Francesca Rudkin: Bring on the Olympics

Over the last couple of weeks, the largest meeting room here at NZME has slowly been transformed into a sports commentators’ box so our sports reporters can bring you live coverage of the Paris Olympics on Gold Sport, with highlights on Newstalk ZB. They will be kicking off with the live ceremony on Friday morning, from 5.30am.

I can’t wait – even if most of it is taking place in the middle of the night for us. These Olympics will be excellent company for insomniacs, and for news junkies and sports lovers like me it will be a wonderful to wake on a winter’s dawn to news of glorious victories, devastating defeats and wonderous underdogs.

It’s also exciting because this Olympics promises something different – with a historic opening ceremony with athletes floating on barges down the Seine, beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower and freestyle BMX, breaking and skateboarding at the Place de la Concorde - also known as where Marie Antionette lost her head.

But the Olympics offers more than wins and losses and excellent scenery; it tells complex stories of courage, redemption and sacrifice.

Recently I have been indulging - in preparation - in sporting documentaries, which have me thinking about high performance sport in a whole new light. Thanks to Netflix, we now have a better understanding of life as a tennis player, golfer, Formula 1 driver, quarterback and sprinter.

Sure, a lot of the appeal of these shows is down to clever editing - and not all these sports are in the Olympics - but they’ve given us more of an understanding of the physically, mentally and emotionally lives of professional athletes.

And no series does this more than Netflix’s Simone Biles: Rising, which touches on the darker side of being an elite athlete.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles did what no one expected of her. Struggling mentally, suffering from the ‘twisties’ as her brain and body disconnected which meant she got lost in the air, Simone Biles withdrew, or as her many critics said at the time - she quit.

Biles is one of the all-time greats. She has changed her sport forever. Moves are named after her, rules have been changed to accommodate what she can do. She is also the victim of abuse by a former coach – who was sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 young gymnasts. She has experienced pressure and expectation unlike anything most of us will ever experience.

It's fascinating to hear her explain what happened to her in Tokyo. The shame she felt, and how she has recovered and found her passion for gymnastics again. How she dealt with vitriol from people who called her a quitter – people probably unable to do a cartwheel and who had no idea of the danger involved in what she does.

Paris 2024 is about her redemption. It’s about taking back control of her life, her legacy and, most importantly, doing the thing she loves and is brilliant at. She reminds us that while she may seem superhuman, she is only human. She can do super extraordinary things; but only if she takes as much care of her mental health as she does of her body. She is once again re-writing the rules.

This is just one of the fascinating stories that makes these Olympics compelling. So bring it on.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Over the last couple of weeks, the largest meeting room
here at NZME has slowly been transformed into a sports
commentator's box, so our sports reporters can bring you live
coverage of the Paris Olympics and gold Sport with highlights
on News Talks EDB. They're going to be kicking off
with a live ceremony on Friday morning from five point
thirty am, and I cannot wait, even if most of

(00:34):
it is taking place in the middle of the night.
For US these Olympics, they're going to be excellent company,
for INSOMNIAX and for news junkies and sports lovers like me.
It'll be wonderful to wake up on a winter's dawn
to news of glorious victories and devastating defeats and wondrous underdogs.
It's also exciting because these Olympics promise something different, with

(00:54):
a historic opening ceremony with athletes floating on barges down
the scene, beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower, and freestyle
BMX at the Plus de la Concord also Marie Antoinette
lost her head. But the Olympics offers more than wins
and losses and excellent scenery. It tells complex stories of courage,

(01:15):
redemption and sacrifice. And recently I've been indulging in preparation
for the Olympics in sporting documentaries which have me thinking
about high performance sport and a whole new light. Thanks
to Netflix, we now have a better understanding of life
as a tennis player, a goal for a Formula One driver,
quarterback or sprinter. Sure, a lot of the appeal of

(01:37):
these shows is down to clever editing, and not all
these sports are at the Olympics, but they have given
us more of an understanding of the physical, mental, and
emotional lives of professional athletes. And no series does this
more than Netflix is Smoanbiles Rising, which touches on the
darker side of being an elite athlete. As you remember,
at the Tokyo Olympics, Smow and Biles did what no

(01:59):
one expected of her, struggling mentally suffering from the twisties
as her brain and body disconnected, which means she got
lost in the air. Smi and Bals she withdrew or
as her many critics at the time said she quit.
Now Barles is one of the all time greats. She
has changed her sport Forever moves and named after her.

(02:19):
Rules have been changed to accommodate what she can do.
She is also the victim of abuse by a former
coach who was sentenced to one hundred and seventy five
years in prison for sexually abusing more than one hundred
and fifty young gymnasts. She has experienced pressure and expectation
unlike anything most of us will ever experience, so it's
really fascinating in this documentary to hear her explain what

(02:40):
happened to her in Tokyo, the shame she felt, and
how she's recovered and found her passion for gymnastics again,
how she dealt with the vitriol from people who called
her acquitter, people probably unable to do a cartwheel and
who had no idea of the danger involved in what
she does. Paris twenty twenty four is about her redemption.
It's about taking back control of her life, her legacy,

(03:02):
and most importantly, doing the things she loves and is
brilliant at. She reminds that while she may seem superhuman,
she is only human. She can do super extraordinary things,
but only if she takes as much care of her
mental health as she does her body. She is once
again rewriting the rules. This is just one of the
fascinating stories that makes these Olympics so compelling.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Bring it on for more from the Sunday session with
Francesca Rudkin. Listen live to News Talks a B from
nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.