Sarah Blizzard Interview
Excited to bring you another athlete interview today and another bobsledder to the show as we chat with Beijing 2022 hopeful Sarah Blizzard about her amazing journey into the amazing sport of bobsleigh. We find out how Sarah seemingly was destined on a path towards a Winter Olympics after her interest in all things winter sport started at a young age. We also find out more about her stellar athletics career, and what the moment was that lead her into transitioning into bobsleigh. Added to this we learn how watching Friends helps with her team bonding and what Aussie food staple she simply can’t resist. If you like your interviews fun and informative then you won’t want to miss this one!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast coming to you again today for another interview and another great one that we have store for you today. We've already spoken to a couple of members of the Australian bobsleigh team, of course, we spoke to Bree Walker and Ash Burner earlier this year. And now we've got a third member of the Australian bobsleigh team, Sarah Blizzard. And this is a fun chat, as all of our chats with the bobsleigh team has been. Sarah goes into detail about how she got into the sport, kind of why there was always a bit of a winter ambition or sort of a winter passion for her, and not just because of the last name. Don't worry, that joke gets thrown out the window pretty, pretty quickly. But it's a great story to hear, sort of how that was it in the mind as a young athlete. And then it kind of transitioned into her actually right now on the cusp of competing at her first winter Olympics. And what she's up to now, the training process, switching across from athletics into bobsleigh, and just a fun, insightful chat to really learn a little bit more about the complexities of bobsleigh. Always enjoy bringing these to you, and I know you're going to enjoy it right now. Here's our chat with Australian bobsledder Sarah Blizzard.
BEN WATERWORTH: We have already spoken to two members of the Australian Bobsleigh team in the lead up to Beijing 2022. And they are among some of our best interviews that we have done in the last 12 months. So we thought, well, how can we make it better? Let's speak to someone else from the Australian Bobsleigh team. And we are so excited to be able to speak to today's guest. She is a past runner of the stall GIF, where she has finished as high as second, made the finals multiple times, and is on the cusp of making her very first Olympics in only a few months' time in Beijing. I'm so excited to learn more about this journey from one sport to another. Pleasure walking off the podium, Sarah Blizzard. Sarah, first of all, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to have you on the show today.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited.
BEN WATERWORTH: I've got to get this out of the way because I'm sure you get sick of this, but I'm going to do it right now. Ha ha, your last name is Blizzard and you're going to be a Winter Olympian. This must be fate. Ha ha ha ha.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, I've definitely heard that a few times. I've had a lot of people who have thought it's fake or just the name for Instagram as well. But yes, that's my surname and I do a Winter sport.
BEN WATERWORTH: All right, I just wanted to tick that off. Good, done, out of the way. You're speaking to us right now in Germany. So sort of right now, preparations are getting really turned up towards Beijing 2022. I mean, kind of give our listeners a bit of an idea about sort of what you're going through right now in the lead up only a few months away now.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure. So really heavily into our off season training at the moment. So I came over to Germany just over a month ago. I've been training with the German coach here and my teammate, Brie. She's my pilot. So I've been training with them. I've seen so many massive improvements already. It's been very exciting. But being over here just means I get access to some great facilities and we get to use the ice houses to practise our pushing. So, yeah, we're actually heading off for a push camp tomorrow as well to do some more pushing, which is very exciting. It's just, yeah, it's great to have access to all of this as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: And you mentioned to me just off there, the first time that you're able to say that you're a full-time athlete now, kind of what's that lifestyle like? It's a bit of a dream to kind of say that, hey, guess what, my job is I'm a full-time athlete.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, it's a bit, it's very exciting to say that. Like I said, it's the first time I've done that. I've always worked. I started Bobsleigh in 2019. And when I've been in Australia in the off season, I've also been working full-time. So working all day and then training in the afternoon. And even this year, I was home for three months and I was pretty much working all day. It was four days a week, but still it was very taxing on the body and the mind. So yeah, I'm finally over here and all I'm doing is training. And all I'm thinking about is pretty much training. And it's great. And I think, I mean, my body loves it at training. It feels nice and fresh even when it is a bit sore and tired from training. But yeah, it's a game changer, really.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of growing up, we'll obviously get into the sprinting aspect of things. But how sporty were you growing up, Sarah? Was it sort of like you tried your hand at all different sports? Was it just sprinting or nothing? Sort of like how active were you when you discovered that sport was your thing?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, I was pretty active. I came from a small country town in Victoria called Ararat. I did a lot of sports there. In saying that, though, like the popular sports were footy, AFL footy, obviously, and netball. And then in summer, it was cricket. And I never played footy, and I never played netball. I did every other sport. It was like there was gymnastics, there was swimming. I did tennis, golf, taekwondo. I did do a little bit of cricket. I can't think of any others. I tried a little aths once, but there weren't really many people involved with it, and no one really around my age, so I didn't really like it. And then, yeah, I pretty much tried every sport I could when I was growing up. And then I think it must have been just at the start of high school. I might have been about 13, 14 is when I started doing athletics, or I was approached to try running anyway, and give it a go and see what I thought. And then, yeah, I did that for like nine years, I think it was.
BEN WATERWORTH: And now you're in Germany about to try and make an Olympic team in bobsleigh. The perfect transition, it kind of fits very well. I mean, I noticed besides cricket and netball, which you didn't do, and AFL, which you didn't do, most of those are Olympic sports. So kind of was there almost like an inner ambition that maybe you could push towards an Olympics, or was that something just never on the mind, just wanted to keep trying these different sports?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, it was definitely on the mind. I think more so when I started doing the athletics and doing the sprinting, it was like, yeah, I'd love to make an Australian team. In saying that, though, growing up, I've always loved the winter sports. Like, who doesn't? It's so exciting. Like, Winter Olympics is so, like, it's, yeah, it's so exciting to watch. And I've always loved that. Growing up with my family, we'd go to the snow every year as well. So I was kind of like, I'd love to go to the Winter Olympics, but all I can do is ski. I can ski down the runs. I can't jump. I can't ski fast. I can't do anything exciting. Definitely can't snowboard very well. And I mean, bobsled never crossed my mind, or anything like that never crossed my mind. But yeah, love the winter sports. And it was kind of funny when I did get asked to do bobsled and Olympics was on the table. I'm like, how funny how that's kind of come like full circle that like I've always loved the Winter Olympics. But yeah, I mean, in athletics, everyone wants to represent, I would assume everyone wants to represent Australia when you're competing kind of at a high level, like making nationals and stuff like that. It just, I mean, I wasn't really improving a whole lot. So it was great to have a bit of a change and I guess a new goal to work to.
BEN WATERWORTH: I always like to call the Winter Olympics the real Olympics, because they are the better Olympics when we love the Summer Olympics. Of course we do. But to me, there's just something unique and amazing about the Winter Olympics. I mean, you could probably cut about five to ten sports from Summer Olympics, but there's not a darn sport at the Winter Olympics. So it's kind of just that level of excitement. As Australians do, we never see these sports, so it's always unique for us, isn't it?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, exactly. I mean, leading into these Olympics, we do joke that Australians are going to watch bobsled for the first time in four years, apart from my family and everyone that loves me posting all the videos about it. But they don't really see this side of sport that often. Like, yeah, bobsled every four years. Maybe they see some ski racing or something if it's on the news. But yeah, I mean, it's really on the news either.
BEN WATERWORTH: This is sort of a question that usually falls into our final set of questions. But just while we're on the topic, do you remember sort of what Olympics it was when you were younger, particularly the Winter Olympics? I mean, I'm guessing kind of in your age, you maybe might have seen some salt lake, but was it maybe sort of more Turin, Vancouver that you do sort of remember seeing?
SARAH BLIZZARD: I think it would have been Vancouver, but I have actually been to Vancouver and to Whistler. I've been to Whistler twice, actually, once in the summer and once in the winter. The first time I went there was winter. We went skiing as a family. All I remember about the bobsleigh track is we were there. That's all I remember. I remember my mum saying, Oh, look, a sled went past. And I was like, Oh, I completely missed it. That was it. When I went in summer, it was actually for an athletics trip. I went and competed over there when I was, I think I was about 15. And I do have a picture of me sitting in the bobsled with some other people there. It was like a four man bobsled sitting there. And I'm like, funny here. I've been in one before. But yeah, like, there's not like a specific memory or anything of a particular games, but I think it must have would have been around Vancouver was like, I guess when I started really watching it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I did even see stalking your Instagram. There was a photo of you sitting in the Olympic rings, I'm guessing probably on that trip. So I mean, it's almost like you got the bobsled, you got a photo in the Olympic rings, and here you are now basically a decade later on the cusp of an Olympics. So it's kind of like Sarah was all fate, like you were just kind of laying the groundwork all the way back there.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure. No, that photo definitely exists as well. I forgot about that. But yeah, yeah, it's all happened. Winter, all in Vancouver, done all of that already and just prepared myself for like another 10 years time, really.
BEN WATERWORTH: With the sprinting, the athletics, as I mentioned, sort of the intro, multiple stall give finalists, second in 2014. I mean, for our non-Australian listeners who are unaware of the stall gives, obviously a very prestigious race held every year in the town of Stall, funnily enough. I mean, how is that held in terms of the athletics community when it comes to, say, an Olympics versus a stall? If you want to make a national team, as you're saying, like on the domestic scene, is that the peak event that anybody in sprinting wants to compete in the stall gift?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yes and no. So it's a bit of an interesting one. I love stall. From the moment I first competed at it, even now I'm not competing at it, but I've been there and I still love it just as much. It's a bit of an interesting event. So if you're trying to make an international team and go to the Olympics, or if you have been selected, there's a very good chance you probably won't be competing there. In saying that, though, they do occasionally get a few people competing on there. Like this year, they had Hannah Bassick, and she competed, and she also competed in the 100m at the Olympics. So occasionally they get a few people. They've had a few distance runners that competed as well. So yeah, it's not really a big event for those kind of athletes, but there's a really big, we call it professional running in Australia. Doesn't mean we get paid, unfortunately. I mean, if you win, you sometimes get some money, but it's a different circuit to, I guess, the amateur running as well, where you're running on a track competing at states, nationals, and things like that. But yeah, I mean, I think a lot of other people wouldn't have really heard of it before if they haven't heard of stall, but it's mostly on grass. There's not many meets that are actually held on a proper running track, and it's handicapped. So pretty much the fastest person has the longest distance to run. The slower, I guess, the slower you are, the less distance you have to run with the game, or the main point being that you all are supposed to cross the line at the same point, at the same time. So it makes it very exciting. Most of the time, it's really close finishes, and you have like the people up the back, the really fast people up the back, they're flying home, and it does make it very exciting. And that's, I guess, why I've always loved it so much. It's a different challenge to running on a track. Like on a track, you're competing for time, but here in these pro running races, I ended up towards the end of my running career, I was always up the back. So I'm always the one trying to chase everyone at the front. So I love that. And everyone loves these back markers. But yeah, just like the atmosphere, especially at Stull, even actually this year, and they had all the COVID restrictions, but at Stull, the atmosphere is amazing. Like so many people come to watch this event, whereas you look at something like nationals, and generally you'll have like some coaches, some family, maybe some people who are into athletics that will come to watch, and that's kind of it. But everyone from the Stull area, which is another very small country town in Victoria, like 20 minutes from where I live, but everyone from that area will come and watch, and people spend their Easter weekend at Stull, which is amazing. It's almost magical, I could say.
BEN WATERWORTH: What I'm basically hearing then, if I was to go in an event against you, if it's 100 metres, I'd basically be given a 90-metre head start, and I would still lose, essentially. That's what you're saying.
SARAH BLIZZARD: I mean, that's how it could work. That would assume I could run 100 metres at the moment. That is also very far for us Bobsleigh athletes.
BEN WATERWORTH: Make it a 50 or something along those lines. Yeah, 50 metres. Keep up with the training. So I mean, sort of with that success in the Stull gift and kind of with your athletics career, before you ultimately do switch to Bobsleigh, I mean, kind of how close were you to the national team? I mean, were Olympics, Commonwealth Games, things like that a realistic possibility? Or did that sort of when you sort of hit a point in your athletics career, be like, OK, this isn't going to be a possibility time to sort of look elsewhere?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, I kind of was at a point where I was running a lot of similar times. I had broken 12 seconds. I had broken it once, legal, and twice. It was too windy, which is a little bit annoying, but a lot of really low 12 second, like 12 hours, which was getting a little bit frustrating. But I mean, that's part of the sport. I was also getting a few, not major injuries, but a few injuries kind of around the start of season, like August, September, when preseason training was going really well, and then I'd get the injury, and then October, November would kind of be the start of season. So it would kind of have a few little hurdles, which I think may have impacted that a little bit. Nothing too major. And I still love doing athletics. I was kind of more doing it so because I loved it. And also the pro running side of things. I love that. I wasn't going to make a team doing the pro running stuff, but I loved it. I mean, my goal was still definitely to make an Australian team, but I think I was a long way off. I've also, since doing bobsleigh, I've become a totally different athlete. I think if I was still doing athletics now with the mindset that I have, I think I would have been a lot more determined to make that or maybe given myself a better chance. But I mean, this is stuff that I've learnt from doing bobsleigh. I mean, yeah, I think I was a long way off. I think it maybe could have happened, but also probably not.
BEN WATERWORTH: So then I believe your coach put your name up for a potential talent camp or suggested that. How does that all come about? And is it a weird thing? Like you're talking about how, you know, you sort of always have this thing for winter sports and kind of how it's all sort of unique how it happened. But is there a part of it that's like, oh, hey, coach, what are you trying to say? Are you saying that you can't coach me anymore? Is there something going on here? What's happening right now?
SARAH BLIZZARD: I think he knew I was a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. He did make the comment, you were the first person I thought of to do this. I mean, yeah, like I said, I've always gone to the snow, always loved, I guess, those adrenaline kind of sports and anything adrenaline related. So no, he came to me because I think I was probably the only one crazy enough to say yes. But yeah, no, I was Brie, so my pilot at the moment, she was looking for a new team. So she contacted Evan O'Hanlon. So he is our male bobsled driver, a pilot, but he's also a Paralympian at the moment. So he's currently over in Tokyo, about to compete. So Brie messaged him saying, Hey, do you know any track and field girls that would consider giving this a go? Evan is quite close with my coach at the time. So he messaged my coach saying, do you have anyone in the squad that would give it a go? We were in the gym when he got that message, and I was actually doing rehab. I was sitting on a bike. Every person who does athletics knows that sitting on a bike means you're probably doing rehab, and no one loves the bike sessions. But you're sitting on the bike, and he's come over to me, he's like, Would you do bobsled? I was like, Yes, sure. Why not? Bit of a laugh because, I mean, everyone who knows Matty B knows he comes out with some random stuff. And then he's walked away. He's come back. He's like, Okay, because they're looking for some athletes that would do it. He's gone away and come back. He's like, Okay, so there's his team. She has a sled. She has the runner. She has all the equipment. Apparently, the equipment is very important. Very good chance of making the Olympics. But basically, you'd be competing for Australia and you'd get to do bobsled. I was like, Sure, give me a number. Let's see what we can do here. So I spoke to Bree that night on the phone for like about an hour. And the next morning, I woke up and I was like, Yeah, I'm doing bobsleigh. I'm training for bobsled now. So I was like, Yeah, I just at the point, I was like, Yep, I don't even think I hesitated. Mum was up at the time visiting me. I was in Canberra. And how my coach told her that I was approached to do it was showed. I think it was a video. It was a bobsleigh. It might have been a bobsleigh crashing. Or like it's a bobsleigh going very fast. Something like that walked up to my mum and was like, this is what your daughter is going to do. And she looked at me like, okay. She's like, yeah, I mean, yeah, that'd be pretty cool. I called and I called dad and he was like, I hope you said yes. I haven't even spoken to her yet. I was just like, given an opportunity. So yeah, everyone was pretty excited. But yeah, I don't think I hesitated for a second. And I didn't know much about bobsleigh then either. I knew cool runnings and I knew the Winter Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: So yeah, which ticks off my second cliche question. Then did you go and rent out cool runnings to rewatch it for the first time in a while?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yes, we watched cool runnings that night or like the next night. I watched it with my mum and my roommate at the time. Everyone loves cool runnings. So I think it's popped up on the TV quite a lot since doing this as well. And whenever it comes up, people will message me. Like my family will send me a photo. Oh, guess what? We're watching. But it is a great movie though. It is a great movie.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I love those videos I have on YouTube. I think it's variety does it. They'll get, say, you know, like a professional. They'll get the same bolt to sit down and, you know, comment on running in movies and things like that. So I think they need to kind of get you and Bree to sit down and just, you know, let's comment on cool runnings. Or you could go back and get the Bond film on Imaginary Secret Service when James Bond bobsleigh. So I mean, kind of you could do that and comment on it and kind of go, OK, this is bullshit. This is not how it would work.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, actually, that Bond one, my dad sent that to me not long ago. I'd never seen it, actually, to be honest. But my dad sent me the video of that forever. And my first comment was, this is the longest bobsled run I've ever seen in my life.
BEN WATERWORTH: He actually bobsleds again in For Your Eyes Only. He does it too. He's on skis and he's chasing a bobsled. So there's two bobsleds in James Bond. You've been the James Bond lifestyle and you're also, you know, being Doris Banik at the same time, like, I mean, God, just tick all the movie boxes off there. It's kind of the lifestyle you want, I think.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, not bad. It'd be ideal. Get to jump in a bobsled randomly to chase people.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. Why not? Just make sure when you're at the Olympics, look behind you. You might have Daniel Craig chasing you down on the trail, which I'm sure might not be a bad thing. I mean, who would say no to Daniel Craig chasing him down?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: There he is.
SARAH BLIZZARD: I'm pretty sure I would be happy with that, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, I think the Olympics will get a bit of a boost there, like random stranger on the course. Oh, it's Daniel Craig. There he is.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Might get a few more viewers.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So what was that? You spoke to Brie on the phone. Do you remember the first meeting with her, kind of how that was, and kind of what she said to you, kind of go back to the very beginning when this partnership started?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, so like that conversation on the phone, it was great. She gave me all the information. I had a notepad ready, and I didn't even end up writing anything down or any questions that I thought of on the way, because she answered everything. Basically, she was like, you train hard, but you get to train like a beast, which is fun. Sliding is a lot of fun. Sometimes it hurts. Long days cost a lot of money as well. We don't get funding, but do you want to do it? And I still said yes. And then from there, I went down to Melbourne. We had a little push camp because they have like a push trolley that we can use on a running track down there. So I went down there and met Bree and I also met Steph, our other teammate. So I met them for the first time and we did a little push camp down there for a few days. And we also, I guess, learned more about what the season would involve. So where we would be going, where our races would be, what our races were, the cost again, and all of that stuff. So that was the second, well, that was, I guess, the first time I actually met them in person. The other thing we had to do was our testing camp. So that was in Sydney. I think it was about a month before I flew out overseas. So basically we had to go and test, like it was physical testing. So power clean, squat, there was vertical jump, 30 metre sprint. I think that was it. I might have been forgetting something, but yeah, they were the things that we did. And they were the main things that we had to do and we had to meet certain standards for them to be considered, I guess, one, able to slide for the team and two, to be able to slide on World Cup. So they had different levels of standards. So that was the next time I saw them and we had a little weekend together. And it was kind of like being more introduced to bobsled. And then, yeah, a month later, I went overseas. So this all happened in the space of like two to three months, pretty much.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, that's great. And so how many years ago was this now?
SARAH BLIZZARD: This was 2019. So still just so quick.
BEN WATERWORTH: Like, wow.
SARAH BLIZZARD: It happens very quick. And I think a lot of people who get into bobsled will say the same thing. They'll be like, I was just doing this one day, and then next I'm planning a trip overseas. So it does happen like that for a lot of people.
BEN WATERWORTH: So again, just I'm liking these things you're saying to me, Sarah, because I could be watching Cool Runnings tomorrow. And then in three months time, I could be on a plane to Beijing. So, hey, you never know. Never say never.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: There's still hope for me. I'm still trying to work this out. Do you remember then when you're overseas, you see a bobsled track? Obviously, you saw one in Whistler when you were there, but this time around, you're looking at it very differently than when you're over there for different purposes. Do you remember standing at the top for the first time and what you thought when you saw it in person?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, so Brie took me for a track walk before my first day sliding, which is quite funny because brakemen never do track walks, really. It's always the pilots. But no, she took me for a track walk, which was actually really nice. I enjoyed seeing the track because it's the first time I've seen a bobsled track. And yeah, it was in Winterberg in Germany. So we got to walk down the whole track, got to see the size of the corners, which at the time I was like, well, they are very big. I didn't realise how big they were. But that was quite nice. And then later we came back to slide. So I was quite nervous, but I was very excited. Like it wasn't a bad nervous. It was like, all right, I'm ready to go. Let's let's give this a go. Also kind of like a bit. I was just like, I better like this because I've spent all my money. I'm here. I'm here now. I have to like this. And then, yeah, we kind of we jogged it off the top. We didn't do a like a really hard push or anything. It was also the first time jumping into the sled or like knowing how to sit in the sled. Like 10 minutes before the run, they were just like, oh, by the way, this is how you sit in the sled. This is what you hold on to. So I was like, okay, cool. But yeah, no, I've got in. And I was like, oh, yeah, this is all right. And then it started getting faster in the corners. The pressure started building up. So Winterberg, it does have some big corners. And going back to it now, like I hardly feel the pressure of these corners. But being my first bobsleigh run, the pressure in the corners, I was like, oh, no, I'm going to be sick. And then it passed. I thought I was going to be sick again. And I passed and I got to the bottom. I'm like, I'm not going to be sick in my helmet. It's fine. It's fine. But there was honestly that feeling like I thought I was going to throw up. And I had no idea what was going on. It just like felt very rough and everything. But the next time I got back in, it was OK. Like it was like so much better because I was like, OK, I actually know a little bit about what's going to happen this time. It's fine. So, yeah, it was it was an interesting experience. But you ask a lot of Bob Slade Brakemen about their first time in the back of a sled. And a lot of them are like, yeah, I thought I was going to be sick or like something like that. Or like I hated it. I didn't like it or something like that. A lot of people don't enjoy their first run.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which because it's that unique aspect where you've got what your head down, you're not seeing anything, you're staring at basically anything. The base of it, which I can imagine then, like just think about anyone when you get car sick and, you know, you're looking at your phone or you're reading a book, like you're not focusing on that. This is different. You go and, you know, what, five times the speed or something along those lines. And the first time in one, I mean, it's just an insane feeling. I can imagine.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, yeah, no, it was an insane feeling. And it was and it was that adrenaline rush that I love. So I was so keen to get back in, even though I felt sick. It didn't happen the second time around. But but yeah, like you don't see anything at all. You don't really have any idea what's going on, especially your first. Like when you first start sliding, you have no clue what's going on. You can try to memorize the track beforehand, but you have no clue where you are when you first go in the track. Yeah, it's crazy. And then you kind of get to the end, and Bree yells at you to pull your head up and put on the brakes, and you're like, oh, we're at the end already. So yeah, no, it's an insane feeling.
BEN WATERWORTH: You don't you don't want to be in such a zone where all of a sudden you wake up. Oh shit, what? What? A break? Yeah, absolutely. More of a smash or something like that towards the end. I mean, how how important then is that sort of forming that that bond with Bree? Because, I mean, you're putting your life in her hands. She's the one steering it, obviously. And then you can say the same when you're hitting the brakes. But I mean, how important is it to form sort of that relationship outside of the sled so that you two can be working in cahoots when you are on the start and then ultimately, of course, in the sled when it comes to competing?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, it is very important because I mean, we are a very small team. So like I mentioned before, it's her, me and another girl, Steph. So it is a very small team. And it is important, not just for the sliding side of things, but we spend six months of the year together in like in hotels, in small rooms and everything together. So it's important that we first of all get along. And then also, I guess, like we work really well with each other. Like with Bree last season, unfortunately, Steph went home quite early in the season with an injury. So it was just Bree and I. But it was very important that we understood how each other was kind of feeling and how I guess how we prepare for different days. I mean, we're very good in the mornings. We're not morning people. So we don't talk to each other in the morning, which works very well together. We only talk to each other when we're ready. But yeah, but like everything else, it is important that you work together and trust each other pretty well. Like I trust Bree. Obviously, I trust Bree. I get in the back of a sled with her. So but like if she if you can tell that like she's stressed on a race day or something, like I guess we know how we can I guess help the other person to feel better about certain situations. But yeah, it's been pretty smooth sailing for us. We work very well together as a team.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I can imagine, too, it's pretty hard to put all your faith in an Essendon supporter as well.
SARAH BLIZZARD: So I mean, yes, yes, I'm a Geelong supporter.
BEN WATERWORTH: So yes, they're not the worst. I mean, the right colours, you know, just a different style of Guernsey, you know, put more blue in there with a bit of an emblem on the front, and then maybe you're on the right path. But nothing wrong with the cats. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, obviously with the training aspect of it too, when we talked to Brie about it, we talked to Ash when we had her on the show, of course, as well. It was all about that power and sort of, you know, bringing that more into sort of that explosive starts. Was there any aspect of that, that when you sort of changed up the physical aspect, hitting the gym, the weights that you found challenging, or was it something that you just relished and you really enjoyed the new training regimes?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, I really enjoy training at the moment because a lot of the time, it is testing yourself physically and mentally. Like recently, we just went through a weekend of doing like trying to get personal bests in the gym. But yeah, like it's always, you're always pushing yourself in the gym and on the track as well. And then you get to go and do these push camps where you're practising your pushing without going down the run and you can kind of unleash and just go nuts and push. And that's a lot of fun. The main change in training for me, I guess, it is more power based in sprinting. I guess the second half of my race was always my better part of my race, which is also why I enjoyed the pro running so much more because it was 120 metres, which seems like such a random distance, but it was to do with when they used to run in yards and everything as well. So there's a reason behind that. But 120 was my best distance because the last 40 metres was my best part of my race. But now, like transitioning to a really short, I guess, shorter sprints and shorter pushing distances, that was, I guess, I've had to improve my speed, but I've also had to improve a lot of the stuff in my gym. And that's, I mean, it's come naturally because I've had a lot of room to improve in the gym. But also I've had a lot of, I need to work on my technique a lot as well in the gym with that kind of stuff before I can start lifting heavy. So that's probably another challenge for me in saying that, though, it's all coming together. It's all coming together very well. Mainly the biggest challenge would be training for bobsleigh in Australia, I guess.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, the one thing that I saw you were able to achieve in the training is you achieved the 120 centimetre box jump, which congratulations.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yes, I did that yesterday. Yes, I was very happy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Small wins. I don't even like that looks like ridiculously hard. It's one of those things you look at and go, oh, anyone can do that. But when you actually try it, you're like, shit, this is hard. I mean, kind of where do you go from 120 centimetres to 130 centimetres? Like, does it keep going up from there?
SARAH BLIZZARD: The next jump, it's like a hundred and oh, I'm not sure. But they're big jumps as well. We can't just be like, I'm going to go to one hundred and twenty two.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, going that. Yeah.
SARAH BLIZZARD: And like I mean, I used to do box jumps when I did athletics. Like I could comfortably do one hundred and five and one hundred and fifteen. So to be able to do that now, I I'll admit I'm heavier because I needed to be a lot heavier for bobsled, but to be able to jump that being heavy, I was like, that's yeah, I'm very happy with our trainings going. But you know, that's that side of things is funny. Like it's a lot of fun. Like I mentioned, you get to test yourself all the time with how much you've improved or how far you can go as an athlete. So, yeah, that side of the training I really enjoy.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned before about the goal to make the Australian team when you were in athletics, you get to Bobsleigh, you go out there, you're representing your country. I mean, do you remember again that first time you're out there in a World Cup competition, you've got AUS emblazoned on you, kind of just that feeling, is that sort of that realization then that when you were younger that I want to represent Australia, that here you are on the world stage representing your country?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, it was, I mean, the first, I reckon it was actually, so last season was my second season, and I think that was the first time I'm like, right, I'm actually like, I'm representing Australia now. My first season was, most of my races were on Europe Cup, so just like within Europe. And yes, we were representing Australia, but they were kind of just like learning about competitions and learning how it worked. And I did do one World Cup race that season in Austria. And at that time, I was like, yeah, this is pretty cool. I am representing Australia. I'm so grateful for this opportunity and everything. But then I've gone home, I've trained the house down, I've come back over and improved. And I was like, yeah, okay, now I'm representing Australia. And that was, yeah, it's pretty cool. In saying that, though, I'm like, I know I have so much work to go still. But yeah, I'm so happy to be where I am and to be able to have got to where I am. It is, yeah, it's a pretty cool feeling.
BEN WATERWORTH: And competing in the World Cup over the last couple of years, I mean, a couple of top 10 placings, which obviously must be a pretty great feeling. I mean, sort of when you're out there, like, do you and Bree sort of set a target? Is it more about the time? Is it about finishing? Is it about a placement kind of? What goals do you sort of set? Or does it depend on the event that you're actually at?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Finishing is always a good one. That's a good start. It's not one that we tell each other, but finishing is a good one.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just finish the race today. That's where we go. Yes, that's it.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah. Yeah, I'd be very concerned if we got to that point where we had to say that out loud. But yeah, no, I mean, for us, we just want to keep improving. So for last season to have got so many top 10 results was a big achievement for us. We ended up being ranked seventh overall at the World Cup results, the World Cup ranking, which is the best an Australian team has ever done. So we were just like, wow, that's like, I mean, we couldn't really have asked for a better season in that aspect. But yeah, like our first, our best result was actually an eighth where we crashed in the second run and we still came eighth. So we were like, all right, this is this is going to be a good season. That was only our second race of the season. So like, all right, this is going to be a good season. So yeah, to be like have a few races where we placed ninth was amazing. We never like we're like, all right, we want these results. We want to place this. It was just let's just improve on ourselves. We did have some mini like bets or competitions about push times because I guess that's something I can control. But yeah, like with the coach or with other teams and stuff, it's like, all right, let's see if we can push this this time or let's break this time. But that's probably the only really, I guess, results or goals that we said out loud. And that was like the day of the race or day before just to get us a little bit motivated.
BEN WATERWORTH: Going back to the funding aspect of it, I can imagine then when you can go to a potential sponsor or somebody to sort of help out with that, if you can show them, you know, multiple top 10 finishes. I mean, that's obviously very helpful and kind of helps out there as well. So, I mean, I can imagine these results sort of build up and help on that aspect of the sport when you're travelling the world and having to spend, you know, months on end on the other side of the world.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, yeah, that's definitely a challenging side of the sport. It is a very expensive sport in general. For me, I mean, Bree does cover a lot of the cost of like the pilot related things, like the sled paying for runs. We've got sponsors that cover things such as the van and all of that. But for me, I pay for like flights, accommodation and food. This is basically how it works. And last year, also this year, sorry, also quarantine and getting home to Australia. Yes. But that was very, very expensive, as everyone knows it is. But yeah, I mean, having these results is great to go to sponsors and say, hey, look, we've got the best result in Bob Say, women's Bob Say history. We've got all like these are our results. Here's a lot of videos of our races. Everyone loves seeing the videos of the races. In saying that, though, it is still very hard to get sponsors for Bob Say, because it's not something you can do in Australia, and also something that's not really broadcasted in Australia either. So that is definitely the challenging side of getting sponsors.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which again, to use the old age, old cliche from Cool Runnings, I think I brought this up with Bri, and I brought it up with Ash too. You know, you could start singing the Australia's Got a Bob Sled Team song. But I think kind of in the social media rage, though, like, I mean, it's so great sort of what all of you were doing on social media to promote the sport. So I'm kind of seeing there could be some sort of real like, you know, hip, put together video, tick tock it out there, you know, kind of, here's the Australian Bob Sled Team wanting you to support them, donate, like, go viral. I mean, you know, you got plenty of ideas of this that you could take that 1994 song from Cool Runnings and take it even further.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, yeah, it's definitely something that you can use to help yourself. I know you do. You definitely do see a few Bob Sled teams out there using stuff like that, or even doing like the old bathtub photos of them sitting in the bathtub. But yeah, you definitely see Bob Sled teams using a lot of things from Cool Runnings to help themselves, or like for a bit of fun. Most of the time it's for a bit of fun, which is great to see.
BEN WATERWORTH: What about the lucky egg? Have any of you ever had a lucky egg? Like, could that work?
SARAH BLIZZARD: I have not myself. I did see the Jamaican team last season, though. They had a lucky egg, and he got it out and showed everyone. So, I mean, yeah, if you're Jamaica, how could you not really? They were having a bit of fun with that as well. But no, I don't have any lucky eggs or I guess any lucky, lucky thing that I that I take down the run with me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, when we had Ash on, she was talking up about her love for Daniel Ricciardo and kind of this idea that we could have sort of like a swap, like Ash could sit in a McLaren, he could come and try bobsled. So I'm just thinking that if there's a singer that you love, Sarah, that we could sort of get them on board to record like the Australian bobsleigh anthem ahead of Beijing. We could get them out there and social media. I mean, who would be the number one that if right now you could get to jump on board and and sing an Australian bobsleigh song?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, that's that's an interesting question. I mean, if it was an Australian bobsleigh song, it would have to be an Australian artist for sure. And my first thought goes to someone like John Farnham. Classic.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're like, you know, a bit of a turn on the classic. Yeah.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Guy retires and gets out of it all the time. I did actually see him a few years ago after one of his many retirements. I did actually get to see him a few years ago. That was pretty awesome. But yeah, if it's an Australian song, it has to be an Australian artist for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm thinking if you can't get John Farnham, Nikki Webster, the ties to the Olympics there are just perfect. Get Nikki from the, you know, the Sydney 2000, bring her back and there she is and gets her out of, you know, her dance school to get prepped for Brisbane in 2032. So, you know, it's it's helpful for both of you.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, of course, everyone would get around that too. Everyone would get around that or either option. Everyone would get around it.
BEN WATERWORTH: It would be great. Come on. Yes, exactly.
SARAH BLIZZARD: A bit of promo for us as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I just the possibilities here are endless. Like it's just it's fantastic to think about them. I believe you also tried your hand a bit at Monobob. We talked to Bree a lot about sort of the Monobob side of things. I mean, that's obviously a little bit different. You're kind of controlling it and, you know, piloting and breaking it. How do you find the Monobob versus the two man?
SARAH BLIZZARD: I really enjoyed the Monobob, actually. It was at the end of my first season. Bree and I went off to Lapland. The season had finished, so we were very stress free, which was great. But we went off to Lapland in France and gave Monobob a go. And I really enjoyed it. Normally in like everyday life, I do like being in control of situations and in control of everything. So I guess doing bobsleigh as a breakman is like, all right, that's one thing I can't control, except that it's fine. But then actually sitting in the pilot seat was a lot of fun. It was actually really great to see the other side of it as well and kind of understand. I mean, I've got a long way to go to understand what Bree goes through in the pilot seat, but kind of get a little bit of an idea. And it was actually a really successful week. I can't remember exactly what I placed, but I did a lot better than I thought I would. I slid for the whole week, and then on the weekend, we had two competitions, and I think it was like 14th and 12th out of like 18 sleds, I think, or it might have been 11th out of 18 sleds. So yeah, it was actually surprisingly successful, and it was a very fun week, and I really enjoyed Monobob.
BEN WATERWORTH: And does Bree sort of success in the Monobob when it comes back to the two men? Does that kind of like spur you on? You can get a bit of adrenaline and momentum from her success to kind of take on how well she's doing it and put it then into when you both come together again?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure. Seeing Bree do so well in the Monobob, especially when Monobob is often the day before the two men races. So we get to see how well she's doing. And it's like, yeah, it's just like that little bit of adrenaline comes in and you're like, all right, let's go. She's in a good shape. She's driving well. Let's do this kind of thing. It's great. Like I said, the day before, I guess you're really up and going for the next day when she gets a good result. And it's, I mean, it's also my teammate as well and my friend. Like, it's so good to see her doing so well in Monobob as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: You just that next morning, though, you're not talking to each other when you do get up.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, we just need the time to wake up.
BEN WATERWORTH: You just need the time to wake up before the conversation. Yeah, cool, shut up. I'm still not awake yet right now. So, Sarah, the process now sort of with the training to the Olympics. Again, I know we talked a bit to Bree about this sort of when we had her on the show, but obviously it's a little bit closer now. So what does it take from the point you're talking to me right now to know you have that ticket booked to Beijing?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, so we have a whole season ahead of us. It's like, it's not actually that long to go, but it seems like there's so much to happen before that. So our qualifying period doesn't start until season starts pretty much. And then in, I'm probably going to get the date wrong, but I know Ash said it in her podcast. Is it January 16th?
BEN WATERWORTH: I'll say yes.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Something like that? Yes, okay.
BEN WATERWORTH: I remember all my interviews off by heart, every single fact.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Let's go with that. I might be totally wrong. But yeah, so around at the end of season, we. Have the World Cup season, and then November is when the World Cup season starts. So we have all of our races, and that goes through until early next year. And our results from the races basically determine if we go to the Olympics or not. So we get points, and then we get a ranking, and then that's how we get selected.
BEN WATERWORTH: So what position, if the people are following the World Cup, like do you need to be in the top 10, the top 15? Is it regional based? What are we looking out for?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, it's a bit of a complicated system, but basically the top two nations get to take three sleds. So assuming that will probably be Germany, and somewhere like Canada or something like that, but they get to take three sleds. And then there's a next chunk of people, and they get to take two sleds. So it's a bit hard to know what kind of placings we need to get. I mean, if we can kind of continue on our momentum from last season and get similar results to that, that would probably be great and probably get us through. But of course, we want to improve. Who doesn't want to improve? So yeah, for sure, if we can get top ten results, we should be okay. I mean, for us as a team, we want to keep getting top ten results. But yeah, we're probably not really going to have an idea until, I guess, end of the start of next year on where we're actually going to be sitting and kind of if we're right on the edge and what we need to do to get in or if we're comfortably in. So it's a bit of a complicated system. It's very different to some other sports that people are in. There's not a time that we have to get or we're not just selected because we're a small nation or anything like that. We're competing with all these big teams. So yeah, just trying to get the best result we can pretty much.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're talking about wanting to improve. I definitely want to improve as a podcast host because that's probably the third time I've asked that question to each you, Ash and Brie. But I just want to make sure that you're on. I actually want to make sure you reach on your toes so you know how you do qualify for the Olympics. It's more of a test for you three to kind of, you know.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, thank you.
BEN WATERWORTH: Make sure you know, just in case, like, how do I get to the Olympics again? It's kind of, it's going that way. Which, I mean, this is a fascinating thing. Like we push the sled. Go a bit fast. Don't vomit. All those sort of things. It is fascinating to me about winter sports though, that it's always so close. Like, you can literally be weeks away from the opening ceremony to even know if you're going, when some of the summer sports know a year ahead. Like, it's crazy to kind of think of that. I mean, is it something that kind of works in a way where you thrive on that, knowing that you've always got to be at your best? You kind of can't just qualify, and then not that you would want to hold back, but kind of take it away, because you've got to literally be on your game right up until you then qualify, and then only weeks later, you're at the Olympics.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, I mean, it's going to be a little bit of a juggling act, trying to make sure we're physically in shape for the season, but then in better shape for the games. Not that we don't want to be in really good shape for the season, but you've got to be able to juggle it. And you've got to be able to juggle each race as well. Yes, each race you want to be competing at your best, obviously, and that's every season anyway. Having the games there, obviously, it's another thing that we're trying to qualify for. But I mean, I think we have enough of a drive, as it is, that even if the games weren't this year, we're still going to be trying to do our absolute best. We're so motivated to, I guess, like I've said, improve, do our best. But then, yeah, having the games is going to be a whole other experience. It's going to get towards the end of the season. I feel like tensions are going to be high. A lot of teams are going to be very stressful. So there's going to be that whole mental side of things as well, and try not to let that get to you too much. But yeah, I guess then you've got to get to the seasons and get to, sorry, get to the Olympic at the end of the season, and you're trying to peak again after having such a big season already. I guess that's probably the difference between us and something like athletics. In saying that, though, they normally all go and compete over in Europe or America just before the Olympics anyway. But yeah, it is a little bit different like that. But like, I mean, we're over here, we're competing anyway. So I guess, yeah, just go on, have another race just to look bigger.
BEN WATERWORTH: Some of the winter athletes we've spoken to recently, we've obviously talked about the close proximity of Tokyo to Beijing in terms of, you know, what, six months basically between the Summer and Winter Olympics. I mean, for yourself, for Brie, like, sitting down watching the Olympics, does it kind of spur you on just sort of seeing these games, how sort of brought to Australia together during the current situation, and then even sort of seeing the success that Australia had during the Summer Games. Can you kind of build on that, again, momentum and sort of, you know, adrenaline that you're watching that and use that into your own performances?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure. It was super inspiring, actually, watching the Olympics. I normally would wake up in the morning, and the first thing I would do would be go on social media, trying to find the results. It's really bad to go on social media first time in the morning, I know.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, you're not talking to anyone. Yeah, I'm not talking to anyone.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, that's fine. But yeah, no, trying to do that or get on 7 Plus, trying to like catch up on the results and stuff like that. My partner was sending me screen recordings of different races from the athletics, so I could watch it in the morning, which was great. But yeah, I like it's definitely it's inspiring, like getting to see athletes not only just get out there and perform, like no matter what their result was, just actually getting out there and enjoying it like they're doing what they love. You could tell by some of the athletes, especially the ones where I was like their first games or their last games, they're just actually getting out there and doing what they love. So I think that's the best part of it for me and just enjoying their experience while also performing at their best. So, yeah, everyone loves watching the Olympics. I know a lot of people kicked up a bit of a fuss about the Olympics still being held, but when it came around to the Olympics being on, everyone in Australia loved having it on. We did so well at the Olympics. That was such an amazing performance by Australia. So that was very, yeah, very exciting for us, and I guess a nice little warm up for the Winter Olympics, I guess I could say.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, it's kind of interesting with that too, with everything that happened around the Summer Olympics, obviously the postponement, then kind of whether or not it was going to go ahead or not. I mean, kind of people then were so focused on the Summer Games that people never really, I guess, were questioning, will the Winter Games go ahead? So now I guess the case that we've seen Tokyo go ahead successfully, the Paralympics going on successfully. I mean, if there was any doubt of, hey, the Winters could be postponed as well, is that kind of all gone now? Because it kind of looks like they are just going to go ahead, it seems, as of right now.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yes, I guess it's going to go ahead. I hope it's going to go ahead. But yeah, I think they were kind of treating Tokyo as a little bit of a test run for the Winter Games. I guess that's probably not the best word, but if anything worked for the Summer Games, then they were going to continue that on for the Winter Games. So I guess it's good for them to see what has worked and what hasn't worked. But hopefully the momentum continues on. Everyone's been so excited about the Summer Games, and now the Paralympics are also on. So hopefully that kind of can continue on a little bit, and then everyone gets excited about the Winter Games because there's just so much sport in this small time frame. Hopefully it just boosts the excitement even more.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, the real Olympics again. They are the real Olympics, Sarah.
SARAH BLIZZARD: The real Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: The dress rehearsal was Tokyo, and now the real Olympics come along in Beijing. Now, we're going to wrap up with a series of fun questions. As I said, you've listened to our Breach8, listened to our Ashtat, so you're familiar with them. But before I do get to those, a couple of quick things. I did find a story about an interesting training regime that you did have back in Australia where you were pushing a Ute. How helpful is that? I mean, does it actually help, or is it more of a, hey, I've got to try and push something, so why not a Ute?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, it was probably more, let's just have some fun. Let's push something. Let's just have some fun, really. It was for the Mitsubishi dealer back home. It was a Triton, so it was all signed, written with Triton on the side of it. And it was on newspapers and stuff, just a little bit of self-promotion, I guess, as well as the Triton. I don't do that in normal training, I must say. Sometimes we'll have a little bit of fun and push something. We had a little pulsar back at home, a bit of a paddock bomb that I joked around and pushed around a little bit at home one day. But yeah, that's kind of it for that kind of stuff. I mean, in training, we do push and pull a lot of heavy sleds, but yeah, generally not yutes.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're not pushing Tritons just down the street. People whose Tritons are parked on the street shouldn't be scared that you're just going to want to push them around a little bit.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Just move it out of the way to get a park, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: I also, on the Bobsleigh Skeleton website, I do like how you've got your, I guess, eight tracks that are pump-up songs, or are these some of your favourite songs? But I do like some of the ones you got on here. You've got a bit of Will Smith with Miami, Chelsea Dagger, the Fratellis, great song, Kryptonite, Three Doors Down. But the one I love here, it's a song that I had not heard in a long time, completely forgot about it, and I've literally been listening to it today. Shake That, Eminem and Nate Dogg, that is a great song.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, that's generally in my pre-race playlist. It's like a, I don't know, it's just, it gets me pumped up, so it's in there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's great. It's great. So is this just, is this a pump up list? Is this kind of what gets you going at the tracks? Or is this just sort of what you were listening to on the Spotify at the time when you did this on the website?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, yeah, it's a bit of a, I guess, like a summary of the songs that I have, I guess. These songs are kind of like in my training or my pre-race playlist, whether it's like a gym. If I'm going for heavy lifts in the gym, you'll see the last song in there is X-Gone Give It To Ya. That's my PB song in the gym. Whenever we're going for PBs, I play this song. Everyone has a PB song here. But yeah, that mix of songs is kind of like kind of what my actual playlist will look like. Generally, the track one or the pre-race ones are kind of like, maybe they'll start off a bit calmer and fun, and then they kind of get more like trying to pump myself up. Like we, whenever you see us on the start line there, our heart rate is high because we've pumped ourselves up. We're full of caffeine. We're just like ready to explode pretty much.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I loved Ash sort of saying that she had a song for basically every single track. So it's kind of, you know, like the sort of the way you do it. Any list with Miami by Will Smith on it is a good list. Let's just say that. And also, we talked about this to Bree, talked about this to Ash. I'm going to put it to you as well now. Just again, you want to name your sled Ben in Beijing. You're more than welcome to again help somebody out who's got no talent here, Sarah. And I can cross that finish line at the Olympics and say that I've finished an Olympics. So again, pressure Bree. She didn't seem too keen on the idea. So you can maybe, you know, put a friendly word in earlier again.
SARAH BLIZZARD: I'll just remind her. Yeah, unfortunately, it is her sled. I don't have much say, but I will. I'll remind her for you.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, yes, indeed. And also to the thing as well that when Channel 7 have got the cameras in your face, they're giving you the great old story. This is the, you know, how Sarah got into it. I always like to try to see if you can sneak in a sneaky word in there, just kind of like a, hey, let's throw out a word. I think the one that you could easily use, you could easily use the word stall, stall gift round. They're probably going to bring it up anyway. So you could maybe just use it in a sort of like, yeah, I don't want to stall on the start line and stuff it up. I'm going to do it very well. So again, just a little, you know, homework or challenge for you. If you want to try and throw that out there in a Channel 7 promo come February.
SARAH BLIZZARD: All right, I'll give that a go. I reckon I can get that in there somewhere. I'll get it in there somewhere for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm going to make these words more difficult. I'm going to get someone to say gobbledygook or something like that. Just, you know, fit it in there somehow. Now, we, as I said, wrap up all these interviews with a series of fun questions. As you know, by listening to Bree and Ash's interview, these are based on a series of questions that Team Canada had on their website ahead of Pyeongchang and also Rio. And I'm probably using the same set of questions that I use for both Ash and Bree, because we generally use it from a fellow competitor from your sport. And we've got the Alicia Rizling page up again, too, because she's the only bobsledder on the Team Canada website. So you've got a bit of an advantage here, though, because you've heard these.
SARAH BLIZZARD: So, yeah, yeah, I haven't I haven't quite finished Ash's podcast. I probably it's probably paused right just before the questions, but I did listen to Bree's a while ago. So, yes, maybe.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, I know. I do appreciate the fact that when I looked once at our downloads, we had one listener. So thank you for that, Sarah. I know.
SARAH BLIZZARD: That was probably me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Where it comes from. So that's good. First question, your favourite ever Olympic moment is?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, that's a very good question. I would like to say Stephen Bradbury, but I was also very young. I just watch replays of that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Answer it. No one answers that. They should.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yes, it counts. Like I watched it back like a lot. Obviously, it pops up all the time. Once it's also a winter sport. Watching the whole moment and his face and how he enjoyed the moment is amazing. I would have to say that even though I was definitely too young.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm just going to ignore that fact. I won't feel old. The standard answer for this one is obviously Cathy. Great moment in Sydney. But to me, it's like up there. It's the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal for Australia. Bradbury wins in the most memorable circumstances. Yes, it gets me excited when anybody answers that one. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, that's also a good question. Probably fly because, I mean, you could get to places very easily. Like everyone always says, run fast. But I'm like, well, that kind of doesn't. I mean, that just makes me really good at what I do. It doesn't mean you don't get to enjoy the whole training side of things. I'd probably say fly because I could go anywhere, especially during these COVID times.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. You don't have to wear a mask, I can imagine, if it's just you in the air.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm doing that now. Again, this one, you can have the cliché answer, or you can have maybe another answer. Your favourite sports movie is?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Ooh, the cliché answer would be Cool Runnings. I mean, I do love Cool Runnings, though. I would probably say Cool Runnings. Yeah, but it's always been probably my favourite sporting movie, even before Bob Say wasn't even in the picture. I love that movie always.
BEN WATERWORTH: I do like Alicia's answer here, The Mighty Ducks. So, I mean, you can't go past another early 90s classic with that one there. Now, this is the interesting one, because obviously we always say to our guests, if you want to have some homework, you can draw. There's a drawing aspect to this. Now, Ash actually did it. She's our only athlete who actually... She's like, I'm doing this, and she sat there, and she drew it, and she e-mailed it through to me. So again, if you're competitive with your fellow team members, and you want to kind of do it out there, the task is to draw a picture of yourself. Yeah.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Look, I'm very bad at drawing, but I might give it a go. I'll see what I can do for you.
BEN WATERWORTH: And stick figures are acceptable. Stick figures are acceptable.
SARAH BLIZZARD: That's probably as artistic as I get. I have no creative bone in my body, so it'll be very interesting.
BEN WATERWORTH: And if people haven't seen, hit us up on our Instagram, and you can see Ash's amazing drawings, because they were fantastic. Your funniest childhood memory is?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, there's a lot. Probably being at the snow, where my dad would do silly things and crash and make a fool of himself. Probably one, there's a lot. One that pops to my mind was I went and did donuts in the paddock, in our paddock bomb, and then my parents came home and were like, what's all this mud in the paddock? I'm like, I don't know. And then my brother dogged me in because he took a video of it and then showed my parents the video. Yeah, yeah, but it was funny. My parents were kind of proud, but also like, I can't introduce this.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's so Australian, isn't it? Like, that's our Sarah. Look at those donuts. That's how we raised her. Well done.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. Perfect. You pretty much already answered this one, unless you've got a different one. Your favourite pump up song is?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, yeah, we've answered this one. Yeah, X Gon Give It To Ya. That's my PB song, so it's probably my best pump up song for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Works the best. The most recent TV show that you binge watched?
SARAH BLIZZARD: I would probably assume it was Friends. We watch a lot of Friends on season. There's been a few others. There's always Brooklyn Nine-Nine in there as well. I watched a lot of that when I was in Brisbane while I was home. But yeah, at the moment, it's just been random bits and pieces of movies. I've been studying while I'm over here, so I haven't actually watched a whole lot of Netflix, surprisingly, with all this spare time.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, yet. We'll say yet. I mean, you're probably not going to, but actually that sort of adds to that challenge, because when we had Tyler Gill and Dean Hewitt on curlers, they were talking a little bit about their obsession with friends. And I sort of made the idea, well, like, hey, drop friends quotes out there, and you would be like the friends quoting curlers. So you and Bree could be the friends quoting Bob. Like, you're getting there, you're ready to pump up, and you could be like, could we be any more Bob Sletters and just kind of get ready to go? And then one of you go, I know! And then just, you know, we were on a break. Just drop them before you go down the course. That would go viral.
SARAH BLIZZARD: We do this anyway. We're throwing friends' quotes out there all the time anyway, so that's easy for us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Let's see, get your funding. All of a sudden, you know, who knows? Jennifer Aniston might see it and go, hey, this is cool. She gives you a plug on her Instagram, and boom, viral.
SARAH BLIZZARD: That would be amazing.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I have to ask you, I mean, who are you out of all the six of them? Which friends' character are you?
SARAH BLIZZARD: That's a very interesting question. I would like... See, there's different aspects of each of them. I'm a little bit Monica, like a little bit Monica. Like I mentioned before, I like to have a little bit of control. Not necessarily like a clean freak, but I do like things to be clean. A little bit of Rachel. Yeah, it's like a little bit of everyone, really. Rachel and Joey would be my favourite for sure, though.
BEN WATERWORTH: Brilliant. And who's Brie? Who do you think Brie is closely related to?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Well, once again, it's hard. Just different aspects of everyone. Like, once again, she is organised. She's very organised with her season. She has everything planned out. So there's the moniker. Oh, I don't even know how to answer the rest of that question. Yeah, also a little bit like Rachel.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was a bit worried just straight away. You were just like, oh, she's Ross. Like it just comes out straight away. Don't even think about it. She's so Ross. There she is. That's who she is. Speaking like on the drawing side of things, the other one here is draw a picture of one of your teammates. So look, hey, you can draw a picture of Bree as a bit of Rachel, bit of Monica, you know, kind of add to the, add to the homework there, Sarah.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, that's getting a little bit creative to be there, but we can try.
BEN WATERWORTH: I just see the picture of just two of you sort of like looking at each other grumpily in the morning. Don't talk to me. Just kind of, you know, get on with your day. What is your least favourite food?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, there's a few there because I have a few, I guess, intolerances to food, so they would probably go out there. I don't really eat cream or consume cream. Every time I get cream on something like a hot chocolate or a dessert, it goes straight to Brie or Steph. Like, we're very good like that. She'll give me an ice cream. I give her my cream. I actually don't like avocado. And I doesn't agree with my gut either, but avocado. I know a lot of people would be very disappointed to hear that.
BEN WATERWORTH: No, I am one of the few that's not, because I often get shamed for saying I don't like avocado too. So I'm glad that there's other people out there with that frowned upon opinion.
SARAH BLIZZARD: So it does mean I should be able to afford a house by now, right?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly.
SARAH BLIZZARD: I don't go out and buy avocado. I should be able to afford a house.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're loaded. Exactly. If you weren't an athlete, what would you be?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, also a good question. I've always grown up doing sports related things. I have a degree in sports science. I think it would probably be something sports related, whether it's sports, like I'm studying nutrition at the moment, something like that, but completely off sport altogether. I did apply to study zoology at uni along like all the sports things, and then there was just zoology at the bottom. So probably like something like that, like working in the zoo, something like that, I guess. It's not really something I've ever thought about because everything has always been so sport focused.
BEN WATERWORTH: So you've got plenty of time. You're still very young, Sarah. So after the gold medals come from the Olympics, you can be the world's first gold medal winning zoologist. I don't know if that's a thing, but you never know. Your favourite vacation spot is?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, I haven't been on a lot of vacations recently. I guess not. Fiji was beautiful. I did really enjoy Fiji. I went there instead of going to schoolies with some friends, and that was very nice. Bali was all right as well, but I think Fiji was like the step up. In saying that though, the snow has always been like going to the snow. We always used to go to Mount Hossam when I was young, so like the snow skiing, just being around that is like for sure my favourite vacation, I guess, vibe vacation spot, Mount Hossam.
BEN WATERWORTH: Beautiful, beautiful. I like it. What's something that people usually describe you as?
SARAH BLIZZARD: People actually describe me as shy and quiet a lot of the time. If you ask Bree and Steph, they'll be like the silent assassin. I'll be quiet a lot of the time, but really like I'm thinking of some plan underneath or come out with some random comments, random witty comments or jokes or insults. But yeah, I guess probably that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, I like it. If you could be an Olympian in any other sport other than your own, what would it be?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Oh, I would probably say aerial skiing. I would never have the guts to do it, but I would love to be able to experience that. Like I've always loved aerial skiing. I know when I was a lot younger and I was doing gymnastics, I had Alyssa Campland's book, her bio. So she was always a great inspiration for me. And she's actually involved with this Winter Olympics, so that's going to be very exciting.
BEN WATERWORTH: She's a chef de michon, I believe, is she not? So she'll be your boss, basically, should you make it.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, that's pretty cool. But in saying that, I'd love to experience that, but I think I'd be too chicken to actually do it. I say that coming from bobsleigh, but I think a lot of the aerial skiers would be too chicken to do bobsleigh, so that's okay. But I think aerial skiing, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: And the final question for you today, Sarah, what is your guilty pleasure?
SARAH BLIZZARD: I love Tim Tams. Like I could eat a whole packet of Tim Tams. Steph arrived in Europe the other day and she bought me a packet of Tim Tams that's already gone. So normally I have pretty good self-control, but like Tim Tams.
BEN WATERWORTH: Any particular flavour, just sort of the original, or do you kind of like the mixer?
SARAH BLIZZARD: Original. I have tried other flavors, but it's always original.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, go stick with the classic. There's a reason there as well. The final one, there's actually another drawing. If you're an animal, which would you begin? It's getting very sort of in-depth now. Oh, an animal.
SARAH BLIZZARD: We were actually talking about this in training the other day. We were trying to pick what animal people would be. My nickname has always been Bear growing up. My parents have always called me Sare Bear. They have nicknames for when I'm in a bad mood, and I'm not going to repeat that because people don't need to hear that one and use it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I need to know it now, Sarah. You can't dangle that carrot and not share it.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Okay, so when I was in a bad mood, it would be a mix between Bear and Feral, so they'll call me Beryl.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're going to get some messages now on Instagram. Hang on, Beryl.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, and those people will be blocked and reported for abuse.
BEN WATERWORTH: Don't listen to our Beijing coverage next year, because if you have a bad run, we're calling you Beryl.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, they would only really use that when they needed to. But yeah, that would always call me Bear. Polar Bear was kind of like the boomy, a lot of Polar Bear kind of things, but yeah, I'd probably go Bear. I do love bears as well. They're very cute.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, well then draw a picture of a bear for us, and we'll be very, very happy. Sarah, Instagram, Twitter, where can people follow you? What's up to date with sort of your journey? And also too, I believe you've got a donation page out there as well, to sort of help with the journeys along the way as well.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure. So Instagram is nice and easy. It's just Sarah Blizzard. Nice and easy to find. I actually have TikTok, which I feel like I don't really know how to use, but I posted some things on there. So that's Sarah Blizzard. I have Twitter. I don't use it. I can try and use it. I think that's Sarah Blizzard88. And yes, we have a fundraising page through the Australian Sports Foundation. So we have one for the team, and I have one for myself. So if you go into the Australian Sports Foundation website and just type in Sarah Blizzard, it should come up. And there should be a nice little picture of me come up there, and you'll know it's me, hopefully.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. And also, too, I will say, going back to what I was saying about how I love sort of the social media stuff that's going out there with everyone, the Bobsleigh and Skeleton pages on social media too are also very informative, sort of a lot of the stuff they're putting there as well. So it's really opened some eyes out there to the sport. It's great to see.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Yeah, for sure. I know a lot of people back home, a lot of family friends or just people in our art are like loving seeing videos of just the sliding because they've never really watched it before. So suddenly they get to see all these videos and they love it. So now it is good to see so many people getting around that and getting excited about watching Bobsleigh when they've never seen it before. So it's good.
BEN WATERWORTH: We're going to be very excited in the coming months to see how it all goes and watching Bobsleigh next year in Beijing. Sarah, it's been a lot of fun chatting with you to learn about your career, the sport, your nicknames that we shall mention again. And we look forward to seeing you and Brie getting across the line in Ben next year in Beijing to a medal.
SARAH BLIZZARD: I'm glad to hear about that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. Come on, Brie, I know you're listening. Come on, I'm not giving up on this. It's going to be Ben come Beijing. Sarah, seriously, it's been a lot of fun. Thank you for your time in the show.
SARAH BLIZZARD: Perfect. Thank you so much for having me.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive thanks to Sarah, they're so much fun. And again, I'm serious, Brie, if you are listening, the bobsleigh can be called Ben. It's a great name, and it will strive you to success. If you don't do it, Ash is gonna do it. You know, I just feel there's gonna be a Ben crossing the finish line in Beijing. So you're welcome, you're welcome for that luck to already go along there too. And as we just sort of mentioned right at the end there of the interview, as well as following Sarah and hitting up the social media pages for the fundraising and everything else along the lines too. Social Bobsleigh Skeleton Australia on the social media platforms because seriously, some great stuff there. It's actually really informative for people out there who maybe know very little about the sport. Some great quotes and great inspiration there and definitely getting some good traction in the lead up to Beijing. So I thoroughly recommend that if you are on social media. And if you are on social media, I'm plugging other places. Got to plug our own places, of course, Off The Podium. Search for us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat with everything that we have on the run. And subscribe to us on the podcast channels, all of them, as I say. Just subscribe to all of them. You don't need one. You need multiple ones. You want to listen to the show many, many times. Search Off The Podium on there. Mash the subscribe button. Leave us some feedback. Leave us a rating while you're there. We have so many more interviews coming your way. We've got interviews, special episodes, and everything else in between. If you're an Olympics fan, you're going to be loving everything that we're going to be bringing you from now until Beijing. So stay tuned so much to come here on Off The Podium. Big thanks again to Sarah. Big thanks to everybody who is tuning in today. My name is Ben. And as always, remember, go left.
Comments