal of goal, but you're still obviously satisfied that you're walking away from a tournament with an Olympic medal.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that's every athlete's dream to have an Olympic medal around your neck. Despite what car late is, it's a huge achievement to be standing on top of the podium, you know, representing your country. You worked for so long, so many years. And sometimes, you know, some athletes take two Olympics, three Olympics to get a medal. So for us to have achieved a medal and a gold, like, you know, to be able to play in a gold medal match, the Olympic Games, it was such a huge achievement, especially for, with all the adversity and everything that was going on. So yeah, you know, you are a little bit upset straight away because you end up on a loss, but then you're like, okay, this is actually a pretty big deal. So we were still really proud.
BEN WATERWORTH: And on that big deal, just for the sport itself, I mean, it absolutely baffled me to think that it had been 21 years since Australia had won an Olympic medal in the sport of beach volleyball. This is again, my point with beach is like, this is a sport I feel we should be meddling at every Olympics because it's so quintessential in Australia. So that must have been a proud achievement to break that duck and come home with a medal for the sport as well.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, for sure. I mean, we're such a beachy and sporty culture and beach volleyball just suits us so well that it is a shame that it's not a bigger sport here in Australia, but that's one of our aims to grow the sport here and get all the girls and boys trying it and giving it a go because it's so popular and so big around the world. And it's such a great sport, you know? So yeah, it's definitely one of our aims to make it a bigger sport here. And I think we had that impact in the Olympics. We had a lot of messages from people being like, I actually never got into beach volleyball much, but I just saw you guys play, and wow, you've made us so proud, and I love it now. So that's kind of the messages you love to read and that impact that you have.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because you're in that unique position now that as an Olympic medallist, obviously you've got that recognition, but you're also in that unique position that as an Australian, we have a home Olympics in 11 years. So you can obviously use that for power towards Brisbane. I mean, you've got the Olympic medal now, the Commonwealth Games, Silver and all the atmosphere that was around the Gold Coast in 2018. I mean, if you can take anything from it, is that what you're going to take out of it to try and grow the sport and do whatever you can really? On a similar level to when, say, Natalie Cook and Kerry Pothast won in Sydney, they were able to use that and no doubt influence people like yourself to where you are now.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, for sure. I mean, we're still both young, so we're aiming for that Brisbane 2032 Olympics for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like that, I want to hear that.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: It would be a dream too. I've always actually, since the option of Brisbane hosting the Olympics came out, I've always said that will be my fifth Olympics, and I would love to finish it at home, which would just be like the icing on the cake. So yeah, I think it's epic that we can have another Olympics at home and inspire the next generation to get involved, have a go, play sport, because yeah, it's just a massive, it's just so good to be a part of sport in general.
BEN WATERWORTH: I don't even, I've learnt in the last few weeks not to ask any of the returning Olympians, are you thinking of Paris? Because it comes to the fact of, no, just let me rest, let me rest for now. I love this one, but I'm thinking of Brisbane. Like, you know, bugger Paris. Like, you know, that's only my third games. I've still got, you know, more to go for Brisbane. So bugger that, Mariafe, 2036, 2040, keep going.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, well, beach volleyball right now, I mean, the players are going till mid 40s. I mean, there's no reason why. And there's, you know, as long as I'm still enjoying it, and I'm still a bit healthy and strong to keep playing, I'll keep going.
BEN WATERWORTH: Again, the bar is high in the Australian Olympic team. Andrew Hoy is winning medals at 62. So I'm just saying that it's capable. I'm 34 and I've never been to an Olympics. I've got my hopes held high. I've got another 28 years to make an Olympic Games. Exactly.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Never say never.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Now, Mariafe, before I let you go, obviously the time recording this year in quarantine, you're itching to get out. But what is the one thing, besides the obvious, seeing family, friends and all that sort of stuff, is there one thing that since this whole journey to Tokyo, the whole lead up and now the quarantine, everything that you were just absolutely itching at the bit to either do or kind of a food or something like that, that as soon as you're out, that you're doing?
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Definitely family first for me. I'm such a family girl, and I miss them so much every time I go away. You know, that's one of the hardest thing to go through. I've been an athlete, you know, all the travelling and spending time away from them. So I'm just, I just can't wait to get out and just spend some good quality time with them and really celebrate what we've all achieved because it's not just us who achieve this medal. It takes a village. And there's so many people behind our team that, yeah, we'll be so keen to celebrate with.
BEN WATERWORTH: That medal is gonna get put around a lot of people's necks.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: You know, kind of go along that way. Before we let you go, Mariafe, social media, where can people stay up to date with you? Follow your sort of journey between now and Brisbane 2032 to kind of really keep up to date.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Yeah, I'm really active. And I reply to everyone, messaging me on my Instagram, Mariafe underscore beach one. I update quite a lot on my journey through there. So give us a follow. And I've also got my Mariafe beach followable page on Facebook and tweet at Mariafe ads.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. Everybody hit it up. It has been an absolute pleasure to chat with you today, to learn about this journey and everything else along those lines. And I'm looking for, yeah, I'm saying at 2036, 2040, you'll be like a four time Olympic gold medallist by then. So it'll work a treat.
MARIAFE ARTACHO DEL SOLAR: Thanks, Ben.
BEN WATERWORTH: A massive thanks here to Mariafe there for her time. Lot of fun, learnt a lot, and bring back the Biebs. That's all I can say, bring back the Biebs. That's all we want. Get excited for our upcoming episodes. We have some great interviews. I'm sure if you've been following us and you've been listening to these interviews and seeing sort of our floating schedule, that because we are getting so many great interviews, we're obviously bringing more to you than we thought we were able to, which is fantastic. We're loving being able to bring you the frequency of these interviews. And we've got plenty more to come, plenty more to whet your appetite in regards to some big names. And we teased it during our Joanna Griggs interview, but our Chloe Esposito interview is so close, we can taste it. So are you excited to hear from Queen Chloe? I'm excited to hear from Queen Chloe. I know you are. So stay tuned for that one, because not only do we speak to an icon of Australian sport, we get our first taste, of course, of modern pentathlon, the sport that we put on the map. I'm saying right now, we got excited about it back in Rio. It's on the map now because of us. Let's be honest, you know it's true, but it's a sport that I absolutely love, and I'm so excited to not only learn about it, but of course speak to Queen Chloe. I mean, come on everybody, we've got to be that excited to speak to maybe the one guest that we've talked up the most in terms of Olympians and everything else over our five or so year history. So stay tuned for that. Very, very excited. And of course all of our other great interviews we've got lined up, not just summer athletes, of course winter athletes are still being spoken to in the lead up to Beijing as we get closer and closer to those games. So plenty out there to keep you entertained here and off the podium. And if you are entertained by the show, why not smash that like button on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or Twitter, stay up to date with what we are doing, and you will never miss an episode, never miss an update, and of course never miss an episode by subscribing to us on all the podcast servers. Maybe not all of them, you probably can just choose one. Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, iHeart Radio, I'm sure if you typed in Off The Podium into the Ethiopian number one podcast server, we would be on there. And as much as we'd like you to subscribe to us on all the different channels, I'm sure you probably don't need every single episode downloaded about 10 times, but hey, whatever floats your boat. But choose your favourite, choose whichever one you use, smash the subscribe button, and while you're there, leave us some feedback. We'd love to hear what you're thinking of the show. Give us a rating, and every little bit of that helps us get out there a little bit more so more and more people can enjoy these great interviews that we are putting out there, and we always appreciate all the support that we can have from our listeners. Once again, a big, big thanks to Mariafe for her time here on Off The Podium. Until we next speak again, my name is Ben, we will speak to you next time. Good night.
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