Shownotes
It's coming! Less than 100 days away, with qualification in full swing, this week it's all about the Winter Olympics & Paralympics: What events are women finally getting to do, why is skiing banning Russians, and what the heck is going on with sex testing.
But first — the highlights we loved in women’s sports this week:
- At the Ironman 70.3 World Championships Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb went 1-2 in an epic run battle just four weeks after massive heatstroke in Hawaii. How did they do it?!
- 50-mile, 100km, and 100-mile records all fell at the Tunnel Hill race. What is it about that race? And, hopefully, they don't have to pay for their own drug testing this year!
- And our report from the Female Athlete Research Meeting at Stanford. What Kelly's actually doing differently in her life now. Plus, we hear the legendary basketball coach Tara VanDerveer & Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi about growing up pre-Title IX.
Then, it's all about the Winter Games in Milano.
For the first time ever, women will compete in doubles luge, on the large hill in ski jumping, and in the longest distance in cross-country skiing, the 50km.
Let's talk a little history of women’s ski jumping (only added to the Olympics in 2014!) and the fights athletes are still fighting, literally fundraising to close the gender pay gap. And, of course, the messy politics of this Olympic cycle — from Russia’s ban in skiing to the FIS’s new confusing genetic sex testing policy.
And a new segment: 'Like we were saying...' with updates on a few things. And our Feisty Picks of the week.
Episode resources:
- Once Prohibited, Women’s Ski Jumping Is Set to Take Flight: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/30/magazine/winter-olympics-ski-jumping-women.html
- New reports on the IOC considering a ban on all trans athletes: https://www.thetimes.com/sport/olympics/article/olympic-ioc-transgender-athlete-ban-womens-sports-zhlpfll3b
- Project B Basketball League Says It Has No Saudi Funding: https://frontofficesports.com/project-b-womens-basketball-saudi-arabia/
- And Feisty Pick of the Week running through a blizzard: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQzZ5Q0gL2C/
Episode timestamps:
- 02:59 - Redemption at 70.3 World Championships
- 07:38 - So many ultra world records!
- 18:11 - Our report from the Female Athlete Research Meeting
- 28:22 - A few emerging fueling takeaways
- 37:36 - The history of women's ski jumping being excluded from the Olympics
- 46:40 - Sex testing in winter sports
- 01:04:00 - Feisty Picks of the Week
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Transcripts
All right, Feisties.
Speaker A:This is your favorite and feistiest women's sports show.
Speaker A:Why what's happening in your favorite sports is happening.
Speaker A:I'm Kelly o'.
Speaker B:Meara.
Speaker B:And I'm Sarah Gross.
Speaker B:And this week we are talking all things Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Speaker B:You might not be paying attention yet, but it's coming up real quick, and the athletes are definitely paying attention.
Speaker B:Kelly, I think it's insane.
Speaker B:Like, this is what we're going to talk about further down.
Speaker B:But how many sports have only recently just opened up to women in the winter sports?
Speaker B:Like, in the list of winter sports that we celebrate at the Olympics?
Speaker A:Yeah, I wonder.
Speaker A:I mean, we'll talk about it, but I wonder if it's more in winter than it was in summer.
Speaker A: s still adding, you know, the: Speaker A:Yeah, two Olympics ago.
Speaker A:And Olympics ago.
Speaker A:Um, but yeah, we'll talk about ski jumping, cross country, doubles luge.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:You were saying, like, you're not paying attention yet, but the athletes definitely are.
Speaker A:I was thinking about this while I was watching some figure skating this weekend, because all the points and everything, like, you don't really pay attention, but the athletes have to be, like, doing the calculating and how.
Speaker A:Which points and then like, they were showing, you know, the skate candidate grand point.
Speaker A:The qualification.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:To get the height of ranking.
Speaker A:Because skating is very limited.
Speaker A:Figure skating, like, there's a cap on how many athletes get to go as opposed to, like, some other sports.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker A:And so I'm watching, like, you know, Skate Canada Grand Prix, and the stands are, like, empty, and it's like, clear.
Speaker A:Like, this is not, you know, a big deal to us, but it's actually a really big deal.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I always think that's interesting how we don't pay attention until we pay lots and lots and lots of attention.
Speaker B:And then suddenly you're like an expert on the details of figure skating.
Speaker B:It is kind of funny.
Speaker A:So I was.
Speaker A:Besides figure skating this past weekend, what other highlights of the week do we have to tell our listeners about?
Speaker A:Sarah?
Speaker B:Okay, well, we have our own sport, triathlon, at the 7.3 world.
Speaker A:Do you still consider it your own sport?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Actually, not really.
Speaker B:But then I just kind of go, oh, our own sport.
Speaker B:Because I know that that's the way a lot of people think about me as a triathlete.
Speaker B:Because obviously, like, you can't be a pro for 14 years, you know, and then be like, oh, it's not.
Speaker B:It's not my sport.
Speaker B:Anymore.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Like, triathlon will forever in some ways be my sport, but really, I don't do triathlons, so I don't want to, like, imply that level of fitness to anyone.
Speaker A:There are some people who just like, move on, become a doctor, never think about triathlon again.
Speaker B:Yeah, I sort of feel.
Speaker B:I feel like I'm kind of in that category.
Speaker A:Except for the fact that you go to Kona every year for the world.
Speaker B:It'S kind of like.
Speaker B:No, but there is a hybrid to it.
Speaker B:Like, because I go to Kona, but also, as you know, I don't keep up on the race.
Speaker B:Like, I don't know, like, my ability to be a commentator on the Kona race, just, like, each year just gets less and less and less.
Speaker B:And I'm just more there for the vibes you're like.
Speaker A:So listen to our podcast.
Speaker A:But our sport was the half Ironman 70.3 World Championships this weekend, which I think is personally, this is an in the weeds take.
Speaker A:I think 70.3 worlds is the best race.
Speaker A:I think it's actually way more fun than Kona, than the Ironman World Championships, because you have the women race on one day and then the men race on the next day.
Speaker A:So everybody gets their own race.
Speaker A:But then there's like, it was 6,000 athletes this year all in, like, town together.
Speaker A:So people are watching each other.
Speaker A:So it's like.
Speaker A:It's just massive.
Speaker A:It's fun.
Speaker A:The way they've done it the last couple of years is also the end of this season, which I don't think is going to be the case next year.
Speaker A:So then it's kind of like a big party.
Speaker A:So I just.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:I think it's the best.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the way that the race played out was kind of crazy.
Speaker B:Like, no one knew what to expect, especially with Lucy and Taylor, who both had, like, collapsed, you know, just a few weeks ago in Kona.
Speaker B:Like, literally heat exhaustion on the pavement, being pulled from the race, did not finish.
Speaker B:And we didn't really know if they were able to recover in time for this.
Speaker B:And then we saw them just as if nothing happened, you know, going out head to head.
Speaker B:We had lucy ahead, like, 47 seconds on the swim, which there are some swimmers in the field who could have potentially stayed with her.
Speaker B:Nope, she's out front.
Speaker B:Taylor catches her up on the bike.
Speaker B:Like, as expected.
Speaker B:As if, you know, as if six weeks ago they didn't have massive medical problems, you know, or even not six weeks.
Speaker A:Four.
Speaker A:It's four weeks ago.
Speaker B:Four weeks ago.
Speaker A:And Taylor apparently didn't get the okay to race until Monday from like, her doctors and her coach.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:Yeah, that doesn't surprise me, actually.
Speaker B:And then we.
Speaker B:We finally saw, you know, when we were in Kona, Lucy described how she had had her first sort of full year of consistent run training because she found out fairly recently that she was celiac.
Speaker B:And, you know, once you're absorbing nutrients, you can.
Speaker B:Consistent run training.
Speaker B:And I think we finally saw that come to fruition and her like 1:17 half marathon, fastest half marathon ever in a.
Speaker B:In a 70.3 distance in the world.
Speaker A:There's been half faster ones, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker A:But I think at world Championships.
Speaker B:At world championships.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Uh, yeah.
Speaker A:People don't think of her as a runner and I think that's obviously not the case anymore.
Speaker A:Like, everyone's like, oh, well, she's going to get run down.
Speaker A:And they still in their head think of her as a, you know, just like a 3:10 marathoner.
Speaker A:But she clearly is much faster now.
Speaker A:I was, I was on the field, I was in the camp of like, I don't know, guys.
Speaker A:You can be messed up for a while after you've been.
Speaker A:After your core temperature has been that high for that long and you don't remember anything.
Speaker A:It can take a long time.
Speaker A:I was like, I don't know.
Speaker A:We'll see what happens.
Speaker A:I still am like, I hope they're okay.
Speaker A:I hope they're like gonna recover all winter.
Speaker A:But there's also the possibility that she was very.
Speaker A:They were both very, very fit going into Kona.
Speaker A:And then they heavily had to rest for like three weeks.
Speaker A:And now they're just like, actually still have that fitness because you don't actually lose fitness.
Speaker A:And then they're just like, they were just ready to go.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think that's absolutely the case.
Speaker B:Like, that's just basically what happened.
Speaker B:But I think, yeah, medically, we just weren't sure if they were going to.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:If they were risking anything really.
Speaker A:And you're like, I don't know.
Speaker A:I'm not like, it's one of those where I know both of them are like, a little frustrated about.
Speaker A:There's been a lot of speculation about them.
Speaker A:And you're kind of like, you get frustrated with other people talking out of their ass about you.
Speaker A:As I was like, I don't know.
Speaker A:Like, I don't know what the actual medical situation was.
Speaker A:I don't know what her doctor said.
Speaker A:I don't know where they're at.
Speaker A:I just know that Actual, Actual heat stroke.
Speaker A:Not just, you know, a lot of us are like, oh, I've had heat stroke at a race.
Speaker A:Like, no, the actual, like their core temperature was that high for that long.
Speaker A:They don't remember, like a solid hour or so.
Speaker A:That can really fuck you up.
Speaker A:That was all.
Speaker A:I'm just like, I know that can be.
Speaker A:We've had.
Speaker A:We've like known people that it's been really bad for.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But it was a very exciting race.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was very happy for them.
Speaker B:Watching Lucy celebrate at the finish line was.
Speaker B:Was really cool.
Speaker B:Just, I mean, she was clearly very excited to have that redemption.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker A:So it was an exciting race.
Speaker A:And in third place there was a first time 70.3 athlete who came over from kind of the Olympic racing Tanya Newbert.
Speaker A:So kudos all around in Marbella.
Speaker A:Um, the race is in Nice next year and then it's supposed to be back in the u. S. In 20.
Speaker A:Okay, seven.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So keep your eye.
Speaker A:That's that.
Speaker A:You heard it here first.
Speaker A:Rumors.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:The other race, the other thing, I was watching this or watching because you can't really watch it, but like watching on Instagram this weekend, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:There' race called the tunnel hill.
Speaker A:Called Tunnel Hill.
Speaker A:I guess it's an ultra, but it's like an ultra.
Speaker A:It's like what the Berlin marathon is for, ultra running where like people go to set records and they like, okay, you know, like, it's known to be fast.
Speaker A:People go there so they can set like fast times.
Speaker B:Flat.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's flat.
Speaker A:And I think there's pretty good weather.
Speaker A:And so there was a 50 mile world record, a hundred mile world record, and a 100k American record all set.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Same.
Speaker A:And they all start out together and then people just like stop at the.
Speaker A:Just so like it was just like record after record as people were crossing, which is kind of nuts.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:50 mile world record 5, 18, 57.
Speaker B:That's fast on a trail.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I. I think it's like more fire roady bike pathy.
Speaker A:Which is part of why, you know.
Speaker B:Trail underfoot, it's still.
Speaker A:And that was set by why am I. Ann Flower, who won Leadville earlier this year kind of and set the course record there.
Speaker A:Um, I was about to say on accident, she won it, but no, she like, she like went out there was like.
Speaker A:It was like her first hundred mile or whatever and she was like, oh, wow, I set a new course record.
Speaker B:It's never by accident.
Speaker A:It's never by accident.
Speaker B:Athletes work very Hard.
Speaker B:And they go in.
Speaker B:Even though sometimes it's.
Speaker B:I think it's like, culturally a thing that we do is we're like, oh, well, we underestimate how much work we've done.
Speaker B:And then we kind of go, oh, I didn't know.
Speaker B:I didn't expect to win.
Speaker B:And of course, you don't really.
Speaker B:Like, a lot of people don't go in thinking, I'm going to win, but do they think I could win?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:I think at, like, the top athletes, they.
Speaker A:They know if they can win or not.
Speaker A:They like, you know, you know, you.
Speaker B:Know, if you're kind of like, what's happening in training, right?
Speaker B:If you feel healthy enough, if you're.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, that was definitely my experience when I was going into a race thinking, like, if I.
Speaker B:If thinking that I had a shot at winning, right?
Speaker B:And typically those would be the ones that I'd be like, on the podium.
Speaker A:At least, you know, one of the.
Speaker A:In the 70.3 Worlds, one of the guys who has won 70.3 Worlds, half Ironman Worlds twice, and who was third at Ironman World Championships two months ago.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:So I thought he was gonna do well.
Speaker A:He, on the stage before the race said, oh, no, I'm not gonna win.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:I'm not in the place.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm glad to be up here.
Speaker A:But like, nope, this isn't my race.
Speaker A:And I was like, how?
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Like, what?
Speaker A:But I feel like if somebody said, like, I believed him.
Speaker A:And yeah, he got like 20th, like, so, like, I don't know.
Speaker A:I feel like the athletes, they know, though, they're like, all right.
Speaker B:Yeah, all right, it's true.
Speaker B:Did you know what is interesting?
Speaker A:Yeah, I was gonna say, what is interesting about these ultra records, because the girl who set the 100k American record, Courtney Olson, set the 50 mile record like a year or two ago that then was broken this time.
Speaker A:And so she had talked about when she said it, she had to pay for her own drug testing.
Speaker A:Like, to get it certified, you have to have drug testing.
Speaker B:Do you know how much they had to pay?
Speaker A:About $4,000.
Speaker B:$4,000.
Speaker A:It was like a couple thousand and it like.
Speaker A:And you win like 4,000 at the race or 5,000.
Speaker B:I was gonna say not that high at these.
Speaker B:These events.
Speaker A:The craziest part, I guess, is that, like, you have to like, okay, so to have a record ratified and certified, you have to meet certain.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It has to be like, on a certified course, which is why this particular Tunnel Hill races popular it has to, you know, meet all these different standards and then you have to like get the drug testing within a certain time period after you have finished.
Speaker A:So they had to set, she had to set it up.
Speaker A:And the closest like facility was something like, like a four or five hour drive away.
Speaker A:Because it's like, you know, all these races are not in the middle of big cities.
Speaker A:And so she, she was talking about this last year.
Speaker A:I don't know if they figured it out this year, but she had to get in the car right after and drive like five hours to go pay for a drug tester to test her.
Speaker B:What, in order to have.
Speaker A:Wait.
Speaker B:In order to get the record certified?
Speaker B:Yes, that.
Speaker B:So this is the, this is the decision that comes from the race organizer themselves or from.
Speaker A:No, no, from like the rat.
Speaker A:From like USATF or iaf.
Speaker A:Like the body that ratifies these world records.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like there are requirements around drug testing.
Speaker B:Okay, so if you set, if the, if the.
Speaker B:Okay, so is it the athletics federation that ratifies for.
Speaker B:Okay, so like if you, if you set a 100 meter.
Speaker B:I'm just taking an extreme example here.
Speaker B:If you set a 100 meter world record, right.
Speaker B:Presumably they have drug testing there because you're probably at like a world championships or Olympics or whatever.
Speaker B:But if you set a 50 mile record or 100 mile record at like an obscure race, then.
Speaker B:And the race organizer doesn't have drugs testing, you have to go and get it certified off your own time.
Speaker A:So that's what happened last year.
Speaker A:This year it was technically like the 50 mile national championships for USATF or whatever.
Speaker A:So maybe they actually had drug testers nearby this year since they knew one.
Speaker B:Would hope that we would stop a situation where these folks who work so hard in order to even just be there to make their $5,000 of prize money, does it have to.
Speaker B:Then they set a world record and then they have to pay out four grand to get it ratified.
Speaker B:Something seems off there.
Speaker B:So would you pay the money sorted.
Speaker A:That out or would you be like, no, I'm good with my unofficial record.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, I would, I would want it to be official.
Speaker B:You would want it to be official?
Speaker B:Yeah, but I still think that that's dumb.
Speaker B:Would you?
Speaker A:Yeah, probably.
Speaker A:I mean, you know, if you actually set the record, you want it to be like.
Speaker B:Yeah, you want.
Speaker A:I'm sure there's also like sponsor bonuses if you get a record.
Speaker A:So then it becomes like maybe there's a.
Speaker B:Worth it, maybe there's a break even.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It'S the best we could Hope for at this point.
Speaker B:I don't know, it's crazy.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Kelly, you also went to the Stanford female athlete research meeting last week.
Speaker A:Yes, I was gonna say another highlight of my women's in sports last week was.
Speaker A:So there's a consortium.
Speaker A:Sounds like an evil word, but there's a consortium.
Speaker B:It kind of does.
Speaker B:This is a good consortium.
Speaker A:A good consortium of schools and research facilities that are kind of all working on female athlete, women's health and sports research that's funded through the Wu Tsai Alliance.
Speaker A:So there, so there's one.
Speaker A:So there's a big conference every other year in Boston and then Stanford's one of the other big schools that's part of this.
Speaker A:And so they kind of put on a much smaller like a one day.
Speaker A:They just call it a meeting.
Speaker A:It's not really a conference.
Speaker A:It's like a one day.
Speaker A:And the idea is that you all these researchers come who are working on different projects so they can be like, hey, I'm working on this.
Speaker A:These are like it's definitely not paper publishable stuff.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:Yet like it's not.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I mean some of it is, but a lot of it's like pre published where you're like these are the preliminary results we've seen or like sharing ideas, working on.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Or they'll say like, well this is what we, these are the results we saw and this, they'll present it and then they'll be like and now we're going to study it in pregnant women or whatever.
Speaker A:Right, sure.
Speaker A:So it was really interesting.
Speaker A:So it was super interesting just to see like where things are at, you know, in different.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's like a real time update.
Speaker B:Like we used to like when I was doing my Ph.D. we would have kind of like regular meetings where people would present like sometimes come from all over of the UK to present the their current research and part of that's just to like actually have a dialogue between.
Speaker B:So if they can, if people can help each other or if there's stuff coming out of someone's research, they can and someone else is researching something adjacent to it which totally makes sense in like the women's health, women's sports performance.
Speaker A:And so they're kind of like all the topics.
Speaker A:You always hear these sort of like ACL tears obviously or ACL or mcl.
Speaker A:You know knee injuries are huge for female athletes still.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:But it's really funny because like, you know the people getting up to present on like cutting edge stuff are like how we're going to use Virtual reality to like train your brain and you know, developing a smartphone app to diagnose people who could be predisposed to injuries out of the field.
Speaker A:And you're like, okay, totally awesome.
Speaker A:Also the high school players down the street could probably do the prehab exercises we like already know.
Speaker B:Reduce injury risk.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:But that's more like dissemination of information than like the cutting edge information.
Speaker A:So there is some of that and that is definitely a theme for me sitting there with academics that like underlies a lot of it where I'm kind of like, oh man, guys, you probably should get out there and like.
Speaker A:Because of course they are out there, they're in the field, they work with world class athletes all the time.
Speaker A:But there's an amount where I think they don't talk to regular active training for a marathon type women.
Speaker A:Um, right, right.
Speaker B:But there's no one to like necessarily.
Speaker B:This would be actually be an interesting study and maybe someone is doing it like to quantify how well female athlete information specifically is being shared down, down the track downstream to say the high school level.
Speaker A:There's one.
Speaker A:So one of the themes that underlines a lot of active young women these days is a distrust of doctors, a distrust of science, and particularly birth control is like falling off a cliff, which is like a leading edge in like I don't care if you're on birth control or not.
Speaker A:But it's like a leading edge indicator because historically like 24 year old women who were like very active runners or professional athletes did not want to be pregnant.
Speaker A:And they're getting a lot of messages now and this has been well documented in like mainstream publications.
Speaker A:But there was a paper there too about like TikTok.
Speaker A:They're getting a lot of messages from social media and like those are heavily, heavily anti hormone and anti birth control.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so there was a couple of papers about that.
Speaker A:But there was, but it also popped up just in some of the stats like somebody you know had just, you go out and you try and find people for a study, you know, and so somebody had gone out and just recruited, you know, 200 semi like active runners which ends up being like semi elite runners because they wanted them to be running at least four times a week.
Speaker A:And it was like 42% were not on any birth control and only 10% were on the pill.
Speaker A:Which is again, it's not, that's not a judgment, that's just that the pill used to be incredibly popular.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I would like, to me that number was just like shocking in terms of how that has shifted.
Speaker B:Right, I see.
Speaker B:So you think so did they have previous stats of how, like, what kind of percentage were on birth control before?
Speaker B:Because there could be a certain percentage that aren't sex.
Speaker B:That aren't sexually active or also aren't necessarily, like, straight or have, like, just different factors.
Speaker A:Different factors.
Speaker A:And, like, and they weren't.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:What I just thought was interesting was they didn't recruit for that.
Speaker A:They just recruited for active young.
Speaker A:Like, they just recruited for active runners, and then they ended up with an average age of 28 or whatever.
Speaker A:And then this was a side effect.
Speaker A:Whereas, like, historically, when you polled and you just surveyed, you didn't, you know, recruit for running.
Speaker A:You just surveyed active women in their 20s.
Speaker A:Those numbers were almost reverse.
Speaker A:So I just find that very interesting.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I know we talked about this before, but I know that you're someone who the pill has worked very well for.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I've been totally fine on it.
Speaker A:So I know, like, a lot of people have super bad side effects.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And this came up the year that I was at the female athlete conference, so that's probably two and a half years ago now.
Speaker B:But I remember someone presenting essentially what came across as, like, the pill is awesome.
Speaker B:Like, and I remember.
Speaker B:I also remember someone coming up from the crowd and kind of asking the question, like, which would be my question, because I had super bad side effects from the pill, right?
Speaker B:Like, one of them being, like, depression.
Speaker B:But I also had other physiological reactions that were really terrible.
Speaker B:And so I kind of, like, I have that level of understanding of why.
Speaker B:Then, like, those of us who had those bad reactions started speaking up.
Speaker B:And then that distrust, Like, I know where that distrust comes from.
Speaker B:So essentially, this person, like, asked the question, okay, but what about the fact that, like, we know from people's stories that the pill has affected people in this.
Speaker B:This.
Speaker B:This way.
Speaker B:And I remember them not really having an answer.
Speaker A:Like, yeah.
Speaker A:And they're very.
Speaker B:Did that come up at all?
Speaker A:Well, that's what I.
Speaker A:Like, that's what, like, was very frustrating is like, there's this undercurrent to me, just like, you know, going to a lot of these research, listening to a lot, talking to, like, our coworkers, this undercurrent.
Speaker A:But then, like, the woman who did her TikTok presentation, everyone's just like, oh, that's terrible.
Speaker A:People are getting their information from TikTok.
Speaker A:Instead of being like, well, why don't we go and meet people?
Speaker A:Or just being like, oh, that's terrible.
Speaker A:People are, you know, or when I asked the woman, like, wow, that's like, a lot of people not on birth control.
Speaker A:Did you, like, ask?
Speaker A:They're like, oh, I don't know.
Speaker A:Maybe there's just.
Speaker A:Maybe it's just something happening.
Speaker A:Like, there's not a question.
Speaker A:Like, they're not meeting people where they're at.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:And they're not listening.
Speaker A:Like, you're saying.
Speaker A:A lot of people set were saying, like, I had really bad side effects.
Speaker A:I had this.
Speaker A:And now I think there's actually like, a lot more pill options and a lot more variety.
Speaker A:And that's like, part of.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But they haven't gone back and, like, readdress those issues.
Speaker A:They've just been like, oh.
Speaker A:Cause the other one that comes up all the time, and this came up is cycle.
Speaker A:Cycle syncing, or like, training with your cycle.
Speaker A:And the researchers get up there and they're like, oh, no, no, There is no.
Speaker A:There is no study, like, academic research that shows this.
Speaker A:There's no correlation.
Speaker A:No research proves that this is a thing.
Speaker A:And then they'll say, but women really feel like it makes a difference.
Speaker A:But, you know, women, like.
Speaker A:And like, there are women.
Speaker A:These are women presenting.
Speaker A:So they literally will say, like, oh, well, athletes feel like there's a difference, but.
Speaker A:But there's not.
Speaker A:And you're like, well, this is why they feel ignored.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So to me, that's like this undercurrent, you know, that's like.
Speaker B:I definitely feel like there could have been some subtle shifts.
Speaker B:Like, I don't know whether, like, cycle sinking goes down its own dark hole, you know, that very quickly.
Speaker A:Interpret birth control stuff online.
Speaker B:I'm sure super quickly.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker B:So, like, by talking about cycle sinking, I'm not saying, like, women should rest for two months of.
Speaker B:Two months, two weeks out of every month.
Speaker B:Like in the.
Speaker B:The luteal phase, like, that's not whatever, but like, actually, if we had.
Speaker B:If I had more information, I do feel like I would have got stronger.
Speaker B:Big, big training days and known when to rest a little bit more.
Speaker B:If we just in a subtle way, like, taken into account my cycle.
Speaker B:And I know that, like, over.
Speaker B:Especially as an elite athlete, like, over months, years.
Speaker B:And then the years added up.
Speaker B:It would have added up.
Speaker B:I just have no doubts about that.
Speaker B:So I feel like I wish they were taking it just slightly more seriously in terms of, like, how that could comp.
Speaker A:Instead, they do get.
Speaker A:You do get a lot of like, oh, well, the media has talked about cycle syncing, and you're like, right.
Speaker A:Is that what's happening?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So that was.
Speaker A:That part is frustrating.
Speaker A:It is super interesting, obviously, that there's all this money going into, like, female athlete research now because that the idea is that it'll trickle down to some degree to like, just healthy lifestyle and women.
Speaker A:And it's good that, like, there are these, like, totally different in the research world, totally different fields talking to each other.
Speaker A:Like, that didn't happen before.
Speaker A:So those things are all good, I'll tell you.
Speaker A:So you want to know the two actual practical.
Speaker B:Yeah, so, yeah, I do want to know, like, some of the good things that.
Speaker B:Because we just, like, we were just like down on academia.
Speaker B:But actually there's some really cool things happening.
Speaker B:I love that they're studying this.
Speaker A:So, like, yeah, stuff was super interesting, but like I said, like, that's very cutting edge.
Speaker A:Or like, you know, they're hoping to roll out kind of by the next World Cup.
Speaker A:Some of this, like, new shoes, smartphone app type stuff.
Speaker A:What I thought.
Speaker A:So there was a whole thing about a whole segment about new research being done in fueling, which wasn't just like, seriously, eat more, which obviously is still very much true.
Speaker A:So the two things I actually took away was one, I should be eating more fermented foods.
Speaker B:Fermented foods?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Because this is like, again, you can take this in a weird direction on TikTok, I'm sure, and try and sell people stuff.
Speaker A:But the actual microbiome experts will tell you that the microbiome has massively decreased.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker A:Like, since we kind of got away from hunting and gathering.
Speaker A:And then as our strains of food, like, got smaller, like, you know, there used to be 40 kinds of apples and now there's like six kinds of apples.
Speaker A:Like that kind of.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so they can measure the microbiome over centuries and, like.
Speaker A:And the only way to, like, bring back more bacteria to your microbiome and improve the.
Speaker A:Is to eat fermented foods.
Speaker A:Not, like probiotics.
Speaker B:Probiotics, not probiotics.
Speaker B:Okay, interesting.
Speaker B:Because I have taken probiotics before because of that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Actually, it's interesting that I just, for some reason.
Speaker B:These are the interesting thoughts I have in the morning.
Speaker B:I woke up this morning with, like, that was really good kimchi I had in Kona, and I just left it there in the fridge and I didn't eat the rest of it, so.
Speaker A:So now they're studying it.
Speaker A:They're studying, like, fermented foods in pregnant women and if that passes it on to the baby.
Speaker A:But anyway, this is like, pretty well documented, maybe don't go crazy, but fermented foods.
Speaker A:So I was like, oh, maybe I should eat more.
Speaker A:More.
Speaker A:And the second one, I'm take that tip too.
Speaker B:You're gonna take that tip too?
Speaker A:Second one was.
Speaker A:And again, this is one again where like people can go off a cliff, but lot of evidence around.
Speaker A:Like we would call it time restricted eating or like limiting your food window not to eating like around the clock 24 hours a day, but to 10 hours a day.
Speaker B:This is like their eight hours a day, their word for intermittent fasting, right?
Speaker A:They call it like limited.
Speaker A:Like instead of eating super late at night and super early morning, like limiting it to a window.
Speaker A:And then somebody brought up the problem, of course, is that when you start to do that, if you're training heavily, you simply are not getting in enough calories, right?
Speaker A:Like if you're limiting your window of eating to like six or eight hours a day or something, you will end up fucking yourself because you like, I.
Speaker B:Had, I had trouble eating enough food just.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:During the 24 hour period where I was allowed to eat at any time I wanted.
Speaker A:And that's like more important.
Speaker A:That is the number one thing you should do, right?
Speaker A:So somebody did ask like, well, for athletes, like when we're trying to get them, especially like women, it ends up being like, they don't eat enough.
Speaker A:Then what is like the minimum amount of time that you could like that you still get benefits.
Speaker A:And he was like, 12 hours.
Speaker A:Like everyone sees benefits if you limit your like to a 12 hour window, right?
Speaker A:If you eat between like 8am and 8pm or whatever.
Speaker A:Just because it like utilizes more systems in your body, it has better sleep.
Speaker A:So anyway, I was like, I'm gonna try that.
Speaker A:So I've been trying just to not eat, which basically means for me just like not having another beer after 8pm or like not eating like extra ice.
Speaker B:Cream after 8pm what your normal schedul ritual is.
Speaker B:Because I definitely do 12 hours without trying on most days.
Speaker B:But so you would have like a late night beer or ice cream that is like going into your 12 hour window.
Speaker A:And then obviously the other caveat there is like, if you're gonna work out in the morning, you like probably should still.
Speaker A:Like, if you're like, I also don't tend to work out at like 6 or 7am so it's not an issue for me.
Speaker A:If you're somebody who's like working out at seven, then it's like maybe your window is more like seven to seven.
Speaker A:Anyway, the point is don't take it crazy cuz again people can like go off a cliff and it causes more.
Speaker A:But I, but I've been trying to like limit myself a little bit to.
Speaker B:8 to 8 and this 12 hour thing, this is for actual athletes, like endurance athletes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So he was say so the re.
Speaker A:So again this is somebody who like literally researches the biology, the med.
Speaker A:Like on a molecular level of time restricted eating and they've like studied it in females and males and like with a fat heavy diet and a protein heavy diet and like then they measured performance and this is like preliminary like they, that is well documented and then they're doing preliminary research on like performance in mice and making them run on these like different time restricted.
Speaker A:And the point is yeah like you don't want you, you can really take it too far.
Speaker A:But if you want to actually for athletes his direct quote was everyone sees benefits at a 12 hour window.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because it's super easy for me.
Speaker B:One hour a day exerciser.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Where it gets harder is like previous forms of me that was like six hour a day exerciser.
Speaker A:And I think professional athletes probably may be the exception to this.
Speaker A:But then again like professional athletes are not doing a lot of things that are healthy overall.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Fair.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So anyway that's my.
Speaker A:I've been trying not to eat after like 8pm Mostly.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And how would you, how would you quantify like the state of research overall, the female athlete research like coming out of the meeting, what were the concluding comments from the people in the know?
Speaker A:Historically I think like historically it's been like oh this is not something we've spent any time on.
Speaker A:And then all of the research was kind of on relative energy deficiency in sport and like what historically had been called like eating disorders.
Speaker A:And that's been like the bulk of research for a long time.
Speaker A:And I think now we're starting to actually get research in like other things.
Speaker A:Like that's what I liked about like this fueling research was not just about like reds.
Speaker A:It was like here's other things.
Speaker B:Oh I'm so happy that so.
Speaker A:But there also is some cool things where like we heard from some pioneers and so we have this clip at the very end of the kind of the meeting, the day meeting.
Speaker A:We had this whole session with these like just women who had been like pioneers in their fields.
Speaker A:And so we're going to hear from Tara Vandeveer who's the second winningest coach in NCAA history, she's the Stanford basketball coach.
Speaker A:And Carolyn Bertozzi who is a Nobel laureate for Stanford.
Speaker A:And here's a fun story.
Speaker A:When she won the Nobel, Stanford was like, oh, there's a tradition when you win a Nobel Prize.
Speaker A:You, like, come to a football game and you're honored.
Speaker A:And she was like, okay, that's cool.
Speaker A:But like, what about going to a women's sports game too?
Speaker A:And they were like, huh?
Speaker A:No one's ever asked because apparently no woman had ever won a Nobel there before.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker B:Okay, so anyway, did they add a women's event for her?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So then she went to women's basketball because that's a big thing at Stanford.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I just thought that was fun.
Speaker A:But they both, both grew up playing sports kind of pre title 9 and justice title 9 was going into effect.
Speaker A:And so they talked about just like what it was like then and like how far we have come since then.
Speaker C:Athletics is.
Speaker C:Has been my life, period.
Speaker C:I grew up playing sports.
Speaker C:There was no title nine at the times.
Speaker C:And so I was always watching boys play.
Speaker C:And it was so painful because they'd say, well, Tara, you're the best basketball player in the ninth grade.
Speaker C:The boys coach wrote that my yearbook, and I never got to play on a team.
Speaker C:It started out like there were no women's teams.
Speaker C:There were no, there was no trainers for women.
Speaker C:Like when I played at Indiana, we had an eight game regular season schedule.
Speaker C:I sprained my ankle.
Speaker C:I was out for half the season.
Speaker C:I mean, it was, There was nothing that surprised.
Speaker C:Supported women in any way, shape or form at all.
Speaker D:So, you know, that was the kind of world I came into as a scientist.
Speaker A:And so I think the way that.
Speaker D:Women, you know, Tara, you described not having an opportunity, not having a team.
Speaker C:That you were allowed to join.
Speaker D:It's kind of like that for scientists, you know, of my generation, there were just labs you couldn't join.
Speaker B:They wouldn't hire you.
Speaker D:Categorically.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker D:And of course, what was sad about that is that we lost generation after generation after generation, generation of potential science leadership, just the way athletics lost a lot of potential, you know, female leaders.
Speaker D:Fortunately, you know, slowly things have changed and opportunities grew.
Speaker D:And I, I was really lucky because I came into my young adulthood just at a time when those doors were opening.
Speaker D:It was.
Speaker D:I wasn't a good enough athlete, you know, I think, to look for those kinds of doors.
Speaker D:Although, yes, I did get rid of, recruited to Harvard to play soccer, and that's a whole other story.
Speaker D:But I was able to kind of break my way into opportunities in the chemical sciences.
Speaker D:And when I was in high school, I was on a soccer team that.
Speaker D:My first two years of high school, we had a girls team and a boys team.
Speaker D:So we had a girls team.
Speaker D:They had started a team just a few years before I went to high school.
Speaker D:But the girls team had no uniforms.
Speaker D:We didn't, we weren't allowed to play on the soccer field of the high school with the nets and everything.
Speaker D:We were sent, you know, a mile down the street to some big dust bowl and some abandoned parking lot with weeds sticking out of pavements, with orange cones as goals instead of nets.
Speaker D:And that's how that was my team for the first two years of high school.
Speaker D:But then all of a sudden, in my third year of high school, coach satisfied.
Speaker D:He says, I have some amazing news.
Speaker D:The school has to buy new uniforms to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:Okay, Kelly.
Speaker B:I kind of teared up right at the end there when Carolyn described about getting the new kits.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Like, I had, I don't think I had ever thought in those terms of like actually being a child when Title 9 came into effect and being on a sports team and suddenly, and having so few opportunities are obviously noticing that, like, you don't have the same shit that the boys team does and then suddenly being like, you get, you get.
Speaker A:A uniform, you get a uniform too.
Speaker B:You know, and that of course is more than that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, you probably get.
Speaker B:You might get a proper change room or a proper field to play on or court or whatever that is.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I found that a little emotional, honestly.
Speaker A:Yeah, I was thinking about it after because I.
Speaker A:There was another woman who's like the head of the hospital there who's talking and it's just like, man, that was not that long ago.
Speaker A:And they all talk about how lucky they were that they came of age when things were starting to change.
Speaker A:And I was like, that doesn't sound that lucky to me.
Speaker B:Like, man, yeah, but I mean, that's a perspective thing.
Speaker B:Like, I don't think, I don't think you get as far as they've got in life without having some sense of like both gratitude and acceptance of the way things are and that moving forward to make things better.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Which obviously when we talked to Natalie Grabow, who is the 80 year old, who is the first 80 year old to finish Ironman World Championships, she was like, yeah, I didn't get to do any sports and then I got to start running in my 40s.
Speaker A:And you're like, that's crazy.
Speaker A:But obviously you just kind of roll with it.
Speaker B:You're like, that's wildly Inspiring.
Speaker B:And she's like, I just liked running.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then I wanted to.
Speaker B:And then I needed to learn how to swim because I wanted to do a triathlon.
Speaker B:So I got to learn how to, to swim.
Speaker B:I bought a book.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, she did.
Speaker B:She bought a book and learned how to swim.
Speaker B:Like so.
Speaker A:So there is something to these because, to me.
Speaker A:And it's also why I have no patience in our sports.
Speaker A:In triathlon or any of the sports that like we've done advocacy and, or worked for.
Speaker A:These arguments now for the like.
Speaker A:Well, if we give women the space, then it'll take it away from men.
Speaker A:That's what they said about the goddamn soccer fields back then too.
Speaker B:They say things, they, they, they say the same things over and over and don't even realize that the same arguments are being regurgitated.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A: So you sound like a: Speaker A:Just so you know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:I mean we've seen it even on our social media where people come on and we'll say like we'll be celebrating some female athlete or, or at the same time as celebrating also saying all of the things that were working against them.
Speaker B:You know, like all the hurdles they had to overcome.
Speaker B:And invariably someone comes in, not always a man, like, gender, not specific with.
Speaker B:Well, you should just be glad to be able to be there.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:You know, like.
Speaker B:Oh man.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Which brings us to the Winter Olympics this year.
Speaker A:There are a few things that women are finally getting a chance in the Winter Olympics.
Speaker A:Doubles luge.
Speaker A:So the two people on the sled going down the.
Speaker A:That was my gesture, my motion, in.
Speaker B:Case you didn't know what doubles lose.
Speaker A:Skeleton is on your stomach, luge is on your back.
Speaker A:Anyway.
Speaker B:Okay, that's good, that's.
Speaker A:And double slouch.
Speaker A:They are also finally getting to race the longest race in cross country skiing, the 50 kilometer, which is like a pretty big deal in cross country skiing universe.
Speaker A:Cuz there's some pretty epic women and they've never gotten to race longer than 30k, which is crazy.
Speaker A:And then they are the ski jumpers.
Speaker A:The ski jumpers are finally getting to go down the same hill as the men.
Speaker B:Finally.
Speaker B:The thing that.
Speaker B:Okay, the things that.
Speaker B:The thing that blows me away about the ski jumping.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Is that like in the.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:In some sports there's like a bigger.
Speaker B:Would you call it like biological advantage.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:For men, like you have like a, like a VO2 max factor or like a pure strength factor, like with weightlifting or something like that, that like actually like it like, biologically makes the men, like, a certain percentage on average better.
Speaker B:Right, whatever.
Speaker B:Like the best male in the world versus.
Speaker B:But like, with ski jumping.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Besides, like, just like, pure weight.
Speaker B:It's such a skill sport.
Speaker B:Besides the fact that, like, kind of culturally, we don't raise our girls to be.
Speaker B:To have that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or to, like, the risk involved, like, those kinds of things.
Speaker B:But there's like, a lot of cultural factors that go into, like, how you might choose your sports and ski jumping might not be at the top of your list and less so for a girl.
Speaker B:But like this.
Speaker B:That really nothing stopping.
Speaker B:Like, I don't.
Speaker B:Somebody could come back at me with like, oh, here's the.
Speaker B:Here's the.
Speaker A:I mean, the waist definitely, but, like.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, the weight is for sure.
Speaker B:Weight for sure.
Speaker A:But they're not like.
Speaker A:But the ski.
Speaker A:Male ski jumpers are not like, the biggest athletes ever because you also still have to be, like, aerodynamic.
Speaker B:Aerodynamic fast and all that.
Speaker B:They could be this if they were the same size.
Speaker B:It feels like that once the women's sports develop.
Speaker B:Sorry, the women's side of the sport develops a little further, which, as we're going to talk about, like, it's been massively held back.
Speaker B:You could see those numbers getting closer, I would think.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So one of the women.
Speaker A:So one of the things about ski jumping is that the top women have also always had to be, like, advocates, like, starting GoFundMes and petitions and like.
Speaker A:And so one of the women who actually had to, like, sign a lawsuit to, like, get ski jumping finally in the Olympics, back in the.
Speaker B:Lindsey van.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, so I was gonna say she had the overall record at the Vancouver ski.
Speaker A:Because there's obviously only so many of these ski hills in the world, and she had the record at.
Speaker A:In Vancouver for a long time, so.
Speaker B:The overall record.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So clearly.
Speaker B:Oh, I don't know.
Speaker B:But she did that goes to my point.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Okay, so we're on to something here.
Speaker B:I just made that up off the top of my head, by the way.
Speaker B:So I like that.
Speaker B:I'm right.
Speaker B:We're gonna see women beating the men at some point at.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like now they still.
Speaker A:Men still ski jump further.
Speaker A:It's very, very big in Europe.
Speaker A:Like, it's actually like a very prestigious.
Speaker A:Not prestigious, but, like, on TV and, like, big.
Speaker A:So it's been a thing when they've, like, added women's ski jumping now that, like, if anybody remembers this, like, last winter, there was this whole drama where, like, at one of the big events, the men won $10,000, whatever the equivalent was $20,000.
Speaker A:And the women won like a washing machine.
Speaker A:It was something.
Speaker A:It was like, oh, yeah, it was like, what?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But it was.
Speaker A:But, you know, wherever this was in Germany or Austria, and they were like, well, we're letting the women jump now.
Speaker A:You know, that's not the sports.
Speaker A:Not.
Speaker A:It's not up there yet.
Speaker B:You should be thankful.
Speaker A:You should be thankful.
Speaker B:Thankful to even be jumping, ladies.
Speaker A:So ski jumping has been this, like, weird remnant.
Speaker A: dn't get in the Olympics till: Speaker A:So it's not been in the Olympics for that long.
Speaker A:That took literally, like suing the governing.
Speaker A:The fist governing body.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So didn't.
Speaker B:Okay, so Lindsey Van sued like the organizing committee for the Vancouver Olympics and then lost because, like, basically the situation was not governed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Speaker B:So like, and I.
Speaker B:We've seen this with other sports related lawsuits is.
Speaker B:It's like whether the, like, who they sue and in what country and how you get changed there is actually like, kind of difficult to like, understand it.
Speaker B:Unpack.
Speaker B:And like, people can be like, well, it's not us that decided.
Speaker B:It's the Fed Federation.
Speaker B:It's not us.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker B:It's not our.
Speaker A:We didn't, we didn't do that yet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So she did.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anyway, they did sue.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they sued under Canadian law in Vancouver.
Speaker A:But then like, yeah, it wasn't governed by Canadian law, so too bad.
Speaker A:But that did kind of impetus and they finally got into the Sochi, but they still had massive inequality because it wasn't.
Speaker A: when they didn't get in until: Speaker A:Oh, right.
Speaker A:Like the landing.
Speaker A:Because.
Speaker A:Okay, they're baby making because like the whole problem or the whole issue.
Speaker B:Uteruses will fall out.
Speaker A:Uteruses will fall out.
Speaker A:Has been that, like, you jump off this hill, you, if you go fast enough, you actually literally, like hang in the air.
Speaker A:People talk to say it's like, you know, amazing.
Speaker A:But then you land and the act.
Speaker A:Like, they've measured the forces.
Speaker A:The forces are quite a lot with the landing.
Speaker A:And so there's been this like, oh, women's bodies, they can't handle the landing, the forces.
Speaker B:But like, how did, how did that argument maintain itself?
Speaker B:Like, until a decade ago they were like, it's not.
Speaker A:I mean, I think, I think to a degree it's the same.
Speaker A:So we have like big surfing competitions here and women weren't allowed in for a really long time.
Speaker A:But they would say like, well, it's not that we're not allowing women, it's that it would be unsafe for them.
Speaker A:They're not prepared, they would get hurt.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So there's like some kind of.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B: So you, you said so in: Speaker B:In Milan we're going to have like a bigger ski jump essentially for the women and they're going to actually kind.
Speaker A:Of go off the big jump.
Speaker B:The big jump.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So some of these arguments are really just coming to a close.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because previously they would have gone off a smaller one.
Speaker B:And I'm guessing that because we've seen the same arguments over and over again, like we've talked about.
Speaker B:So I can guess what they are, which is like that the women's field is not prepared for the bigger hill.
Speaker B:And now they're ready.
Speaker A:Apparently now they're ready.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It was the whole like, oh, they haven't developed.
Speaker A:We'd love to have women, but, you know, they're just not ready.
Speaker A:It would.
Speaker A:There is for their own good.
Speaker A:It's not safe.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, the interesting thing for me is like we had like the first kind of recorded woman ski jumper.
Speaker B: It was from: Speaker B:She was like this 16 year old Norwegian and she, and her, her like distance wasn't recorded, but like there was not a women's smaller jump set up.
Speaker B:I'm assuming.
Speaker B:I'm just making some assumptions here because she's the first one like known that she went on the men's and she got through it and she did not lose her uterus.
Speaker B: have just gone off of that in: Speaker A:They'Re good, they're fine.
Speaker A:It's fine.
Speaker B:Fine.
Speaker A:It's fine.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So kudos though.
Speaker A:They have been doing like they have had to and I, I think we both know it's exhausting to try and compete and also advocate for yourself, but they have had to do that.
Speaker A:Even like last year they were like, go funding prize money to have like equal prize money at World Cups.
Speaker A:So now they finally get to go down the big hill at the Olympics in February.
Speaker A:We should say, I guess we should say at the top.
Speaker A:The Olympics start February 6th in Milan, Cortina and the Paralympics start March 6th right after.
Speaker A:So there's not like a big gap like there was last year.
Speaker A:And it's in.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's in Milan, slash Cortina, which I believe is just like nearby in Italy.
Speaker A:So there's been a lot of news coming out Though I was gonna say it's in Italy.
Speaker A:So apparently a bunch of the US Athletes are concerned that people don't like Americans right now.
Speaker B:Are you surprised, Kelly?
Speaker B:I'm like, oh, that's a shame.
Speaker B:But not as much like I said before, not as much as we dislike the Russians.
Speaker B:So the bar is kind of low between like doping violations, wars.
Speaker A:I know they're letting us compete.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But they literally.
Speaker A:Skiing is not allowing Russians at all.
Speaker A:All other.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:So since the Ukrainian invasion, Russian athletes have had to petition to be neutral athletes.
Speaker A:There's like an acronym for it, but it's like individual authorized neutral athlete.
Speaker A:And to do that they have to like prove that they're like not pro the invasion.
Speaker A:It's a whole really weird like the woman who just won the gymnastics all around, people like she had to like withdraw from running for her like local city council and people were like, well, she posted on Facebook like a year ago that she was in of the invasion and that was going to like negate.
Speaker A:I think the argument is that they don't want athletes who are going to use it as like a platform.
Speaker A:And also they're trying to draw a line between like athletes who have lived abroad forever and or like have nothing to do with it.
Speaker A:But that does get really weird.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:When you're sitting there judging, like if someone's.
Speaker B:I was going to say, like fill out a survey.
Speaker B:How.
Speaker A:How does that work exactly?
Speaker B:How do you guarantee that someone's not for the invasion?
Speaker A:And it's also like in.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Russia obviously views this as like very persecuting of their athletes.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker A:So it's left up to every sport what they want to do.
Speaker A:And skiing, which oversees snowboarding, downhill skiing, ski jumping, cross country, all those things.
Speaker A:Biathlon has decided.
Speaker A:No Russian athletes.
Speaker B:None.
Speaker A:None.
Speaker B:Not even now.
Speaker A:Can they.
Speaker B:Sorry, they can't even qualify under the NIA or whatever it is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That we just talked about.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Ain.
Speaker B:Huh?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like in, in Paris we saw like the non affiliated athletes competing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And obviously like figure skating is the big one that you see them competing at.
Speaker A:But yeah.
Speaker A:So skiing.
Speaker B:So there's still some time.
Speaker B:It's for appeals and stuff like that to happen.
Speaker B:So we might still see some athletes competing under a non Russian flag.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:There's the Russian.
Speaker A:This is where I guess, right.
Speaker A:The Russian Federation is suing the skiing federation to allow their athletes to compete as non Russian athletes.
Speaker A:It's all very like, like, that's where you're like, okay, this is weird, but yeah.
Speaker B:But the Russian Federation should be defending the needs of their athletes.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker B:It seems weird, but not.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, that should be their job.
Speaker A:So we'll see what happens with that.
Speaker A:But yeah, it'd be weird to have no Russian because the other thing about the Winter Olympics is there's only six sports governing bodies, which is actually very few because, like, it's so condensed in sports.
Speaker A:So if one whole governing body has decided no Russian athletes, that's like.
Speaker B:And it's skiing.
Speaker B:So that's a huge number of the actual events.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:The other thing skiing and snowboarding announced was that they are going to start doing the sry gene gender testing.
Speaker A:The track and fielded.
Speaker A:There's been.
Speaker A:It's really weird, though, because they decided this at their meeting like a month ago, but then at the same one, they decided no Russian athletes, but then they did announce a timeline and then they recently, like last week announced that they're going to implement it starting for the 26, 27 World cup season.
Speaker A:So it won't be implemented for the Olympics.
Speaker A:But the US Is already, like, trying to, like, round people up and implement the tests.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Like, that's how I read it too, that the.
Speaker B:The US Was trying to identify athletes who need to take eligibility tests, which is to compete as a female, which is like, what now?
Speaker B:Okay, now you're asking.
Speaker B:I mean, we've seen this in other sports.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:But now are the athletes themselves, like, dubbing in other athletes who they think might have a.
Speaker B:Some kind of genetic advantage?
Speaker A:I read it that way, too.
Speaker A:But then I think, Sarah, that they actually just meant that they're trying, you know, how track implemented it so last minute.
Speaker A:And then there are all these athletes were all over the world and they couldn't find a place to do the test.
Speaker A:And in some countries it's banned.
Speaker A:Like, that kind of testing is against the law.
Speaker A:So I actually think what the US Was trying to say was that they're trying to find out which athletes need help getting the test and like, helping them find the.
Speaker A:That's what I think they were trying to say was that they're trying to identify which athletes have already had the test and which athletes need to find a facility.
Speaker A:Like, they're trying to support them.
Speaker A:But the way it read was we're trying to find out who's not a woman.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:I just like, oh, my God.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B: Ski Federation looking at the: Speaker B:And I was like, that's great because we won't have the same problems we had with track and field where athletes were like, kind of screw.
Speaker B:Screwing up their whole prep because they had to go, like, go find a test and get this thing done.
Speaker B:And then it was like, except the US who are like, going to try to implement it now.
Speaker B:Like, oh, damn.
Speaker A:I think, Yeah.
Speaker A:I think both that they're.
Speaker A:I think they were trying actually just to, like, get ahead of it and like, make sure everybody has the resources they need.
Speaker A:I also think I told you this, that they're trying to make the, like, gesture to the political climate that, like.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah, we're on it.
Speaker A:Please don't rescind our funding.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, because technically, yes, the president issued this, like, executive order, which are not legally binding and we don't have to follow executive orders, but people just like, do anyway.
Speaker A:And so they're trying to say, like, oh, yeah, we're doing that.
Speaker A:Don't worry, we're on, like, because, because there's been so many, so many issues where like, like, you know, all of Harvard had their funding pulled and like, the Olympic, like the USOPC obviously doesn't want that to happen.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:In the next two months.
Speaker A:Because that would be bad.
Speaker B:Yes, I know.
Speaker B:I don't like us.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Why don't, why don't they like the Americans right now?
Speaker B:Kelly?
Speaker B:It's a mystery.
Speaker B:I just, I can't.
Speaker B:With the sex testing.
Speaker B:I'm just, it's.
Speaker B:I'm very tired of sex testing.
Speaker B:Well, just the entire, this entire environment, which, like, it just feels like you put first of all, like, nature can't even create a line.
Speaker B:We've talked about this a million times.
Speaker B:But nature can't even create a line between male and female.
Speaker B:But now we're going to ask science to.
Speaker B:And invariably, like, whatever line you choose ends up being like, a limit on women's potential.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So for the men, it feels like sport then just continues to be this, like, how, how high, how far, how fast?
Speaker B:Like biolog.
Speaker B:Any biological advantage that you might have is okay.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because you're a guy.
Speaker B:Whereas, like in.
Speaker B:On the women's side, we're just like, you know, we change every decade.
Speaker B:What the test is.
Speaker B:First of all, right?
Speaker B:So that on women's side, we're like, we're going to arbitrarily.
Speaker B:We need to protect women's sports.
Speaker B:So we're going to arbitrarily decide, like, what a line between and not arbitrarily.
Speaker B:But they're going to try to use some science to protect women's sports.
Speaker B:But invariably you end up then like, limiting women's potential.
Speaker B:Like, it's all based in this.
Speaker B:It's all like how it becomes like.
Speaker A:Oh, you're too good, that's suspicious type of thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Of like this, like, it kind of just puts this whole environment around women's sports that like, if you're not, you know, that they need to be protected.
Speaker B:Why do they need to be protected?
Speaker B:Because somehow the special category, the special subcategory of sport that like, is going to.
Speaker B:You're going to have this huge advantage if you're like a man.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That it just, it just feels ick to me.
Speaker A:Of course it's ick.
Speaker A:It doesn't feel ick.
Speaker A:It is ick.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Because it also is like using.
Speaker A:I was, I was at an event, like a non us work, like my husband's work event a couple weeks ago, and somebody's asking me what I do.
Speaker A:I was trying to explain that, like, all issues play out first in sports and often in women's sports, like cultural issues play out here first.
Speaker A:We're like the leading edge.
Speaker B:Sports is the microcosm of society.
Speaker B:I was trying to think of that phrase on one of our previous episodes that I didn't think of it till after.
Speaker B:Anyway, continue.
Speaker A:Anyway, it's true though, right?
Speaker A:Because it's just it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It doesn't feel ick.
Speaker A:It is ick.
Speaker A:The nwsl, the pro soccer league here, is going through this right now because a player who's actually like, on her way out and was like, not a star player, wrote an op ed for the New York Post, naturally, about how they need gender testing in the nwsl.
Speaker A:And then all like, to their credit, all of her co players, teammates.
Speaker A:That's what I'm like.
Speaker A:Teammates.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Teammates were like, this is terrible.
Speaker A:Like, this is not what we are.
Speaker A:Who we are.
Speaker A:Like, they.
Speaker A:But the NWSL statement was because they are trying to.
Speaker A:A little bit like we talked about last week and then we'll talk about a second thread, that line between, like, who they think their fans are and who they.
Speaker A:So they came out with a statement that was like, we're not in support of that, but not so strong as to say, like, we support women who may not be on the traditional gender.
Speaker A:Like, I, I was about to say we support trans players.
Speaker A:But obviously, like, gender testing also encompasses non trans players and it captures everybody.
Speaker A:They came, they came out with a statement that was like, like there are currently no women playing who were not assigned women at birth.
Speaker A:And you're like, okay, I mean true, this isn't a real problem.
Speaker A:Accurate.
Speaker B:But do they even know the difference between a trans player and SRY testing?
Speaker A:Because then the other half of it is like if you're going to say there are no players and someone point this out.
Speaker B:Who.
Speaker A:There are no players playing right now who were not assigned female at birth.
Speaker A:How do you know?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Like you haven't gone around and checked everyone's genitals or implemented sex test or implemented this like sry genetic testing because it makes no sense.
Speaker A:So you're kind of just taking everyone at their word.
Speaker A:Which is what we could just do.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Which you're just, you're basically announcing that you, that you're making up a problem.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:That doesn't exist.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So anyway, I appreciated that they like lukewarm support and they were like, this isn't a real problem.
Speaker A:But it was also a little bit like, okay, so yeah, I feel like this leads us, Sarah, to our new segment, like we were saying, where we're gonna follow up on all our previous conversations.
Speaker B:As we were saying.
Speaker B:And which previous conversation are we following up on today?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So first last week we talked all about the WNBA and how their players, you know, if a large portion of your fan base doesn't think billionaires can exist, can you eventually become a billionaire or do you lose those fans?
Speaker A:And then right after we were talking about that, this new basketball league got announced.
Speaker B:What is it called?
Speaker B:Yeah, like literally the next day, Project B funded maybe by Saudi Arabia, which.
Speaker A:I think is really.
Speaker A:So it's a new basketball league very much in the style of like live golf.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Where they're going to pay, they're saying they're paying like million dollar salaries.
Speaker A:They're gonna play in the offseason.
Speaker A:Wnba.
Speaker B:It's not technically a companion dollar salary.
Speaker A:It's not technically a competitive baby because it's going to run November to March in the off season.
Speaker A:But obviously if everybody signs big contracts with this new REG, like new 5 on 5 regular league, then it will be like, it will obviously change the market.
Speaker A:But like you said, the report came out and that it was backed by the entertainment arm of the Saudi public investment fund.
Speaker A:And obviously people freaked out as that fan like fan base would.
Speaker A:And then the founder gets out there and is like, no, no, no, there is no Saudi money.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:We're just partnering with the entertainment arm as an events company to put on like one of the events like they partner with lots of events.
Speaker B:I think the other thing I think is funny is that like the folks coming out being like, no, no, no.
Speaker B:Like, no, the folks coming out saying, oh, the Saudi money is bad.
Speaker B:Probably don't understand how much Saudi money makes the world go around.
Speaker B:And like a lot of the other things that they do too.
Speaker B:Like there's probably not a thorough understanding of like how the global money systems work.
Speaker B:Like, not that I'm claiming that I have it, but like that I understand it.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's complicated.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, I don't know that I would.
Speaker A:Super.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:If I had to pick between women's sports league, I would probably pick the one that's not Saudi based.
Speaker A:Given ongoing issues with.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Women.
Speaker B:How do you know?
Speaker B:Like in this particular case, how would we know?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker B:Because I'm guessing like the entertainment division of whatever.
Speaker B:Whoever they partnered with and the Saudi.
Speaker A:The public investment firm fund.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The pif.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Has an entertainment arm called Sila or whatever, which funds a lot of its like sports and entertainment and stuff.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I'd just be curious what else they invested.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So they invest in a lot of.
Speaker A:That was what.
Speaker A:That was what the guy came out and was like, no, no, no.
Speaker A:Sila.
Speaker A:They've partnered with this thing and this thing and this thing.
Speaker A:Like you like, it's like, it's cool guys.
Speaker A:So it is kind of funny, kind of predictable.
Speaker A:Obviously that the fan base was not.
Speaker A:But they are signing huge contracts.
Speaker A:They signed Neca Ogukami.
Speaker A:I think I said that right.
Speaker A:I said that wrong.
Speaker A:Ogumike, who is also the head of the players association.
Speaker B:I know, that's interesting.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Something.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think that's how it ended up making such big news.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because you're in negotiations with wmaa, you come out big.
Speaker A:That you signed with this other league for like, I mean, she didn't say what it was, but we're assuming it was 1 to 2 million and like WNBA salaries are capped right now at a couple hundred thousand.
Speaker A:And you're like, oof, that's a statement.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You're the head of the players association.
Speaker B:Like so.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I mean it made a point.
Speaker A:It's interesting.
Speaker A:I feel like we got a couple of listener comments.
Speaker A:Send us your voicemails.
Speaker A:And people are mostly for women to get as much money as they can.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I thought that was like.
Speaker B:Actually I thought that was a really great comment and I'm glad that people sent that to us because I think it was kind of a closing point.
Speaker B:Of our conversation that we didn't really get to.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Which is like, because we were sort of thinking about, okay, like, to your quote, that we put on social.
Speaker B:Like, that we've thought about men's sports in the way of, like, they should be paid these big dollars, or we've kind of grown up in that, whatever, but that women's sports have always been, to some extent, about, like, doing the right thing, doing good, making the world a better place.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, I think that needed to be said that, like, it's okay for women to also go after making money.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:A lot of times when we talk about, like, women are better at X, like, better at leadership, they're more empathetic, or I forget what the one I was reading was about today.
Speaker A:But, you know, women are, you know, in this case, like, they tend to listen more or they tend to pace better in marathons, whatever.
Speaker A:I'm always like, well, is that just reflecting back societal stereotypes?
Speaker B:Like, somebody said it is right.
Speaker B:Has to be right.
Speaker A:Are women better at pacing marathons?
Speaker A:And they always say, they always talk about how it's because they had to overcome so many hurdles to get to the start line, so they want to make it worth it.
Speaker A:And you're like, well, maybe you shouldn't have to come overcome so many hurdles.
Speaker A:And it's fine if you blow up in the middle and go out blazing.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I'm always very concerned about that, sort of.
Speaker B:We always have to hold that tension between, like, women are better.
Speaker B:It's like, on average, right now, where we are in culture and history, women are best.
Speaker B:So we need to be able to name those things.
Speaker B:Like, women are better at X or men trend towards this or whatever.
Speaker B:Like, we.
Speaker B:We need to be able to say them, but also recognize, like, that doesn't make it like, a biological destiny that women are forever better at this thing.
Speaker B:It's like, there's no way to pull that apart to know, are women more empathetic on average now because of how we're raised and culturally, the environment we're in, or because of some innate empathy that we have?
Speaker A:Probably the first one.
Speaker B:Yeah, I. I'm 100 agree with you on that.
Speaker B:However, we don't.
Speaker B:We don't know.
Speaker B:Like, it's good to have that.
Speaker B:It's just good to have that information.
Speaker A:Great.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, this is always.
Speaker A:Obviously, we've talked about this too.
Speaker A:This is always one of my things when people talk about, like, parenting or motherhood too.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Is you're like, I'm very skeptical of anything that's like natural.
Speaker A:Like some natural biological.
Speaker A:Yeah, like you learned a lot of stuff that you don't even know you learned.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's super.
Speaker B:You know, when I was super convinced about this was in.
Speaker B:And I may have brought this up on the podcast before, so sorry if I'm repeating myself, but in.
Speaker B:I remember it because it was notable to me.
Speaker B:Like I was in a sociology of the family class, I think I was in second or third year.
Speaker B:And they had done studies of like hundreds and hundreds of babies and that people naturally, you know, those like carrier things that you have on your front.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:That they would turn boy babies and face them out to the world in naturally in those carrier things and girl babies, people would turn them in towards them.
Speaker B:And I'm like, oh, right, of course.
Speaker B:Because socialization starts like before we even consciously recognize how we're socializing our kids.
Speaker B:Like, people who try to tell me, I raise my boys and my girls the same.
Speaker B:Like, that's impossible.
Speaker B:You did not.
Speaker B:I think it's worthy to try to do that.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:But like you, that's.
Speaker B:That's an impossible goal.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:But you should be aware, I did have.
Speaker A:I also had a friend who was telling me that.
Speaker A:Oh, well, you know, because he has like an 8 year old.
Speaker A:Oh, well, you know, boys and girls, they just play differently.
Speaker A:You just can see it when you go to the school, the boys are just running all around and the girls are just standing there and you're like, oh my God.
Speaker A:Like, that didn't just happen like randomly.
Speaker A:Let me tell you about all the times when I was 8 and wanted to play and was told, well, and then you learn it over time.
Speaker B:And when you think about like socialization, even for us as mammals, you know, or.
Speaker B:I studied a lot of, like, I studied a lot of sociology, anthropology, like you mostly.
Speaker B:Most mammals come out with more formed.
Speaker B:Like we have these like.
Speaker B:Like our babies, like, cannot survive on their own.
Speaker B:Whereas a lot of mammals can like walk away, you know, ours cannot.
Speaker B:Like, the socialization process is so long over so many years.
Speaker B:Like, we are so created by our environments, more so than any other creature.
Speaker A:I forget where we started with this.
Speaker A:So women are not naturally.
Speaker A:Women are not naturally more empathetic.
Speaker A:Like, they should get the money.
Speaker A:That was where we started with this.
Speaker A:Go get your money.
Speaker B:It's fine to go get your money.
Speaker B:That's totally fine.
Speaker B:Totally fine thing to do.
Speaker A:You might lose people on the way, but totally fine, you get yours.
Speaker A:I mean, I obviously, yeah, people might hate you.
Speaker A:That's the other part, right.
Speaker A:Like, people might not like you.
Speaker A:That's okay, too.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker A:Some people may not like you.
Speaker A:Yep, it happens.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:People won't like you.
Speaker B:That's how it is.
Speaker A:Definitely won't like you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Other thing that we following up on, should kelly do the 100k or the 100 mile at UTMB, we had what?
Speaker A:We had four votes and, like, two of them were you and me.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And, well, I think you're the only one that voted for yourself to do the hundred mile.
Speaker B:But I. I think that maybe since you voted that you should do it.
Speaker A:I will tell you.
Speaker A:I was at a friend's birthday party on Saturday and talking to somebody, see in a while, you know, cyclists, blah, blah, and telling her about this, and she was like, as a pt, I should tell you to do the shorter one.
Speaker A:But I sort of agree with the assessment that it's all going to be log and hiking for like, 30 plus hours, so why not?
Speaker B:I was like, there you go.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that's where we're at.
Speaker B:Have you decided?
Speaker A:No, I have another mustard.
Speaker A:I'm waiting to see.
Speaker A:You know when you're getting fitter again?
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:If you're watching on YouTube, I'm making it.
Speaker A:You're getting fitter again.
Speaker A:Suddenly it, like, turns and you'd like, yeah, you start getting a lot fitter.
Speaker B:You hit an inflection point.
Speaker A:An inflection point.
Speaker A:So I'm waiting to see if that happens because I should have.
Speaker A:And then I crashed my bike instead.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:So it didn't happen.
Speaker B:Like, this is the story of Kelly's athletic career at the inflection point.
Speaker B:And I crashed my.
Speaker B:Insert something here.
Speaker A:All right, feisty picks of the week.
Speaker A:Sarah.
Speaker A:I'm gonna go first with a little one.
Speaker A:A little one.
Speaker A:But, like, I think a lot of people saw different videos over the weekend of, like, soccer to the men's soccer team up in Canada playing the championship in the snow.
Speaker A:There was a couple, like, college games in the snow and there was the NCAA community college national cross country meet total blizzard.
Speaker A:So this is a my picks for Laney Vecchio, who won in, like, 20 minutes on the 5K in a total blizzard for the national, like, junior colleges championship title.
Speaker A:And we will share that video in the show notes because it made me think back to my place.
Speaker A:Well, I grew up in Chicago, so.
Speaker B:Okay, so you did run in the snow quite a lot.
Speaker B:Yeah, I like a good snow run.
Speaker B:I don't know if I want it to be on my.
Speaker B:On the cross country.
Speaker B:National cross country championships.
Speaker B:But I do love a good snow run, so.
Speaker B:Okay, my pick of the week is Elena Rebakina.
Speaker B:Did I say that right?
Speaker B:Who won $5.2 million in the women's Tennis association finals on Saturday, which is incredible.
Speaker B:Just that amount of money just.
Speaker A:You're like talking about Saudi money.
Speaker A:Makes the world go round.
Speaker A:It was in Riyadh.
Speaker B:Yeah, was in Riyadh.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And she upset the number one arena, Sablanca, in straight sets.
Speaker A:And that whole finals is interesting.
Speaker A:It's like eight players.
Speaker A:Everyone gets 300, 000 just for showing up.
Speaker A:You get 300k for every match you win.
Speaker A:You get another 2.5 for winning the final.
Speaker A:Another for some.
Speaker A:So you can make some money at the end of your season.
Speaker B:Socializing daughter.
Speaker B:If you want them to make big money in sports, you know, take the Venus and Serena parenting route.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's a.
Speaker A:That's a choice.
Speaker A:All right, next week we are going to be talking about hockey.
Speaker A:We're going to have our hockey ex, feisty hockey expert, come on and help us get ready for the PWHL season.
Speaker A:Kind of all the issues around hockey's culture and.
Speaker A:And then we'll talk eating disorders.
Speaker A:I think the week after that.
Speaker A:But if you liked what you heard, give us a rating.
Speaker A:If you didn't, give us a rating too.
Speaker A:Share with your friends we are on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts and we will be back next week.
Speaker A:Sa.
