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.

LISTEN ABOVE

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.
LISTEN ABOVE

News, opinion, analysis, lifestyle and entertainment – we’ve got your Sunday morning listening covered with The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin on Newstalk ZB.

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