#11 - Peter Bol

Hey, everyone, Welcome back to the Mason Cox Show. Now today our guest is one of the biggest legends of Australia. He's kind of rose to the ranks in the last you know, eight years, and I've become a big fan. I've made a few dinners of spag bowls and wore a bowlo tie with this man doing his thing. But we'll go into it. He's got a construction management degree at Curtain University, mine even me looking to become an engineer.

Thanks for having me.

Man. Man, it's so good. I haven't really met you too much, man, but I feel like, you know, we're two peas in a part of us too, you know we You didn't start playing to your still didn't start running till you're seventeen. I didn't start playing footy. Toll was twenty three. I had no idea what it was. You were a big basketball man, was that correct?

Massive basketball? I tell everyone I'm a great basketball player, But I mean, can you dunk? I don't know right now, but I have yeah, yeah, I did you see dunk?

But I don't know how I've dunk before. Definitely, Okay, yes, all right. For some reason, people think like being able to dunk. Yeah, of course. I literally rest my hands like there. It's like I'd be embarrassed if I couldn't. I can't get off the ground. Now. Everyone seems to have it like if you can dunk, you play basketball. You know. I'm like, you know what, I could dunk, and I was a terrible basketball player. I'll get into that, Nag melow Din. I don't know if a lot of

Back even further. What So I was born and like you said, and our language as Arabic sock meldon. The pronunciation is an Araic name Nejma actually means star star, yeah, and Arabic and din means religion, which will get one into the religion.

And we're going to jump into that for sure.

But yeah, and then obviously.

Do you prefer to be called that or are you just going to my parents?

Not even my parents called me that, so they mostly called me Peter. But I mean on my passport has got so sometimes I feel a little bit of a fraud.

Naje mel den nagnagement, So everyone out there, you've ever seen it properly?

Yeah, and then you're growing up, we had different several nicknames and.

Yeah, all some of the nicknames you got speaks people pee bowl.

Pee bowl is the most common one. I use Instagram handle what do.

You what do you want to be called? Whenever someone's announcing you, if you had a nickname, you're just thrown out there and you're okay, I'm big text. I want people to call me big texts. You know, actually like text. Walker's kind of taken that. I'm like a little bit pissed off about that is from Texas, but it's the whole thing. But what would you what would you want to be cold?

Probably bowl or pee bowl?

Pee bowl? Yeah, I like it, and I want to ask you there's a question I was going to ask later, but I'm going to bring it up now. And we're talking about nicknames, right, and whenever you get into a race. You know, some people like Michelle does like the dance, you know, and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, do you do anything? Have you ever done anything? I know you're pretty relaxed guy. You kind of you know, you're in your mindset and you're ready to go.

I like wearing the jewelry. I like wearing the I like wearing the things and the ear rings.

And you're allowed to wear anything whenever you're on not watches.

I don't think you can wear watches, but you can work on everything else.

You had to wear a watch, what would it be?

Lung jeans happy with that one.

Sparts will be happy with that one. So you can wear a heating so you wear necklaces wherever you want. It doesn't matter. Whatever makes it feel confident.

Yeah, whatever makes you feel good.

Do you feel good? Is it kind of like swimming? Do you kind of like shave your whole body and get a short haircut and stuff like?

But I do like getting a fade before.

Yeah, gotta look fresh. You gotta look fresh.

You're only there for like less than two minutes, so you want to.

It's got four minutes you out of that. I'm kidding. There's a lot more obviously that goes into that. But so you go. You got the haircut. Do you have a necklace? Do you like, like, do you have a special necklace, like kind of any kind of superstitions you.

Have to be superstition. I just kind of put a necklace on one of my necklaces. Probably I wore this during the common Wealth. Yeah, yeah, I wait a wristband. The wristband actually says it's pretty cool. It says same distance, different track. Yeah, it's a great mentality. Like whenever you're racing. Whenever you're racing, you're still racing eight hundred meters. Yeah, the track changes, the location changes, but but you still got the Yeah, you still doing eight hundred meters, so.

Yeah, like you know, overthink it. It's like, you know what you're doing the same thing.

You know. I got to be on your zone and I've got that on moist races.

Any any song once your pump up song, right, Man.

I've been listening to Kanye.

Kanye Old Score. Now we're talking about drop out album. Yeah, I'll talk of college dropouts, the one before he went absolutely Crazy. That's actually like probably half that albums in my game day music. I'm not gonna lie, mate, We'll go. I want to ask you some quick fire questions and I'm going to get you something because I've heard from an inside source you like this little thing I gift you. He was the most influential person in your life. Man.

I used to look at my Ma Ali, so I bung up mam Ali number one legend, absolutely legend on you know, on the field, on the boxing ring and outside of the box.

Mentality. His mentality is crazeless. I love it. And he was like very well spoken outside of it too. And he's like he's more than just an athlete. One of the most people that was like more than an athlete. I feel like, yeah, I think you changed the whole game.

Was awesome.

Yeah, I love that. Okay, what gives you the most confidence is the chain can give you the most comment you put that on, it's like, yeah, I'm ready, I'm ready to go.

I reckon, I reckon training. Yeah, if you're not training, no matter what, no matter what, change you're wearing yet exposed. So when when you're looking good at training, I'm pretty cool about practice.

Practice talking about practice. Favorite athlete who could be right, kyb Yeah alright, p man, he was unreal. Here's the next level. Won't get into it, so I'm gonna start crying. Favorite type of food pasta, pasta, spaghetti follow as you might say you do like it, but also smoked salmon, smoked salmon, a tazzy salmon. Awsoal put a little glaze on what we're talking. What we're talking. Yeah, that's that's it. I'll give you this.

Oh I'm actually excited to see that.

I've been told you a big fan. I've been told you a big fan of the Org Phantom, right, so I know you've got I know he told you that. I know you're a massive fan of the Orge Fanta. I know it's a it's a little secret that's now in the public. Everyone he does, he does like his sweet his sweet Drakes.

That's cougas right.

I'm not going to release my I'm not releasing who told me. I'm just saying I've got a little inside and further you might like an orange fanc brother.

Oh Man, can I open this?

Yeah, it's not mine? Man, oh man, you enjoyed that. Cheers, bro cheers. Good to have you on anyway, Man, Well, I love this great start. Absolutely Elk started tries to move. Everyone knows about your family, obviously massive support. I've got some amazing family. You do too, obviously everyone's seen it. And kind of your rise to fame everything else. Man, can you give me a bit of a background. Obviously you moved away from Sudan, You've come here and like

I started probably with family and I mean everyone, so in Tokyo, the family getting around it and they fell in love with the family, fell in love with the whole story. But the reason we're that close is because I guess you just said it will move from sit Down to Egypt, Egypt to Tumber two Timber to Perth, and the only consistent thing through all that journey is like the people you're kind of moving around with, and those are the guys in the living room and a few other How.

Many are there? I've got four brothers, four brothers.

So pretty competitive, and then I've got a sister.

Were you the best I thought of the four? No? Actually no, I was dead. You were not even second on the pecking order.

No, I don't think so.

Wow, if you asked that question, you're like, nah, brothers, and shit, it's all me, It's all me, baby, But it.

Made me change so much.

Yeah, older brothers.

My younger brother, the youngest one is probably the most athletically talented. Oh he could play footy?

Is it how old he now?

He's twenty now, but he ain't playing in his Oh come.

On, man, I started twenty three, Still got a chance, still got even none than that, Still got some little I kick stuff sorted out. Brother.

He's always doing well at anything, you know, basketball, He's killing high jump like this dude is physic kicking. Yeah, one eighty five and stuff like that.

One eighty five.

Like at school, I jumped like one eighty and this dude was jumping like one eighty five and he couldn't even so you got him. Uh, he's probably second best. But my younger brother could do everything. Like yeah, bigger all around athletes. And I'm sad to say I'm the shortest at times.

So you're the shortest taller too, man, So yeah, high complex. So you just roll around. You just kind of like feel like the little brother of everyone. I love that I'm like the little brother. But I'm the tallest of the three, so then I kind of feel like I have something over them, you know. Yeah, yeah, you played a bit of basketball growing up. Now you played that out in Perth and then that was kind of like the sport you got into before. And you're an NBA fan.

Ball was fun, man, because it was like a team sport. So and I went to school and I went to school on scholarships. So playing basketball, you just play with your friends. You you can trash talking ball like running, you don't even trash talk. Trash talk, well, what are you going to do, like in the middle of a race, say to someone something. You probably run out of bath as soon as I' on the MA looking to probably

Still play it like a little bit here and there.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I still shoot around just around Richmond.

Actually, you should be telling people where were left, mate, right at the moment. No, okay, So so you like the bass aspect, you like kind of like the team sport and everything else. Right, So whenever you moved to running,

It was kind of like a day back to the point that when I first started running, man, I used to because you have to do little athletics and you have to do like a combination of like six different events. Yeah, I used to just jump the fence and go home. What I did not like waiting that long, so you got to be there all day time. I was like, nah, I'm not coming, and then I just decided to do seniors instead, which you can rock up the race and

Yeah and be done and they're like, yeah, I've done behind, I'm out.

Like training is so hard, like just running laps and laps and last.

Yeah, do you kind of like do you do you put in headphones and you like train or like do you are you just in your own head just in your I don't like people that swim, you know, you go into this like swimming motion and like you kind of keep going back and forth and you just you kind of come this like flow stage. Just think about other things. You're not even like like I've seen you running, like you ran past my house the other day. Man, I'm seriously this man floats on air like it doesn't

When I first started running, I had back. Everything was really terrible.

So you've had to fix the posture and everything that training and shout out to what's the what's the coach shout out to him, just.

Yeah, yeah, so so he's slept on that.

Change everything up in that sense, and like, have you noticed like a big difference in your times once you actually change that.

Yeah, I was improving quick.

So it wasn't like this speak because I remember I first started playing football. It's like this massive curve, like you hit this, you get the proper teaching. Yeah, and you hit this massive like kind of curve and somewhat like kind of doesn't like go as steep, but you're still getting every day by day.

Well, now it's been you know what, eleven years since I started running, and when I first my first race was like two or five and I run one four. It's just like form escalator. And like in the first five years, my first training team was the Olympic team, so like it's crazy just rocking up to an international event, the Olympic team and you're used to running like school carnivals before.

Yeah, it's just like then when you looked at was like, man, I'm like training next to this dude.

Yeah, man, it was crazy.

I was.

I was at the Games and and bro, you see everyone I saw the same bold Us, Oh really, Tony Parker, Paddy Mills. I saw all those athletes, and I'm just like, you know. The funny thing is I was more. I knew more to Baskets than the Runners. I don't even know who was running aginst because I was so new, But I knew all the basketball players and I wanted to meet them.

But the Runners, I had no idea who they were. Got to the Yeah, yeah, they know you now early days like just kid again.

I got photos everything sound hello, you know, took advantage of everything, and.

Now you're returning the favorite. Patty Mills is like, yo, na come over, man, my kids love you.

Like yeah, I still go.

Patty Mill is one of the realst dude I met in the Games. Such a good fellow.

He stayed the same from the first Games I met him till Tokyo like five years later. So it's pretty cool. Yeah.

And to the Olympics side, man, do you have any kind of memorabilia from the Olympics, like if I went to the Olympics, man, like just the kid is cool, yeah, and it's unique, like no one else in the world has it, right, yeah, like this kid's sick. And then like people get like the tattoos of the Olympic rings or anything else, like is there anything that like is stuck with you and you like take that as like

Probably the stories, especially from the first one, like like I remember how excited I was and this fort psychologists told me like just try to stay calm, conserve your energy, and I was like, yeah, man, I'm laid back.

I can do that.

And then you get to Olympics and you see like play Thompson and you see the same ball, and then you see like food is free of the Olympic Games, and you could go to the food court whenever you want. You could wake up at two am and just go there. McDonald's is free there. I'll tell this story quite a bit, but I've got three haircuts because it's.

Free everything, Like the NBA bubbles, like virus like the number one thing they wanted.

So like you remember all those stories and then you go to Tokyo although it was like COVID and you see like how much growth through it and that I didn't get no tattoos or anything like that, but I remember those stories and first before you met, and I think that's pretty cool.

What's the Olympic village?

Like wild Tokyo?

Rio?

It's more wild than Turkyo because of course.

Yeah, if you be lockdown, like what's it? What's it? Give us a bit of an idea, Like you walk into the villages, they're like just a cafe that's like anything and everything you want, like food, what's it like? People?

Is it all spurated like small city? You got buses running, you've got food courts, and you got like countries everywhere.

So you go, we'll talk about Rio because Tokyo was its own thing, like obviously with covered but like real is what everyone would and mixed.

So you've got all the buildings and then at the end the parties, you can just decide to choose over a party you wanted to go to. So if you want to go South American party, American America.

Brazil, is good. Brazil, they do it right, do it right. And then in Jamaica, Jamaica would be so those guys are just those units and any Caribbeans they're just crazy, just like, hey man, there's my time, is sharm and enjoy my life? Like this is it? Yeah? So that was fun. Man. So there's any like so we go to the Olympic village. But I'm so interested in this.

Well not the first Olympics, so I didn't know anyone, but the second Olympics, Like the first one, I made so many friends. And then like every year I finished my European season, I decided to go on holiday on one of my friend's hometowns. Like one time I went to Luxembourg. Like, man, I don't even know what Luxembourg was into. Yeah, this dude I raced with he was from Luxembourg and we just went to Luxembourg for a week and we spent there the best time I had

You've been because now I feel like you've probably traveled a bit of the world. Man, Like you've seen a bit of the world. You've been, you've moved out of the most isolated city in the world, Perth. You broadened your horizons, so you have spread your wings around the world. Yeah, what's your favorite place you've been to. We've got a favorite experience. Place you've been to for an experience. It's a favorite place you've seen from like just you know,

Man, Barcelona because when because when you go to Barcelona, it's completely season off. Those guys know how to enjoy their time.

They're like last round blast. Yeah, like some of the back streets.

Different parties, different food, and you're out laid less. And it's a beautiful city too, so if you wanted to do sight seeing and whatnot. So I think Barcelona is probably my favorite. And they're completely opposite to that. I love South Africa. Went to South Africa and we went we went on a run one time and we start seeing zebras, start seeing animals running behind us.

Zebras. You said zebras. Yeah, you said Zebras and Zebras. Man, you become an American, Like, what's going on? I've been waiting for someone else to that for seven years. Amazed. Here Oh okay, so we're in South a South South Africa. Sorry, South Africa you're in around Johanna's beautiful. Man. I wanted to go there for the World Cup. You got a Kruger National Park, No, we do. Man Far Place is

Yeah, so Suddan sods are my parents Muslims born Muslims.

That's just Muslim. Do you say it? Not Muslim, Muslim?

Muslim.

That's the proper way to say. That's the first. And we're going to start off the bat for people like Muslim. Yeah, yeah, that's that's our religion.

I think, like you said, I think your belief is really important, whether you know what Muslim, where're Christian, whether whatever you are, whatever you grew up with. So and that's what we grew up with. So it's it's pretty strong. And of course I've been to he sat dinners. One of the best people I know is Basha Huli. He's he's a legend, like if you're a great mental and and he always emphasized like how important it is to be a good person outside the sport. And then and

Because Basha would do it during AFL season. Bash is unreal, It's next level.

Man.

I was like so impressed, but I was like, man, how are you even like functioning? Like it's insane. But it's like this belief, like you have this belief because of the right thing.

And I've heard him speak and some of the some of the best games he's had, fast thing that's crazy, Like how much strength is drawing from that? It's it's unreal.

It's phenomenal. So have you ever done have you ever done racing while you're doing Ramadan.

At the same time, Never raced, But I've done training training yepp, And I've honestly trained pretty pretty damn good.

Yeah. Yeah, it was just like, yeah, I love that. Do you over here?

Yeah? So I always try to get to a few, especially around Melbourne as that's he's gone on.

Get you. Yeah, you can get you to the US Consulate. We'll get you around. It's a few combinations. Yeah, might get that little Los Angeles Lakers connect there. You never know. You never know, bro, you never know that. Yeahous know, we're gonna do it. We're gonna take a photo some point in our lives at a Lakers facilitate the Staples. Maybe it's crypto dot com now I think I think they've changed the day of it and we're gonna be sitting there with Lebron and being like, hey, yeah, how

And I don't even know what TA was?

I still do.

I love people, Actually don't know what is I going to explain my story? And then I get to Tumba. Everyone's like they're like, oh, where's Turmba?

How do you end up landing there? Of all places like so.

My dad had family there yea, so we weren't completely alone either. So we have family there and that's why we're my graded there. And then at the time, I think that was two thousand and four, it keeps the Sudanes migrating in Australia and heaps someone center to the more soup. Sob was full of basically in your.

Own community there.

We had to keep the community there cool. And then you're stranded by the same community. And then you went to school and then you're stranded by Australian community, so you kinder kind of never really lost your culture, and then you're learning and building a new culture at the same time. So it's perfect. That's cool, awesome, and she's one of my favorite places.

You ever listen to country music while you're out there.

I think so who Nickelback and nickel nickel Back all the time.

I right, Nickelback, he gets a hard, hard run at it. But I think Nickelbacks ain't too bad. Ain't too bad. Now. I thought you're gonna say, maybe Garth Brooks or Tim McGrath those lines, but nickel Back, if that's as country as you get to Woomba has not gained its roots too hard into your right those country that I got there, Oh gosh, I love that Nickelback is a country as it gets for you. Oh man, people back home and be rolling their grave people in Texas and be like,

So we spent four years there and then and then again we had family move, we had my dad had family and in Perth and who was small and was actually quite cold in Queensland. Yeah, like really because it was high, like it was really.

Quite high outsud okay, yeah yeah.

And then which well it's not like I had a choice, but my family was moving and that's all right.

And you're young, like you were quite young, so there's no I.

Was like in your eight or something, and then moving all the way across the other side of I couldn't think of anything worse at the time, because you just moved to this just my friends, and you learned English and you made your friends and you had to.

Learn English in Australia, yeah far out.

And then you're just moving to another place after four years. I was like, man, all the connections you've built, all the people you've met. Yeah, it felt terrible there, but then now look at us, like the best thing that happened because of where you are right now.

You still speak to languages fluently.

Oh man, I'm losing You're losing it. I'm losing it.

Do you speak English to your family though I speak Arabic? Yeah, okay, yeah, I speak arab to my mum. I love that. I feel like that's important to keep.

I've been in Melbourne for six years. Yeah, so I'm not going to use it very often as often. But the funny thing is I use it more overseas really, yeah, because like Arabic spoken, there's so many Syrians overseas. True, you know, Averic spoken everywhere Algerians.

So you get back over there and it's like kind of refresher of the language and like he's talking to people.

But he's the guitari friends.

Yeah. So I get to practice a little bit. Yeah, but not as fluent as I used to be, for sure. It's impressive. Man. I know, like minimal Spanish and I try to pour it out any chance. I get goosemas and girls and I'm like, oh go, like what it's like want to speak Spanish that works here?

Do you speak any other language?

Spanish a little? So I went, I'm from Texas, so it's like right next to Mexico, so like obviously Spanish has spoken there, so there's a lot of crossover as far as cultures there. So there's a there's a lot of Spanish speaking people in Texas that's kind of like the one that I speak. But no bla moyesvignar, so you know, more space than Spish. That's what I got. You know, I got little things here and there. I can't speak a fluently if I can understand it. So

I think, to be honest, I think that's why I probably like, uh, enjoy overseas a little bit more because you kind of just fly under the radar. Yeah, especially off season, you just want to do it overseas and just find the radar. Uh, the attention, man, I think it just comes with the sport.

It's all part of It's just part of it. You can't the job for seven, job through six five, whether people realize it or not, Like.

It just comes with it. So you've got to embrace it when you can and and if you.

But there's good things too. I mean, I know you were just recently in September club Ah yeah final my girl Delta a little jealous, not gonna lie, I know she chunk you. The following socials come on Delta anyway.

Yeah, of course there's a great things to do it. Yeah, it's positive to it, you know. I mean I got a free play session five that's positive. Big gamer, Big gamer, what's the best one? So you're a sports gamer? Now you do you have like a handle?

It's public? Or should we just keep this private? Is it twitch?

Is that anyone that wants smoke on FIFA?

What that smoke? What is it that smoke?

People? Eight hundred.

Oh man, you're about to get absolutely murdered. You're a had to get like what's his name, ninja, like the Ninja of like FIFA just hitting me out, like done up. So yeah, get one s getting back in. You're giving one FIFA and yeah.

Twenty three is coming out.

It's huge.

I don't play two k's much now.

Yeah, okay, I play. I play a bit of FIFA. It's so different nowadays. Everything's online everything. So do you have like all your mates who play from overseas and stuff that I can play online stuff. It's so good. It's good. And you get just to keep up with everyone through that exactly. Yeah, and you just put your microphone on. You're having a chat and you're playing. It's

Yeah?

Man?

And but at the same time, like you get disappointed after a race and whatnot.

But I feel like you would go like you if you lose a race. Right after the race, you'd be like upset, and then a day later you'd be like, how an amazing an experience that was?

Yeah, and then you'd be like what else can you do? Like get upset for the whole Yeah, old thing, Like the race is already gone. It's not going to change anytime soon.

You just move to the next thing in life, like trying to get better.

Yeah, especially Like imagine if I was racing in Barcelona, for instance, and I had a bad race, Like of course you're disappointed for a day, but like, bro, you're in Barcelona, so you might check out who.

Would have guessed from Toowoomba to Barcelona? You know, same safe right, same safe?

Yeah, so all that and yeah, I think it's just again it's a combination of your beliefs, your culture, everything consistent that I've kept kept along the way, I've like not changed and and that's probably a good way. Like you say, have has anything changed? Nothing really changes because you've kept the same thing. Like I mean, there's so much more attension, but you're still still the same foundations,

Did you ever feel the hype like I know, Comwealth Games. You recently were there and I was though, you know what, I was eating ball and I was absolutely behind. I was like this is it?

I love it because especially you see a lot of people I've got a lot of like close friends and and they say, man, they're building so much hype. Is that creating too much pressure on you said, nah, I actually love it because I want to. I want to I want to like live up to it and like like this is what we're in it for exactly.

Yeah, I make it. Make it.

You got to make it mean so much, and and that the key is to build like Tokyo as big as as a last student credit to credit to Australia, like they've been getting around it, you know, Tokyo, Like that's probably one of the most memorable fourth Like I always said, like I'd hate to come forth because that's.

Like one one away from a actual material of like an actual matter. It was memorable fourth. So and then but you, I mean like you know the stats better than our world. But I mean like no one had ever done that before.

I feel like, and then it's changing, it's changing the sport, like eight hundred meters now people the thing. Now, it's a thing thing.

Like when I was racing, You're the face of like track and field. Now I don't want to sit here and like pump you up too much day.

But like you are keep it up.

Actually I like this. I like this. I like this, No, honestly, like you are now the face of it and like you've had this amazing experience and some amazing stuff has come from it, and it's like, you know, I think it is a credit to yourself and the attitude you have and like the positivity you give to other people and that's why people relate to you and they're like, man,

Yeah, And I think that's the key. You've got to still be at the top of the game because hype, hype and attention does not equate to performance at the end of the so you still got to get down and you get to still get down and train and whatnot.

Oh.

And then and then during the games, man, I was chilled.

You had that qualifier, that heat, that heat, and you were just like cruising, cruising.

I just felt in shape and like the crowd and everything and you just you know, you know, when you're playing a really good game and you just like in the zone flows out. Yeah, he's just flowing, just be on air.

It's something like I think I wish everyone in the world because he experience at least one experience of that of just being like, man, everything's everything's working, everything's cranking the right way, like everything's going well, like just perfection. That is like bliss.

During those races in Tokyo, That's how I felt, And like even I was slowing down at the end for the heats and the semis and you're just feeling effortless. And once you can get to that, if you can do the keys to try to learn to do that repeatively, Yeah, it's not a fluken En. I've proven I can do it every time, so should And when I get when I get on the line, I'm just like, you know, you've done the work, You're ready done the work. I'm not worried about anyone else.

Yeah, I can't ask you. Whenever you run a race, right, describe the perfect race? Now. I think there's a lot of people that know what running is, but like there's a lot of meticulous things that happen whenever you go into a ryan, Like is it the most important thing? Off the blocks? This is the most important thing, like kind of maybe trailing someone, getting a little bit of like draft off someone. Then like in last hundred, going like, what's the perfect like race for you?

Firstly body language and then body language? Body language? You can literally the races of race bad and the races of rest good. You could see it from the start line just from really language.

Can you see other people's body language? Two? And being like, I mean it's.

Head literally in Tokyo. And this is might contradict because everyone says you're so humble, but I was literally in Tokyo on the court room, and I'm like, nah, that dude is not going to perform today that d because you just see body language. You see you're getting nervous, and because it means so much so and I was just chilled the whole time and I was just ready to go. So body language and then you know that

Would you pace in the first two hundred be faster than like the rest of the six hundred.

Yeah, so you try the first two hundred should be.

About you're trying to get to the front of the pack kind of thing.

Trying to get top three. I'm not trying to be at the front, but I'm trying to slot in behind the leader. I'm not trying to be at the backpack either.

But if someone's running to would you know if someone's like running two or three seconds quicker than they should be? Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean.

Like, if you're twenty four seconds, it's pretty relaxed. But if you're running fast on that and then you're stretching and you're letting it on out whatever twenty two second but no one really does that. And then you can kind of see you see the clock. You just look on your left and you can.

See the clocks all around the stage two.

Hundred and then the clock at a four hundred, and you see it. And when when I see like when I'm slotting in on top three, yeah, I'm just chilling.

You know, you have to switch off.

And then the three hundred, that's when it's time to go. And when I when you kind of go out, it's like, yeah, I've got this race. You kind of know if you've got the race or.

Not before like within four hundred meters you record, you know, whether three hundred meters I know, wow, within three hundred meters I definitely know, yeah, wow, three hundred meters in You're like, I know where I'm gonna landing one of these, looking around and like your head back. Then you're kind of not gonna na when when you kind of just go yeah, you know. So you get the three hundred, you know, confidence that was probably pretty high. You're like, I'm about to dominate this.

Even when I broke to a stone record, I was sitting on the back, back, but I was like and at three hundred, yeah, I was sitting on the back.

Yeah.

And I came back, but I knew I had heaps to go.

You know, everyone else you gonna blow up and you're just gonna go right past me.

I've got second, but I had to go through everyone, but I knew I was going to run a pretty good time.

This is interesting. So whenever you get to like, so you got three hundred, right, you know exactly who's gonna win. Now, what's your game plan past three hundred you get to the four hundred mark, you've done a full lap, full lat yeah, four hundred meters. Yeah, so it's a back to the starting spot. Yeah, and you've gone, okay, I know kind of where I sit. I'm looking to try to be in the top three. Yeah, and then do you kind of pick your pace up from there or do you don't want to get bot in?

That coming from four to five is probably the most important one because everyone's trying to come out wide and trying to.

Get from the curve. So you're going to the next straight away, yeah, I gotcha.

Yeah, you want to be I'd never stay like on the rails, which is on the insight, and stay a little bit on the side and I kind of look back. I look a lot because if you kind of someone comes cuts you out, and then they will cuts you out then you're stuck on the rails.

Yeah, okay, so yeah, you ever got run into the rails like push off the like off the track into like now I've never been in that. That happened to me in high school all the time. I was like just like and there was gutters next to it, so like twist nakeles, like just Spike's going into like great grat.

That's the key straight away?

Is it? Really?

That's they Wow?

Even if someone like kind of like maneuvers you are.

Yeah, you can protest, but that's the key.

Wow.

I didn't know that it's counted as you're running less because you're there.

Because you're on the inside. Even if it is like and this hundreds straight, Okay, so you get to you get to five hundred, you finished the straight. Now you're going on to the next curve. Yeah, once your mentality that you're going I need to be top three at this point, yeah, definitely, and form form form and just stay relax. Do you feel like your left side is a bit stronger because you like kind of taking left turns.

You guys, sure, yeah, because they're always running. Like it's funny you ask that because when you get treatment one side always is more tighter than yeah, because you're always running there.

It makes sense it'd be good to have like a longer right leg that we've got the idea of Barty. You know, I want two inches lax on my left leg. Okay, so you get it. So you get the five hundred, you get to six hundred, round that curve, your top three. Now you you got two hundred meters left. Yeah, now what's you now? You're on the last straight away?

No, sorry, so you got about two hundred to go. So with two fifty, I usually try to make a move and get to the front.

Yeah.

So when I come to the bend, I'm I'm pretty strong if I'm holding the lead, So I try to get on the lead before the last hundred.

So you're trying to get on the bend. You're trying to be in the lead coming to the last hundred.

Without swinging out too wide. Yeah okay, and then you just kind of sting control.

And is it strategic like whenever on the bins to take over people or to do it on the straightaways?

A nice cheegy command.

So would you rather you'd rather do it on the bind than the straightaways?

You'd rather do in the band if if it means you don't have to go out too wide. Okay, So that's why being top threes better. But if you have the back, everyone's trying to go out wide. Yeah, now you got to you gotta kind of wait to go back and then you're running. You're running so much more distance. Yeah okay, so runs more distance and you get to.

Seven hundred meters, you're in the lead. Yeah, how are you feeling? You go on four boys with Tokyo final. I was in the lead, but I was cooked. Yeah okay, because I was leading that you just spend too much energy like trying to get past people on the other bit.

Yeah, I just I was leading the race. It's never helps to kind of sometimes lead a race to It was a slow race and these guys are ready to go. But in like the semi and the heat, I was like I was kicking out. So I was I was in like third place and I was coming coming. So when I got on the front, I was like, man, I got this in the heat. All second, I'll slow down because you only need to come top three.

Yeah exactly.

But it was a strand record, and then I think that that's what build the hypes like it's a.

Massive deal man. Yeah, congrats to you. That's that's pretty cool to be like, yeah, I've cut the record in

It's not everything else, especially championship is not necessarily always the fastest guys win. So at the Olympics, the guy the fastest gut in the field almost going to make the final, and then the I think he came he came last. So wow, because so much, so much of the Olympic finals about composure, your focus, because when you get to a final, like in our sport, there's only forty eight people that can run eight hundred meters. Of the Olympics and then gets cut down to eight people

Yeah, who can put it together? Day? Now?

Who's the fastest. It's not like if you're faster, you got an advantage, obviously, but like if you're if you're the fastest and your panicking and you're shaking at the start line, you're going to perform.

Its height a good thing. Like if you're toller, can could I run a faster eight hundred? I'm told, what do you reckon? I? Eight hundred?

We might actually have to test that out.

I don't want to. Three K time, child is not good there. I'm telling you, I'm always the back of the pack whenever cups day one of pre seasons not beautiful. Three K time trial would be like no, sorry, two K time Charles like seven, I think seven seven five on a good day. Good day, say look, come back from all season. If you end up behind me in the two k tom Chow, you got a bit of work to do, my brother, you got a bit.

Of work to just set out we should do a relay, right, I don't know. You should do it on you and Nathan. So you go round four.

Four each. You're a long over my ass. Yeah, No, you run a four hundred, yeah, and then I'll do four hundred. He does four hundred. You do it, and I don eight. You would still murder us, man, you guys, you would kill us. Third one forty four. I don't even think I could run a lot about forty four brus.

Not thing you guys.

One for I'm injured at the moment, so this might have to hold off.

For you guys obviously want to be one forty four shapes. So one fifty two seconds. So you and Nathan, if you guys both have rea shifted.

That's a dead sprint for me. That is a dead sprint for four hundred meters. From me, I'm more of like a ten meters kind of sprint.

God, not really, well so much. You're running a four hundred and like sixty seconds.

Probably only good day ran for a very long time.

All right, quite interesting?

Oh no, No, I feel like I'll the top end of this. I'll be on the worst end of the spectrum as far as it goes to speed, So so height doesn't actually help.

No, it helps. I think there is there like like is there.

A bucketn't swimming? There's like a perfect body for like swimming, you know, like the tall big short like big shoulders, everything is there like a running Like now to me, that's best runers not quite tall? So what record? Like, what's what's what's the average hype for an eight?

Oh, they're all differentiated, but that's maybe six foot six foot okay, yeah, there's they're getting quite tall these days. Yeah, I'm probably in that in that final in Tokyo. I don't know if there's only probably two people shorter than me.

Really yeah, wow, Okay, I might have a chance here. You real to me in here like that?

There's no seven food guys there either break I break that barrier.

Fot y. I want where's the next?

Where's the Olympics Paris?

Paris? I'm common It's I think probably better at maybe like lawn bowls or something. I'm not sure if that's what reached the Olympic sports outside of the Commonwealth.

A chance.

I think you really popped me up here for I think you've got me be just by just apparently just fairly, ma, just fairly Okay, Well we'll go into Olympics. I want to talk about this because I love the Olympics. Olympics obviously massive now mentality, the Olympics is your grand final, like and it happens every four years, so like you have four years of just prepping, prepp and prepping to

Like the first game you'll always remember is just like just like the moist powerful experience you have one you get the uniform and you're just like super excited, like clipping through all those uniforms, shining as much as possible too. And then you actually get there, you're like shit, like we're here like presenting.

It happening, like this is like life goals is happening.

And three like the pressures and the nerves behind it's like we're representing a country. That means there's a lot of people watching. Yeah, ah, and then it's like, man, it's just the greatest experience ever, especially because like we're spoken about background and was spoking about culture. It's like, well, and like you recently became a citizen, so like I became a citizen uh what eighteen or sixteen years ago?

Just how does that work? Because if you're from somewhere else where, you can represent a different county in the Olympics.

Correct, No, No, you have to be a citizen of that country.

So you have to be a cistan once. Your sistant, So I'm a dual says and Usk in Australia. Can I just pick?

Yeah, you can pick, so I.

Could be like I could be the best what's a ridiculous sport on you peak?

You can't change for another two years?

Okay? Yeah, so did you have to? I guess like technically you would become so earlier you would always been.

I don't have any other citizenship really citizen. Yeah yeah, and I became a strengths citizen in two thousand and six.

I've been yeah. Yeah, you feel like proper USh. Yeah yeah. So you go and you represent your country, you get the you rip out okay, let's you know, you rip out your what's your brand? As you rip out the added as stuff, you know, you get all brand new stuff, you know, and it's like because you are on the world stage, like it's kind of you know, like everyone is now looking at you, and you got this opportunity to kind of not only from personal personals perspective, from

Literally living until the night before I raise, and then you're sitting there shitting yourself up until then. Like I still remember rio I wake up, I'd say four am, and I couldn't really sleep get back to sleep.

I was like that grandfather. Yeah, it's tough man. You're just thinking of every everything that might happen, you know.

Yeah, you're so unexperienced and everything. But then fast forward to like Tokyo. I had to put an alarm for my head, like.

I was really just cruising cruise yeah yeah, but back then, man, I was shooting myself. Yeah before I think, and I was not sleeping. Well, did you like I know real was whenever boat? Yeah? One? Yeah?

Yeah yeah?

What was Did you watch that live? Yeah? I got to Was that like a big inspiration for you?

I feel like, yeah, more so, I think there was the four hundred record world record was broken there too. You just get to see these amazing.

They break the eight hundred record hundred uh oh gosh, relay is that I can't.

I thought it was the four hundred that was probably broken there and you just get to see them like, wow.

Just crazy, it's crazy these that was like that Olympics. I feel like it was a broad track and field on a real like real next stage kind of thing, you know, like the next level.

And that is America though, like even not coming back from the World Chance for America this year, hands down, the best race was probably the four hundred hurdles. The woman, Yeah, this Cloughland, she's just dominating. She's she's running like quick, like I think she might expose exposed me a four hundred flat racer because she had like a split on the relay of like forty seven.

Just quick for girls. Wow, that is moving, insane, that is moving and then happen.

Yeah, so so yeah, you get to watch all that and then you're also the good thing is you kind of walking around the Olympic village and you got all different athletes and you're trying to guess what they do. Obviously, all the tour guys are basketball players, but then the trick is the other the other athletes is like, man, this is actually hard because you've got everyone a different sport.

You just be looking at it's like a game. It's like you know, you go out and you're like, it's like I got to the bar every once when I'll play this game, you know, like I already does for eleven, you know, and then you go up to be like get that here you go. It's good. It's like so much your job account. So you're doing that, so you jump around. So I'm like, what's hypothetically let's think of sports here, Like what could be a sport? I can maybe become an Olympian at we're trying to break again

From your heart, you gotta be basketball.

Gotta be basketball. That's my best chance basketball. I'll hit up look longla or something. We'll get it onto it now. Be The problem is all showing basketball team is actually good. Actually gotta gonna be so good in Paris too well, they won't be the best, they won't be the best.

Your citizen now, so I gotta go.

Fifty to fifty or either way, I think one of them is gonna win, So I'm kind of like happy either way. But they did break my heart. Bober camisits and they came us, came over here in Australia, beat them at Marvel Stadium. Yeah, And I've never coppt so much ship leaving a stadium, and I've played a lot of AFL games, I've never copped it like that. Everyone was just talking absolute dribble. But the first time they beat them in so long. But it would be huge

Every everyone lives around ocean.

Yeah.

And another thing is is so competitive. So make an Olympic team, you have to be the best of the best. Yeah, the best competition is here, So I think that helps when you create like a high performance. So like so for example, like eight hundred now, so I'm running, so if anyone's trying to beat me in Australia, they're going

Is there anyone you train with right now that's like pushes you because obviously you're at the best. You're the best in Australia. Everyone knows that. Is there anyone that like you look at and it's coming up, it's like, man, he's pushing me to make sure I'm still at my best every single time.

Yeah. I think Joseph Dane for sure. He's Timbre Boys or South in his background.

Almost getting a little bit of a little shout on the pod.

Former Australian record holder. So like it's both of us wanting to in which is pretty cool. Story like in like in the History of Australia period one and two in the in eight hundred and we both moved to and four.

Okay, so you've known each other for a long time.

Yeah, we've known each other for a long time.

And see your basketball player.

He played a bit of ball too. So it's like it's quite cool, like I think, especially when you have three people can present Australia and then you have two.

From like Tombo or like very like rare very rare.

Yeah, and to like have the fastest people Australian history.

It's pretty cool. Any any advice for anyone out there that's like looking to be Peter Bowl, Yeah, keep training, good luck.

Luck Now come come to a session and then you asking me.

To do a session or someone else, because I think I'll make it past like the first five minutes. I wouldn't make the warm up of your session. I feel like two k warm up, two k jog warm up.

Man, that is my full effort is two k four k four k pace.

Two k's at four k. So let's say you're running a marathon, right, you can run a marathon, I'm assuming just because you have your a natural born athlete and you run for a living. What would you run a marathon? Anythink marathon? Yeah, forty two ks it's a decent track. I wouldn't you want to I wouldn't want to run a marathon ever, not even if you're done.

That's far because like so one of my hardest sessions probably six by K and six six by one clumber the reps with it's like yeah, okay, yeah, ninety second rest and I'm averaging about three minutes.

Ok.

And like the lead elite marathon runners they're doing that NonStop.

Oh they're nuts. Once in New York City Marathon recently and I saw the guys and how far they were from like the other people were running, and I was like, this is just a totally different human like.

That you understand until you do this session and you're liken, these guys have been doing that, yeah, the whole way without stuffing and and I'm a professional athlete and I'll still struggle with that session.

But you're different, but people are You're different type of running. That's eight hundred meters a lot smaller than like forty two ks, where you're a lot quicker than they would be over eight.

I don't want to be a marathon I would not not for experience.

I'm trying to do a marathon. Will never retire. I was kind of trying to suck it you into this, you know, and like you know, maybe.

Come to an eight hundred, then we can negotiate him the two four hundreds.

We're going to make this happen at the beginning of the season. We're gonna get you down at the Pausa and me and Nathan are gonna we're gonna embarrass ourselves. We're gonna show you off. I was like, we're getting ebarrass ourselves.

He was very well over in Europe. He was moving around the track, was he.

Yeah, a little feedback for Cruis. Yeah, it wasn't just a party over there.

The boy was actually doing his work.

Yeah, we got he had to play, you know, he had to play in finals. It was worth it. Yeah, absolutely legend, Absolute legend. Well there's any any setbacks along the way in your career? Yeah?

Probably missing teams. I hated missing teams when it was so The first tea I I said was probably well juniors and probably like I was mad, but it was like, it's your first year in the sport. But I still I thought I should be good enough to make that team. And then nursing out of Commonwealth Games when was that twenty twenty fifteen, maybe about fourteen fourteen, and then missing out of World Champs twenty four fifteen and then finally like getting a breakthrough and making the Olympic team in

I was like it sucked. It was original, just so I can knowed crazy guys that were there.

It was still and those guys better than you.

And did you ever have any injuries or anything along the way?

Yeah, coming loft on eighteen in the Gold Coast. Yeah, I was really motivated to compete in Australia in front of home crowd and then I've got a stress fracture.

Tragic.

It was so just home crowd to home crawd two on TV car What the good thing is that had teammates competing there and it wash.

So you still like did you get up there?

No?

No, no, as you stay home in Perth, stayed home. Yeah, we'll talk about the conwork games just passed. Yeah, silver medal, Yeah, pretty freaking impressive. Your boy was off the edge of yeah, edge of his seat, edge of his seat. Mate, give us a bit of a rundown. How that was Birmingham recently? Birmingham? Yeah, correct, Yeah, how was that? How was that compared to Olympic Village

The two numbers for sure, and Commonwealth was a little bit split because of COVID that didn't finish the village, so we had really half of the teams were in in what were we when the University of Birmingham, so that's probably the biggest campus. But then they had different sports of different places, so it wasn't everyone in one village. Wow, okay, yeah,

Medal with the yeah, get the flag and go around like how cool is that?

That's awesome? Yeah?

That sold zach tu whoo after you won the Grand final, like you know, as iris flag and I was like, man, that is it's so great, like proper representing where are you from and like just feeling like you're given back to the community that built the person that you are today.

You know. Yeah, so that was probably is awesome because we didn't have any of that Like Tokyo, we've we've raced with no crowd at all.

Yeah. Now I ask that after we'll finish this Birmingham story, so I want to know more about a bit of how that was and the mentality going into that and like you smashed the preheat and then you go into the final and you end up getting silver, Like what was what was what were you at three hundred meters? What was the mentality of three hundred meters?

And I was so disappointed in that in that race because I just had in my head like I'm going to get that gold medal and I was pretty confident. So of course you don't you don't really show it because you feel like you want to medal and yeah, you're still successful. You wanted to be the best, that's

What was the move?

Just like you go justcelerate once you got that jump. Once you get that jump, it's pretty hard and you usually like doing that jumping. You kind of just shock people and you just go and then if they try to respond too quick, they're overstride and they're tightening up and like that, which is I think. And the Kenyans are great at racing tactical. They get to the front and they pull the handbrake. Yeah, they pull the handbrake because whoever was at the front, it's a slow race.

The bidding and control of the way everyone else paces off them. Is there a bit of drafting, what do you kind of draft like.

In a fast race, but in a low race, you don't want to be stuck at the back, Yeah, because everyone's still got so much energy.

Like, So Birmingham was a slow race. So was the because the heat you were quicker than the actual final.

The heat was actually quicker. The heat we went through fifty fifty two. The final we went through fifty five. So it was a slow race. And who won the race is the top two that came ended up coming one and two because no one else is going to come from the back, and really, yeah, both of us. He's so tough to go around. So like with two fifty, man I was just spounted because I was like, man, I should have won that race. Yeah, And there was like and for the first time, there's like no excuses.

So yeah, I was super broad.

And then you had the crowd, there had your coach and manager, and and then afterwards you just kind of go out and enjoy some time with your friends. And you can't just let it be because the medals, the medals and everything doesn't really what's about. It's not really what's about.

That stuffs cool, but like the experiences, what it's about, the experience, journey. Everything else is like what you actually remember that metal? Like, man, I want some stuff. I have no idea. Where the hell? Yeah that's where would your metal be? Right now? Do you know? No idea exactly? Like you're like like that's cool, Like it's something to show that that happened, but I don't need that, Like it's more for other people to show. But for you,

And you just you wouldn't Where the metal is, No, she don't know what it is, right. I think somewhere here that's gold. You know, I almost left it in it just when I was leaving Europe. Yeah, and my manager was driving me to the airport and they said, oh, ship, do you want your medal?

Was forgotten about it.

I almost forgot about it because after Birmingham I gave him the medal, and then because I went, I went on a holiday and I went whatever, and I came back, I completely forgot about in the medal and then he had to remind me. Otherwise you would probably be bringing him back. He's still in Europe, so I wouldn't see it. You wouldn't even see it, yeah, which wouldn't even matter now.

But I think a lot of people have that like association with like, you know, people should love medals and cups and trophies and stuff like that.

There's strinsic motivations, but I think internally, like the motivation to be the best and stuff like that means so much more.

It's so true, man, it's totally really. Comedian Peter Haller came on. He talked about that, He talked about the journey was more important than the actual destination and like every person I talked to, it's so true that it was successful and like it's going to be amazing and like if not already, and that journey and the idea that like, you know, material stuff of winning is great,

You don't even like someone's I went showed the metal to my family in Perth and someone said, oh, the medal doesn't actually say a hundred. I don't even know. I didn't even look at them and.

Say eight hundred. Yeah, was it just like a generic metal generic medal? Like I don't even know, really, I didn't even have your name engraved on the back or anything.

No, I doesn't.

And then.

I was like, I don't even know that until like I got back to Perth. I had no idea.

I just never even just like war for a bit and that was it. That's it.

Yeah, we are this presentation, put it in a box and didn't really.

Is it actually made of silver? Do you know this? I think? So, okay, let's just say so, just to make thee we'll go to Tokyo. Now, Tokyo unique experience with myself. Yeah, what was your like man, everyone was like down here. Everyone was like, yo, spoil, give me something to live for and your boy show us up. I was like, yo, push on my back, push on my back. On the international level, I was that man, like crazy is like traveling COVID and one sure it

So we actually told m not to travel because of just produced the risk of COVID because we usually go to Europe and do European season before going over to Olympics. But I said, I said no, Like I did a session it's how confident I was for Tokyo. I did a session in Brisbane and I was like, man, I'm in shape and art and I messaged my agent and coach. I was like, no, we can't stay here because I was competing around Australia. I was like, no, we need

After that, they just kept growing seven thousand, Oh god, you did it, like five hundred.

They just kept growing. So by the final I was in like forty eight thousand, so just that was the biggest jump. Yeah, So there was so much hype and like you could see so much hype. But the good thing is you can control the hype because you're just in social media.

Just turn it off.

You can your phone whatever, and you can accept whatever you want, and you can turn it off whenever you want.

Did you do that going into the Olympics, So I kind of no. I was enjoying it, like I was experience. Bring everyone along.

One night I was sitting there and I told I told my coach, I was like, man, because you see other athletes around you and you, and you're so invested in what they do and how they perform good and stuff like that, and so many turn off their social media.

Yeah stay come. And then I was like should I do that?

I was like, no, I'm not.

Damn Like I calmed, you can handle it. Some people can want to turn it off.

Yeah, So I just I just kept it and I was lying to some people when I could, and it just kind of gets your mind off of things and rather than just sit in bed and like that, especially because Tokyo is so dry with the Olympics, what else are you going to do?

Yeah? Oh, it's like, man, I think like whenever you have those unique experiences in life, you want to capture them and you want to have like you want to share with people, like, yeah, I feel like, you know, I've lived some pretty amazings, done some amazing things, and some of you and you come to the realization that things don't mean as much if you don't have the ability to share them with others, and like, whether it be social media, whether it be family, or whether it

And plus like like why would you go to the biggest stage and do different things? Like I've never turned off my social media during normal races?

What would you change?

Why would you change it? I've never cut my family out just to focus on a race, Like why would I just got Olympic Games and say like, oh honeed, I need a break from you guys?

Like yeah, I think that would create even more anxiety around. I feel like you can't have to be even bigger as this, just keep everything normal. Yeah. Okay, So you get there very different, No Olympic village, you're kind of stuck in like your own somewhat like quasi area like I was. It was the village.

It was just everything in the village wasn't like Okyo.

So were you allowed to hang out with other countries you could.

But it was very hard, like Australia was pretty strict. Yeah, and and I think athletes were pretty some of them were pretty scared to catch them. People were catching COVID, so like you didn't want to go all those Olympics'd be terrible catch COVID and the worst if you're not even sick and you can't compete. So everyone kind of just was sensible and keep it to themselves and whatnot. So it's just a bit strange.

So it wasn't a community vibe going to get dinner together and like hanging out and stuff like that. Like there's kind of this like anxiety around the place of like I don't want to be too.

I think it actually made but I think it made the Australian team a bit closer because usually you can go out and hang out with everyone else, but now we just hung around with the Australian team. So I think the community and the connections got stronger with an Australian team because that's your building. So I was hanging out with the basketball players, I was hanging out. I've got to know so many more Australian athletes than I did previous Olympics because you were there. We had a

Who's one person you got close with on that trip probably my boy du up Reith, Yeah, because he's a Perth boy and knew him beforehand, n him beforehand.

Never really hung out though, because we always he played basket in the US and then he played in Europe and then he was Yeah, we never really cross paths too much. So it was like great, like the Olympic Games, let's let's hang out, play a.

Bit of FIFA.

To play station there.

Locked in Okay, Well then so you go there and it's like ue somewhat I said, but not too much whenever it comes to Olympics. Now was was there? I know, like the Tokyo public was very kind of like there's like from our image in Australia, right, So like I'm sitting at home watching TVs, nothing else to do, becase I'm locked in my house, I'm still looking at it and I'm like awesome, We've got the Olympics. It's doing it,

Yeah, And I mean it was massive credit to Tokyo because it took a massive risk to alladder Games to continue because you know, with COVID and everything, no one wanted that many people into their country at the time.

We've only recently just opened their borders.

Yeah, Like I mean Australia, there was no one. We Australian struggled to get back home. For Tokyo to take that and just let everyone leave their dreams. I mean, these are athletes that train for years and years to get to the Games, and I imagine if Tokyo just said, like it's too risky to take those games. So I think it was massive respect to them and there shouldn't be any complaints whether like okay, we weren't allowed to leave the village and and it wasn't as a great experience.

Usually did you feel the difference no crowds were played in front of no crowds. It it's like a practice game.

It's a bit weird, but usually you learned to block out the crowd much better, like Birmingham was so much in Tokyo. And then when I was watching the races online with like Bruce commentators brucey and and I was like I wish I was I was just sitting there watching so much better to watch on TV because you had brutish commentating and stuff like that, But when you were out running it was so quiet.

Weird nice did you at least have like other Australians tune on and stuff was yeah, that was That was That.

Was one of the most probably the most powerful moments I've had. The final was so hyphe and you had I've posted a photo on Twitter and I think I wrote Australia thank you, and there's a photo all my teammates and they're holding different signs and it was sick like you could hear them because the stadiums were yeah quiet, you.

Can actually hear someone screaming your name.

Was.

I don't feel like there should be hype here and there should be nices, like the world is watching, but none of them are here.

But I got to watch US versus Australian basketball and I actually enjoyed the stadiums being quiet because you could hear the players talking. You could hear everything. So it was like, wow, it's pretty cool.

To like people don't really it's like what the actual stuff is. You can only you can hear things on this like on on the field, but like whenever you get to like the stands, you can't actually hear. It's kind of a weird thing of like this kind of somewhat of a barrier of like kind of audio, but if you're on like right next to it, you can hear everything.

You can hear everything.

That was kind of cool in an AFL standpoint, but then they started doing the crowd noise level. Yeah, a few boys dropping f arms, I think, and they're like, let's put some crowd noise in those plays. Need something else. But now it's awesome, man. I think like, it's a credit to you, man, Like you seriously were such an absolute star when it came to that, and you know, provide so much hope and I think like, just you know, capability for us to move on from this whenever you

Man.

I was like fucking so impressed. And I was like, man, it's just so good, Like this guy's killing it. He's rubs in the country so well. And I was like, so I wasn't even an Australian citisen yet and I was so proud. I was like, man, this guy's doing it. Man, he's doing it right, you know, So massive credit to you, man. But yeah, it's just it's amazing to have you, man, amazing and get to know you better, like you're an absolute legend. You've done so many amazing things, and I'm

I mean we might as well stop building up Paris to your yes, but we got my comments.

When is it four? Like?

Yeah, Ryan, all right, we'll have to be retired?

Then question mark? Question mark Paris? Okay, Budapest next year World Champs? When is that?

What? August?

Also in seasons I won't make I'll try to make Paris. Brother, I'm excited. It would be great man. But in all, honestly, seriously, all congratulations. Yeah, absolutely killed the man. You've You've represented the country so well. We're all behind you. We're all really excited about the future for you. And don't drink too many of those fantas before you, Rice, please sponsorship, Yes, fantas, fantast what's what's the watch? Sponsor? Where we got and

Oh, you can literally come come on a run. I'm always running around.

Or you can watch us do an eight hundred meter relay versus this eight hundred meter sprint. You can, you're gonna make get You can guess their time we're gonna put that. Yeah, I guess the time. It's gonna be like eight minutes. We're going to get at But now, honestly, man, seriously, thanks so much for coming on. You're an absolute legend and I want to wish you all the best. Now I'll be watching very very closely, and it's an absolute honor to actually have you here and get to know

That was good.

Have a great ta sen