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Nick Page Interview

  • Jun 19
  • 76 min read

Updated: 5 days ago


Excited to head back to the moguls slopes today as we chat with American freestyle skiing star Nick Page about his rapid rise in the sport and his Olympic journey so far! We find out how watching the 2010 Vancouver Olympics helped set him on this path, and how the athlete he once idolised as a fan ended up being his coach. We also dive into his rapid rise through the ranks, making history as the youngest ever NorAm Cup winner, and his two top ten finishes across his Olympic appearances. On top of that, we discuss what it was like beating the GOAT, his ambitions for a home Olympics in eight years’ time, and even a memorable meeting with a certain former IOC President. It’s an incredible chat with an incredible athlete! Get listening!





EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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


BEN WATERWORTH: Nick, welcome to Off The Podium.

 

NICK PAGE: Thank you, Ben. Ben, Colin, I'm really excited to talk to you guys today, so thanks for making the time for me and dealing with big time changes going from Australia to the US.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: It's a little bit that way and we are the multinational podcast today, covering US, Canada and Australia here. But I just want to start off, we're recording this at the back end of April. It's about two months since the Olympics and I'm saying this to all of our guests coming off the back of Milano Cortina at the moment, but how are you right now? How's the two months been? Because you were competing straight after the Olympics, so I don't even know if you've had time to rest basically, Nick, or has it still been go go go since Milano Cortina wrapped up?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it's still been go go go. I think I've been someone that's always said like, I can rest at the very end, but in the moment, just keep my foot on the gas and just keep going. So yeah, I went straight from Italy right to Japan. We skied the World Cup there, and then we were in limbo not knowing what the rest of our season was going to really entail. That Japan World Cup ended up being the last one, so I came home for just about a week before popping around the US a couple of times for a couple of different ski appearances, and then ended up back in Japan to coach a ski camp with my ski company, ID1. So I just came home from that a little bit ago, and I head off to Whistler next week to get back on snow and start the first training camp for the season. So yeah, it's a world win, but it's all busy.

 

COLIN HILDING: I have to ask you to say you're training. Is this training like young kids or teenagers? At what level are you training?

 

NICK PAGE: This next one coming up or the one that I was in Japan?

 

COLIN HILDING: The one that you coached, yeah.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah. So that was a whole mix. So we had kids that were probably within their first year of skiing, all the way up to adults that were 60, 70 years old. So everyone just loved moguls, wanted to learn more, and we were the place to come from too.

 

COLIN HILDING: So how do I sign up?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to say, Colin's 60 or 70 years old, you can coach him, he can get into moguls already.

 

NICK PAGE: I love it. Yeah. Let's get you there next year. That'd be awesome.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: It's amazing to kind of hear that they're sort of giving back still and everything along those lines and giving hope to the elderly. I like kind of hearing that too. That kind of works that way. But going back to your beginning in the sport, Nick, tell me about 2010 watching Vancouver, because as an Australian and as a Canadian, we both hold very fond memories of those Olympics in men's moguls. But so did the USA, because a certain third place bronze medallist is from your country, and he ultimately goes on to be quite important in your career. But you're watching moguls in Vancouver. Tell us about that and how that started the passion for the sport.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it was really, it started off like almost all stars aligned. Even kind of before 2010, I loved skiing. I was in the ski school program at Deer Valley, and I had gone to my parents and said, I love this, like all I want to do is ski more. What can I do? And at about the same time, a couple of girls from my class had signed up for a ski program that their mums told my mum about. And I was like, okay, this sounds like the right spot. We'll sign you up. It was at the same mountain right out of Deer Valley. And it ended up being a freestyle program. So that's kind of what leads into it. But I'm, yeah, I'm sitting there on the Ottoman with my dad, we're watching, watching moguls in 2010 Olympics. My dad looks at me and he's like, hey, this guy in the star gate right now, he came from your same team, was at freestyle. I'm sitting there like, oh my god, this is awesome. And then he goes on, Brian Wilson wins a bronze medal. So now my eyes get 10 times wider. And I'm really over the moon excited, one for him and that the US did well, but also to know that someone from the same position that I was in at that time just came to win an Olympic medal. So I think that's where a bunch of that match really got lit. And then even just the whole, that 2010 Olympics was so good. Like I think back in, you know, Brian's success that really sticks out, Hannah Carney winning was huge, and Hannah's a great friend and part of my team now. So I remember watching her win and being, you know, equally as starstruck and even outside of my sport. I remember watching Sean White, and I think my jaw hit the floor. Like it was just so dominant and such a cool thing to witness. So yeah, like 2010 Olympics will be burned in my memory forever.

 

COLIN HILDING: I mean, maybe it's not the reaction that, you know, we usually get for some of these more acrobatic and daredevil-like sports, because your dad's the one who kind of said, take a look at this. But I mean, when you decide to take an interest in this, are your parents all gung-ho? You're like, can you wait a couple of years?

 

NICK PAGE: You know, they were they were really into it and really support it right from the start. I think they saw how much I enjoyed it. And they wanted to just let me kind of run wild with what I loved, which I'm so thankful for and so grateful for. They stood by me, supporting me through every step of it, but I was still always the one kind of leading the charge. It was never like, mum and dad were telling me, I have to go to training because they want me to. It was always, I was getting out of bed, excited to go do it, and they were just excited to help me. So I was in a great spot just with how our family worked. I think that lends itself to so much of the success I've had through my whole career.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I kind of feel we're coming full circle now with Vancouver 2010 and the men's moguls. The fact that we've had, obviously, Alex on the show. We've done our many, many tribute hours to the great Dale Beck Smith, and now we're sort of hearing from somebody very connected to Brian. Because not only are you watching him and seeing this connection and going, oh, cool, I want to spark that and make that sort of what I want to do, but he becomes your coach, if I'm not mistaken, not long after that. Yeah, correct. I've watched a lot of Olympics and a lot of sport in my life, Nick, and I've dreamed about being those athletes, but I didn't exactly ring up Dale Beck Smith and go, hey, mate, you just won a silver medal at the Olympics, can you be my coach next year? I mean, how does that happen? How do you get this guy you're watching on TV and idolizing become your coach?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, so it was really, like I had said before, he came from the same program that I was on at the time, Wasatch Freestyle. So he comes home from Vancouver. One of the first things we did is we had a big celebration for him, all from Wasatch Freestyle up at the Silver Lake Lodge at Deer Valley. So that was the first time I ever got to meet him. Wow. I still have this photo. I have spaghetti all over my face. I'm holding his bronze medal. It's one of the coolest pictures ever because that's where the start of this long journey of the two of us. And so we kind of, I met him there. I saw him a couple of times over the next few years, just skiing and overlapping. And as I was growing up, we were coming into the ski business. Things started aligning and, you know, Brian's family, my family, we became really good friends. So he was always a mentor, someone that looked out for me when I was still kind of coming up. And then as his career ended as an athlete, he jumped right into coaching and started coaching that Wasatch Freestyle program. And what did we do? We did a year or two together there before I went on to the national team. And then two years later, he came on onto the national team as a coach as well. So he was really someone that was by my side for a really long time and had a bunch of influence on me.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Which it kind of parallels almost, I know you said you listened to Matt Graham's interview we did, but it almost parallels Matt's story he told about meeting Dale, about kind of how like then Dale was able to mentor him and everything, which it's great that obviously it's a sport where you're touching on your coaching as well that like everybody seems to be wanting to continuing to give back and see improvement and foster the next generation essentially.

 

NICK PAGE: Exactly. It's one of the, I think, the coolest and most special things about our sport is, you recognise we're still small, niche-style sort of sport. There's not 50,000 people from the US all trying to ski moguls right now. So we really have to kind of come together as a community. And I think you recognise really quickly the people who are putting forth an effort and really want to be great. And when you think very alike with someone like that, it's really easy to want to help them come up. So I've had so many people throughout my career show me that. Like Brian was really influential early on. By the time I made World Cup, McHale Kingsbury became like an older brother to me. Probably, I think, because maybe he saw things in me when I was younger that he saw in himself once. So the two of us had this great friendship that really grew. And I kind of look forward to as I continue to grow and continue to develop, I can share some of those same things with athletes who are just kind of starting their journey now.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I just want to ask one more question before I let Colin take over, because I've got to get this over and done with. We're on the topic. I feel it won't come up later on. Did you ever meet Dale Begg-Smith? I know you've got a picture of you as a very young child with McHale Kingsbury. So I don't know if I might get a similar event, maybe Dale was floating around, but did you ever meet Mr. Begg-Smith?

 

NICK PAGE: So I have one incredible Dale Begg-Smith story.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, good. All right, here we go.

 

NICK PAGE: It was when he was coming back, he was leading into the 2010 Olympics. You know, his aerial coach at the time was Jerry Grossi, who lived in Park City. I was on Wasatch Freestyle as, I mean, I could have been, no, my mistake, it was when he was coming back for 2014 Olympics. So I was 11 or 12 years old to call it. It was pouring rain this day at the water ramps. Everyone on my team goes home because no one wanted to jump in the rain. I was the only one that stayed. And I'm walking up the ramps, just doing jumps, doing jumps. There's one other person, and I'm following him. We've never said a word to each other. I'm following up the ramps. Ramp session finishes. He goes his way, I go my way. My coach at the end of the day says, do you know who you just ramped with? Like, no, I have no idea. It's like, oh, that was Dale Beck Smith. And naively at the time, I'm like, awesome.

 

COLIN HILDING: Who's that?

 

NICK PAGE: I have no clue. And now I'm kicking myself because it was like, man, the one time that I ever crossed paths with him.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that conversation we had with a lot of people probably do, generally, because he doesn't really stay alive. That's amazing, though, to look back there. You were there, though.

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah, so it's pretty cool.

 

NICK PAGE: Like, I remember it happening, and hopefully one day we cross paths or I get to introduce myself properly, I can bring that story up, and it'll put a smile on his face.

 

COLIN HILDING: Hey, you remember that kid?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

 

COLIN HILDING: It's great to hear this because, like, you know, we often interview people when we get, like, that next generation where, you know, there's some of these athletes that we remember growing up. And then oftentimes the next generation athletes are like, Oh, I may have interacted with them once or twice. I mean, you know, aside from just Brian and like Dale and Kingsbury, which will definitely come back to Kingsbury. You mentioned Hannah Kearney there at the time when you're starting to come up. I don't know how much it actually intersected with her because I think she was competing up till 2014 or 2015. Maybe I think maybe 2015 was when she stopped competing. How did you get introduced to her and what were your first interactions with her?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, so similar actually to Brian. You know, I knew Hannah, I watched Hannah just being from the US. We crossed paths here and there. Never to the point where I'd say we were ever friends at first. Like I said hello and asked for a picture that was about the extent of it. There's actually once in Whistler, I ducked under a rope in the line to get onto the lift and I actually ran into her. So she kind of cursed me out there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: She doesn't forget you now.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, right. And then later down the line, we became friends just being in Park City. We knew a bunch of the same people. We got a commonality, but we didn't still know each other super well. And it was in 2021. That season was just coming to an end. I was looking to make some adjustments to my strength and conditioning kind of program and how that was working. And Hannah had just got her certifications to become a personal trainer. I was like, okay, this sounds like it could be really cool. I shot her an email and said, hey, what would you think about this? Would you be up to help me and come on to my team as my strength coach? And she was like, hey, look, I got to be transparent and honest with you. I've never worked with a pro client before. I've worked with people at the health club who are just coming in to try to lose a couple of pounds. But she was like, I'm willing to give it a try if you are. And I was like, absolutely, because you're not just bringing what you learned in a textbook at school. She's bringing a decade plus of experience in the exact sport that I'm in. So it was like this perfect mesh right off the bat on one, learning from someone that's so much better than me, and then also getting stronger at a very important development time of my career.

 

COLIN HILDING: And I have to ask, because you mentioned 22 and 1. If I'm right, you debuted between 2020 and 2021. Often we get to talk to athletes who were there pre-COVID or they're post-COVID. And it's not as often we get to talk to athletes who you literally jump on to the World Cup stage in the middle of COVID. Here in Canada, we have the Deferla Pointe Sisters. They have their own documentary series on TV and everything.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: He loves them too much.

 

COLIN HILDING: They're behind me. There's my wall right there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Go back and listen to that interview, Nick, because I embarrassed the shit out of him when we had them on. Trust me.

 

COLIN HILDING: But part of their TV series covered that. It covered the first competitions since COVID and everything. And it wasn't something even occurred to me. So I started rewatching the show a couple months ago. But what was that like being introduced on this big world stage? And you're in the middle of COVID. I mean, you don't know anything else. But I mean, it was a bit of a culture shock to you. You're coming up. You basically have a double culture shock. You're moving up to such a high level. And at the same time, you're moving up and you've got all these COVID restrictions to deal with.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah. No, just as you said, it was a culture shock beyond belief. Yeah. So I came on, I made the US Ski Team in the spring of 2019. So my first year on the World Cup was 2019 and 2020. And as we all remember, beginning of 2020, that's when the world shut down. So kind of everything went up in the air. And we had to just ask ourselves, what do we do next? And as backwards as this is going to sound, I almost think parts of COVID were the best thing for my competitive career. Because I was in this loop when I first made the team and when I first came in where I was getting a lot of input, a lot of people were telling me different things, and I was trying to do everything everyone was telling me. And I wasn't really realising that I needed to do what was best for me, not what was best for 16 other people. So from a strength and conditioning standpoint, I was doing the same program as every other person on my team. Now, think about it, I was 16 years old. There were people on the team that were 26. Very different stages in our career. And I think what COVID kind of did for me is it forced my hand to say, okay, we're not going to the gym, we're not doing anything. You have to figure this out. So what did I do? Like my family helped me build gym at home. I did the strength program that the team was giving me. But then I was adding in all this extra because I had so much time on my hands. It was like I'd put a show on TV and I'd go down and work out again. I'd go up, I'd have lunch, have snack, whatever. I'd get bored. I'd throw another movie on and I'd go work out again. So it was just like this path of like, okay, I've got all this time and I want to use it productively. And I'd say that was really a moment that flipped everything for me, where I really took a lot of ownership in one, the path that I was on, but just taking more accountability for the training and the effort I was putting in. So I'm big on always reframing things and seeing a positive. So I actually looked back at that time during COVID and as much as I hated a no swab and taking COVID tests, there was a lot of good that came out of it for me also.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: It's always interesting to hear that side of it because we've had a lot of guests on, particularly say Summer Olympians with Tokyo, with that being cancelled. And the question is often, did that help or hinder you? And a lot of people often think it hinders you because you've got to wait a whole year, but similar to what you're saying, there are athletes out there who have said, well, actually, COVID actually kind of helped me get through that and added some time and everything along those lines. Do you think that given your trajectory where you were at at that point, and then leading into 2022, that without that extra training that you were talking on, that things would have been different going into your first Olympics? Or do you feel the path would have remained similar, but just might have gone a bit of a different path essentially?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, that's a good question. I think you take all those equations out, it's hard to look back and say, what if? But I look back and I see all these stages that happened leading up to 2022 were really crucial in my development. Just as an athlete as a whole, being able to go into the Stargate and feel confident, and feel like I had put in the work, so I deserve to be there. I think early in my career, I had earned the spots to be there, but maybe I had a little question mark in my head on, have I really done the reps? Have I really done the work? Do I belong here? I think coming out of that, once I really started prioritising more parts of my training and really specialising in what I was doing, then that's where I started to break through and be able to stand in the Stargate and say, I've done everything possible up to this point, now let me just go put on a show. And yeah, so I think it was really, it was pivotable and in my whole trajectory of things.

 

COLIN HILDING: Another thing that I think is interesting with the Beijing Games, it doesn't come up as often. We talked to a lot of athletes even around the time of the shutdown because of the whole Tokyo postponement. And I don't think it often gets thought of as much about what the winter athletes were thinking seeing the Tokyo Games being pushed at least in 2020 and definitely like nobody knew when. So when you go back to 2020, 2021, you obviously are probably at that point, at least thinking I've got a pretty decent shot of making the Olympic team. But are you thinking, hey, the Olympics might not happen? Like, is there any concern about that?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I honestly think back of it now. I don't think that thought ever crossed my mind. I think what where I was in was just like, whatever's going to happen is going to happen. If I compete in the Olympics this year, I'm going to be ready. If I have to wait a year, I'm even going to be more ready. But I never really was looking at it from a place of being, you know, questioning or wondering or asking, what if it happens? What if it doesn't? I was honestly just focused on what was right in front of me and trying to get better every day.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And when that ultimately turns into an Olympic appearance and you get that selection and all of that, I mean, what was that moment like for you? And what's that period? Because like, as we know with a lot, particularly with winter athletes, you get quota spots, you're not necessarily on the team. Like, I mean, there's all different criteria around it, different, you know, organised nationalities and that do different things, but kind of what was that whole period like and when you officially got the email, the phone call, Nick, you're going to the Olympics, what was that like?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it was cool. The buildup was, I remember it was really stressful. Just on, I'd say the biggest stressor was making sure you didn't actually test positive. Because like, you know, I was doing well. I wasn't doing anything great. Like, I had a fourth place that was good. I qualified second in an event that I'll go into next. But like, I had these kind of breakout spots that were putting me in a good spot. But I never actually like punched my ticket on a hard qualifying. Because our US team, it's hard to make the Olympics, like to make it black and white, like get on a podium or win something, and you punch your ticket really easily. And I didn't do that. So I was actually having to kind of wait and see what does discretion look like, and will my name get called up. So a bit of it was out of my control, and luckily it ended up working. But yeah, it was stressful on the COVID end, but also stressful like the weeks leading in. We had an event, or no, I was at a training camp. This was like, this was a week before the Tremblant World Cup, right after the New Year. So it was like January 1 of 2022. I was just doing like a little jumping training. I come up short on this jump and I end up knocking myself out. So we're like, okay, what does this mean? Am I still going to the World Cup? What's happening? You know, I wake up the next morning with a big cut on my eye and pass every concussion test with flying colours. So we're like, okay, this is weird, but we'll just keep going with things. Like everything's fine. Because I still at that point, I still had to go get some results and like actually get something to stand on. So I go to Mont-Tremblant, do, I get seventh the first day of singles. I just barely missed the super final and then fourth the next day to just barely missed the podium. So I was like, I was still nothing outstanding, but enough to make me breathe a little more, I guess. And we go into the Deer Valley World Cup right after. And you know, things were feeling good. I was training well, skiing my qualifying run and I qualify right into second. I'm like, okay, this is work in a great spot. I feel really confident to finish this day out. And during the finals training, I like trip over the finish line. Basically, I go down again, I knocked myself out again.

 

COLIN HILDING: Oh wow.

 

NICK PAGE: And now, now we're like, okay, this is like two kind of major events in a very short time frame.

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah.

 

NICK PAGE: I end up getting pulled out of that event for obvious reasons. Same thing happens though. Wake up the next morning, pass every test with flying colours. We're like, what is going on? But at this point, everything's off the table because I'm not competing anymore. So I just had to sit there that last day of the Deer Valley World Cup and really watch what everyone else is doing. Because if a couple of people from the US had the best day of their life and they land on a podium, I had to accept the fact that I was left off that team. Look back at it and none of that happened. Everything worked out the way it did. And I got the call from our freestyle director maybe a week later and he said, excited to invite you and bring you along to China for your first Olympics. And look back, it was pretty special.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. I'm going to ask, do you have like just, you impossible to be concussed or something, Nick? Like, did the doctors work out? Do you have a super strong brain? Like, I mean, like how does that happen?

 

NICK PAGE: That must be it or something. I don't know. Every time someone asks me like at the doctor's office, whatever, like, oh, have you ever had a concussion? I'm always like, well, like technically no. But I definitely like rung my bell a couple of times, but all things seem to still be working okay.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Far out.

 

COLIN HILDING: How did you suffer at any other major injuries, leading up to that point in your career? Like even when you were young in training?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah. That's one thing I've been really, really fortunate about my whole career, even up to that point, but from that point on till now, the only injury I've ever had is I ended up shattering my thumb, my rookie season. I got surgery on it and I walked out of the operating room and the surgeon said, hey, look, you're good to go skiing right now. You can jump out of a building and you'll break everything else in your body. You'll never break your thumb again, so don't worry. And it was like, okay. So that's been my only taste of ever having a little injury. So I've been really fortunate. You know, I give a lot of that back to a lot of the credit there back to my trainer Hannah, because she keeps me in such good shape and does such good injury management in our programming that it's not something that I ever really worry about, which is cool.

 

COLIN HILDING: You mentioned your rookie season. I mean, I have to bring up you were named the FIS rookie of the year. And this isn't just moguls, right? This is like all freestyle skiing for the year.

 

NICK PAGE: Just moguls, moguls and dual moguls. So each different discipline gives out a rookie of the year.

 

COLIN HILDING: So, I mean, before you can even get to an Olympics, you have an honour like that. You have like, I am the rookie of the year. I mean, being awarded something like that. Like, was it somebody you were like gunning for, hoping for? Like, was this like a first milestone where you could check a box off? You know, I'm starting to make it. I'm a rookie of the year.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I think definitely in my rookie season, it was something that I kind of had in the back of my mind of like, you know, it would be really cool to earn that. But at the same time, like my rookie season, I was just trying to make it down the mogul course every time I skied and just see what I could scrap together. So when it did actually happen, you know, I had that good 10th place at Deer Valley that year. You know, I think, you know, I got this great award. And if anything, it was just a nice reminder that the work I was doing was putting me on the right path. Like I was heading in the right direction. I think, you know, I sat with my coaches after and we were talking like, in no way was this ever the goal. Like this was not the finish line, winning rookie of the year. But it was a nice stepping stone to know that we're making the right changes, we're doing the right things. And this is just part of what's to come.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Before we touch on your performance at your first Olympics in Beijing, we always like to hear about experiences like village life, opening ceremonies, things like that. I guess you can probably combine it if you want with Milan as well, because obviously two very different Olympics that you went to. I mean, do you get involved in pin trading? Are you bumping shoulders with big names in the village? Are you do opening ceremonies? Like talk to me a bit about the experiences and combine both in terms of just what, comparing the two Olympics.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, they were very different, obviously. Like one having my family and friends there in Italy was way different than having no one there in 2022 in Beijing. But I went to both opening ceremonies. 2022 was incredible. Like we were walking into the Bird's Nest in Beijing, which one was really cool because I had memories back from 2008 Olympics. Yeah. Of that. So like being there in that stadium just was really special. And we walked as, you know, the whole team. That was really, really cool. And I think a big like sort of moment that I say at your first Olympics, you walked in your first opening ceremony, you kind of realised like, oh my God, I've worked so hard to try to get here my whole life. And now I'm here. Like you take it in and it's really special. And yeah, you fast forward four more years to 2026, opening ceremonies was still super special. And we had a 2026 one was interesting too, because we had a couple of different locations. Like there was the big one in Milan. I was in Lavinio. I think there was another in Cortina. And you know, all of Team USA is standing kind of waiting in line because our country comes at the end of the alphabet. And there's a, it was funny how it all worked out. There's a girl on my team does slope style. And the whole night, I don't know why she was doing it, but she was just blurting out my name, Nick Page, Nick Page. And then whatever started this caught on, more people started doing it. And we get to the front of the line, our country's up next. And one of the little attendants has this flag that says, or like not a flag, a sign that says, you know, United States of America. And they go, hey, who would like to hold this? And again, just on cue, she blurts out my name again. Everyone looks at me. So I was like, well, OK, sure, I'd love to hold the sign. So it was a cool little opening ceremony thing that I'll always remember. And that was a pretty special moment.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: That's awesome. I didn't I didn't realise that. We had Sebi Di Campo, an Australian cross-country skier on and he held the sign. He was in Pradat, so I was supposed to hold that one. But that's I mean, good to hear. You're our second American we've had on since the opening ceremony. And when we talked to Corrine, because she was in Milan, so she was telling the story about walking out to the stadium, having the cheers that turned into boos. And I was like, why are people booing us? And they're like, JD Fance is on the screen. So at least you didn't have to face that. At least probably maybe didn't hear that. Going back to Beijing, you're touching on sort of that level of, wasn't sure whether you were going to make it based in terms of the results and podiums, that sort of stuff. Of the four Americans that were in the men's moguls, you end up being the highest place. You end up finishing fifth in the final. You beat future gold medallist Cooper Woods. Can I just point that out as well? I mean, do you set goals going into it and do you reflect on sort of fifth in your first Olympics, not that long on the World Cup stage? I mean, pretty bloody good start, you lost me to an Olympic career at that point.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, absolutely. Like, yeah, going into 2022, I think, you know, the goal I would tell everyone was that I still going there to win.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.

 

NICK PAGE: And I still truly believe that, that that's what my intentions going there were. Did I have the skill set to make it happen? Like, possibly, but I would have needed a lot of things to go my way. Like I would have had to catch lightning in a bottle and everything would have had to go right. And of course, that didn't happen. But just to get there to have the opportunity, I think was really big. Like, if you're into that super final, you know you have a chance at the medal. If you don't make the super final, you've got no chance. So I remember talking to my team after, you know, my coaches and saying, look, we worked the last four years, we worked the last year for a window of 30 seconds where we would just have a chance, where we would just put our hat in the ring. And I think to be able to do that, that alone was really meaningful. Like just when I made the super final, I remember I was on the bubble, an athlete came down, ended up breaking his pole and not getting a very good score. And that's what secured my spot. And we all kind of looked around and we're like, holy crap, it's real now. Like this is what we, this is what we were gone after. So I'd say that was really cool, just being in that mix. And of course, you know, you left, I was left with a fifth place where I was excited because I skied my best run up to my career at the the most important moment. But I was also really hungry and excited to keep it going from there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And that final was super close. I mean, looking at it right now, what, like barely four and a half points separate Walter down to Cooper. And you are, if I'm looking at that score correctly, you are less than two points off a medal, which just insanely close to kind of have it that way. And a 50% chance at an Olympic medal, not a bad way to go in. And I appreciate like the hunger that obviously drives you on to what becomes a quite successful period in between Beijing and then Milano Cortina.

 

NICK PAGE: Right, yeah, I think we learned, I learned a ton coming out of Beijing. Like you look at the score sheet alone, like I knew I could jump really well. I was skiing really well at the time. But the one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was that I skied really slow compared to the rest of the field. Like I left so many points on the board where if I just skied, you know, comparable, comparably fast to the other guys, like I have an Olympic gold, an Olympic medal from that, from that 2022. But the thing that stuck out was like you didn't ski fast enough, and that's where our opportunity to improve was. So that was kind of leading straight into the next, the next summer of training was like we got to figure out how to ski faster. And I think that's something that we did really well in just figuring out tactically how to do it, and then making the speed kind of become a strength that once was such a weakness.

 

COLIN HILDING: I'm going to ask a question about that in a second, but one just touching on Beijing, you know, we were sort of covering the men's and women's finals live, and I'd have to go back to the episodes to hear if my reaction was, but I know that the two people who made that super final that I didn't see coming were you and Cooper. And it wasn't like, you know, I thought, oh, they got no shot at making it. But I mean, when you look at the competition that you were in there with, you got, you know, Kingsbury, you got Akuma, you've got Benjamin Cavey, and Walter Wahlberg, obviously, but you expect to see their names there. You're coming up each and every qualification round, each and every round, and I'm like, Nick's still in this thing, this is impressive. There is one, I guess you could say teammate of yours who've had on the show before, who did say they were not shocked by it, but were you surprising yourself as you're going through all this, and you're like, you know, I didn't expect to make it this far, and I did expect to do it, or are you focused on those things like, oh, you know, my time just wasn't right, or are you looking at the other things, are you looking at your turns, are you looking at your tricks, and you're like, you know, I think I actually have a shot here.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, coming into that, I by no means made that event easy on myself. Like, skied a horrible qualifying one, scrapped something together in the second qualifying just to make it. And then I basically just lived around the bubble every single round until the end. But I think the thing that like me and my coach at the time were really focused on was just come in, you've done the work, you know, you can be here, like figure out the little tactics, but don't overthink anything. Just go in and ski very free. So I wrote like before the finals night when I was getting ready, you know, I wrote smile and be Nick on my hand. So every time I adjusted my glove, you know, I or my pull strap, that was like my little trigger to remind myself the whole night was just, this is what we're doing. This is today's goal. So I wasn't getting too out in front of me. It wasn't dwelling on what happened in the past or what was going on kind of before. It was just in the present moment, trusting myself and going after it.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I like that smile and be Nick. Actually, a t-shirt. You'd like to sell that like in the lead up to, you know, bring it down.

 

COLIN HILDING: Ben and I are going to start writing on our hands. We'll even put Nick on it too.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm not putting smile and be Nick.

 

COLIN HILDING: We aspire to be more Nick Page like.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Don't need to be ourselves. I mean, Colin, you can be yourself if you want, but for me, no, I need to be someone else. I mean, barely 12 months later in the World Cup, you get your first World Cup win in Sweden. And I just want to say who you beat in second place, Michael Kingsbury, third place, Walter Wahlberg. Not a bad podium to come ahead of those two, the reigning gold medallist and Michael Blake Kingsbury. I mean, what was that moment like for you to kind of, based on everything you're talking about, that progression, that here you are, less than a year out from your Olympic debut, that you then topped a World Cup podium?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it was really special. I mean, I think back to it, there was even a moment as that 2022 season was ending, our World Cup finals was in Megev that year in France, and it was the first time I had ever gone out to the bar or anything after a World Cup, and I was sitting there with with Mikhail Kingsbury, just chatting and he was telling me, he's like, look, you skied this run here. I ended up getting fourth in this final one. He's like, you skied this run that was so much better than the run I skied, the run Walter skied, the run Akuma skied, even though all three of us beat you. He was like, that was the best run of the whole night. He's like, you need to understand that and know that. And I think in that moment, it kind of gave me this new sense of trust of like, okay, like it's coming from someone who I really value their opinion, but it's also like, it's pretty real. So for that to fast forward then into December to actually kind of have that come true where, you know, I did ski the best round of the day, and one had him standing there next to me, Walter, on my other side. It was a really cool memory and a really cool kind of just culmination of everything going right. And I guess as I say it now, four years later, I'm like annoyed at myself that it's still my only win. So that's kind of the next challenge to keep this ball rolling because I can't be a one trick pony.

 

COLIN HILDING: There was no moment, though, afterwards where Kingsbury was like, you know what, I had a better run than you today and I wasn't first, so let's go.

 

NICK PAGE: Not on that one, there probably was like, honestly, I looked back and I watched the video of that, my first win and the run that Husky second with. And I was like, honestly, I'm kind of shocked it went my way in some regard. But whatever it is, I'll take it.

 

COLIN HILDING: There's literally only a couple of handfuls of times that he has him on top of the podium, and you can be one of the people to have a claim of fame for that. I have to ask about leading between Beijing and Milan, knowing that Duomogles is coming up, because we talked a lot between those two Olympics about that being introduced, and a lot of the skiers that I saw really shift their performance in each event. Jacar Anthony, I think, would be one of the big ones. She came a long way in Duomogles. At what point are you looking at, maybe there was no point, maybe you nailed it from day one. But at what point are you looking at, I have to ski differently in Duomogles, or is that your goal above the individual moguls?

 

NICK PAGE: Overall, I think just coming out of, like as I said earlier, coming out of Beijing, I knew I needed to ski faster. One in singles, but then like, skiing faster wasn't going to hurt me in duels either. So I think it brought just like another added level of confidence when I did get into the duel start gate. And you know, I could trust skiing faster. I could trust what I was able to do from a speed standpoint. And then over that four year period, like ticked off a couple duels podiums on my career, which I hadn't had had yet. So I think there was just this nice momentum that was kind of building simultaneously to just my career in general. But I don't know if I ever made like a full switch to say, now is where I have to start prioritising duels. It was just like, I gotta get better at everything. I gotta get better really fast. So that was kind of, I guess, where my mindset was and what I was doing with my coaches through that period.

 

COLIN HILDING: This is a little fun one. And I try to save this for close to the end, but I'm fairly certain I'll forget otherwise. I've been pitching for a long time, not just dual moguls, but there should be some type of like mixed relay or something like that. You put one man and one woman and you have teams you compete. You combine your score and a female score. I like to ask this of a lot of skiers, especially the American ones, because you got such a large, very competitive team. If you had to pick a partner, and I'm interested to see if it's a person who actually picked you, if you had to pick a partner, one of the other female skiers from the United States, where you're competing in a mixed event, who would it be?

 

NICK PAGE: I mean, that's hard because our women's team is so deep and so strong.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Parents, too.

 

NICK PAGE: To say it full honesty, I think I could pick any one of them and have a really good shot. And almost, in a way, feel like I'm getting carried. If I have to put a name to it, like, it's pretty hard to look past what Jalen does. Her speed against the field. I mean, you see it in her success in duels especially. She's unbelievable. So yeah, if that comes to be, I think we could probably make a good team together.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Can I just ask him that because we've talked a lot about Jalen Koff, but how's her mum? Her mum seems cool.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, she's nice. Yeah, really nice. Yeah, we cross paths every now and then.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Colin got us on the Jalen Koff sign. So, you know.

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah. I will say actually, we haven't had Jalen Koff on yet or her mum. We're aiming for both, but I'm sure she would have answered you. But actually, Olivia Giaccio answered you when he asked, she was the first one we asked this question to like three, four years ago. And she was also the one who, when we're like, oh, Nick Page really surprised a lot of people. And she's like, no, not really, didn't surprise me. I'm like, oh, there we go. I mean, she should spot talent before the rest of us.

 

NICK PAGE: I'll just send her a text and say thank you.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Can you also, can you double check with her? She got a favourite Meat Loaf song yet? Just like... I don't even know who that is. Yeah, my worst question I've probably ever asked on this podcast, Nick, was when I discovered that she was from the hometown of Meat Loaf. And she's like, yeah, I don't even really know who Meat Loaf is. And I'm like, am I just super old? How do people not know who Meat Loaf is? Nick, do you know who Meat Loaf is? Can you answer me that at least?

 

NICK PAGE: I got to be honest with you, that one just went straight over my head. I didn't really know what you were saying until you just clarified it.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: What are we teaching our children, Colin, that they don't know who Meat Loaf is? Come on.

 

COLIN HILDING: I do have something. It's not going to be about a famous person, but I do have to ask, because unless this is wrong, but it could be similar. We have a skier here in Canada, Maya Schwinghammer, whose build hometown is a place that she told me, she's like, I lived there for like a year. I don't know anything. You're build from Hollywood, Florida, which first of all, I can't believe there's a second Hollywood, let alone that there is a winter athlete, two time Olympian winter athlete who comes from Florida. I mean, is this an inaccuracy? Did you live there up until you moved to Utah? What's the story?

 

NICK PAGE: No, that is actually, it is true. So I was actually born there. My parents are both from Salt Lake. They moved around a bunch for various different work things. They lived in Florida for a while, and that's where I ended up being born. And we moved back to Park City when I was one. So I lived there for maybe 14 months. Wow.

 

COLIN HILDING: No memories.

 

NICK PAGE: What's so funny about that is, I have this thing set up whenever my name is mentioned online, I get an email about it. And during the 2022 Olympics, I get this thing that pops up, Florida News Station, Winter Olympians, you didn't know we're from Florida. Like, why is this coming to me? I open it up, I read the article, and I'm like the headline of this article. It's like, well, hey, if Florida wants to claim me as one of their own, by all means, I'll take it. So.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I find that so unique, because like the thing I love about Americans, or many things I love about Americans, is that it's very rare to meet an American who is like, I was born in Florida, I lived in Florida, I've never lived anywhere else. Like, I swear, you're all born one state, you lived in three different states, and now you're in a fifth state. Like, I always must, it must be very interesting for all Americans to, like, what state are you from? Because I also get state pride, such a big thing in the US. As an Australian, I was born and raised in the great state of Tasmania, I lived there for 31 years, I now live in the state of Victoria, but I would still classify myself as a Tasmanian, always will, that is pride for me. But like, I find that interesting hearing that from you, that I guess you basically say, oh, I'm from Utah, because that's where you've spent your formative years in your life essentially.

 

NICK PAGE: Exactly, right. Yeah, so like, if anytime someone asks me where my hometown is, where I'm from, anything, Park City, Utah is always the answer. The only weird one is when someone's like, oh, so you were born and raised there. And it's like, well, actually, no, but like, essentially, I'm from Hollywood, and not the one you think.

 

COLIN HILDING: I do want to ask a little bit about growing up in Utah, which we could have asked at the beginning, but this is basically like, Olympic City, and soon to be Olympic City again. I mean, I've been to Calgary, I haven't been to, I know Ben, I think you've been to Salt Lake, I love Salt Lake, it's a great city. But these Olympic cities, even years or decades later, to this day, you go to Calgary, and even with so many things like ski hills shut down, bobsled tracks, I mean, there's just so many opportunities. Growing up in a place like that, you mentioned being interested in skiing and everything, does that play a big part, that this is an Olympic city, and that there are so many different more opportunities that you wouldn't have had if you grew up in Hollywood, Florida?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You'd be an actor.

 

NICK PAGE: A hundred. I'd be an actor. No, a hundred percent. I would say my whole time growing up, my whole life, the Olympic spirit was just infused in my hometown. I'd drive down the street, you'd see Olympic rings hanging on flags, you'd go to the ski area and you'd see the signs of this champion run at Deer Valley, the site of the 2002 Olympics. It was just this stuff that was just bred in and you saw it all around you. So I think it made it, just at a really young age, I think it made me dream really big because it was just around me. Like I always joke, you'd walk down the street here in Park City and you see the Olympic rings on the sewer caps. It's like, where else in the world do you see that? Yeah. So it was just something that was part of me growing up and really something that you give so much testament to the 2002 hosting committee, was that they preserved all of our venues here from that 2002 Olympics. So the facilities that I grew up training on were all left over from that Olympics. You see so many Olympics now, you know, they put billions of dollars into all this infrastructure and that turns into a ghost town. And that was something that they were really prioritising not letting happen. So they said, we're going to reinvest into all of our facilities. We're going to create these training grounds for the future generations of athletes. And now with us having 20, 34 Olympics come back, you know, we don't really need to build that much. Like you give some stuff a paint job, but the facilities are still in great shape. So we're, we're in such a great position on that. That ends that, you know, I have to give all that credit to the people who made it possible coming out of 2002.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And that's one thing that, I mean, half the reason why I went to Salt Lake, I had a friend who was like, Hey, do you want to come stay with me in Salt Lake? Absolutely, an Olympic geek. I'm like, take me to where all the Olympic things were. And I love that when I go to an Olympic host city, that they still have that. Canada to me, all three host cities in Canada still have amazing, you know, monuments and things. They're so proud of it. And even where I live in Melbourne now, I mean, 70 years since the Olympics were here, but there are parts where I walk past and you see some level of, here's a piece of history, here's the Olympics, Sydney, very much. Obviously, it's a lot more recent, but I love that about it. Yeah, and it blew my mind. And the first time I discovered that Rice Hickle Stadium is a bloody university stadium. I'm walking around the street, shit, this is like a university stadium America, man. This is incredible.

 

NICK PAGE: Exactly, right? And you got to be excited too that 2032, you got to come back to Brisbane.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And I'm a weird pattern guy, Nick, and this is, bear with me here when I say this, but like, I like the way that Brisbane is then going to be sort of in this period of two American Olympics similar to Sydney. So Atlanta, 96, four years later, Summer Olympics were in Australia. Two years after that, they were in Salt Lake City. LA, 2028, four years later in Australia, two years after that, Salt Lake City. It's just written in the stars, right?

 

NICK PAGE: Like it was meant to be, yep.

 

COLIN HILDING: Vancouver, eight years after Salt Lake City. So we're getting it.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: 2042.

 

COLIN HILDING: 2042, back to Canada.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Vancouver Olympics.

 

NICK PAGE: My career is just extending and extending as a competitor if it comes back to Vancouver.

 

COLIN HILDING: You gotta keep going until 2042.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And as I keep saying, Brisbane 2032 is technically a Winter Olympics for Australia. So if we can get moguls in, you know, because we're pretty bloody good at moguls in Australia. So therefore we should be able to put it in the Brisbane Olympics.

 

NICK PAGE: Might not have to get it in the program.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Might need to send the mountains down to, you know, Threadbouw or something. Not really skiing in Queensland. But before Nick, I want to touch on Milano Cortina, but I'm sorry to keep milking this, but it's funny and we're a funny show sometimes. I'm looking here, notable people from Hollywood, Florida. This is what happened with Olivia, how we got in the meatloaf train. Your name's not on this list, first of all, which I'm a bit pissed off. But let's have a look here. Joe DiMaggio is from Hollywood. Jane Atkinson, great 24 actress. That will probably go over your head there. But looking at that one, Josh Gad is from Hollywood, California. The one I like.

 

NICK PAGE: I actually sat next to Josh Gad on a flight from LA to Sydney.

 

COLIN HILDING: Wow.

 

NICK PAGE: How crazy is that?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: There you go.

 

NICK PAGE: And we came from the same city.

 

COLIN HILDING: Did you build a snowman with him?

 

NICK PAGE: I didn't. No.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You could have been talking about something. The one I like here though, I don't know if I like this fact, but it's just such a wee one. Ricardo Lopez, and I have no idea who that is, but then you see the explanation next to it. Stalker, who attempted to murder Bjerg with a letter bomb.

 

NICK PAGE: Oh, wow.

 

COLIN HILDING: Ben has been known to edit Wikipedia pages during podcasts. Ben, put Nick Page on there, please.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm going to, Colin, you ask him about Milan. I'm going to do that because you should be on this list. Come on, you're a two time Olympian.

 

NICK PAGE: I love it. It's hilarious.

 

COLIN HILDING: Before I even talk about your events in Milan, because I really want to talk about the dual moguls as well. But we mentioned briefly the opening ceremonies. I mean, the opening ceremonies not being in the stadium. You know, what was the atmosphere? I mean, obviously the atmosphere was different, but it's hard to translate, I feel like anything. Like even the stadium stuff, when we were watching on TV, it was really hard to kind of know like, okay, so what are people responding to? You know, is there a decent side crowd there still? Like, did it still feel like an opening ceremony?

 

NICK PAGE: Absolutely. You know, I heard mixed reviews, like some people were like, oh, it's, you know, it's such a bummer that we're not in Milan, or some people were like, it's so nice that we're here. Like, I looked at it through the lens of like, you're walking in an opening ceremony, no matter where you are, it's pretty, it's pretty cool. Like, you got to be pretty excited about that. So we had a decent size crowd come out to Lavinio. You know, by no means was it a stadium, but it's still a moment in time that I'll remember for the rest of my life. So I think I leave with that, and it could have been anything. I could have been walking down the street in whatever. But if the moment had that much of a magnitude to me, it still really matters.

 

COLIN HILDING: They really did milk every time it was on TV, though, just showing that entire village, which really did look incredible. I mean, you know, we talked a lot during the games about like, it just looks like pictures. This looks like a postcard. Like, you know, this is designed to, you know, be something that you see on like a painting somewhere. I mean, the village itself, you know, being able to be in all those time, like was it was it as jaw-dropping as it looks on TV? 100%.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, like it's one of the most just spectacular places I've been just from the views. Like you do a 360 every single direction you're looking could be a postcard, just like you're saying. And food was amazing. People could not have been nicer to us and more welcoming to people part of the Olympics. But just there were so much Olympic spirit running through Lavinio that made it really, really special.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I am listening. I'm sorry if I'm looking to try. I've added you to Wikipedia, but the problem is the problem with the link though, apparently is that I've got to make sure that it goes to your page. Cause according to me adding Nick Page, the way I have, it's taken to Nick Page as a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours.

 

NICK PAGE: Wow.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I saw that earlier too. I'll change it. Anyway, back to the interview. Leading up into the games, eight World Cup podiums outside of the win that you had, obviously that we touched on, you had a previous one before that, earlier into that. I mean, everything you say, everything you've said, sorry, and this is such a dumb question to ask, but I'm going to ask it anyway when it comes to expectations. You touched on it before, you go into it, you want to win. But going into this, you were third in the world as well, if I'm not mistaken, in the single model. So I'm assuming you went into these games, hoping for a medal, assuming you could get a medal based on your form and everything that you were going into, into Milano Cortina.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, 100%. Like I was in a good spot. I think the number on my chest at the time, not only did the talking, but I kind of proved that, that what I was doing was working. So I felt really confident coming in. Like how I had talked in 2022, I left that decision up to discretion. I didn't punch my ticket the hard way. And that was something really important this time around, where I said, I'm taking that off the table. No matter what, I'm making this happen on my ticket. So to open it up and be on the podium in the first event, I think immediately just kind of solidified that what I was doing was working, but it also took a nice little stress reliever off of like, okay, you know, I still need to keep my foot on the gas, but I'm not fighting an uphill battle as much now. Like our team is still really strong, but I've got something in the bank to work with now. And I finished that event out in Ruka, stayed in good standings and then to jump on the podium again in, in Vals L'Encombe was really good. And that was a special podium too, that I'll always, I'll always remember.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Was there much, is there much thought process or talking in terms of just going into that event about how long it had been since a US male had got a medal at the Olympics? I mean, you touched on Brian obviously, because it, no, if I'm not mistaken, US hasn't got a medal in men's moguls since Brian's bronze. So was that ever talked about or is that something that comes up or is that just something that people like us bring up afterwards and it doesn't really cross the mind?

 

NICK PAGE: You know, it doesn't, I wouldn't say it crosses your mind too much. Like the math is the math. Like I remember in, in 2022, everyone, I heard it on like the broadcast of, you know, 12 years since the last US men's American to win a medal. And I was like, you do the math, 2026, it was 16 years. When we're back again in 2030, it'll be 20 years. So the math doesn't change, just kind of put forth my energy. And next time, next time we get the opportunity, we'll try to make it happen again.

 

COLIN HILDING: There's really no specific question, but I mean, I just want to hear about the individual moguls' experience the second time around for you. And just sort of a comment myself, I mean, you talk about improving your time and everything. I mean, it's definitely a different course, but it's still faster when you compare your times versus the other ones who are in the big final. You held your own there. But even with expanding it to eight men in the finals, I mean, five of those were in the big final in the previous Olympics. You're only missing one name in there. So I mean, do you kind of feel like during the second time, even if the results didn't put you on the podium, like I'm really hanging with big boys now. There's a consistency here among the top finishers.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, definitely. It was nice to... It's always nice to be in the mix where you know that you have a chance. And you know at these big events, the World Championships, the Olympics, the big names are the people who are always big contenders are going to land themselves in that big final. So to just be a part of it means that you're doing something right. And opening it up to eight, I think, gives even a little bit more opportunity there, which is good. And yeah, being in that mix is hard to do. Like you had to ski that final, that first final that we skied, you had to ski it like your life depended on it. And I skied a great run in it. And you know, I kind of squeaked into the big final. Like I didn't walk my way in. So it's still a tall order to be in that mix.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I saw an interview you did afterwards in the mix zone and you were talking about how you would change your goggles that you would, I think you had tinted ones earlier, then you changed it to more clearer ones and it ended up being sunnier in the final. That sort of brings into a question I was really desperate to ask a mogul skier and you're the first one I've had on since. The day final, we, I personally as a fan, I was going like, why isn't this at night? Like I like watching the moguls at night. Do you know why it was during the day? And also what does that affect you as a skier? Like would you prefer that to be at night? Like it usually is?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it's definitely, definitely different first off. Like, like you said, like, yeah, I was changing goggles because the light changed outside. The cloud rolled in. You know, it was sunny for the first final run I skied. The second final run I skied, it was like I was staring at a white wall. There wasn't a bit of definition to look at. So there was one more aspect that you just had to be ready for. And when I look back, something that specifically that I let that catch me off guard. Like I let that make me tense because I came into the start gate and it's like, man, I can't see a single mogul in the top section. Like I'm just going to have to hope this works out. Or I could have managed that a lot better. But yeah, it is kind of funny. You look back and all the big Olympic moments in my mind have always been at night. Even the ones that I was a part of in 22. So who knows? It's the same field for everyone. The same, I always joke, we all play the same golf course. So we're all skiing the same mogul course at the same time. So it's not like anyone's got an advantage over me because of it. But I think being at night does put on a good show. Like I went and watched the half pipe events and all of those are at night. And you just get this like almost kind of magical atmosphere when everything's lit up. You got the dark sky above you. It's just a great place to showcase great skiing.

 

COLIN HILDING: Speaking of great skiing, you were indirectly part of my favourite moment of the entire Olympics in the dual moguls, which I would love to give credit to you. But you were in the background of maybe the single greatest move I've ever seen. I'm glad you're going to go with this. I've actually been on, I've been guested on two other podcasts just in the last couple of weeks. One was Olympic centred one and one wasn't. And both of them moguls came up in both times. People said, did you see that guy who did the backflip and somehow landed when he was about to fall? You and Akuma Ureshima, which that's already got to be nerve wracking going up against Akuma. I mean, dual moguls, this is kind of like, this is what he does. Unfortunately, you kind of go via a little bit off course. Seconds later, Akuma has, I think probably three or four wipeouts on his way down, and somehow it lands. Now, I have it ingrained in my head, his reaction to the cross, and it was just before record, I'm like, what was Nick's reaction to that? Because I'm like, I don't know if I watched. So all I could really see is you go up and you're congratulating, you give him like a little bit of a, you know, handshake, a little bit of a hug. But did you see what happened to him after you went off course?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, so it was crazy. The whole thing, I go, I remember every detail of that run, the whole event, but it was interesting that we were seated that together that early in the rounds. Like we skied against each other in the round of 16, which is really early on. So both of us kind of were coming in like, okay, we got to push really hard right from the start. Like, you know, you're here at the Olympics, everyone's good. You got to push hard against everyone. But this one's like, you got to push really hard to start your day off. So whatever, I pushed too hard, made a bunch of mistakes and ski out. And as I come back in, you know, I see Akuma kind of fumble his way over and he crosses the centre of the line. So I'm like, oh my God, like, yeah, I've thrown this away now because I came or I went around a banner. And whatever, I finished the run, he goes off the bottom air, I go off the bottom air. So I don't really see what's going on. Like I never watched him finish backwards. And you know, we crossed the line. I knew at this point, you know, I lost the duel. So the first thing I do when I give him a hug, I said, hey, don't worry, don't worry. Because I knew he's thinking like, crap, I just lost this duel because I crossed the middle. So first thing I said, hey, don't worry, I made the mistake first, you won. Just like, you can breathe. And he's saying, oh, thank you. You know, I had no idea, he was all nervous. And then we're watching the replay together and it shows it. And I watched him finish backwards and I'm like, well, man, you went through way more than I thought you did. I thought you just stumbled a little in the middle. So yeah, it was, I guess, cool to be part of a very viral moment at the Olympics. It's been funny afterwards how many people that, you know, don't really know who I am or what I've been doing, that they're like, I say, oh yeah, I was in the Olympics. And they go, oh my God, there was this clip I saw. Someone finished backwards. And I'm like, well, actually, like, I was kind of in it. I'm just a part of the video that you're not watching.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it sounds like, sorry, Kyle, I know you're going to question me now, but we had Apollo on short track speed skater and the famous one where Stephen Bradbury, you know, everyone fell over, he wins the gold. And he would talk about coming to Australia doing motivational speakers. And all Australians will say, oh, do you remember that famous short track race where everyone fell over and now Guy won the gold? And he's like, yeah, I was one of the ones who fell over.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I remember it very well, actually.

 

COLIN HILDING: But like, I'm glad you brought it up too, because I think one of the most interesting, that's what I was really selling people on before the Olympics, talking up Duomogul so much, is that the slightest mistake doesn't necessarily matter. In a situation like that, you kind of confirm like Akuma didn't even know whether he won this or lost this. You, by a couple of seconds, are off course, and he has the exact same thing happen, yet he moves on. I mean, there's probably been times where you've had it go in your favour as well. You're like, wow, that was definitely one of the worst runs I ever had, but lucky enough to squeak through. I mean, the nerves going into something like that, where there are so many different variables, where you could potentially have a terrible run, you could go on, you could be top of the podium, or you could see the best you've ever skied. But just because your mind is on one thing and not the other, you're pushing, like you said, going too fast or going too slow. I mean, what is it that goes through your mind? Is there even any way to prep, I guess, for dual moguls, would be the question.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I mean, I think you're... You always have a game plan, and very quickly your game plan can get thrown out the window. Like what did Mike Tyson say? Like everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face. Like that's how dual moguls can be a lot of the time. And sometimes it works great. Like I've had great days of duels before where I haven't really skied that well. But I've just been like, I've been staying in it, it's been scrappy, and I've been able to just make things work. And I've had other ones where I've skied great. And I ran into a buzz saw early on with someone who skied better than me. So it's a hard thing to do. And I like to put it in a really simple way. Like if you want to win more duels, like ski better. Like I don't know what to say. Ski fast, jump well and ski better than the person next to you. And I think that alone is kind of what you work on and what you try to come in with. And then you kind of let the punches roll from there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: A couple of things, we'll get to our wrap up questions before we do. First of all, visually on Hollywood, Florida, notable people, you are between Mike Napoli, a baseball player, and Norman Reedus, an actor and a model. So there you go. You can see that.

 

NICK PAGE: That's perfect. It's nice to be on the list. Thank you.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: It fits in there perfectly. I mean, obviously, though, looking ahead to the next cycle, keep going forward towards the French Alps. But I mean, given your two experiences now that you've had and where you're at in your three, you just finished the season fourth overall, like pushing four years in the future, I mean, realistically, we're going to see you on the podium, I feel here, Nick. Like, I mean, like it's, is that where you're really kind of envisioning it now that this is humanly possible now, two finals in your background, you're this close that this is now the next step, third time lucky for Nick Page?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, four years, it seems like it's a long way away, but it's going to be here before we know it. So, making sure that I get myself, you know, into a better position than I am right now, like finishing, you know, the last two years, you know, on the singles overall podium has been big, but they've been third places. Like, they're still a lot more ahead of me. And as you're getting closer and closer to the top here, the gap is exponentially harder to close because everyone at that level is so good. So, I've really got to do a lot of work on my end just in preparing and then being ready for that moment. And that's, I guess, what I'm really excited for. You know, going on through the next six months of training for this next season, but really over the next Olympic quad. I'm really excited to just progress and keep getting better.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: We've lost the goat. Mikhail's retired. I love the post that you did about him and his career and your friendship. I mean, he's even commented talking about playing more golf with you, which, you know, I'd like to hear how he's as a golfer. I'm intrigued about this one photo you've got of like you two, like you've got a Yoshi head on, he's got a Mario. Like was this like in Japan playing Mario Kart? Because he's first, you're second. Like what is this photo? And like what are you guys doing off the snow year? This looks fun.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it's funny. So we've had a handful of trips now where after the season, we'll go to Japan to coach this camp with ID. So when I was just there, whatever, three weeks ago, I was there with him. And one of the things we've done it every year is, we'll go to an arcade, we'll play these Mario Kart sort of games together. But it's something that you never see anywhere else. It's like the first thing you do is you take your little selfie with your, whatever your costume on. And so it's always, I have like one of those after every time we do it. And still, I mean, it's like, he's so great at winning everything. I've been second place to him in Mario Kart every single time we've played too.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. There you go. The GOAT on all different levels. Do you beat him in golf or does he beat you in golf?

 

NICK PAGE: Oh man, that's a good quote. We've only played once together in real life. I'm actually, I'm going to have him down here this summer to Park City. We're going to play some golf together at my course, and I guess we'll be able to get back to you on the answer there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, good. I look forward to it. Speaking of Park City, sorry, Colin, I've got to, do you have a Macau, a Kingsbury question? Did you there, Colin?

 

COLIN HILDING: There will all be Kingsbury questions.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: All right, I'll give him a few more. Similar to me and Dale, like he gets on his head. The one I wanted to touch on, though, before he gets back to Kingsbury in our final 10. Speaking of greatness, we've talked about this man already in terms of greatness. Dale, this man below, Mr. Thomas Bach, you've got a photo of you shaking his hand in Salt Lake. Tell me about meeting Olympic champion fencing, Thomas Bach, Honorary President for Life. Because we love this man a bit. So you've been in his vicinity, you've touched him, you've shaken his hand.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it was really cool. We did, it was after, I can't remember if we were leading in to getting Salt Lake named as the host for 2034, if it was maybe right after it had already been established. But he was doing basically just a walk around, seeing all the different venues, all the different places. And I was asked to come be part of the athlete hosting group when he was coming to the Utah Olympic Park. It was an unbelievable experience. Like you've seen what he's done for the whole Olympic journey, not just for my sport, for every sport, summer, winter. Everyone involved, he's been so influential for all of us. So to have the chance to just meet him, say thank you for everything, that was really special. And then get to kind of explain to him, what my stomping ground of the Utah Olympic Park jumping into the pool was like. Because that was his first time ever there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow.

 

COLIN HILDING: So with Kingsbury, this is not...

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Call him brave and go back to the King.

 

COLIN HILDING: Actually, before we get to a quick strip of Kingsbury, kind of in relation to that, I think there was a lot of uncertainty with his entire season. Kingsbury is one of them, because I don't know how much is even known to the other skiers. I mean, certainly not the ones who are competing for another country. But I mean, nobody knew what his plans were this season. Nobody even realised that week by week is he going to show up, is he not going to show up? You have something like that. You have the most unbeatable skier of all time, and you don't know is he showing up or not. But then you add to that this season, really unpredictable as far as like, is something going to happen? Where is it going to be? We're supposed to be in this city, and then a couple of weeks later, oh, no, they're changing it here. In the end, you end up having a very abbreviated season. I think it was almost half as many individual events as the previous year, I think only two, if you include the Olympics, maybe three dual moguls events the entire season. Still, through all that, I mean, you saw a lot of skiers where that uncertainty definitely kind of affected them, and it didn't for you. I mean, did you have any type of specific goal for this season, and having everything shift like that, did it mess up any of your plans in any ways?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, there are a lot of variables. I looked back, I posted at one point, like I said, there was a two-week stretch of the Valentine Cone World Cup to the Waterville World Cup. I said, if you could describe this little two-week stint in one phrase, it would be adversity management. And as I think back, you could describe the entire season as that. Like you are getting variables and things thrown at you left and right, and you just had to try to manage them, put out fires where you could and just keep rolling with things. Like coming into the season, yeah, you think we're going to have 17 events, and halfway through the season, you're like, okay, maybe we'll get seven. So it's a big change. And I think another nice part of getting on that podium early in RUCA was, it let me kind of shift my focus from just trying to make it on the Olympic team, trying to do well at the Olympics to like, okay, now I'm kind of in the mix for the overall standings. Like now I can keep pushing every week knowing that everything matters, and it really it adds up by the end of the season. So I think by definitely by the Japan World Cup, that was the only thing on my mind was like, I'm in third right now, what do I have to do to try to jump up even higher? And at a very minimum, just protect my spot in third because getting on an overall podium is really hard. Like anyone can do well one day, doing well consistently over a whole season is a whole nother challenge.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Just actually on that before we get to the 10 year, remind me, I feel bad that I actually haven't even asked a question about him. Colin talked a lot about Cooper's gold being a real surprise, and the fact that in the season leading up to it, he hadn't mainly been on form and maybe being one of these people that people have been talking about. In total seasons. And then all of a sudden he wins a gold medal. Is that a surprise to someone like you who's always competing with him, or are you aware that he is capable of doing this? And really in your sport, anybody on the day, I'm guessing could be capable of doing that. I mean, what was your take on Cooper walking away with the gold in Milan?

 

NICK PAGE: That was awesome. I mean, he skied incredibly. And I think there were a lot of moments leading up to it. He was skiing really well. Like he skied well in Ruka at the beginning. He finished off the prior season, that 2024-25 season really strong. Like he skied unbelievably at a couple of events there, where he had like a lot in his tank where even watching it, you're like, okay, he could be a problem. Like this could really develop. I was skiing at a camp in Whistler last spring. And I was, me and Steve Desovich were watching him, using him as an example of like, okay, he's doing a lot of stuff right, that we need to try to replicate, and we need to try to get into my skiing more. So by that point, I have a lot of respect for him. And by no means was it unheard of that he got himself in the position he did. Like he's a great skier, he's a great jumper. And when the stars align and he puts it together, like he's really hard to beat. So yeah, like I think a lot of people probably look at it kind of in his events leading up to the Olympics that year. On paper, you'd maybe be a little more surprised, but when you saw his actual, the work he was putting in off the snow, you saw the work he was producing on snow, you know, in training or maybe what wasn't showing up in competitions at times. You can't really be that surprised because he put it all out there.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I've got to ask, because we're recording this before we record our interview with him, and he's not going to see this before that. Any stories, tidbits, secrets, things that we can ask him that he'll kind of be like, where the hell did you get that info? Embarrass him with? Anything that we can really put him on the spot that he's going to be like, wow, they've done their research.

 

NICK PAGE: Oh man, I'm trying to think. I need to tell him that I still owe him for a drink that we had in Lavinia that he didn't let me pay for. And I told him, I was like, Cooper, I'm getting you back. I'm buying you a drink after you won a gold medal.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: OK.

 

NICK PAGE: And he's like, no, no, man, I got it. I got it. I left early.

 

COLIN HILDING: I'm a gold medallist. Drinks for everybody. Yeah.

 

NICK PAGE: No. And I was like, the last thing in the world is I'm going to let, because everyone was doing that. Every time he would go out, he'd pick up every tab and everyone would just expect it of him. He's that nice of a guy that he would do it. But it was like, no, just because you want a gold medal, doesn't mean that you changed that me and you are friends. And like, I want to do this for you. So I still owe him for this drink. And I asked him after, I was like, do you have Venmo? You have PayPal? And he never responded to my text. So it'll come to him at some point, but just remind him.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: He's on stamps now, Nick. I'm sure he doesn't need the money.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah. It's the principle. It's not the money.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I still love this fact that I think we, from what I know, we are the only country on the planet, that if you win an Olympic gold medal, you get on a stamp.

 

NICK PAGE: So yeah, I didn't actually know that until Cooper, I think he told me about it and then I saw him posting about it.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: He did a video. He's a first Olympian I have ever seen do a video of him going into the post office buying his stamp. And I love that because I love embarrassing Australian gold medallists on the show. Usually I pull their stamp out and they show it. And often they're like, Oh, don't you know, whatever. But like, I just, I love that video of him with his camera sort of hidden going into a post office. I don't think they recognise him either. Right. It was so cool. Yeah, it was crazy. Nick, as we wrap up every interview, 10 get to know each other questions. A bit of fun. And I'll start off with the first one. The one thing you never leave home without when travelling to a competition. Oh, don't say skis, sorry, don't say skis.

 

NICK PAGE: A sugar free Red Bull.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: A sugar free Red Bull. OK, nice.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it's got to be sugar free.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Gives you wings, you know.

 

NICK PAGE: Gives me wings.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Are you sponsored by Red Bull or not yet? Can we get you sponsored by Red Bull?

 

NICK PAGE: I'm not.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Come on.

 

NICK PAGE: Not sponsored, just a proud user of their product.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: We've got we're very good friends with a Canadian ski jumper who is very much sponsored by Red Bull. Maybe we can hook you guys up in the sponsorship realm.

 

COLIN HILDING: What's the tradition or superstition you follow before every big competition?

 

NICK PAGE: There's a funny question actually, because you've had Matt Graham on, he tells me that I'm the most superstitious person in our sport. And I tell him every single time I say, no, Matt, you're wrong. I just have very advanced routines and we get into this debate every single time. But there's like, there are a couple of things that I do just because I like consistency.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Okay.

 

NICK PAGE: Like I wear the same pair of base layers every day I ski. I wash them. Don't worry. I ski with my feet and my poles on the same hands and feet, or my skis and my poles on the same hands and feet.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to say, you ski with your feet and the poles.

 

COLIN HILDING: That's a very interesting position.

 

NICK PAGE: No, so there's just weird little things like that, that I feel comfortable doing and Matt always like to poke fun at me for.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Advanced routines. I love that though. That's like, that's a great way of saying OCD is normal. And I love it. That's fantastic.

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah, I know.

 

NICK PAGE: I tell Matt every time.

 

COLIN HILDING: That speaks to me.

 

NICK PAGE: These aren't for everything. You're just not at that level yet. You don't understand. Maybe you'll get there. Maybe you'll grow to this place where this will start to work for you, but you know, you're just not there yet.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: When you win a gold at the Olympics, and I'm not here to disparage the great Matt Graham, and he's only got a silver and a bronze, then you can say like, Nate, look what works better. Come on.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, advanced routines. They work. Sorry, Matt.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm really not shitting over you. I love you to bits, but yeah, I like that. A song that is on every one of your pre-competition playlists, no matter what.

 

NICK PAGE: Oh, the one I always go back to, It Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. So, it's one, it actually was my... I had a CD or an alarm clock that had a CD player on the top of it. It's the first track of that album. So, every morning growing up, Smells Like Teen Spirit would start. So, it's something that always reminds me just a little bit of my childhood. And you'd think I would hate the song, you know, being woken up by it every morning, but 23 years later, it's still best song ever.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I love getting out of bed when you hear that. Two things that kind of remind me of that, it reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day, if you've ever seen it, when he keeps waking up every day to share, I got you babe, whatever the song is. But also the fact of the matter is that I know what, you were born in 2002. So, Smells Like Teen Spirit was what, early 90s. So, to you that's like, A decade before. That's like an old song to you, isn't it? Like to you, that's what we would consider oldies, essentially, right?

 

NICK PAGE: I guess so, but it's like that era of music is what I grew up listening to, because that's what my parents liked. Like 90s grunge was my childhood.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I don't know if that still makes me feel old knowing that my parents grew up listening to 90s music. I'm coming from parents who listen to like 70s music and 80s. I was probably listening to like, you know, Bing Crosby.

 

COLIN HILDING: I was listening to Bob Dylan, you know?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Your mum was hanging out with Bob Dylan. I know the background of your mum.

 

COLIN HILDING: But you know, I do want to say, so I make a playlist myself of all of the songs that our guests perform and not to brag, but during the last Olympics, there's a Canadian speed skater, I think it was Valerie Malta where the answer she had to this literally came up on my playlist while she was competing. And she went on to win three, four medals during the Olympics. So I'm going to do you the favour. All right. Because you're a nice guy. I'm going to do you the favour of listening to Smells Like Teen Spirit on repeat during the next Olympics. I love it.

 

NICK PAGE: I will too. We'll be listening to the same song.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm so glad you didn't answer Taylor Swift for that question, because god damn that would be torn.

 

COLIN HILDING: Not a bit of deal then. But you know what? We've still never had Meatloaf as an answer on this.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I know, because people don't know who he is. Colin, educate our guests from this point. If Cooper is on, when I'm interviewing Cooper in a few days, and if he doesn't know who bloody Meatloaf is, maybe it's a moguls thing. All right. I bet you we got Dale Beg Smith on this show. The first question I'm asking Dale, do you know who Meatloaf is? And he would say yes. Anyway, sorry, go call it.

 

COLIN HILDING: What's the most unexpected or funny DM you've ever got as an Olympian?

 

NICK PAGE: Oh, that's a great question. I don't know if I had any any crazy ones. After after 2022, I had a bunch of like high school girls DMing me trying to ask me on dates because I think they thought I was younger than I was. I was like, man, you guys have way more confidence than I do. But I'm not, I can't really respond to these. Like this seems wrong.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You're not Josh Giddings. You basically, you don't do that. Yeah, so I can make jokes about Australian Olympians. Oh, did what like that? What? I mean, so I'm trying to word this question appropriately. But like, I guess a lot of men probably would hope that girls message them, not young girls, but like females message them, because we often.

 

COLIN HILDING: You are still youngish though.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, you're all on that, yes. It's not like you're my age and they're messaging you. You know, you're still within an olympiad probably of the ages of some of these girls. But like, obviously, we hear, unfortunately, from our gender that a lot of creep creepy men are messaging women, you know, sliding into their DMs. But like, I like to think that we're in equality land where women are also now doing that too. So I guess that's my weird way of saying that. Cool. I don't know where I was going.

 

COLIN HILDING: I don't know where I was going with that. Ben, next question. You're digging yourself into a meatloaf here.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I also want to say that we've had two guests on the show who did meet their future spouses through direct messages. I'm not saying you're doing that with direct messages from high school girls, but I'm just saying maybe read some of them and make sure they're-

 

COLIN HILDING: Wait for the college girls. College girls.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Nick?

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah.

 

NICK PAGE: Right. I read every DM I get.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I don't respond to every single one, but I read every one. Are you single? Do you want us to match make you out there? We can try our best.

 

NICK PAGE: Hey, the world's a big place. Okay.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: There you go.

 

NICK PAGE: All right.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: There you go. People, if you're of age, slide into Nick's DMs. The weirdest thing, I hate to have to say if you're of age, the weirdest thing you've ever eaten at an international competition. Please help steer this interview back on track, Nick. Come on.

 

NICK PAGE: So I had, I was in Kazakhstan and I had a horse. That's always like kind of one that's a little touchy because you know, it's like at least in the US, not something we have all the time.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Nope.

 

NICK PAGE: But then I had fermented horse milk.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Also, that was my next question because we had a wrestler on who said he had horse milk and it was horrible.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, it wasn't my favourite thing. I took the sip, I experienced the culture, but I probably wouldn't go back for more.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Because it blew my mind when he was telling, he was explaining it about how it was and how it tasted and everything. And like I just, I didn't think people would drink horse milk. But hey, if you're in Kazakhstan, you probably think, why wouldn't you? So yeah, right.

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah, cows. What's wrong with you?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Cow milk? What's going on? Also, can I say on cows quickly, your TikToks and your videos of you with the cows in Austria. I really enjoyed that, Nick. Can I have more cow content of you in Austria? You know, just saying.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I'll have to run that back. I haven't been on TikTok in probably three years, but I'm glad that you saw that video.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: We do our research on this show. We find out you're from Hollywood and you're with cows.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: There you go.

 

COLIN HILDING: What is your ultimate guilty pleasure meal after a big competition?

 

NICK PAGE: Oh, I don't know if it's guilty pleasure, but my favourite meal is I'll start with a side of sushi, get a steak. Sushi and steak is always my go-to treat myself meal. Good combination.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: How do you have your steak?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah. Medium rare, always.

 

COLIN HILDING: Thank you. Ben's a well-done guy. You can leave the interview now if you feel more comfortable.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I brought it up because I knew Colin was going to rip into me. I get bagged out for a lot of my taste, Nick. I have some tastes which humans and straight men shouldn't have. But the point is, the one that gets me the most worked up is when people go off me for my well-done steak love. So I enjoy my food cooked.

 

NICK PAGE: We're all unique.

 

COLIN HILDING: That's going to be on Ben's t-shirt. We're all unique, Ben Waterworth.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, God. You said you listened to this show beforehand, Nick. Why the hell did you come on this show?

 

NICK PAGE: Because I wanted to be a part of a great conversation like this.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, look at him saving that. There you go. You like that. That's what that's what Dale Bixby is missing out on and coming on this show. Let's be honest. If you could swap sports for a day with another Olympian, what event would you choose and how do you think you'd go?

 

NICK PAGE: Snowboard Halfpipe. Good answer. I think I'd be horrible at it off of that, but it's by far the sport I have the most respect for.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Okay. Good to know.

 

NICK PAGE: I think it's the most dangerous. I think it's the coolest. Like my sport included, theirs is still probably cooler than ours. It's Snowboard Halfpipe is so cool. I can't even like, we'll tell anyone that wants to listen.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Did you see it? Did you get to watch it when you were there?

 

NICK PAGE: I did. Yeah, I watched it. That was the one on my list that I was like, I am not missing this, which is cool. I watched Scotty James documentary on the flight over to Italy. So I was already a big fan and then I became a huge fanboy. So I wanted to go watch him and it was really cool.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You're good luck to Australia then. So you're in the final that Cooper wins gold. I'm sure you were probably there when Jakara won gold. Then you were there when Scotty got it. So you were there for like half of our medals at the Olympics. Thank you, Nick.

 

COLIN HILDING: To think he was there when Cooper won.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And Matt, I'm kidding, Matt.

 

COLIN HILDING: Matt won bronze as well.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: So God, Jesus, poor him out.

 

COLIN HILDING: Nice guy, he could attend those for them. Consider it in you.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You only qualified for the final so Cooper could win gold.

 

COLIN HILDING: That's generous. Now, this next one is, it is the toughest question to answer, but it has the greatest reward because you get to see the poster when it's done. If your Olympic journey were a movie, what would the title be, and who would play you?

 

NICK PAGE: The title is hard. I'm going to circle back to that. I'd have Chris Evans play me. Okay.

 

COLIN HILDING: Oh, here we go.

 

NICK PAGE: Because I feel like we somewhat look alike. Like every time I go to get my haircut, I show the person a picture of Chris Evans, because I like how his hair looks.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Is this where the Captain America on your helmet came from as well? Like it's just, it's lovely.

 

COLIN HILDING: Well, the nickname too, I forgot to ask about that. That's your nickname. Yeah, right.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, that all started like really early when I was young, because I just had a red, white and blue helmet. It was like red on the front, white in the middle, blue in the back. And the coaches I had were, they just started calling me Captain America right from the start. So it kind of stuck, I guess. Like me and my parents leaned into it and started painting a helmet to look like it. So he was always my favourite superhero. I was always kind of like a superhero nerd when I was little. And yeah, then for the Olympics this year, I figured why not remind myself a little of the little guy who had big dreams and wanted to be here. So I thought we'd run it back.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Could have been worse. You could have been called Hawkeye or something like that. So at least you got a decent smile. Yeah. I was going to say like, I mean, I see Chris Evans. I like you said that. I was thinking of, and I don't know his name, the guy who plays Malfoy in Harry Potter. The English guy. I don't know, Colin, if you know his name. Oh yeah. You know, the actor's name.

 

NICK PAGE: I don't know his name, but I know who you're talking about.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: And the other one that I'm seeing, I don't know if you follow Formula One, he's not an actor, but like, you've got a bit of Nico Rosberg about you. If you Google him, 2016 Formula One World Champion, I'm seeing a bit of Nico Rosberg. Title-wise, he's a good looking guy. So, you know, like, you know, he's a champion of the sport. ChatGPT gave me some pretty rubbish.

 

NICK PAGE: Okay, yeah, give me some help. I'm all into, I use AI for everything.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, they're giving...

 

NICK PAGE: Throw something out, because I got nothing.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: They usually give me 10, but they give me like 100 here. I don't know where they're going here. But King of the Bumps, Mogul Mind, The Bump Line, Three Turns to Glory. What sport do they think you're doing here? Fastest Through Chaos. I feel some of these are the ones they gave me for like math as well, because they've got Between the Turns, No Clean Runs, One Run for Glory, Eyes on the Podium. They're pretty basic. I was...

 

NICK PAGE: Between the Turns, that honestly has a nice ring to it.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Between the Turns, we like that one.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, because think about it, you're in Between the Mogul, that's obvious, but also every career has got twists and turns to it. You got ups and downs, you got pieces coming in and out, and we all got our own unique story. So I like that. Between the Turns.

 

COLIN HILDING: I was really cross my fingers for King of the Bumps. Yeah, you explain yours better.

 

NICK PAGE: That one fits better for Mick. Better for Mick than me.

 

COLIN HILDING: Yeah.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: When we get him on, save that one, call him for that. I will get an AI post, we'll generate it, maybe I'll do it with Chris Evans there. I was thinking of again, this is a stupid thing, you won't know who I'm talking about, it's fine. You're young, I'm old, I get it. Colin, I think, has at least heard of who Nick Cave is, Australian singer, Nick Cave. Oh yeah. So he had a band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. And for some reason, when I hear Nick Page, I think Nick Cave. So I was thinking like Nick Page and the Bad Bumps, but that's stupid, so we can't name it.

 

NICK PAGE: Well, it's funny you say that. Because the one that I always get here in the US is people hear my name is Nick Page, they're like, oh wait, Nick Cage? Like if you know Nick Cage, the actor.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You could be like, one, two, three, four.

 

NICK PAGE: So it's funny, I get something similar, but I didn't know Nick Cave down in Australia.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I think I should have gone with Nick Cage. That was better than Nick Cave. Ben, that was an obvious one. I like that. See, I mean, if you looked like Nick Cage, it would even be better, wouldn't it?

 

NICK PAGE: Then it would be even better, right?

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Connect that, connect through there. The one question you're tired of being asked and what is the one that you wish people would ask you instead?

 

NICK PAGE: Oh. Wait, so I'm supposed to tell you first the question that that entire year you get asked too much.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: You're meant to basically clarify whether or not we've had a good interview or not, because if you say, oh, I hate being asked about, you know, how I got started in the fourth, and me in the fifth. Hollywood Cards. That's cool.

 

NICK PAGE: I think, like, I don't know if it's a question that I hate being asked, but a question that I never know how to answer the right way is when people say, oh, like, what in your career are you the most proud of? And for the longest time, it threw me for the biggest loop because I was like, God, I have no idea what to say. Because I think just being, you know, critical of myself, like I look back at my career on paper and see, like, okay, I've been in whatever, 77 World Cups, two Olympics, been on 10 podiums and have one win. But it's like the thing that's jumping out to me is like, God, I have so many fourths and fifths. I had so many moments that just slipped through my fingers. So like, when I think back on my career, the things jumping out are all these, these moments that I wish I really could get back or that I could learn from or try, try again. So I was always like, man, I don't know. I don't know what to say. And so it really kind of made me rethink, like, you know, what am I proud of? What is something that I'm leaving behind? And, you know, as humbly as I can say it, I think I'm in a position now where there's people that maybe are younger than me or maybe my peers that can look up to me in some regard. Like they think people can see the work that I put into what I'm doing or see the effort that that I take into every day and the attention to detail, the professionalism and see or kind of say, you know, I'd love to see more of that in myself. And I had so many great people to look up to, so many great people who shaped who I am, that I guess if I could be in a role now where someone uses me in that same scenario, like that means a lot, that's really special. So I think that's always what I'd go back to.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Like that. And it will tie in a little bit to our last question as well, what you're saying with that, but it's interesting hearing that explained that way. And I love that you know the number of World Cups and everything you've been in, that's great. But I'm sure there's plenty of people out there, Nick, who are looking up to. And after this interview, even more so, come on, let's be honest. Exactly.

 

NICK PAGE: Off The Podium podcast, it's going worldwide.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: I was trying to come up with something witty to that, but I just was so in awe of you saying that, that it made me speechless. So anyway, Colin, wrap it up.

 

COLIN HILDING: Last one, again, ties in very well with what you just said. What's one lesson you've learned from losing that you think has shaped you more than winning?

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I mean, I'd look back at my career and I think like, one thing I've done really well is I've always learned from getting knocked down. Like when I think back to, I mean, you look at it even this last year, like there were a lot of moments that I would circle into the category of learning moments, like especially coming out of the Olympics. Like there were new things that I hadn't experienced before. Like I'd never came into a big event like that with really high expectations and ones that were pretty real. So I had to figure out how do I manage that? I mean, I look back on it, probably didn't manage it as well as I could have in Italy this year. So there were things that I just had to ask myself of, really, where was it that things went wrong or areas that I could have done better? So I've been big on that. And there was one especially, like I look back to it was, this was back in, it was December 2024. I had like a roller coaster start to this season where I did horribly in the World Cup opener in Ruka. Bounced back the next week and skied in like the most competitive super final ever in Sweden. And I get fifth place, but it was, it was a fifth place. That was the highest score of my career, which is still crazy to me. And so I do well there. We go to Georgia, have kind of a weird singles day. And then I, I get knocked out in the round of 64 in duels, which was the second time in my career that that had ever even happened. And, you know, I was at this total loss in my career of just being like, I don't know what's going on. Like, I feel like I'm following every person's different path for me. And I have no ownership of what I'm doing. So there was a lot of kind of like reflection over that next, call it three week period to just say like, I need to start doing stuff where I take control back, where I'm not just like a dog on a leash, just doing what I'm told, or I'm not just following blindly. That was kind of a big thing that hit me in the face because I wasn't really that happy with where I was. Things weren't going well. I hated the way I was skiing and it all came back to this place of like, I wasn't in it for the right reasons. So I make like that transition and call it in that two or three weeks, talk to a couple of really close coaches that I've had throughout my career that kind of helped just remind me of that and had a great opening camp to start the new year in Val Saint Combe. And then I landed on the next two podiums in Waterville and then Saint Combe the next weekend. So I'd say that was like a great moment in my career that I'll always remember that like, probably no one ever will, like everyone will look at it and be like, oh, that was just some other second place in Waterville. But like to me, that one meant a lot, just coming from where I was three weeks prior, feeling like I was just in this tornado of everything going on to then being like, you know, I understood what was going wrong. I adjusted it and I came out of it so much better than where I was before. Sorry, that was a long answer.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: No, no, no.

 

NICK PAGE: It mattered.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: It's, we want the long answers. That's why we're here. And I always say at this point that we love that question because it brings such a tight bookend on the show, but that might be the most unique and specific answer I've ever had to that question. And I love kind of hearing that the way you're describing that because I think it's, everybody interprets that question differently and then we get great answers like that. So I think that you need a long answer for that, Nick. I'm giving a long answer, I'm now rambling like I do. So it kind of, it balances out. Nick, mate, this has been such an honour and a pleasure and a privilege to have you on the show. People want to follow your journey between now and the French outs and beyond social media. We touched on TikTok, Instagram, can people follow you? You've also got a great website as well, can I just say? I like when I guess have a website.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, no, my website is a good landing place. It's nickpage.ski, which is also the same as my Instagram. So look me up on those. That's a good place to find me. And if you ever need anything, like I said, I read every DM. So there you go.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Said ladies, come on now. How do you get.ski? Like I didn't realise that you could get.ski.

 

NICK PAGE: Yeah, I didn't. I didn't either. I was lucky that my dad knew a bunch about SEO and marketing, and he knew about it way more than I did. So he said, hey, this could work well. And I was like, yeah, it works really well.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Maybe we could get off the podium pod.meatloaf. Maybe that could be like.

 

NICK PAGE: Oh, man, it's got a nice ring to it.

 

BEN WATERWORTH: Better than g..com, right?.meatloaf. Nick, mate, seriously, massive pleasure. Thank you so much. We'll get you on. No doubt. No, between somehow and some point between now and the French Alps and everything. But best of luck with everything. In the meantime, we appreciate your time in the show today.

 

NICK PAGE: Hey, Ben, Colin, thank you guys so much for having me on. This was a joy. Always good to laugh with you guys. I love, love a good conversation about mogul. So thank you. And I'll keep listening. You guys do a great job.

 

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