Scott Gow Interview
We brought you our first ever biathlete interview a few weeks back and now it’s time to bring you another as we chat with 2018 Canadian Olympian Scott Gow about his incredible biathlon career and how he is tracking ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics! We learn from Scott how he got into the sport and how summer actually played a key part in it. We also learn more about the world circuit for biathlon and what it is like competing in Europe as opposed to Canada, as well as how big a deal it was to bring home a World Championship medal for Canada in 2016. Added to this his experiences at the 2018 Olympics, his fun hobby that got him even more excited for his Olympic experience and just how he is feeling ahead of the 2022 Olympics, it’s one interview you simply won’t want to miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is off the podium. An Olympics podcast coming to you again for another interview. We've got an exciting one for you today. Scott Gow, Canadian biathlete, 2018 Olympian, on track for his second Olympic Games in Beijing in a matter of months' time. And as you learned a few weeks ago when we talked to Sarah Snowsell, the Sporta Biathlon is an interesting one. It's one of these Olympic sports that, as an Australian, I'm always very fascinated by it when it comes around. And no pun intended, biathlon, I get what I was trying to say there. But Scott gives a great insight to hear from the Canadian perspective about how, again, we perceive biathlon as a winter sport, so we therefore assume that it's massive in Canada. Not really the case, you're gonna hear a little bit about that here as well as just how Scott got into it. How he got into this sport basically with thanks to summer, a very interesting way of getting into a winter sport, of course. His hopes ahead of Beijing, his successes, the experiences of competing at home versus Europe, and my personal favourite part of this interview, learning about Scott's interesting hobby. Now, there's a certain activity that you associate with the Olympics. It's not an official sport, but some people classify it almost as an official sport, and Scott's very much into it. And Scott talks very highly about this activity during his time at the Pyeongchang Olympics. So stay tuned for that because you're gonna very much enjoy it as much as I did. But you're gonna enjoy the interview in general, which I'm gonna play for you right now. Here's our chat with Canadian biathlete Scott Gow.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's a pleasure to be able to welcome our next guest to Off The Podium today. He is a biathlete who competed at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. He's also competed in numerous World Championships and World Cup events around the world, including getting a bronze medal at the 2016 IBU World Championships in part of the 4.7.5 kilometre relay. I'm getting these words out of my mouth eventually. And also is tracking very well in the lead up to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. He's our second athlete from the sport of biathlon and our first Canadian from the sport of biathlon. And I'm very happy to welcome to Off The Podium, Scott Gow. Scott, first of all, welcome to the show today. It's a pleasure to have you today.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, thank you.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good to be here. It's a sport that I was just mentioning to you off air that I am very fascinated about because as an Australian, it's something we don't often get to see a whole lot of. We usually get to see it during the four year cycle for the Winter Olympics. But obviously a little bit different in your part of the world there in Canada when it comes to the attention. Was this a sport that you fell into as a kid, something that you saw and you wanted to get into? I mean, how do you get involved in biathlon?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, biathlon is not a super popular sport in Canada either. We're a winter country, but it's not, I wouldn't rank very high on the list of sports that people tuned in to watch. But it's very big in Europe. That's where it's a very large winter sport. That's where the viewing audience is mostly. And I got into it basically by chance. I'd maybe seen it on TV when I was a kid, but I didn't really understand or know what it was until I attended a summer camp one year where one of the sports that we tried out was biathlon. Now, it was a summer so we weren't skiing. But we ran around and shot little pellet guns. And that was the intro to biathlon. And so I signed up for a fall program. And then I learned how to ski for the first time on cross-country skis. And we eventually got to shoot like the actual 22 caliber rifle. And that's kind of where I think I more or less fell in love with it. And like this is what I want to do.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow.
SCOTT GOW: I would have been 11. Wow.
BEN WATERWORTH: So summer camp with little pellet guns, 11 year olds. That's pretty interesting. I find it fascinating that you kind of do the shooting first. I kind of assumed this would be one of those ones where often it's sort of maybe a cross-country skier kind of gets enticed by wanting to shoot things at the same time as skiing. But in your case, it was, let's shoot first, and then we'll think about the skiing afterwards.
SCOTT GOW: Right. I think most people would go the route of the cross-country ski, usually when they're really young with their parents or something. And then that's where they learn about biathlon and then want to try it. Whereas for me, and then for a lot of people, like where I'm from, I'm from Calgary, which is a bigger city in Alberta, Canada. And we don't have, like we have cross-country skiing, but we don't have a biathlon range. You have to drive an hour away to get to the shooting range. So when you're in the city, the only option really is shooting air rifles or pellet guns. And so that's kind of how they get kids into it. And I would say for the kids that learn about biathlon who live in the city, you learn about it all at once. Most kids go downhill skiing or snowboarding or who knows what. And I know a lot of people, I'd say, pick up cross-country skiing or biathlon. But if you go out into the mountains, then you find tons of kids who cross-country ski since they could walk. And then they pick up biathlon somewhere along the way.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it's fascinating because obviously with Calgary having had the 88 Olympics, I mean, I'm guessing when you say it's sort of an hour out of the city, that's at the Olympic facilities where they host it in 88. So is Calgary one of the places, or at least in the vicinity, where biathlon, going back to your point about it not being a hugely popular sport in Canada, but maybe the uptake's a little bit more in that part of the country, given the facilities are sort of there based on having had the Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, Calgary is probably the biggest hub for Olympic sport in Canada because we did host the 88 Olympics. So there's this kind of legacy fund we still have through Winsport, and they've turned themselves into a hub for the sliding sports, the slope sports, like snowboarding, I believe, and skiing, moguls. Ski jumping used to be there. I don't think they use the jumps anymore. And then during the Olympics, the Nordic sports took place an hour away where I live now in Canmore. And so it wasn't technically all in one city, but then that's the other hub. So we have our Olympic shooting range, ski trails, whole nine yards.
BEN WATERWORTH: Kind of, I guess, like how Whistler is not exactly Vancouver, but it's sort of still classified because it's in the vicinity, right? So it's sort of-
SCOTT GOW: It's like within reasonable driving distance. So, you know, they just kind of lump it all together.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now I have to ask this while we're on the topic of Calgary, while we're at least talking about this, please tell me you're a Flames fan. That's got to be at least the first thing. We're keeping you on the show, then. That's just to make sure. I'm a Flames fan, too. So we need to clarify that we're on the same ballpark. Not exactly a great year for us, but just so it hasn't been a great decade or so, but no, I'm still a fan. Can I, I need to ask this question, just as it from a Calgary fan to another. Am I childish for still hating Tampa after 2004, or do I need to move on?
SCOTT GOW: Oh, no, I, it's, I kind of like, just mentioning it like bothers me. Good, all right.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just need to make sure that I'm not the only one.
SCOTT GOW: You're absolutely right to still harbour ill will.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good, okay, thanks. Colin, our co-host, if he's listening, he's not a Tampa fan, but he has a weird soft spot for them, and he kind of makes fun of me for still hating them after all these years. So I'm glad I'm not the only one that's a natural Calgary fan for action.
SCOTT GOW: You know, all I have to say is, it's on YouTube, you can go back, you can look at the Goldilver Tournament, I can go on about this forever. But it's all there, so.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Exactly. See, there it is. Thank you very much, I appreciate that. So why have we got you on today, Scott? It's just simply to do that, just to confirm my, my fears and everything along those lines. Did you have, before you sort of picked up iAthlon, were you active in other sports? Was there maybe sort of an ambition for you to pursue something moving forward, even a dream of the Olympics at that age?
SCOTT GOW: Well, like I was active, reasonably active. Parents always signed me up for soccer or football, whatever, I don't know what you guys call it, probably football, swimming lessons. I did a little bit of karate, you know, I played baseball for a little bit when I was in elementary school still. And I played a bunch of school sports in junior high, so I think I did a little bit of track, and then I kind of I tried out badminton, volleyball. But these are all just for fun. This is just out of interest. And I would never say I grew up feeling like, oh, yeah, one day I'm definitely going to be an athlete who's going to pursue the Olympics. You know, I thought that's always like a cool idea. But I don't think that clicked in until I've been doing bath on for at least a few years when I was in my later teens. Then that kind of that's when I realised, oh, yeah, there's a future here and I could maybe work towards achieving like making the national team racing on the World Cup stage and then making the Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: What was it about biathlon when you mentioned you sort of did it and it kind of appealed to you? Was there a particular aspect to it which you all of a sudden it just clicked with you that maybe you were naturally gifted at it. You just enjoyed the combination of the shooting and the skiing. I mean, was there a particular thing that really drew you to it?
SCOTT GOW: I think the first thing that gets you in, or for myself, was the gun shooting aspect. Even though it was just like a pellet gun, like that was just cool because you don't do that anywhere else. You don't get to just shoot at targets very often. So that kind of gets you in the door. And then on the skiing side, it's challenging. I wasn't particularly good at it when I started, but I think I perceived it as something that, well, if I just work at it, it'll get a lot better. And then ultimately, it's the combination of the two. So kind of working your butt off on the track, trying to stay with other kids or pass other kids. Then you have to come in and try and settle down a little bit and then hit some targets. And you have to put that all together all in one event. And it for sure can be really challenging. And I think ultimately, that's what really got me into it is the challenge of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: And what's the parent's reaction like when you turn around and say you want to take up biathlon? And what's it like thinking that their 11-year-old son wants to kind of have guns being used for a living moving forward?
SCOTT GOW: Well, they're super supportive. And like my, I grew up around guns for the most part, like my dad hunts, he used to hunt. He was always bird hunting. So that was with shotgun. So, I mean, same thing, slightly different. But I mean, we were exposed to it young. We'd go to the shooting range, have some fun every now and then. And so I don't think they were too shocked or anything. Mostly, for sure, supportive.
BEN WATERWORTH: And was that then what led your younger brother Christian, who we'll talk about a little bit after, was that he just followed in his brother's footsteps? Or was that something that he was already doing at a younger age?
SCOTT GOW: So we got into it the same time, same way. We were both in the same summer camp. We're only two and a half years apart in age. So we were in the same summer camp, we signed up for the same program. And then from there, I've always been two years ahead of him. So he stayed with that beginning Calgary club for an extra year or two, and I aged out of it. So then I joined a team out in in Canmore. And then, you know, when I made the national team, he made it two years after, and so on, so forth. So we started together, we've been doing it together. But we've always been kind of separated by that two year gap.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of when you've got the skiing down pack, you've got the shooting down pack. I mean, we talked to Sarah a little bit about this, at least with her history with it. I mean, did you find that when you were improving, making the national team going up, that you found that your shooting was, say, on point, but your skiing always need worked? I mean, was the skiing sort of on point? I mean, what sort of to you growing up was sort of the main focus when it came to the training and the improvement? Or did it really just come down to a balance that it was about working the two together?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, it's mostly working the two together, but every athlete has a strength. So it's either skiing or the shooting. And how strong one is over the other is what varies. For me, I'd say I was stronger at skiing and had to work on the shooting. So you're working on both, but trying maybe working a little extra hard or putting in a little extra time in the shooting to try and kind of get it up to the same level as the skiing. And then once you have them roughly in the same ballpark in terms of personal strength, then you truly work on both them together just to get as fast on skis and as accurate in the range as you can.
BEN WATERWORTH: When it came to your first competition in Europe, mentioning how big it is in Europe, how was that to kind of see the sport on another continent where it is massive? I mean, do you remember that first competition you ever had when you travelled to Europe?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, my first international race, I was 16, and it was for the Youth World Championships. And so even that, that was like an entry level exposure to racing in Italy. And just the fact that there were fans there, not tons, but there were fans there who weren't parents to the athletes. Like there's people who wanted to just come and watch a bunch of kids racing and to see all the teams and the level of professionalism that all the different nations carried and just like the elevated level compared to what we're used to in Canada. And then as I've been racing internationally, you know, then you race the Junior World Championships. Well, that's a slightly bigger step. And then you race at like a European circuit level. Well, that's even slightly higher. And then you get to World Cup when that and that's when you really there's like a culture shock almost when you go to some of the venues, especially in Central Europe, Germany or Italy, Austria, where those have thousands of people like paying to come sit in the stadium or stand on the ski trail to watch people race. And the first time you get exposed to that, it's it's a bit of a little bit of a shock. It's like I'm not used to that many people and they're not cheering for me, but they're still there and they're loud and they're just super into it. And it is an awesome experience.
BEN WATERWORTH: It must must really kind of then just this passion of this sport and then to go there to see that while it may not be the biggest one in Canada, I mean, this has got such a following there. I mean, does it make you want to just base yourself or do you then base yourself in Europe because maybe it's an easier circuit to kind of go around then and then all of a sudden you just get used to the crowds at these events if you sort of base over there more than you would be in North America?
SCOTT GOW: I think some people try that. Well, they'll move to a major hub or to a team within Europe that might have more support or might have better training venues. But we have a really good setup where we are, where I am in Canmore, and we have really good coaches. And I don't think we're lacking in that regard. So, the only thing we miss out on a little bit is like the spectacle of everything. But I mean, at this point, I'm used to it. I've been racing there a long time, so I'm used to it in that sense. I think the big one that we miss out on at home that we don't have is just the amount of competition to try and become the best. We're competing against each other to make the national team or the Olympic team, whatever, but the pool of people is much smaller in Canada versus hundreds, if not potentially thousands of kids trying out in Norway or Sweden, wherever.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is there then, given the proximity to the states, is it a lot of competing against people from the states, or is it more just of a locally driven competition that's mainly against the Canadians, and you don't often have those US-Canada events where you're competing against each other?
SCOTT GOW: So, we do have a NORAM circuit, North American circuit, and the circuit is within Canada and the US. So, some races are in Canada, some are in the US. I wouldn't say a lot of athletes race all of them, but sometimes there's some that are really close across the border, and so they'll race on both sides. And so, for sure, we compete against the Americans a little bit throughout the year, although I don't race locally at all, really, the last little while. So all of my racing has been in Europe.
BEN WATERWORTH: And do many European competitors come over and do that? NORAM circuit? Or is it sort of more of a case of maybe some, say, Australians would go over to NORAM circuit because it's maybe a better taste of the sport. We can't really do it in Australia before going to Europe, if that makes sense.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I think like a European wouldn't come to Canada to race the Canadian circuit. It's a fairly small circuit. It's great for being able to race and get competitions in, but it doesn't like lead to anything, if that makes sense. You don't, you know, if you win a NORAM race, you don't get selected to race in Europe. It's just you want a NORAM race. And that's kind of as far as that goes. So Australians have come to Canada, and they've trained here throughout the winter for a little bit, and they've done some racing. But I think also for Australians, there's more competition in Europe. Like there's way more racing circuits in Europe. And I feel like Australia is in a spot where, if you're going to travel, well, you could go east or west. It's probably just as expensive and just as far. So they seem to be hanging out in Europe more often than Canada.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's interesting when we talk to Australian athletes, because a lot of the time, Australian athletes talk about how, winter athletes, I should say, that they're spending 10, 11 months of their year in winter, because obviously, our winter doesn't match up with yours. So right now, for example, in Australia, they're going to the winter areas because it's winter here, and then they go and spend our summer in the winter, where it's not really like that for Canadians, because your winter is the same as Europe. So you, I guess, at least get to experience summer, Scott. I mean, you're still strapping on the skis and doing the summer road skiing, but I can imagine you somehow at least get to experience summer, and you don't just travel to Australia for winter to really follow the snow.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, we train through the summer in Canada. So that's like our off season dry land. So it's all roller skiing, running, biking, basically everything but skiing, minus a few trips maybe to a glacier to get on snow. Yeah, we don't like we've I had gone to New Zealand one time in the middle of our summer for New Zealand winter for about three weeks. And that was nice, really nice skiing on the snow farm. But, I mean, I honestly don't know how the Australian athletes do it because 11 months, like you said, like that's a long time to be away from home. I find it very long to be gone for about four months in the winter. And I can't imagine just well, I guess I'll just stay over there, right? And just like get my training in or whatever. Yeah, I think being on snow is great, but we're definitely able to get by with the dry land season.
BEN WATERWORTH: When it comes to the dry land training, I mean, obviously it's not quite the same. You're recreating it as best as you can, but when it comes to the shooting aspect in the warmer conditions, is that affected as much? I mean, does it come to a place where maybe you're not training in your general attire, what you're doing and the cold weather kind of does affect your mentality when it comes to shooting, or is there not much difference as compared to the role of skiing versus the real skiing?
SCOTT GOW: There is a difference. I'd say when it's really cold out and it becomes harder and harder to dress for the weather and your fingers get cold, your hands get cold, your toes get cold, that's much more challenging to try and shoot in than let's say a really hot summer day as a contrast. But you do, like as we get into the fall in Canada, like summer's over, it starts cooling off, and you kind of just slowly adjust. You get used to cooler days, and then at the start of winter, you adjust to some negative temperatures, and then the first cold week is a little bit of a hardship. But then once you get through that week, okay, you're kind of set up for the rest of the winter, minus like cold spells that roll in.
BEN WATERWORTH: I always found when I was living there that you could tell I was the Australian who barely saw snow, because I'm the happy one walking around the street, smiling, going, it's snowing, it's everything, and everyone else just fucking snow. This is ridiculous. I can't believe winter's here already. So yeah, I used to love kind of witnessing grumpy Canadians during that first week or so when it started snowing.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I don't really get it either. The only thing, I might get a little upset if it snows in like September. It's kind of like, it's hard to like drive for like a day, right? And then, I don't know, it's like it melts right away, so it doesn't stay. But yeah, once it starts snowing, I'm super pumped. I'm just not as happy when it's like super, super cold, minus 20 or colder. That's where it's like, okay, it can warm up a little bit.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is it, was there one competition that you can remember that was just like the coldest? Was it the one where it was just so ridiculously cold that it really affects not only yourself, but I guess your competitors are around you when it comes to competing?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, there's been a couple. So probably the coldest I've ever felt was at the Winter Olympics in Korea. It was quite cold while we were there at the start. Like the first week of competition was like highs of minus 18, I believe. And we were racing in the evening. So then when there's no sun, it feels much colder. And then it was also windy. So the wind chill factor was just like cutting right through all of our clothing. So that was probably the coldest I felt having to race. But we also had a World Cup in Canmore almost two years ago now, where we also had just a wicked cold spell. And it was like right on the edge. And same thing, it was like minus 19, minus 20, kind of windy. And you're putting on as many layers as you can. You're taping up your face to, you know, protect it from windchill and all that stuff. And yeah, it is a little miserable when it's that cold. But thankfully, it's not that cold very often and almost never in Europe, like in Central Europe.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because I can imagine just with what you're wearing. I mean, obviously, there has to be a level of practicality to it. You don't want to be wearing a parka and thick layers because you need to move, and they need to be streamlined and everything. So it's kind of that balance to fix that windchill and everything, but also being able to move steadily.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I mean, you can buy some pretty good base layers that will keep you pretty warm and they're not too thick, but there is a limit. And then if it's too thick, you kind of feel stuffed and you can't move very well. And then, yeah, you can't be wearing a coat because that's not practical at all. And then the worst one I would say is since we have to shoot, you can't wear mitts and you can't wear gloves that are super thick because you won't be able to use your rifle, you won't be able to feel the trigger, you won't be able to reload if your gloves are too thick. So you're kind of wearing the thinnest gloves you can without feeling like you're gonna get frostbite, and that's probably the most annoying part of biathlon in the cold. Because in cross-country skiing, you can just throw on a warm pair of mitts and go. But in biathlon, that's a limiting factor. And so you definitely have to toughen up your hands.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I can imagine there must be a lot of technology around that sometimes, that I guess, the companies that make your clothes are looking at ways to make thin, thermal type gloves. I mean, is that something that I guess you're constantly looking for certain types of companies? I mean, I can imagine the Canadian Olympic team has their attire makers and everything, but are you working with them? So you can say, well, this is free flowing, I can use this, and it's also keeps me warm at the same time.
SCOTT GOW: We don't work with anyone specifically. There's a lot of clothing companies. And the ones we work with, they all specialise in cross-country skiing. So, like they get it. So they make clothing that they sell to anyone. It's just in the market. And yeah, I mean, their goal is to have the thinnest, but warmest available. So you're always able to find something, including gloves. But yeah, some brands might be a little better than others. Some might be more suitable to what I want more than others, but we've got a pretty good set up.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm seeing there's a market here, Scott, maybe post-retirement, you could sort of set up this, you know, biathlon only, you know, bugger the cross-country skiers. You need this to be purely biathlon that you could sort of corner the market there and just have it, the specialised gloves and clothing for biathletes in Canada.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, it might be potential career avenue.
BEN WATERWORTH: Work it out, go that way. One of the events you competed in sort of before, you know, headed to the Olympics and all the ones you're talking about there, the Canada Games in which you won all four of your events. Now, I love the Canada Games sort of seeing that you guys had that over there. It's just sort of a unique little event. I wish we did something like that in Australia, but I mean, what's that like going to an event like that, dominating it the way you did, representing Alberta? I mean, was that kind of a good way to kind of get out there and sort of compete against these people that you, I guess, down the line would be fighting for spots on the Olympic team in future events?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, Canada Games is a lot of fun. The whole point of the Canada Games is basically to have a miniature Canada-only Olympics. So every province can field athletes in all the Olympic events, and you stay in a little mini-village. All the athletes and staff are in one or two big hotels, and there's a communal eating area. They really try to replicate it with the intent of having this exposure to what will eventually be your exposure at the Olympics. And it is a lot of fun. I had a really good time while I was there, and you're competing against all the same guys I compete against throughout the winter or that I train with, and we just get to compete at this once-acquired event. Yeah, we had a really good time. That's all I can really say about it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I went through the gram, Scott, went through some of your posts, and I saw sort of in the lead up to Pyeongchang, you were a bit hopeful about maybe flag bearer for Canada in 2018. There was a video of, I'm assuming it was you very feverishly waving an Albertan flag. What was that you and how excited are you to wave an Albertan flag based on that video?
SCOTT GOW: So that was for the Canada Games. And what was happening is your name to the Canada Games team for Alberta. And then again, like the Olympics, you get like a clothing package. So you get all this team Alberta coats and pants and hats, whatever. And so we had to go up to Edmonton to to this like team Alberta thing, where they have presentations and you get all your stuff. Well, I didn't know it at the time, but I had been selected as the flag bearer. And so they told me when I got there. And that's what that video was from, is they're like, oh yeah, you know, you're going to be wearing the stuff and you're going to go out with these other two people. And they're like, yeah, just wave the flag and like be enthusiastic. Well, I was a little, maybe a little too enthusiastic.
BEN WATERWORTH: I loved it. I thought it was brilliant. Best flag waving I've ever seen.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, well anyway, so I went out there and waved it, basically as hard as I could. And so I had the experience. So if Canada wants me to be a flag bearer, I'm ready. That's all I'm, you know, if they choose.
BEN WATERWORTH: Not quite for Pyeongchang, but again, Beijing, maybe. I call them to look at that video to just see how good you are. Cause I mean, just based on Tokyo, when we had the dual flag bearers, some people needed their work. So I mean, you know, you were good at that. So just saying, like look at the video team Canada.
SCOTT GOW: I might repost it, tag team Canada, see if they pick up on it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think that will work. I think that would definitely help your case. That was some good flag waving. So definitely put it out there. For Sochi, you obviously had a goal, I guess, to go towards Sochi in 2014. How close were you? Sort of what happened along the road there that you ultimately missed out on going to the 2014 Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: So the way we do our qualifications is the primary avenue is results on the World Cup circuit. That's like the ideal way to select a team. That's how I qualified for Korea. Actually, that's how the whole team qualified for Korea. That's how the team will qualify for Beijing. And same for Sochi. But I think the criteria for Sochi, there was a floor to it that was a little too high. And so myself and a few other athletes weren't able to hit that minimum criteria to qualify for the World Cup results. I think I had like partial criteria, but you needed two or three whatever results, and I had one or two. So since not everyone qualified to the World Cup, well, then we go to a domestic trials race. And so that's where it was really close. And it basically came down to myself and I'd say two or three other guys who were gonna fight to make the team. And it was my teammate who ended up winning the trials event. So I would have been, I guess I would have been considered the alternate for the team, if I remember that properly, but I wasn't named to the team, obviously. So it was very close, but not quite, which was disappointing. But I think at the time, looking back, making that team, I mean, it would have been awesome, but for sure it was not impossible, but it would have been a little bit of a long, not a long shot, but a little bit unlikely, just considering my age. And the guy was up against, I mean, he was really good. The only reason he hadn't qualified for the team was he had a back injury from a year before. So he spent a whole year recovering from the injury and then the surgery he needed to fix his back. And so that opened the door for me to qualify for the team, but really he was probably the right guy to go. And so it really came down between me and him.
BEN WATERWORTH: And when that happens and you're that close to making it, obviously with any Olympic cycle, it's a long period, four years, I guess you have to think about moving forward and whether you want to commit to that. Was it a case of simply, okay, missed out for 2014, 2018, is my goal? Or do you take a step back and think, well, am I going to keep pursuing this heading towards a potential Olympic spot in four years' time?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I think initially the thought was I didn't know. I was like, well, maybe I just stopped because I didn't make it and I suck. And I don't know, you have all these negative thoughts that go through your mind. But then within a week or two, it's like, oh, you know what, I kind of still like biathlon. I'm willing to go another four years. I still see the ability and the path that I could take that would get me there. And 2014, I would have been 23, and in 2018, I would have been 27. That's like 27 is like you're getting into the peak years for biathlon. So that was also part of it, which is, oh, I'll be arguably in my best shape, best form around that time. So that'll be a really good shot at making it. And then I would say I committed four years, like I was committed mentally to do four years, barring anything going horribly. Whereas from 2018 to now, I'm willing to go four years, but if racing is not going well, or I'm not hitting very good results, I'm happy to just like walk away. Now that didn't happen. I've been having pretty good seasons year over year since 2018, so I'm happy to be trying out for Beijing. But it was like a slightly different mindset from 2014 to 18 versus 18 to 22.
BEN WATERWORTH: And when you watch these competitors who you're usually on a team with, you've gotten one guy that has just beaten you to go to the Olympics, when you're watching the Olympics, I mean, does that then help you spare on? Because you're watching him compete and go, well, I could have done better than that, or hey, I'm glad that he's done that well, or is it kind of the opposite? Do you kind of not want to watch the Olympics because of that disappointment, because you just were so close to making it that maybe you don't want to see that and kind of just put your mind at ease and focus on your own competition moving forward?
SCOTT GOW: Right, no, I would say super pumped. Like, I'm excited to watch. Obviously, I wish I was there. A little bit of disappointment, probably a thought crosses my mind watching the team race. I mean, I could have done that or could have been me, but I mean, it's like fleeting. And then, so I'm not there, but I'm super happy that they're there. And we did have some good results in that Korean or Korean in the Sochi Olympics. And that was 100% motivating, but not just for myself, but I think for the team going into Korea, because it kind of showed what the team is capable of for the men and the women. Like they both did really well. And some of those guys who raced in Sochi, who were doing well, I was racing with them in the world championships two years later. And we had like that awesome relay result. So for sure, I wouldn't have changed anything if I could. I think it just worked out really well the way it did. And the whole team has done really well and progressed very nicely in the years since Sochi.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of that bronze that was achieved in 2016, I believe it was the first ever men's relay medal at a world championship. I mean, what was that experience like? And what's it like racing in a relay compared to an individual event, particularly because you had Christian there, your brother, with you as well. It must have made it extra special.
SCOTT GOW: It was, I don't know, it was such a surreal experience to win a medal, not only win a medal in biathlon from, as a Canadian, where we're considered a smaller nation within biathlon, but then to win one at world championships. And then on top of that, the relay for a lot of teams is considered like the team event. And it's a, you know, if you win the relay, you're the strongest team in the world. So for that world championships, we were the third best team in the world, which was pretty cool and really fun experience. Loved being able to share it with my teammates. And of course, with my brother, made it even more special. And as for the difference between an individual race versus a relay, I'd say there's more nervousness and anxiety in a relay. Because when you're racing individually, of course, you want to do well. But if you don't do well, it's only you who doesn't do well. Like if I have a bad race, my teammates can still do really well. And then I only hate myself for not doing well. But if you blow the relay, you just tank the result for three other guys. And that feels way worse than just ruining it for yourself. So there's like that component to it. But then the flip side of that is when you do well, you celebrate that with everyone, because everyone had to contribute to get a good result. So it's both really good and can feel really bad.
BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine Christmas that year must have been pretty special that both you and Christian come home with, you know, world championship medals. Hi mum, hi dad, look what we've got. Merry Christmas.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, it was pretty sweet. I mean, my dad happened to be there. So he watched it live, which was also like an extra special component to the whole experience.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great. And individually, those world championships at that point, I believe that was your best result at either an Olympics or obviously you hadn't been to Olympics at that point, but 18th individual. I mean, did that sort of spur you on towards, I guess, pushing yourself to qualification for Pyeongchang that not only were you hopeful that you were getting on the team, but here you are leaving the world championships with a bronze medal, a top 20 finish, that if you, when you make the Olympic team, that this could then lead to some strong results in Korea.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, we, for sure, it's like you're seeing the progress. So having at the time a personal best 18th, is like, okay, that's really good. That's by far my best result at that time. And it just kind of showed that the training and the racing and, you know, the time I'm putting in is kind of slowly paying off at least. And then the goal is, of course, well, next year, let's improve on that. And then let's like gear up to be ready to go Korea. And individually, of course, training to try and get a medal. But I think as a team, we had, and for good reason, legitimate expectations for a relay, like a really good relay result, and to try and get a relay medal. I think that was on everyone's mind during the Korean Olympics, more so than, yeah, I'm going to win an individual medal.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you, I mean, do you remember that moment when in the lead up to Pyeongchang that you did qualify, like that you were officially on that team? And what was that moment like when you realised that at that point, you were officially an Olympian?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I mean, the way, so you mentioned it a little before we qualified through the World Cup circuit, and the way we've done it is, is basically the season before, so a full calendar year before the Olympics, plus a little bit of racing, the season of the Olympics is the qualifying period. And there's different criteria and different tiers, but I knew I'd made it when, I think one of them, for example, was two top 16 results. I'm pretty sure. And when I got the second top 16, I remember just feeling relieved because like, okay, I don't think there's four other guys that are going to beat that. So like a little bit of relief, I could breathe easy. Think knowing that that probably just secured my spot on the Olympic team. And so it was the biggest feeling was relief.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, for sure. And at what point had Christian made it as well, or was he, were you sort of waiting around then for him to make it to kind of, I guess, add to that experience that you get to go to your first Olympics with your kid brother, basically?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, so I don't think he had the same tier of results that I did. So he would have technically qualified like one tier beneath me, but we were very fairly confident he was going to make it. Kind of same deal where, the results he was getting in the tier he qualified for, very good, not likely four other guys are going to displace him, right? Or three other guys. So fairly confident, but then yeah, once the qualifying period is over, and it's like, okay, now literally no one can qualify you. Then it's same thing. It's like, okay, now we can breathe easy and not worry about qualifying for the Olympics. Now we can worry about racing at the Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because I was going to say, I can imagine it switches quite quickly, that mental aspect of it, that it's that relief. Yes, you've made an Olympic team, but as always, the Olympics is also just another competition. So you want to go out there and perform your best. So at that point then in the lead up to the Olympics, I can imagine that switch focus goes there and going back to what you're saying about the great results you were getting on the world stage, it was like going out there and performing to the best of yours, Christian's, the whole team's ability to put on a show for Canadian biathlon at Pyeongchang.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, exactly. So I think, you know, your goal is always, like you're not going in the season thinking, okay, my goal is to make the team, then I'll worry about Korea. It's, you know, my goal is to race at the Olympics. So I'm going to train as if I'm going, but there is that part where I say, well, I do still have to make it. So there's that little bit of stress on the needing to qualify side. So once you do check that off, so, okay, good, now I can stop worrying about that. And now I can put, like, take the 5% of my attention that was on qualifying and put it all into just preparing.
BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine, though, that there are moments where it hits you the scale of what it is. You know, the day you get your Team Canada uniform, instead of just having the maple, if you've got the rings underneath it, I guess kind of, you know, everything in the lead up that forever will have your name as an Olympian. I mean, are there moments that you can kind of take that and sort of just take a moment to understand that, as I just said, you're an Olympian for life now based on what you've achieved?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I mean, I think it all clicked in when we arrived to the village in Korea. And you're, like, meeting with the Team Canada attachés, and they're... I don't know why it always comes down to, like, the clothing packages, but for some reason, that makes it, like, official. It's like, here's your team kit. This is what you're going to wear, you know, for the opening ceremonies. It's like, oh, okay, so go into that. You know, I'm still, like, I'm still in it. And then probably completing the first race, like, racing, finishing the first race. And you're like, okay, I did it. It's over. And officially an Olympian. Like, I have my name on a results list that, you know, will be there forever. So I think that's when it, like, set in, set in. And then the rest of the two weeks we were there was just enjoying the experience. And it was awesome.
BEN WATERWORTH: So you got to, you got to experience the opening ceremony, kind of all those sort of things. Cause I realised that sometimes, I know Sarah mentioned that for her, she couldn't go to the opening ceremony cause competition started the next day and it wasn't exactly close proximity. So, but for you, you were able to experience all of that?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, we went down because yeah, I mean, biathlon, you race basically from the start to the end of the games. So you don't get a lot of free time to do much else outside of just training and preparing, which is good cause it keeps us busy. And we have a lot of racing, which is, they might think better than just like a one and done, but yeah, it's like, I think some of the women on our team, they had to race the next day, I believe. So they didn't go to the opening ceremonies for that reason. It's just not ideal for the preparation. Whereas we had an extra day in between. So we went down, but we didn't like stay. I don't know if a lot of people realise that. Like, you know, you watch the athletes march in, a lot of the times the athletes just march right back out. It's like they come in, they wave the flag, they might sit down for a little bit because you're kind of marshaled into your seats. But then we were there 15, 20, 30 minutes, and then we just took a bus back to the village.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which is because it's always one of these things where we're watching at home and go, wow, opening ceremonies is incredible. But yeah, for a lot of the athletes' perspectives, it is a case of walking in and even then in the lead up, you're kind of in a tunnel or sort of in a holding pattern for most of it. You can't even see what's going on out, then you kind of wave a bit and go out. So it's a great experience, obviously, to walk behind your country's flag, but you're not seeing everything that is happening. So you don't really get to experience what everyone else is really at the same time.
SCOTT GOW: No, like we can watch it on TV. They have TV screens in the tent that we're all sitting in. But yeah, you're just like packed in there. Like we were just jammed in there with every other country, just waiting with our group for us to eventually go on and march. So yeah, we're not like sitting in the stands all the time taking in the show. That's not what happens.
BEN WATERWORTH: It must be a fun experience though too that, I mean, obviously when you're out there on a world stage and you're kind of touring on the biathlon circuit, you obviously don't get to rub shoulders with certain athletes from other sports. So is it kind of a unique aspect then when you're wading in the tunnel, you get to meet your fellow Canadian Olympians but all of a sudden, you're talking to somebody from curling, you're talking to someone from luge, like people that maybe you don't bump shoulders with and you can kind of just, I don't know, learn a little bit more about their sports or even sports that maybe you are following fans of that you can chat to somebody who's in one of those sports.
SCOTT GOW: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's the one thing, like that's the only opportunity I would have to meet people and not just from Canada but from other countries, right, in other sports. So yeah, you just get to know people and in the dining hall, for example, I mean, it's just a communal dining hall. So you just sit down with whoever you want. And so you just sit down with guys from different sports or from different countries. And yeah, you can just like meet people or you recognise someone like there's always somewhat famous people in the Olympic Village, right? And so you meet them, you might get to go say hi. We were in a different village than all of the indoor winter sports like hockey and whatnot. So we didn't get to meet any of the hockey players, which is always like, I don't know, as a Canadian, that would have been like cool because they're celebrities, right? To meet like Sidney Crosby or something. Yeah, but you do get to meet just like other people. And yeah, you like ask them like, how's your sport? How does it work? Because I mean, I have a pretty good idea about how most sports like operate, but I don't know all the rules. So yeah, you get to like meet people, what they do, how they train, how their experience is going, you know? It's like, oh, it's cold out, and how do you manage the cold? Oh, well, you know, you just like share tips and tricks, whatever.
BEN WATERWORTH: Lots of McDonald's. I always like to find out about McDonald's in the Olympic Village, because I believe at Tokyo, I think that they scrapped the McDonald's, I heard.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I'm not sure. I know Tokyo was different just because they didn't want people congregating, like ever. So I think they had. Tokyo, I think as an athlete, is a very different experience, COVID Olympics versus a regular one. I think there's a lot that athletes missed out on because everything would have been so restricted, which is, you know, obviously it's awesome to be at the Olympics. You'd be pumped to be there. I would be pumped to be there, but for sure, they're missing that element. For my Olympics, we had two villages and the McDonald's was in the other village.
BEN WATERWORTH: Ah, damn, what's going on there?
SCOTT GOW: That's for the better, because for sure, you'd be tempted to just go hit up at McDonald's. It's like, well, I got a race in a few days. Like, that's probably not good. So it was probably for the best that it wasn't there.
BEN WATERWORTH: A bit of Big Mac weight going on there out there on the other team really wouldn't help you.
SCOTT GOW: I mean, they had other junk food. Don't get me wrong. They didn't have McDonald's, but there's plenty of burgers and pizza, fries, ice cream, you know, all the junk food that I'm sure killed my coaches was even tempting us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, which I'm sure, though, like, do you then see or realise that, OK, clearly your event's finished for the games because you've got like a tray of pizza and all this kind of stuff, whereas I'm eating the salad and the celery and stuff. Like, you'll finish, you bastard.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I mean, the one thing I'll say is like, I justify it by saying, oh, you know, I trained really hard today. You know, I train a lot. So I can have, I can have a piece of pizza. Like, that's OK. So, you know, you have a little bit, but they're 100%. Like we had, Team Canada had, like, the village was a bunch of apartment buildings, and Team Canada is big enough. We just had our own building. And the bottom floor was an athlete lounge. They turned it into an athlete lounge. So athletes just hung out there. And I remember one of the athletes, like you just said, his event's done. So he's just there for like a week. And he was just talking, he was like, oh, I don't know what I'm gonna eat today. I'm kind of sick of just eating ice cream bars and pizza or whatever he said. I just looked over and was like, oh man, it'd be nice to just like let loose for a little bit. I'm like, I might have to just like try something else today. I'm getting kind of sick of that.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned obviously the experience that the Olympians sort of had during Tokyo, a little bit different. I mean, looking towards Beijing, obviously we're still sort of in an unknown pattern. We don't know sort of how that's going to be affected. But should Beijing be affected in a similar way to Tokyo? And surely, no matter what, there will be some sort of restrictions. Are you glad that at least you've, I guess, experienced a, I quote, normal Olympic experience so that going into Beijing, should it be affected that you've at least got that behind you so you know what it's like during normal times at an Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I was thinking about that somewhat recently actually. Just like, oh, you know, I was thinking about my teammates who this is going to be their first Olympics. I remember thinking, oh man, let's say it's the same as Tokyo from based on what I've read and seen about Tokyo. I'm like, oh man, that's like kind of shitty. You know, they're not going to get like the full thing. But then I was thinking, oh, but you know what? Like they don't, first of all, they don't know what a quote unquote normal Olympics is. So they're going to be pumped. They're going to go, they're going to have a great time. Like they don't need the McDonald's to have a great time, right? They don't need to like, I don't know. I can't even think of what they'd be able to do. They don't need to like leave the village and go check out some small town or whatever. You don't need to do that kind of stuff. They can still watch other events. Like it looks like athletes are able to do that, right? Like you're in a bubble. So you can watch other events. You can meet other people. You can, the pin trading is real, right? Like pin trading with other countries, you're allowed to do that. You know, you can hang out with your team. You know, all of that I think will still be there. And that is the bulk of the Olympic experience. So that'll be there. Hopefully there can be spectators, but even then that's not a huge deal.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, cause that was one of the biggest things that a lot of people were talking about, wasn't it, was the spectators. And yeah, it was definitely odd not to see spectators and kind of have these events. But I guess living in the world we're living in, we're sort of used to it. I mean, when the NHL came back without spectators, you sort of got used to it. The NBA, all these sporting events, you know, so it's kind of, it's weird to think that now, I guess, approaching the two-year mark of this whole situation that it's almost weird to look back on footage, say, from your Olympics, and go, hey, crowds, that's odd.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah. Well, it is like even, you know, hockey. Canada, lockdown, we have our bubble, and the NHL teams only competed against other Canadian teams until the playoffs. Whereas in America, once they were vaccinated well ahead of us, so once they started to open up and you're watching a hockey game, it's like there's a full crowd there. It almost felt weird. It was weird when there was no crowd, and then you get used to it, and now it's weird to see a crowd, and you're like, holy shit, like that. First of all, I want to be there. I don't care what team it is, that looks awesome, and let's get that back home. So it is weird. But we did a whole biathlon season with no fans. And it's almost weirder when you're racing, you almost, I didn't notice, because you're kind of just doing your thing. So you don't notice too much, other than there's just much less noise. You're still playing music, and you still have an announcer talking, even though there's no one really there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because they keep that experience still, they kind of still doing everything to, I guess. Because I mean, how important is that? Because it's sort of weird during the Olympics that you say the beach volleyball, you still got the DJ, you still got the person talking up there, but you come, well, who are they doing this to? But I guess for the athletes, you get used to the announcer, you get used to, I guess, the scheduling and everything that goes around it. So is that mainly, I guess, to keep it real, as it usually would be for you guys to make you feel that during a competition?
SCOTT GOW: I think so. I think it was like an effort to just like, well, we're not going to have them just race in silence. Because I think that would be really weird to have like no music and then no one just commenting on the race. Like that would feel, I think, even more detached from normal than just missing a crowd. So I think they kind of tried to make an effort to make it seem as normal as possible as much as they could, considering the fact that there's not a single person watching.
BEN WATERWORTH: Mentioning those crowds and everything, I can imagine you're reaching to get to the Saddle Dome. I mean, it would have been at least a couple of seasons since at least two that you've been able to go watch a flames game.
SCOTT GOW: I know.
BEN WATERWORTH: Are you going to be banging on that door when they let them back in eventually?
SCOTT GOW: I mean, probably not. I have a feeling it's going to be super expensive for a little bit. Because, you know, an entire city of a million plus people are going to want to go. So I might have to wait in the line a little bit, but that's okay. I'll get there eventually.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, they're building a new stadium too, aren't they? So it's kind of a case of they've got to try and make some money off that to pay for the other one, right? So.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, well, you know, it's one of those things the government will pay half or more because, you know, that's how it goes. And then they pay whatever, but they haven't started building that yet. So I think that's a little ways away still.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right. Interesting. I mean, during the Olympics, I mentioned before that 18th, your best individual performance at the World Champs in 2016, but you're going to finish 14th in the individual, 11th in the relay, 12th in the mixed relay, and 61st in the sprint. Did you set yourself a goal? Was it sort of going in that based on the relay result that this was a legitimate shot at a medal, and maybe it was disappointing not to get one, or were you sort of just going in there to see the best that you can do? I mean, how do you rate your overall Olympic experience in the four events you competed in?
SCOTT GOW: So I was disappointed. The opening event was the sprint, which I was 61st. I was very disappointed with that, because top 60 races the pursuit, so I missed it by one. And normally, I should be able to make a pursuit. Like I'd say, top 60 is well within my wheelhouse. And so that was like an added sense of disappointment. Like, oh my God, not only did I have a bad race, but now I don't even get to do the next one. Like, I'm losing opportunities here, you know? But tried to refocus. I knew the individual. It's a good opportunity, the individual, for a good result, because the structure of the race, it's a longer ski race. There's four shooting rounds, and then each miss is a minute penalty. So if you shoot well, you're gaining big advantages over the field who's not shooting well. And so on that race in particular, really good shooting day put me in a personal best. And for me, that's, I could have technically done better in that race. I could have hit even one more target and done better, but to achieve a personal best, in my opinion, you can't ask for more than that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
SCOTT GOW: You know, I just did the best I've ever done, and I did at the Olympics. So I was very happy with that. So I went from disappointed, unhappy to ecstatic. And then with the relays, you know, there was for sure not an expectation, but a goal of being in medal contention because we'd done it before. So we knew it was possible. And there's a lot of variables, especially Korea, you know, it was so windy. It was such a challenge in the shooting range. So there's variables we can't control and other teams that you can't control. But we knew that if we did well, it was entirely possible. So for me, not the relay result we wanted, but I was very happy with my personal performance within the relay.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I mean, obviously the disappointment not to make the pursuit by finishing 61st, but was there a slight bit of smile on your face that you beat Christian? Like he came in in 62nd?
SCOTT GOW: No, because if I'm not gonna make it, he should at least make it. You know what I mean? So it's like, I don't, you know, people ask me that all the time. And not just about Christian, but our teammates. It's like, oh, well, you know, are you competitive? Like you're on a team, but are you competitive with your teammates? Like you want to beat them? It's like, well, yeah, but like, I, you know, I'm racing 100 men. And I don't care about beating Christian really, because there's like, if I place 30th and he's, you know, 29th, I'm not upset that Christian beat me, because there's 28 other guys that also beat me that I could also beat. So I think it's, I always tell people, it's like, well, when Christian are standing on the podium, and I'm in second and he's in first, then I'll be a little disappointed I didn't beat my brother. But like, I'm still happy for him, and that would go for my teammates too. I mean, if people are doing well, I'm super happy, because I think it's also means that I can do well. Like if they can do it, I can do it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there a preference in terms of, you know, are you more of a sprinter? Are you more sort of more of the longer forms? I mean, do you have a preference between the disciplines?
SCOTT GOW: I'm probably the best at the relay, which is the shortest skiing distance. And it has like a slightly different shooting pattern to it. Like it's only two shootings, but you get extra bullets if you have misses. And there's, you know, it's a little different from an individual race. But I would say the relay is where I've had the strongest performances. But my best results have typically come from the individual. And I think, again, because it's a longer race, and the shooting is much more important than a good shooting game individual ends up with a good result for me. But I've had good results in all the events. So it's like kind of spread out. I'd say my favourite event is probably racing the relay, just because I could do well at it.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of mentioned at the very beginning of the interview about sort of, you know, Biathlon not being the biggest winter sport in Canada, and obviously a bit more in Europe, I guess from an Australian perspective, we think of Canada, we think of the Winter Olympics, we think you're successful in all of the winter sports. But it's interesting to see, at least at the Olympics for Biathlon, that men have never medaled in Biathlon ever at the Olympics for Canada. How do you think that's tracking in terms of going into Beijing or future Olympics? I mean, how is the sport progressing in Canada enough that there can be this breakthrough, that there is this realistic prospect that Canadian men are on the cusp of that, and not just the men, obviously, but the women, to kind of repeat what happened back in Albaville and Lillehammer with Miriam, to kind of bring back members of the sport?
SCOTT GOW: Well, the sport has changed a lot over the years, even since I started training, competing, and since I started racing World Cup, even. I mean, it's just getting much more technical, it's getting much tighter. The field in general is much tighter. And so it's much more competitive, but there's always that opportunity to hit the podium, either as a team in the relay or individually. And I'd say that applies to pretty much everyone on the team, where if you're able to have a good ski day, you're in good shape, and you can get your shooting together, you're gonna be having a good race. And so when I look ahead to this upcoming winter and what is capable, I look back and say, okay, well, how did we do the last two years? Well, my brother's had a bunch of top 10 results. One of the girls, Emma Lundner, she's had a bunch of top 10 results. We've had really good relays where everyone, or at least most of us put together really good races for like 90%. So we might be missing that five or 10%, but it's there. We have younger guys and girls who are making huge improvements year over year. So last year, the year before, they're doing really well, but they're going to be even better this upcoming winter, which is only going to strengthen our team. So for an individual, but mostly relay results again. So when I'm looking ahead, I'm thinking I'd say again, relays are our best chance at Olympic medal because we work well as a team and we seem to have very good synergy and cohesiveness. And so we perform better collectively as a team than we seem to individually, which I think is a really good aspect to have within a team. And then on the individual side, again, looking at how my results have gone, but then looking at my teammates and say, yeah, they're really close. Some of those results, with one more hit, or maybe if they're in slightly better ski shape, that race is a podium. So it all comes down to getting the training in, peaking properly at the games, and just being dialed in for shooting, so that there's no misses, it's fast, you know.
BEN WATERWORTH: And what would that mean for the sport in Canada when it comes to an Olympic medal? Because we've had athletes on the show before who talk about the whole funding aspect and everything along those lines, that one medal can change everything. So I mean, what would that mean for biathlon in Canada if a medal was to be able to be brought home from Beijing?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, an Olympic medal in Canada, it doesn't get better or bigger than that. It's like that is the determining factor for how much funding your sport receives. Canada, like the government is the major, is the primary funder of sport for amateur sport in Canada. And so if you have an Olympic medal, which is once every four years, that's like a guaranteed four years of high funding, basically, more or less. And it doesn't matter what colour it is, gold is obviously better, but gold, silver, bronze, you're funded, you're not worrying about how to pay for racing, training camps, development camps, team stuff, like it just, and it can encompass more than just the national team. So now, Biathlon Canada, for example, with an Olympic medal, we suddenly have the budget to support developing athletes way more than we're capable of right now. And that to me, that's what keeps the sport going long term. It's like the people we have right now, the national team, we might do really well individually, but that's a relatively short timeframe. My career of let's say 10 years on World Cup or whatever it'll be, eight years on World Cup, feels like a long time for me, but for the sport of biathlon, that's like nothing. And so how do we build the future generation to keep the success going? And the one thing that we really need is just the money to help support young athletes, because that's what's always missing. And I think that's not just biathlon, that's every sport. It's a top-down approach, and it kind of has to be because if your athletes aren't getting the results you need to get funding, well, then you're not gonna have funding for developing athletes anyway. So it's kind of like the chicken and the egg kind of thing. So anyway, Olympic medal changes the game.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I can imagine, I mean, based to say on the summer Olympics, obviously with a lot of the sports that Canada medaled in, I can imagine something so like judo, which you win a couple of bronzes in, which is maybe not a sport that you talk too much in the summer side of things that judo is all of a sudden gonna get a bit more of an influx ahead of Paris based on the fact that you're bringing home two Olympic medals. So it could be a similar thing for biathlon after Beijing, should you bring home a medal or two?
SCOTT GOW: Absolutely, and a relay, it amplifies it because then it's four people who just want a medal. And so they look at that and say, okay, well, we have four medal contenders. And so it kind of just like, it increases the amount of money and it increases the longevity of that money because to them, that's like an investment, okay, in four years from now, those four guys or girls might still be going. So let's make sure they're still top of their game.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of where we're at right now, Scott, ahead of Beijing, sort of what's the process now for qualification? I always find it unique with winter sports that often you don't know if you've qualified until literally weeks before the game. So kind of from now until February, what's the process and how do you go about confirming your spot for your second Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: Right, so the right now, no one is qualified. There's a few of us who have partial qualification based on good results from the last season, but that's not like a done deal. And we would be, we would need to get another very good result this upcoming winter season. So we have, most of the qualifying is done through the World Cup circuit. There is the opportunity to qualify through what is called the IBU Cup circuit, which is like a B circuit beneath the World Cup. And there's multiple tiers. I mean, it gets a little complicated in that, you know, a top 10 is worth more than a top 20, which is worth more than a top 40, you know, so on and so forth. So the process is qualify for the World Cup team, because that's the opportunity to make the highest qualifying criteria. And then all you can really hope for is to raise your best. And once you are able to notch, I think, a minimum of two top 60s, you're on the list of people qualified to go. And then from there, better results equal higher tier criteria, which ranks you ahead of other athletes. And the better result you can get, the higher that ranks you within a certain tier. So make the minimum two top 60s, or I think that's what it is, and then worry about getting even better results. And then from there, the qualifying period is the start of the season, which is end of November, until somewhere mid-January. So it's basically a month and a half, but it's almost half the race season of races to make the criteria.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how are you feeling ahead of that? Is it something that you're confident that is gonna happen? And I guess in terms of shorted, let's say when it happens, let's be confident, that how are you feeling tracking then into what would be your second Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: I would say I am confident it'll happen. I know I could make the minimum criteria. So for me, it's, okay, well, what have I been able to, how I raced last year? How did I race the year before? Okay, well, I think I should end up at this tier pretty safely. And I have confidence in that. And, you know, barring having a really bad season or four other guys having amazing seasons, I'm confident that I could see myself on the Olympic team. So I'm trying to carry that confidence with me and not stress too much about having to qualify. And then my focus is mostly going to be, how do I train right now? And how do I prepare throughout the winter to be in the best shape for Beijing? Because I think my goal isn't to qualify for the Olympics and then, sweet, let's see how well I can do. My goal is like, yeah, I'm already there, so I want to do as well as I can at the Olympics. I think that's like the biggest difference maybe between me and some of the younger guys on the team who are just trying to get to their first one.
BEN WATERWORTH: And does that help given that you've had that experience already? Like, I mean, if this was, say you missed out on Pyeongchang and this was kind of like, okay, third time lucky, I've got to make it there. I can imagine it's a different feeling besides the fact that you've competed in one now and you feel, okay, I've got that behind me, as you were just saying, let's go and do the best I can and bring home a medal.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I would say it's an advantage because I'm not, I mean, I really want to go. And it's, I mean, it's what I've been training for basically for the last four years. So I'm not going to be super pumped if I don't make it, but it's like you kind of just alluded to, I'm not going to be absolutely heartbroken that, oh my God, I tried for three Olympics and missed all of them. It's like, okay, well, I went to one and it was an amazing experience. Tried for two, unfortunately didn't happen, but I'm, I don't know. I don't even want to think about that. I'm pretty confident I can make it.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is confidence. We're not saying that's not going to happen at all.
SCOTT GOW: I think that's the big thing, is confidence and experience is going to give me that edge.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of one aspect of the Olympic experience, you mentioned it slightly before. I believe you're very much into the pin collecting side of things, Scott. This is something you do at multiple events you go to. Now they often talk about how Olympic pin collecting is sort of the unofficial sport of both the summer and the winter Olympics. I mean, how was that? And do you go in with like, do you ask the team, can I give me extra ones? I need to trade all this sort of stuff. And how many pins do you end up coming home with after Pyeongchang?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, so I kind of have collected pins throughout my life. Like if there's cool ones of a place I've been, it's like, okay, I'll hang on to them. I have a drawer that I just kind of keep them all in. They're not on display or anything. But I remember when we got to the Olympics, they give you like a handful, I think Canada had like four different pins that you could trade. And then they maybe gave you like five of each, which like sounds like a lot, like 20, okay, I've got like 20 pins or whatever that number is. It's like, yeah, that's not nearly enough for what I needed. Like I needed like 100 pins to be able to trade with all the other countries. But anyway, they have limited supply. So in max out of 20, they didn't really have more to give you. And when I first got there, I thought, oh man, pin, like who's going to pin trade? That's so stupid. I don't care. And then there was an app you can download because you could, the Olympic committee, they had their own pins and there was like a little, think of Pokemon Go, but for pins. Like there'd be some kind of ping somewhere within the village. And you had to walk to it. And then you'd answer a question pop up, some simple question about Olympic trivia. You get the answer, right? And then it logs it on your app. And then you go into the dining hall, you meet with the pin person, you show them your phone. He's like, oh, here's your pins, right? He'll give them to you. And he's like, I did that once. I was like, okay, this is pretty sweet. So then I was like running around the village, trying to get all the pins I could as quickly as I could. And I was immediately trying to trade with people. And so, yeah, for sure, I got like super addicted to it. And I know I will again at this next Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: Cause I don't know why.
SCOTT GOW: But it is a lot of fun. Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you have a favourite? Do you get like this certain countries got like a really cool pin that you just, you hold higher than some of the others?
SCOTT GOW: You know what a really cool one was Australia. They had like this all gold. I think it was a kangaroo with like the Olympic rings underneath it. And that one was super cool. And for sure, there were some countries, like those countries also knew they had like the best, like they were holding the best pins. So it was hard to get it from them. And that's the other thing. Once the athletes from the countries realised, oh, this pin is like worth something, you know, quote unquote, like it was really hard to trade for it. Whereas early on when me and my teammates are doing like dorks trading pins, they're just like giving them away, right? And then once people got into it, it became a much harder sport. So there's definitely a few really good ones. And I have to say Canada probably had some of the best because we also had multiples. So people, they realised, oh man, Canada has like four different ones you could collect. And so people really wanted to trade for Canada pins.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's awesome. I worked at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, and sort of as an employee, we were kind of discouraged from asking for pins. But then, so you don't, then all of a sudden you get offered a pin or something, okay, this is cool. And then yeah, by the end of it, you're like, fuck, I'm only working here for a month, and what are they gonna do, fire me? So you just end up like getting it. So I had the lanyard just coated in pins, and it got so addicting. It just, I know the feeling.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I mean, it seemed like it was the same for Korea, where it's like all the volunteers and stuff, I think they're told like, just don't even talk to the athletes, just leave them alone. Let them do their thing. They're not here to talk to you. I mean, I never care. Like don't talk to me when I'm in the middle of the start pen or something, but when I'm just walking to the bus, people come up and they're from all over. I mean, at the Olympics, we're in Korea. There's like guys from America. There's guys from Ireland, like who knows where, right? They're talking and yeah, same thing. So, oh, you got a pen? And so, yeah, of course they do. And they use trade, whatever. It was a lot of fun.
BEN WATERWORTH: It came down to the fact that it's also fun. Because working in sort of the press pool where, I'm coming into contact a lot with the press attaches and things like that. So you're often asking that. I mean, the funnest one I had was with the team Canada, because I was working boxing. So they had the sort of the trainer for the Canadian team, who, you know, became chummy with. And I got to a point where he was wearing this really cool hat. And I think it was on like the second last day in Canada, about five boxes make it through to the gold medal bouts. And I said, like, hey, I'll make a deal with you. One of your athletes wins a gold. You give me the hat. He's like, OK, deal. Every single one of the Canadian athletes lost. So they got like five silvers. So he eventually came to me. He's like, tell you what, here, have it. So it's behind me somewhere. I ended up scouring the Canadian colts against hats. I was happy with that.
SCOTT GOW: There's another thing people trade. It's not just pins, but it's clothing. Canada, for example, we had a onesie pajamas. Everyone wanted it. I had so many people ask if they could trade for my onesie. I was like, no, I actually think I'm going to hang on to that one because it is kind of sweet. But you trade jackets or shoes, you trade anything. Canada, we have the myths that people love, and especially back home, like every Canadian I think has a pair now. People trade that kind of stuff, your hat, you name it. Anything is up for trade.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I've heard though that Team USA are not allowed to trade. Do you know if that's true?
SCOTT GOW: I mean, probably that's the official position. I don't think they police it. I for sure some athletes would trade, and then a lot of athletes just sell it. Like they wear their opening ceremony stuff. They know they're never going to wear it again. They just put it online, and someone back home buys it. And that's pretty common too, for like I say, all the countries.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because it's unique obviously too, that obviously like just with Tokyo, the Bay sold a lot of the Team Canada merchandise. I got Succody and I bought a couple of shirts, and I know Australia kind of does it, not to the extent that Canada does. So it's readily available, but those more unique ones, like sort of the opening ceremony, I'm sure there's collectors out there who kind of, you know, sports memorabilia people, all those sort of things, who would love to get their hands on something like that.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, and I know that in Canada, if you buy, you can buy, I think, all the clothes that the athletes wear at the Bay. Like they sell all of it, as far as I know. But the one difference, and they made sure to tell us this, is like the Olympic, like the stuff the Olympians get have a little Canada Olympic Committee patch on it that is not a part of what they sell at the Bay. So if you ever see someone walking around with a team Canada jacket that has that patch on it, it's like, okay, that's like, you were either at the Olympics, or you got it from an Olympian, or you bought it from an Olympian, whatever. And so I don't know, they don't advertise that to the Canadians, but that's like, I think for the collector to be able to say, this is an Olympic jacket, because it's got this patch here, and that logo there, that's like a small selling point. So for sure, there's a market for it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Before we let you go, Scott, we like to sort of end on a series of questions, kind of just a fun little get to know you. And it's a very unique aspect to this today, because we based this off Team Canada website trivia thing that they did before Rio and Pyeongchang. It's called Hello, My Name Is. You fill in a questionnaire. Now, I believe you are our first guest who actually did this and is actually on the website. So I can see your answers that you did ahead of Pyeongchang. So maybe this is almost like a, can you guess what you answered back in 2018? Do you remember doing this before the Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: You know, we did like kind of remember, we did so much of that kind of stuff. There's like a day dedicated to videos and interviews and questionnaires and whatnot. And so I filled in everything because like, hell yeah, like put me out there. Do it. So I may not remember what I said, though.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I like this. I like the video. I can also compare it to Christian did one as well. So I've got both of you here that I can kind of compare it. So let's see if this has changed or you remember what you put. Your favourite Olympic moment is?
SCOTT GOW: Donovan Bailey winning the 100m Atlanta.
BEN WATERWORTH: Boom. That's correct. That's what you put. Well done. One point.
SCOTT GOW: It's still my favourite. So that hasn't changed either.
BEN WATERWORTH: Still the same. I like that. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
SCOTT GOW: I would say invincibility.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, look at that. You got it right again. Two from two. You know yourself, Scott. This is fun. I like it when we have to go based on your other answers. What is your favourite sports movie?
SCOTT GOW: Sports movie. The first one that comes to mind is Rudy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, look at that. Three from three.
SCOTT GOW: You're on fire.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. I like this. I appreciate how they put the trailer here on the website, but Rudy, if you want to kind of see that one, I'm hoping you get this one. This one sounds interesting. My funniest childhood memory is...
SCOTT GOW: Oh, my funniest childhood memory is... Okay, I definitely can't even think of what I would have written, so I'm just gonna have to, whenever it comes to mind, maybe it'll be close. Favourite childhood memory? Favourite or funniest?
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, funniest, funniest. Sorry, I can read it.
SCOTT GOW: Funniest childhood memory?
BEN WATERWORTH: Funniest childhood memory, yeah.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, probably, you know, I have this memory of Christian trying to do a trick shot when we were playing basketball, and he totally bunged it up and hit himself in the nuts with the basketball. That one sticks out.
BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, you gave me more explanation. You did, you put my brother Christian hitting himself with basketball. You didn't put the nuts aspect of it.
SCOTT GOW: All right, so I'm four for four.
BEN WATERWORTH: You are, this is great. I like it. Your favourite pump up song is?
SCOTT GOW: Okay, this will probably be different. Right now, actually, not even right now. I think the go to is, till I collapse by Eminem.
BEN WATERWORTH: You are on fire, five from five.
SCOTT GOW: No way, really?
BEN WATERWORTH: All right.
SCOTT GOW: So I really haven't changed.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nothing's changed. Well, I hope this next one would have changed because I mean, given COVID, I'm sure you've probably watched a lot of TV shows. I would assume so. The most recent TV show that you binge watched. I'm assuming this will be different.
SCOTT GOW: This will be different. It would have been, Binge Watch? Oh, you know what? Okay, good show that I loved. F1 Drive To Survive on Netflix.
BEN WATERWORTH: Ah, yes. It truly is excellent. I'm a massive F1 fan. That's my number one sport.
SCOTT GOW: I know what F1 is, never really was into it. Didn't really know anything about it. Now I'm just like into it. Like that show is so good. And the whole behind the scenes and...
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's kind of interesting because obviously the goal of that show is to get people into it who maybe aren't into it. And I think you're maybe the first person I've met who knew what it was, but didn't get into it. I mean, what was it about it that kind of drew you into it? And does this make you now want to watch the sport?
SCOTT GOW: I think it's getting the behind the scenes look, I think is what is such a big draw. Because, for example, for me, I don't follow F1. And so if you just do a documentary on F1, it might be interesting, but I don't know anything about the drivers, how the races work, how the cars work. Like, oh, what's a good pit stop? I don't know. Like, you know, if you told me, for example, oh yeah, you know, a 10 second pit stop, I'd be like, well, that seems good, but that's like a horrible pit stop, right? Like, that's horrendous. It's terrible. But with the F1 show, it's not even about the racing. It's about, you're getting the behind the scenes. You're getting like the disappointments. You're getting, you know, they have a brutal pit stop. The guy doesn't put the wheel on. That guy's race is over. That's like, holy shit. That guy, like that pit guy just ruined a race. And even watching, it's like, they crash a car by accident, usually, of course. It's like, well, there goes millions of dollars. And they're so chill about it. Oh yeah, well, that's fine. We'll get a new one for you. Yeah, it's like, holy, oh my God. It's like the scale of everything. It's an awesome show. It's kind of the same with, I watched The Last Dance, the Michael Jordan documentary, and kind of the same thing. It was amazing. And it's because you're getting the behind the scenes look of the drama and the trades and what's going on and how, you know, just like an inside look into like Michael Jordan's brain.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, which is pretty complex. Could they do one on biathlon? Could they do like a biathlon drive to survive behind the scenes? And in all seriousness, like, I mean, how do you think that would help promote the sport around the world?
SCOTT GOW: I honestly think they could. I think drive to survive. I mean, F1 is a big sport already. Like I'd say internationally, it's bigger than biathlon, but people would be interested. Because again, like me, my brothers, my mum, my mum, trust me, doesn't care about F1, but she loves the show, right? My aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my friends, like I know so many people who've never watched F1, never really given a second thought, and they love the show. So I think biathlon would do the same thing, where it's like, here's a sport that you may or may not really know about, but here's like all the crap that goes on behind the scenes. And I think if people could see like some of the training we do, or on a race day, like, oh, people probably don't know, we have like a team of people just testing wax and skis, and just like following what they're doing. And it's like, oh, this country, you know, they nailed the wax or they missed it. And like, you know, if the guys can shoot out or something, I don't know, something like that. I think that would be, for sure, it would draw people in.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely.
SCOTT GOW: It's like a brilliant documentary model, instead of just like, here's the facts about biathlon. It's like, no, let us just take you behind the scenes and see how it really works.
BEN WATERWORTH: To see all the athletes in the drama and all that kind of stuff. A quick trivia question for you. Quick, quick trivia one, because I know, obviously, as you kind of mentioned, F1 sort of, it depends on where you are in Canada. Can you name me Canada's two Formula One drivers currently on the grid? At the moment?
SCOTT GOW: I cannot.
BEN WATERWORTH: See, that's a common thing. Like, it all serious. Colin, our co-host, like, I bring that up to him all the time. I didn't even know we had two Canadians in Formula One.
SCOTT GOW: I knew we had one, and I looked up his name, and I looked up his stats, but I couldn't tell you his name.
BEN WATERWORTH: He featured prominently in the last year. Lance Stroll is probably the one you're thinking of. He's been around for a while.
SCOTT GOW: Oh my God, yeah. And now that you say it, that's like obvious.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, and Nicholas Latifi is the other one who actually just scored his very first points in the most recent race. So you've got two there.
SCOTT GOW: Don't think I knew about him. Of course I know who Lance Stroll is. I just totally blamed on that.
BEN WATERWORTH: But anyway, I have a Lance Stroll t-shirt. Lance Stroll is basically not an overly popular driver outside of Canada. That's a whole other topic, but I love him. And I've got a t-shirt. I think I'm the only Australian who owns a Lance Stroll t-shirt. So I gladly own that. Another one that's coming out on Netflix, which I'll give you a heads up. There's a documentary coming on, Michael Schumacher, who is my absolute idol, greatest Formula One driver of all time. I think it drops in September. So looking forward to, there's another Insight Formula One. By the way, you put House of Cards as the most recent one that you watched when you filled this in.
SCOTT GOW: Oh yeah, that would make sense.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, you can't get them all, because again, that change is there. What is your least favourite food?
SCOTT GOW: Hmm, cooked carrots.
BEN WATERWORTH: Correct, that's what you put here.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: There you go, hasn't changed. What is it about cooked carrots? Do you eat raw carrots? Is that something you eat?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I don't know what it is. I think it's like a combination of the texture and the flavour. It's just, I don't like it. I don't know if it's a childhood thing, because I'll eat raw carrots all day, and I'll eat, like, I'm not too picky. Like, I'll eat any vegetables. I'll eat them raw, I'll eat them cooked, like whatever. But cooked carrots is like, I really don't want to eat that. So I never make it. I usually don't take it if it's, like, at a dinner or whatever.
BEN WATERWORTH: There's a tip to your rivals out there ahead of the Olympics. Just feed and cook carrots for the race, and you won't do as well.
SCOTT GOW: No, they won't be able to because I won't eat it. So it's fine.
BEN WATERWORTH: Mush carrots. Now, again, I assume I know the answer to this one based on reading your bio and what you're pursuing after you've finished your career as a biathlete. But if you weren't an athlete, what would you be?
SCOTT GOW: Well, I'd probably wrote in med school.
BEN WATERWORTH: You put it on the doctor.
SCOTT GOW: So being a doctor.
BEN WATERWORTH: And that's saying you're pursuing that. Is that what you're going to be doing still?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, I think I'd still like to try. I still have some school to do. And I'm going to I'm going to apply. I'm going to take the entrance exam or the MCAT. And I'll I'll apply to med school. But I'd say my goal has shifted slightly in that the degree I'm going to get is maybe different than what I would have gotten four years ago before going into med school.
BEN WATERWORTH: Interesting, interesting. Your favourite vacation spot is?
SCOTT GOW: Ooh, Mexico.
BEN WATERWORTH: Not what you put, but Mexico is a good answer. You put Whitefish, Montana at the family cabin.
SCOTT GOW: Well, we don't have that anymore, unfortunately. So, yeah, that makes sense. Whitefish was a great place, but my parents sold it shortly after Korea, actually. So, I haven't been able to go back.
BEN WATERWORTH: I don't think I've ever seen anyone put favourite vacation as Montana. So, that's an interesting one in itself. But hey, go to that.
SCOTT GOW: It's a great place to go downhill skiing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, okay.
SCOTT GOW: You're a winner person.
BEN WATERWORTH: Things you learn. What do people usually describe you as? Hmm.
SCOTT GOW: Maybe easygoing. I would say. Is there more than one?
BEN WATERWORTH: You've got three on here. Easygoing is one of them.
SCOTT GOW: I don't count three. Did it ask for three or did I just volunteer that info?
BEN WATERWORTH: I think you volunteered. The question is people usually describe me as.
SCOTT GOW: Okay, easygoing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yep.
SCOTT GOW: Did I write funny?
BEN WATERWORTH: You put good sense of humor. Yes.
SCOTT GOW: Good sense of humor. Okay, I'll take that. And super good looking.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, that was number four, clearly didn't make the cut.
SCOTT GOW: Confident.
BEN WATERWORTH: But you're confident in your ability to be good looking. So I think that counts.
SCOTT GOW: Yeah. It answered itself.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. It did. If you could be an Olympian in any other sport besides your own, what would it be?
SCOTT GOW: I probably put long track speed skating.
BEN WATERWORTH: You did. Yes. Is that a particular just a passion or you just something you think would be cool?
SCOTT GOW: I've always been. I always thought it was kind of cool. I've always had like big, strong legs. So I think that's something I could do. Although after watching the Summer Olympics, I think if I wasn't a winter Olympian, I'd really like to do track cycling. Like that looks sweet. Like head to head racing on a bike. That one was pretty cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: So just don't ride Australian bikes because ours collapse in the middle of it. The handlebars fall off. I don't know if you saw that during Tokyo. In the middle of a race there. I think it was a team pursuit. And out of nowhere, you just see this Australian on the ground. Like what happened? And they showed the replays. His handlebars just broke in the middle of his race. And he went smack on his face. So dodgy Australian bikes there, apparently. Your favourite song lyrics are?
SCOTT GOW: Ooh, favourite song lyrics. You know what, I, absolute blank, no idea.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's a very, I always find this question a bit full on, because unless you're straight away like, oh, I live by these song lyrics, it can be anything. Now, you've, I don't know what song this is from. You've got time to slip in that zone till I find myself inside the realm of the unknown, baby go into the waters where nobody else has gone before. Is that till I collapse? That's not till I collapse, is it?
SCOTT GOW: Hmm, I mean, it should be, since that's my favourite pump up song, but I feel like that song in general is not like PG friendly, you know. Yeah, I'm gonna have to look that up. I don't know what those lyrics are from.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm trying to see here. If I quickly do that, no, I don't know. Nothing comes up straight away. It's coming here the weekend, Drake, Sk8, Sk8 and Sammy. Yeah, we'll add that to the research list. Yeah, what is your guilty pleasure?
SCOTT GOW: Ooh, could be like anything.
BEN WATERWORTH: Anything, I mean, it's not a food or anything.
SCOTT GOW: It's just like...
BEN WATERWORTH: No, this is literally anything. Yours is a, I mean, it's a specific one you've got here. But I mean, look, God, you can do anything.
SCOTT GOW: Guilty pleasure watching Netflix?
BEN WATERWORTH: You've sort of got that, kind of. Your answer here is having a long bath after training watching Netflix.
SCOTT GOW: Oh yeah, that is a guilty pleasure. I don't even know if I'm, it's a guilty one.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Yeah, who should be guilty about that? I don't have a bath. They're great. Come on.
SCOTT GOW: I don't have one in my house. So yeah, when we're on the road, it's not often, but every now and then you get a hotel room with a bath, and that's like, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yep, straight away. There you go. The only other one's on here, which it would be interesting to see an updated version. You've got draw a picture of yourself, and you've drawn a lovely little stick figure man with skis and poles and number one behind it. And then you've got draw a picture of your teammates, which you've got another little stick man on top of a hill, about to go downhill to the number one. Yeah, I'm a horrible artist, like atrocious, as you can see. Hey, look, you're an Olympian for a reason, and an artist, well, not an artist for a reason. So let's just say that. Scott, before we let you go, if anybody wants to keep an eye on your progress, kind of follow what you're up to, you got any social media that you maybe want to share or anything else that people can kind of keep track of you on on the road to Beijing?
SCOTT GOW: Yeah, for sure. For social media, Instagram is probably the best one. And that's scott.gow at scott.gow. I just post general training updates. You can see racing venues, results. I also try to post, that's where I'll post links to a live feed because there's a, you can watch Bothellan races live or replays online at bothellanworld.com. So I always post links to that. I post links to the schedule, when I'm racing, when my teammates are racing. So if you want to follow anything biathlon, that's a really good place to start.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. Well, I'll tell you what, we just had some fun during Tokyo. We did a lot of commentary on various amounts of sports. So I'll tell you what, we'll add biathlon to the list. So just quickly, any tips for Australian slash Canadian commentators who know nothing about biathlon on how to add some extra entertainment value to commentating biathlon at the Olympics?
SCOTT GOW: Well, it's one of those sports where you need, it's not like golf where you're quiet and, you know, being respectful of the play and worried that they might hear you. No, it's like it's enthusiastic. The shooting is the big part. So when they're in the range and you're watching guys shoot, when they hit, you're on, you're on fire. That's your hit. You're super pumped. And when they miss, it's kind of gutting because it just means that they potentially just lost a medal.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, shame to their country, essentially, is what you're saying.
SCOTT GOW: Sometimes it feels like it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, we added Pirates of the Caribbean music to sailing, and we added walk-on songs to wrestling, and that seemed to make things exciting during the Summer Olympics. So we'll be sure to kind of do some sign-out. It's not a bad idea.
SCOTT GOW: There's some venues, if you're there live, they play either Star Wars or Pirates of the Caribbean as athletes enter the range, like in a relay or something. Yeah, it kind of adds to the atmosphere. So you're on the right track.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great, okay. And it's not just the Imperial March, right? It's not like the Norwegians playing the Imperial March when the Swedes walk on or something like that, right?
SCOTT GOW: No, it's like, it's usually in a mass start event. So it's like the whole field is coming in together, the music plays. So they don't do it for individual people. They do it for like the whole group. Like in a relay, everyone starts together. So the whole group comes in and they got like some semi- ominous music.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great.
SCOTT GOW: You come in, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, I'll keep an eye out for that. Scott, it has been an absolute pleasure, mate, to learn more about your career and the sport, and we wish you all the best of luck for Beijing. As I always say, and it's true, you're gonna win gold, you're gonna win four gold, five, I'll say all the golds, just all the biathlon. It's gonna be an absolute dominant games for Canada in that sport, I'm telling you right now. But we appreciate your time on the show, and yeah, we'll keep an eye on how things progress moving forward ahead of Beijing.
SCOTT GOW: Awesome, thank you so much.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive thanks to Scott there for his time. Fascinating insight, I always like to hear when somebody gets into the sport of Formula One, my favourite sport in the world, not to take away from anything to do with the Olympics, but also the pin collecting. That is fascinating, that is something that I very much would love to get into more of, is Olympic pin collecting. And gets me a little bit excited to hear that Olympians get into it as well. So maybe you've got Olympic pins out there, maybe we'll do an episode out there on Olympic pin collecting. If you're an avid pin collector, let us know. And perhaps we can get you on the show and we can talk a little bit about how you got into it and everything else in between. But a big thanks to Scott for his time. Now we've got more interviews and more episodes coming your way in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to us on social media to exactly who we've got coming on the show. Search Off The Podium on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And of course, why not subscribe to us on all the good podcast services. While you're there, leave us some feedback and you will never miss an episode. And you can go back to our entire back catalogue and listen to all our past interviews, our past shows, everything else in between. If you're sick of hearing my voice, you wanna hear Colin, you wanna hear Jarrod, go back and listen to our Tokyo recaps or any of the other episodes that don't have me on it because generally my voice gets a bit annoying after a while, so there you go. Big thanks to Scott. We'll be back next week with another interview for you. My name is Ben. This has been Off The Podium. When we speak to you then, good night.
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