The Athletes Podcast
The Athletes Podcast is a leading source of information, inspiration, and education for anyone interested in optimizing physical performance, maintaining good health, and living an active lifestyle. Join David Stark as he interviews some of the world's biggest athletes and fitness professionals, The Athletes Podcast provides practical advice, expert insights, and real-world strategies to help listeners achieve their health and fitness goals.The goal is to entertain, educate & inspire the next generation of athletes!
The Athletes Podcast
Jerome Blake - Canada 4 x 100M Relay Gold Medalist - Episode #243
Jerome Blake joins us for an exhilarating 243rd episode capturing his journey from high school tracks in Jamaica to the top of the Olympic podium in Paris. Experience the heart-pounding moments of the 4x100m relay final where Jerome's composure was tested by a near baton disaster, and learn how the power of teamwork and trust in his teammates Aaron, Bucky, and Andre led to a glorious victory. Jerome also opens up about his multifaceted life as an actor and model, explaining how these diverse roles contribute to his athletic prowess.
Discover the nuanced dynamics of relay racing, where chemistry and continuity can outweigh sheer speed. Jerome sheds light on the rigorous training regimen that propelled him from inconsistent workouts in Vancouver to a disciplined, strength-focused routine in Florida. He also offers insights on the importance of customizing training to fit each athlete, the debate over NFL versus track speed, and why he believes Tyreek Hill could never outrun Noah Lyles. This conversation is a masterclass in balancing aggression and relaxation in sports, making it a must-listen for anyone passionate about sprinting.
The thrill of their relay win is matched only by Jerome's amusing anecdotes from the Olympic Village, painting a vivid picture of life amidst elite athletes like Simone Biles. From humorous t-shirt rivalries to the emotional rollercoaster of appeals against their victory, Jerome shares stories that underscore the resilience and sacrifices integral to Olympic success. With heartfelt reflections on self-belief and the support system that fuels his drive, this episode is both a testament to Jerome's unwavering dedication and an inspiring blueprint for aspiring champions.
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This dude said I really finished 7th in the 100m Olympic 5. I said you are crazy who?
Speaker 2:Hey, welcome back to the 243rd episode of the Athletes Podcast Today, featuring Jerome Blake, the Canadian sprinter who just brought home the 4x100 gold medal for Team Canada in Paris. He put on a performance, and part of that performance is protein and nutrition, thanks to perfect sports, who he just signed with. You folks know we're powered by perfect sports. If you use the code ap20, you save 20, so check it out. Perfect sportscom. And, by the way, we have an athlete agreement. If you don't know about already, it's kind of a thing. So, in lieu of you paying for us to provide this amazing content, all we ask is that you hit the subscribe button. Wherever you're consuming watching the Athletes Podcast whether it's on YouTube, spotify, apple Podcasts, stitcher, you name it you just have to hit the subscribe button for watching. Thanks for tuning in. We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 2:Here we go. You're the most decorated racquetball player in US history, world's strongest man, from childhood passion to professional athlete, eight-time ironman champion. So what was it like making your debut in the nhl? What is your biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes, from underdogs to national champions? This is the athletes podcast, where high performance individuals share their triumphs, defeats and life lessons to educate, entertain and inspire the next generation of athletes. Here we go. We gotta highlight the boys who bring home gold yeah, no, for sure.
Speaker 1:I mean it's one of those things where I mean shoot, it's a um. A lot of people say it's a historical moment, but I feel like it's one of those things where we deserve a statue, and I keep saying it I don't think it's gonna happen, but I just think we deserve
Speaker 2:one. You've been on a bit of a world tour. I'm repping the Jays jersey because you were throwing out the first pitch a couple days ago. Jerome Blake, welcome to the Athletes Podcast. I feel like we've been chatting for a couple years now trying to get you on, but good timing nonetheless. Post-paris Olympic Games gold medal Dude tell me first off how the heck it felt to have Aaron miss you on that first pass and you almost didn't get that baton. Can you share what was going through your mind?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, thanks for having me, it's one of those things where, like, when you, when you've drilled that thing, when you drill the same thing over and over for so long, you get comfortable in a situation. If something goes wrong, you know what to do, which is you never panic, you just you stay composed. And if you're really watched, like usually, if somebody, if the athlete, misses your hand, most people will start fishing trying to find the baton. Where is it, where is it? You know, like, if you watch, like my hand stayed the same place, steady, yeah, steady, and he missed three times.
Speaker 1:And then, like the third, we got on the fourth and I was just like, okay, I gotta run, I gotta run, but it all happened at high speeds so like you can't really see it. When he slowly died, it looked like you, we lost so much time, but it was like, well, yeah, it was just a split second and and we just know that, if we get, if we, you know, stay composed, stay patient, we know, we know it's going to be a special day. So we, we weren't really worried or panicked at all. Yeah, you could tell.
Speaker 2:It was exhilarating to watch. Obviously, as a Canadian, the amount of national pride that was experienced that day was something special, but also for you, one-upping that bronze medal, being able to showcase to the world that you guys deserve to be on the top of that podium, to the world that you guys deserve to be on the top of that podium. Tell me what that crew of Aaron Bucky, Andre, the four of you what's it like?
Speaker 1:It's a cool thing because we're all friends, we all get along, we kind of all have the same mindset in a way whenever we go to, because the core group of people that are there are all championship mindset people. Everybody wants to win, and then everyone's gonna do what they need to do to win, from the guys who are on the track running to the people who are on the track running. I mean everyone's helping each other get to the point where, okay, this is the last minute, and everyone's warming up together. Everyone's joking, having fun, trying to and like everyone's warming up together. Everyone's like joking, having fun, trying to make sure everyone's like, you know, staying on time, staying on patient and yeah, and I had to, it just worked out very well.
Speaker 1:Um, I think the one thing that was kind of funny though, um, so before we went out to run, um, we're all like joking and laughing and saying we don't know where or how this is gonna work out, but we know we're getting on the podium. We just don't know what color medal we're gonna get yet. So for us. And then I heard somebody said can't say the words, we're like F that like we gotta go, and I think Aaron was saying like he said it perfectly too. He was like we've stunk up the place. You know we need to. The best way to get that stench out of here is leave Paris with the gold.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during that pre-game, pre-race conversation that Aaron had with the crew. You're an actor, you're a model, you're an Olympian, so this stuff comes naturally to you. I want to know you've been on a fair share of podcasts, a fair share of sets already been in this studio, no big deal. This guy's been everywhere. I can't even bring him to a new spot. Ben, what are we doing here, man?
Speaker 2:Here I am trying to bring him to a nice studio Where's been some of the favorite places that the sport has brought you. Because I think one of the unique aspects is you get to travel the world, compete. You just won that gold medal with four other individuals. You're in an individual sport, you win a team medal, you're traveling around the country. It's got to have some national pride behind it, but it's also got to feel like a little bit something missing from that individual performance. Does that still stick in your mind or does that four by 100 wipe it all away?
Speaker 1:No, I mean, of course, like individually, you're always going to have aspirations and goals and for me, like my goals are very large and it's like very, very big goals I have for myself and I hold myself to a very high standard when it comes to competing, because I'm a competitor at heart and I love to compete. Most people would say like, oh, you don't like to compete, like you get nervous or something, but most people don't understand, like what really goes on in track and field. You know it's so much that's in the background. And when you have people who understand and know what's going on, they're the only ones who know. Like most people don't really know, so just say stuff you know. So for me, I would say like, just be, just be able to travel. You know, I've been to so many countries in so many places, like I've never even heard of some of these names and I I've been to these places.
Speaker 1:I'm like man, this is not somewhere. I'll just wake up and say, okay, I'm going to go here. So that's the one thing I'm very thankful for. You know, the Sporting Track and Field has taken me all over the world and it's taken us to many, many different places and seen many different things and met a lot of people. So I'm very thankful and grateful for that.
Speaker 2:I have to ask how did you celebrate that victory?
Speaker 1:Funny enough, we actually didn't do anything that night. Like I tell people and everyone think I'm lying, but we actually didn't do nothing Really. Yeah, like after the medal, like we had a bunch of press. Yeah, we got back at like close to 1, 1 am in the morning and then by the time we went to, by the time we got back, yeah, I was like just after one am it was like 115 or almost 130.
Speaker 1:We went to the food hall, we started eating and it was like two and then everyone's like what are you guys doing? It was like I don't know. So we just like ate, then went, we went to, like I went to brendan and they're brendan, andre's and aaron's quad and we just and I went in there, I went there and like all the other boys was there. So we all just sat and talk, like we're all just all in there, like just laughing and talking about like random different things. I mean, of course we had a couple, we had some beers and whatever. We're just drinking and chilling, just had some food, some snacks and we just all just laughing. And at one point we'll turn on tv and we're watching and everyone's just like laughing and we look it was like 6 am.
Speaker 1:Damn, I was like, oh shoot, we gotta get up at 10 to go to to Canada House, for I think it was 11, 30 or something like that. And then we went to Canada House and we're there from like 11 or 12 until like 4 in the afternoon, and then we had some other media after that. So, yeah, it was just going. And then after that we had closing ceremonies and then before everyone split up and everyone's competing again we're like, uh, what's going on? So it was good. Yeah, I seen Brendan, seeing Andre and I've seen Aaron as well. So it was like so cool Just seeing all of them again. It's like, oh, hey how you doing.
Speaker 1:It's like because when you do something that significant with people, it's like we have this bond now. I mean, from Tokyo we had this crazy bond where we have a group chat. We all just like chirp each other and say stuff yeah, now it's like different, we're like, we're tighter, now we're more. It's more like. It's kind of like you have like older siblings and you're all just like you live in separate places, but every time you see each other like, hey, so it's, it's cool yeah, you guys are etched in greatness forever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's gotta feel insane and I see the emotion after the race.
Speaker 1:There's glimmers of it, but I'm sure now it's set in yeah, now it's it's, it's set in way way more now, because before it was, it was one of those things where I'm like, okay, like I want a medal. Like you know, I'm not gonna act different, I'm not gonna say anything. But you know, because everyone has this whole thing where they said, oh, it's just a relay medal, it's just a relay medal. But I laugh at it, but I'm like, wait a minute. So you're trying to tell me all these athletes is here, all these events is here, and you come here, either it's an individual medal or a team medal or whatever it is, it's still a medal, right? You're trying to tell me, if you come here, it's eight lanes out there and it's eight lanes on this track and you go out there and get an Olympic medal. You're trying to tell me you're not going to be happy.
Speaker 1:And I asked somebody this I said okay, there's eight people in this race. Would you rather finish seventh in the final or win a relay gold medal? This dude said I'd rather finish seventh in the 100 meter Olympic finals. I said you are crazy. Who? I'm not going to say the name, who I said are crazy. You is crazy. What I'll take. That gold medal I'll skip. I would take them both home from Paris at that point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's still a gold medal and, if anything, I'd argue it showcases your ability to collaborate and work with other people better, exactly.
Speaker 1:You know, I would say any relay event is more is technically harder than even running an individual event. Yeah, because to put four people who sometimes maybe don't like each other or not, friends, who you know don't have the same common goal, it's different, it's really really hard, I mean, even though, like I mean, you may not see eye to eye with the person, but you want to do something, you, you want to come together for the for the better we're great and that's kind of what it is, and I feel like that's the reason why you have like these younger countries now you know, you know it's a younger countries, I mean like countries who are not, do typically don't have like really like a lot of sprinters.
Speaker 1:Where you know like, for instance, like Ghana, I where you know like, for instance, like Ghana, like you know, ghana has four people that are just from different places, but they come together and they're in the World Championship Finals, like crazy. They qualify for the Olympics. And the teams that you think would qualify for the Olympics didn't? You know like, for instance, like everyone had the medals picked out for different countries before we won the finals. They literally said the three medals are going to US is going to win and the other two is going to be between China and Japan.
Speaker 2:I listened to it. I was listening to the commentary man and I saw it I could see there was a little bit of extra in your guys' eyes Because you know, know, up until that point you hadn't really performed the way you guys could, right, right, and that probably had a little extra fuel to the fire I mean it, it did and it didn't, because most people don't like we actually went into the olympics the second fast, second best team in the world oh, I know, that's why it was kind of shocking for them to say you guys weren't even going to be sitting on the podium.
Speaker 1:Exactly that's the part that was like very nerve-wracking to me. I was like how, like you guys counted us out before we even like run the thing.
Speaker 1:And like even after we finished the heats. Most people don't know this, right. So after we finished the heats we went back and put no clothes on. So I'm like sitting down crazy like we were in first place. He ain't trying to know we're in third man. China beat us like what the hell and then I was like man how the hell? Uh turned around. I was like man, how'd you get run down by black and france? He's like man, my leg hurts it's nothing wrong with you.
Speaker 1:Stop playing, stop saying all this baby, you'll mess this thing up and everyone's laughing like drill, calm down, it's not that deep. I'm like, yes, it is that deep, we're in lane nine. And then he said we're walking. And he's like, yeah, remember Tokyo? I mean, we didn't do so well in the heats. And then they were like I think we're in lane four and the air was like yeah, I think we were in lane four. And then Brandon was like, yeah, and what happened? We still got a medal.
Speaker 1:I said yeah, true, and he's like no, we're in lane nine, so now we're in the wide lane. So maybe this is we have a chance.
Speaker 3:It's like man we're in lane nine we're well there by ourselves.
Speaker 1:It's like these dudes might just run past us. And he said, no, if we do do our jobs and we run well, we'll be fine. And I was like, okay, fine, whatever you say. And then brendan's like I think, I think the wide lane is good for me because I'm gonna be way, way there in the turn. I say you made a run. So then we all started talking mess. And then I looked behind us it's the people from Netflix. There's a camera, mic over our head, cause we're talking like, we're saying like man, if we don't do, if we don't do well, like you know, if we don't execute these zones properly, like I mean, yeah, it's going to be hard for us. You got metal and look, it's Netflix people filming. The us made the finals and they ran the fastest time. He said everyone's like, oh well, you guys still win, yeah, yeah I had no idea the lanes had that much of an impact.
Speaker 2:I was chatting with wilfred when we were in montreal and he was like you know I swear he was telling me that you liked lane three or four. Andre and aaron liked other lanes.
Speaker 1:Like, everyone has their own personal preference um, it depends on the race, right, and depends what the way, what the race I mean. If I'm running two, sometimes, like, it depends on the track too, because some tracks the turns are wider, okay, and in some track, because the way some tracks are set up, like the turn is like, for instance, like that, like the london olympics stadium most people wouldn't believe me when I say this, but a turn is bigger than the straight, damn. So you run. The turn has more meters on it than the straightaway. So if you look where the hundred meters start, it starts like far back. Yeah. So when you run off the turn, you end up running more.
Speaker 1:You're earning more turn than you are straight away damn yeah so people who had the ability to to run turns like those, because they're able to run the turn and just keep going. Damn so, it's like yeah, so if you, if you love the turn, and that's it. That's the thing about um, even setting up the relay yeah, it's like it's kind of like setting up, uh like a fantasy football team yeah, yeah, because you have to set it up smart, in a way where it benefits everyone else.
Speaker 1:Because, like most people, most people wouldn't understand, like, how it's set up that way. Because they're like why don't you plug these people in here? Because if you really look at the state of canada, like like this year, like when it comes to sprinting, malachi, malachi ran 10 and 1. Yeah, duane ran 10 03, 10 04, um eli eli ran 10 03, I think, or 10 02 or something like that, and then, like nine windy, duane ran nine windy as well. If you look at that and then compare it to what I ran, andre and brandon ran before the olympics, you know everyone be like why are these guys running.
Speaker 1:yeah, and that's, that was the top most of the time I heard it. Why are they running? Put the young guys out there, they, these guys running. So before the olympics, I ran 10, 14. Andre ran 10 flat. I think aaron had ran 10, 19, I think I don't know. I think he ran 10-0, wendy and then Brendan, I think 10-2, I think I don't know. I don't remember, but everyone was like shook because they're like why are these guys running? Why are they running, why are not the young boys? And everyone was like I think the thing the coaches were saying was continuity and um, chemistry, and like when you're under pressure, it's a whole different thing.
Speaker 1:So it's just like can you imagine, like, if they had switched that team around and what would have happened? Would it look like the us, probably? I don't think, well, that that probably wouldn't be the problem, though, because that probably would be an issue, because the funny thing is like, honestly, I don't know. I shouldn't say it because that was not the case. The case is different. So I don't know. But all I know is it doesn't matter how fast you run like an individual event, it's different when it comes to the relays.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the way I would equate it is, and why I say it would look like the US is because it looked like they were not coordinated in their approach.
Speaker 2:They had not trained together for four years, six years, like you guys have, and that shows when you're on the world stage and you only have less than a minute to make that. That's what I say, because if you do throw those young guys in, who maybe had performed better than you guys heading into the Olympics, maybe they have faster individual times, yeah, but they haven't passed that baton 100, 200, 5 000 times, yeah, right, whereas you guys have. And you and aaron, you know you're gonna hold that there until aaron gets it to you, right. So that's where I am thrilled for you guys that you got it, because it's also I don don't know, but you're late twenties, yeah, just 29. Andre, same thing, aaron's older, yeah, right, might not have another opportunity to do that in four years in la. So I'm glad you guys got it. I think the vets deserve to get in there again, especially when you perform four years prior.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you proved it yeah, true, and the thing is too like. Most people get it confused, like when you tell them, when I tell them, my age, you're like, oh, 29. Everyone's like oh. So you only got like one more, one more cycle left for you. But like, oh, you're like on the tail end of your career. I'm like, why are you aging me before you? Really? Just get started, yeah, and I am, yeah, like in theory, like I really am yeah like most people don't understand, like most people don't know this.
Speaker 1:Like I lived in vancouver and like how I used to train, people would think it's a lie when I tell them like they would really think it's a lot. I, I didn't really train. What'd you you do Half the time I would skip training Most of the times. Like three or four days a week I'd be in a film or model set and then when I go to training I'll be I'm not going to lie, I bullshit a lot. Like I'll be in the back, like I'm tired, like I'm sore, or like I'll run the first two really, really hard and after that, man, I'm chilling. After that I get some work and I'm good and then I'll go to a meeting.
Speaker 1:Somebody got really really close to be to me. I was like I got to train now, or like six, three, four trials. I'm training every single day. I'm there every day. On the first one there I'm probably the last one to leave, like as I get closer to trials and I'll go to trials and I'll do well, and I kept doing that. I did that for a number of years, like even when I lived here. I got, I think, the first year I actually trained every single day was when I moved to Florida in 2020. Damn, I trained every single Monday to Friday. I had to go to train every day because at that point it became a job. I left here, went to a Nike coach, and I never. And that's when I started lifting weights too.
Speaker 2:You didn't lift weights before 2020?
Speaker 1:No, jeez, yeah, september 2020. That's when I started October 2020. That's when I started lifting weights. Before that, never lifted any weights ever in my entire life. Were the brands like yo, we want a little more muscle on you, or what? No, it was well. As a sprinter like you need to be strong, you need muscle mass, because the thing is like when well, get a little bit scientific here, but like when you're like a force of application is like one of the hardest things when you come to sprint, because you're putting so much force in the ground, so, like, typically at max velocity, like it depends on the type of sprinter like you're putting four to six times your body weight into the ground on each step, so you have to lift to weight to be able to withstand that. More force you can put in the ground and more explosive you are, the faster you will run. So, but it's one of those things where, like you could be strong, flat, fat, explosive and still not fast. But it's still different things, but that's a part of it.
Speaker 2:So what are you doing in the? I guess what switched in 2020? You said it became a job. Like, yeah, what, what switch was that in your head? Was that you just decided, hey, I'm gonna take this seriously now. What, what transition that?
Speaker 1:um, so I basically in 2019, I um, someone messaged me and it was like a. It was a nike rep and then and he was like do you have an agent? I said no, not. Yet he said you should consider getting one. So I did, and then I made the world championship team, went to doha in 2019 and, um, yeah, I had a conversation with the nike rep and he's like, yeah, I'd love to work with you, but, um, it's one of those things where maybe you have to move to one of our groups, to one of our coaches, and I said I don't know. I like where I'm at, it's working out perfect. They said, well, we'll, we'll still support and do it and like, do what we can, but if it doesn't work, it would you, would you be willing to chance it and go where we said?
Speaker 1:I was like, okay, maybe yeah, let's see so I did it, um, stayed in kukulam and did the same thing skip training, barely trained, and when I, when the opportunity came to go compete, I was like oh hell like. I started realizing like these dudes is no slouch, like I'm in a bad situation I gotta figure this out quickly.
Speaker 1:And that's when, um, yeah, they decided so, yeah, you go to Florida now. So I said, okay, cool. So I went to Florida in 2020, just during COVID to train with Dennis Mitchell and the Nike group in Claremont. So I did that for about two years and that's when the first three years. So that was the first time I actually trained every day, like lifting weights, and have to wake up every day, go to training sore, tired and that's when I really understood like the levels these guys train at.
Speaker 1:And that's when I was like, okay, like I need to get my level up. I remember I was calling Ben, like I was like man, like I want to quit track. This is not it, like I remember it was. It was some days. I'm saying that I got home and I'm saying I've never felt pain like that before because I was going through so much. I'm training for the first time, like every single day I'm lifting weights. I've never done before. So my muscles is growing and I'm hurting. I'm like going through so much. It's almost like it's almost like going through puberty. Yeah, cause, like you've never lifted weights, so you're like lifting so much heavy weight. Like I'm telling I've never lived that much heavy weights in my entire life. Like, yeah, squats. I remember like after like seven months I think, yeah, so we started. We started september. I'm.
Speaker 1:By my march I was lifting 450. I was back squat 450. So I was just like what the hell? Yeah, because like the, but then that turned out to be bad. Anyways, I end up hurting myself the next year. Like I had two fractures in my lumbar spine. I was, I was completely messed up, still ran with it for like the entire season and still ran 10 flat and 20 flat like that. Yeah, could barely stand up, could barely sit down. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You can still run. Were you just getting crazy amounts of therapy before and after? Like how the heck did you? Pretty much.
Speaker 1:Pretty much that's what it was. I was living on table. Living on the table getting treatment and yeah, and no issues now from that.
Speaker 1:No, I'm good now. You're good now. Yeah, how'd you get out of it? Well, basically, like I'm very thankful for the team I have around because, like it's just a lot of people Mary Lou, wilbur, garfield, they're all here in Vancouver. So those are the people who really helped me get back to where I am now because, you know, it was numerous amount of time spent with them, like on treatment tables and, you know, in different sessions, running in the pool, like a whole bunch of different stuff to get me back where I'm at right now.
Speaker 1:And you know, even when I got healthy again and left here, like remember, the last thing Wilbur told me was like, just so you know, this is not something that goes away. This, this can happen again at any point. So you have to understand, like you have to learn how to lift properly. And you know, the one thing I did was I I invested in it, in a personal trainer, matt, at eoa, east band sports and rehab. Like he really um helped develop like the ligaments, tendons and the muscle fascia that I really needed to be able to go out, lift more weights and like just be stronger, be more explosive. And you know, I turn around 2023. And then I had a stellar season, still ran, uh, 10-0 a bunch and, you know, 20, 20 point low, but it still was nothing crazy.
Speaker 1:And then in 23 I decided to you know, end of the season 2003, I decided to leave the nike coach and go to a different coach, because I feel like it's one of those things where nothing against like what we've, what we've done together've done a lot together, like World Championship gold, olympic silver, like together, and I ran some of the fastest times I've ever run in my entire life with them. But I feel like it's one of those things where, like I needed to try something new. You know, it's almost like I put it like this like you can have multiple coaches, multiple people can teach you stuff, but at the end of the day, like it's only one person to really get you where you need to get to. So it's for me like I'm never disappointed, nor am I like mad at anyone for anything that's happening. It's more or less like for me it's just like one of those things where I try to like just emulate different people and just like learn from different people Like I, and just emulate different people and just like learn from different people like I'll, because everywhere you go you pick up different things, right?
Speaker 1:So for me, like where I'm at now, I'm at reina and like it's one of those things where, like he told me, he's like okay, your body weight now is not your natural body weight, I was like what do you mean? It's like you have so much fat around your muscles that needs to go away. So this type of training we're going to do is like you're going to be in a muscle building program, but in a sense like you're a lift even when you're competing mmm so, even like two days before I compete, I'm in the gym lifting heavy.
Speaker 1:I was like is this?
Speaker 1:it doesn't work, but it's one of those things where you have to get comfortable with it yeah, cuz I lift into this before you go compete, lift and lift and heavy and then like, um, you know, trying to like figure okay, like what, what the hell do I do? I'm sort of tired, my body tired, my body's, my body feels funny. But if you just go out and run, it just happens, and multiple times I go and run like I'm, you know, I know I'm, I'm sore, tired, muscles are heavy, and I'm out there running. I'm like, okay, that was so bad. So it's like more than just listening to, like you know what the new situation you set up is and just understanding, like you know it's different ways to get to where you need to get to.
Speaker 1:You know the whole program has changed. The way I run has changed. So now I'm like starting to realize it. I thought I was strong, you know. I was like, oh yeah, back spot 450. Like that's nothing. So like I went out there, like you change the technique, and now I'm running, so I'm only strong enough to hold it to 70 meters. After that I started falling so he's like overall.
Speaker 1:My overall body strength is not as good as everyone else, so there's people younger than me or stronger than me, so that's that's what I mean. So it's more or less like I'm still, my body's still developing. So I'm almost like not a high school kid, but almost like a college kid, like still like growing into my body. I'm still still growing muscles, positive muscle and just you know, still getting better, still getting stronger, still getting faster. So yeah, I think I still got about seven, eight more years in jeez, I love that.
Speaker 2:That's. That's two olympic cycles and, uh, yeah, seven one and a half or a quarter. Fair enough, fair enough you know I, it's always interesting to hear, like from your perspective, how you've gone through that. Um, you talked about your coach, eoa, getting you stronger. Uh, tendons, ligaments. What has changed is the plyometrics, isometrics, nutrition, different training modalities, like what specifically has allowed you to get stronger.
Speaker 1:Keep your back in a good spot all of it because, like the, the one thing that we spoke about was, like you know, we have to do a lot of progressive overloads, like like hold in in different positions just to try to like get, you know, the, the smaller muscles, the internal stabilizing muscles, stronger, and that's and that's the one thing we did and actually helped a lot. Like you know, if you look previously, look at um, like how I used to uh sprint, like my head would bob a lot, and now it's like all settled down because you get the muscles in in your shoulders stronger, like the little muscles, and you know, just like the other things, just like working on little things make a big difference. And now I'm seeing that like I'm more technically sound now but still trying to work, I'm getting better, because I've never been in a position or a place where the focus is how can we get from point a to point b as relaxed but as fast and as aggressive as possible? So that's one of the crazy things you said relax, but then you said be aggressive, but then you're saying more. But it's like one of those things where you have to learn how to.
Speaker 1:If you learn to apply force properly, it's like a rubber ball. It's just like you throw the ball on the ground and it bounces all the way to the sky. So it's like one of those things where, like it's the same thing, if you throw it in the right position, it's going to go up. It's kind of like that, if you apply force in the right position when you're sprinting, it just comes back to you. You get all the force back. So now it's like just understanding that and just like learning different ways how to run for you with your body style. So you know, it's one of those things where, like I was, I'm a big dude, so like I know that. So it's like almost like you're like, okay, if I, maybe, if I go a little bit short, I'm gonna be a lot faster. You know, like if I, if I go, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be faster. But it's one of those things where, like when you're a big person, you have to run with your body style take those long strides, yeah, if you're big, run big.
Speaker 1:That's the one thing that I've learned. I've accepted that I'm big. I'm not going to be as low to the ground as most people. So for me it's just like. You know, just make sure, like I'm doing what I need to do for my body style, not look at somebody else who's shorter than me, like, oh man, I need to set my blocks, like his. And that's the one thing you know. I've realized A lot of people like to like they take this athlete and take this athlete and put all of them in the same mold. It doesn't fit them all, but you're trying to force it to fit the mold now, like the coach I have. Now like I've never seen somebody start a training program like a whole plan, say, okay, this is your plan we're going to do. Halfway through it's not working.
Speaker 2:So he decides to change the entire thing damn, yeah, you're willing to just keep it all up and change.
Speaker 1:Yeah, middle of the year, and that's one of the craziest things I've ever seen, and no two and the coach I have no two athletes have the same program it's kind of what I'm trying to highlight here on the podcast.
Speaker 2:You know like we've had 240 plus episodes. I think every athlete on this planet can learn something from someone else. Yeah, we just had finley knox on here earlier recording. He was talking about similar like in a swim you have to go out, swim hard, swim fast yeah, but you also need to be relaxed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because if you're blocking, chopped up muscles, you're not going to flow through the water. So runners, sprinters, similar kind of difficulties that they have to yeah are faced with. But then you also look at you know, a football player has to do the same sprint right, modality right. I'd love to talk about this with you. You got a guy like anson on instagram that's always talking about the nfl track beef, back and forth. I'd love to hear your take on this. The whole tyreek, noah lyles, give me, give me what your sense is as an athlete in the game.
Speaker 1:My perspective is Tyreek cannot beat Noah. It doesn't matter what he does or what he's saying, and you will not beat Noah in a 40-yard dash, a 100-meter dash, he's not going to beat him in none of them. Because it's two different sports. Like football and track is two different sports. Like the running is different. Like if you, john Brown, said this, perfect, what's his name? The receiver for the Lions, his dad, john Brown, he said it, perfect. He said if you're a football player, train for football.
Speaker 1:Football speed and track speed is different. It's two different sports. Like football, you need to have lateral speed and also horizontal speed, but you have to train those to be fast. For football and you're running with equipment, your body's doing different things. It's a whole different thing. Track, it's just all horizontal. We're just going from point A to point B as fast as possible in a straight line. It's no freaking stopping and going, stopping and going. With football you're stopping and going and moving. So you have to learn, you have to get explosive but also be able to like force, apply force and move. But it's two different ways of doing it, because in football you have to stick and move and do all this kind of stuff. And track.
Speaker 1:You put your foot down and pick it up and go again yeah and that's what it is, and you're, it's all horizontal speed, so it's very different yeah, I'm, I just needed the professional's opinion, you know because, there's a lot of talk online.
Speaker 2:I personally think it's unnecessary. If I'm being completely honest, it's like yo, you guys are two of the best athletes in the world. Appreciate the fact that each of you are doing amazing things. Yeah, I don't necessarily love the way uh, one of those individuals handled the olympics and maybe some sickness associated. I'd love to know if you have insights on that. But I'm always looking at this from a perspective of let's highlight the best people in the world, showcase what they're doing, make sure that other people can learn from them and hopefully we can continue to improve as a society. One of the things that you did post race was Mr Donovan Bailey, and I'd love for you to share what was behind that. Maybe he was doing a little teasing pre-game too pre-race no, no, no, no, it's never that like the thing is like we're very thankful for that, that, that um that, 916.
Speaker 1:Yeah because it really motivated us, like as a team, as a quartet, to do better, because we wouldn't stop. We never stopped hearing about it. Well, back in my day when I was running, it's that all the time, yeah, it's, it's. It's all like good banter and good fun, because this is what most women didn't I'm, I know most people know this, but Robert is me. I Don't know where he was when there was going on, but Bruins sure, bruins terms, it was a chef de mission for the Olympic team. Donald was calling the races with CBC, glen or Gilbert's a head coach of Team Canada. That's three of like the team from 96 that's in Paris. So for us it was more or less that we knew they're watching.
Speaker 1:And before um, before, uh, we run the, the 4x1 heats, um, when all the guys had, like you know, rough times and like with their individual events. And I remember I I didn't run and you know, bruin sent me a message I think it's same as everyone, I believe, because some I asked them and they're like, yeah, like he messaged me too. He said don't let what happened in individual events affect how you go out there and do in the relay, like when we come together we're family and I know you boys can really do something special. You just go out there and focus on that and I know you guys are going to do something special. So I liked the message. I said thank you so much for the message. And it's the day before we ran the heats and after the heats he posted something on in on so on on his instagram store and he said don't let what happened today um, scare me. These boys have something special.
Speaker 1:And yeah, from lane nine, I had to, like I ran after like the run, when the race was going, um, I got the baton and I'm running down the backstretch and when I hand off to brendan, like he can see me, like running behind him, still screaming like willing, willing him along. Like I ran like 200 meters and by the time I got to like the 100 meter start, I'm like they're like watching on the jump tron, like behind me, like this I couldn't really see from behind like how the race is going and I'm looking at the jumpa tron. But when you look at the jumpa tron like that, it looks like they're running in like slow motion. Yeah, because, because you're looking up on it and so big you can't really see it and I'm like just walking and I looked at, I looked across, seeing kairi and he, like his head was down was one of my best friends I'm and I and I hugged him and like I was like good job, bro. And I'm like walking away and like this, the south african guy started running and screaming.
Speaker 1:I thought South Africa won, I thought we didn't medal. So then like, and then I heard the state of analysis says Canada wins, canada wins. I was like I was like what? And I seen Andre and Aaron jumping. I was like what the hell?
Speaker 1:So I started running and it was like it was like I'm running, I seen like all these Canadians and like it's like almost, like it's almost like an out of body experience. I'm like running, it's like my legs started getting heavy, so I had to stop and I sat down on the track and I started crying and I stood up and I look and I seen Booney and he's just jumping and he jumped over the fence, ran onto the track and I hugged him and then he went back and he's like I told you, I told you it's possible. And then I ran up to where he went back to and like I just started hugging all these Canadians and like I seen Brendan and them over there celebrating, I ran over to them and then we just, yeah, we just hugged and like we all just like, yeah, just started celebrating. It was so crazy because it was such an out of body experience and like everyone like counted us out and I think that's what really helped us a lot, because there was no pressure on us.
Speaker 1:And that's the one thing I realized being in lane nine, it felt like we weren't even a part of the race. Being in lane nine, it felt like we weren't even a part of the race, we were just running. The one thing I remember is running down the backstretch, I took about five or six steps and I couldn't feel the race anymore, because when you're in a race, you can feel where people are, but you can't hear, but you can feel that you can either connect or disconnect to the race In 100 meters. If you're oh, you feel it right away In a 4x1, if you're behind, you feel it Like you can tell. So you know, like I was running in the backstretch and I was going, and then I couldn't feel it anymore. I couldn't feel the race.
Speaker 2:I was like in my head, I was like man that was cold.
Speaker 1:You were, I think, aaron said that was probably one of the fastest you've run. Yes, second fastest. Second fastest, yeah, and it would have been faster if I got the baton the first time. Dang, come on aaron.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we'll let that. We'll give him a pass. Uh, yeah, it's okay. So all of that, and then there's an appeal, right.
Speaker 1:I didn't even hear about that. I didn't even know that was happening. Oh, okay, when I found out about that, I was like I almost fainted Right. I was in the back, I was like I started sweating, my back was hot. You know, when you're nervous, like something bad is happening, your back is hot and stuff.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I see my teammate and he was just like I don't know, something might happen. I was like what? And he's like, yeah, they're appealing. He told me I was like what and I was like. I ran over to the guys. I was like yo, they're appealing, and Brandon was like it's good, don't worry about it. I was like what do?
Speaker 1:you mean it's good, don't worry about it. Like, what do you mean? Biomechanics, the things that most of us don't know. We have four different people filming the race from all different angles in the stadium, each handoff zone, somebody there filming it. Because the thing is now, yes, you have VR, you can replay stuff, but we have our own people in-house filming stuff to make sure we have all different angles of it, because you never know what's going to happen. We have one person filming from this side of the stadium that's getting the entire race all the way around. The next person filming from, like, each zone and stuff like so it's like, you know, it's, it's. It's set up in a way where, like, people are filming just to make sure it's not. It's a good thing. D-dub had all those footage and they went and watched it and they're like okay, you're clear. And I was like okay, it was so nerve-wracking, did you?
Speaker 2:uh, give Brandon a little shot. Be like yo, man. What's your feet next time?
Speaker 1:no, no, no we just, we just honestly like after we finished, we just like it's like okay cool yeah. Yeah, it was like that, yeah.
Speaker 2:I figured there might be a bit of banter afterwards. Uh, you know, because he's the fun guy too. He seems to keep everything light. Yeah and uh. Again, not an easy thing to do when you're used to competing against all these guys like I watched you guys a month earlier and everyone was grinding in montreal yeah, to win the team right. And it's not necessarily like buddy buddy friendship when you're in those.
Speaker 1:So then to come together a month later and then to be boys says a lot about you know the fact that you're able to put that stuff aside and just be professionals too right yeah, I mean, of course, because the thing is that everybody wants to say they're the fastest in canada, right, yeah. Well then, the thing, what nobody wanted was because, um, this is funny, so there's a, there's a website called fan art, right, okay. So aaron had made this shirt that says, uh, 12-time national champion. So because everyone said you ain't winning today, nobody wanted him to win just because of that. I think that's why everyone is so serious. But once that, and then he went one to 200, so now he's 13 times so there's, a shirt next year.
Speaker 1:So everyone's mad now, so it's funny. That's what it is. That's good.
Speaker 2:Well, I feel like you gotta have fun. Why is it that track doesn't get the same amount of attention?
Speaker 1:Track is a boring sport. That's the problem. It's good, though, like that event in Montreal was sick, dude, it's well. If you're being honest, the track was full of freaking patches, like the highway fair, I wasn't running on.
Speaker 2:It was that bad?
Speaker 1:yes, it was bad, really, it's really like it's almost like you're running and then, like you hit a different surface and it's like it feels different and you're like, oh wow, what was it? So, yeah, no way you feel all of it. If the surface is different, like when you hit it, it's almost like your foot placement is like well, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:I just would. I'm shocked that they would have a nationals at an event or at a track that wasn't. I hope he doesn't go back there. I heard harry jerome here in uh bernabes. No, no, okay, maybe not where. Uh, where's the best place to run in canada?
Speaker 1:I like laney a lot yeah yeah, that track is lightning quick. I don't care nobody says that thing's fast okay. Yeah, I jogged 10 flat on my thing um that. Yeah, it's fast. Yeah, I did, I did, I did yeah what's?
Speaker 2:uh, what makes the perfect day? Like? Do you train in the morning? Do you run? Like what's if you were to pick a perfect day to set up and be like hey, this is exactly how I start, finish and my day, take us through it? Are you eating in the morning? Like?
Speaker 3:because you all, I do have so many other things going on. You do have to keep like your physique.
Speaker 2:You might have a model shoot that night.
Speaker 1:Like it's not easy to be a professional athlete, crushing media days like um yeah no well, basically it's like this, like I I have, you know, like I keep it simple. I'm like I have a. I have a nutritionist, jen Segal, she, she, she's a work for Team Canada but now she works at the Raptors. But she is like she's, she's a legend man. She's so good Like.
Speaker 1:We have phone calls every, every, every two weeks or so, three weeks, just to make sure I'm sticking to the diet. It's just simply. It's like fun, simple meals, like breakfast, just either oatmeal or boiled eggs. That, and it's also the thing too, the best source of protein energy you can ever have in the morning, like guaranteed. You can do this if you want, believe me, trust me, it works. Three boiled eggs and a half cup of oatmeal, the old year over till 2 pm in the afternoon. It's the best source of energy. It's one of the greatest mornings you could ever have like.
Speaker 1:So wake up at like seven or eight and have breakfast by like 8 30 maybe the latest then leave for the track for 10, get to practice. We have track from 10 till 12, 30 or 1, then from then, from 12, from like 1 or 12, 30, then we'll go to the gym. We're there till 3 in the afternoon, then go home, do it all again tomorrow. But I mean, I'm usually go either grocery store, like if I'm gonna get some, then I hit one of those acai bowl places or a coffee shop on the way home and yeah, then that's it. Go home and take a shower and my favorite place is my couch and my TV. I don't do nothing else after that. What's on the TV? Either anime or some TV shows, I don't know. It really depends, honestly, how I'm sleeping, so the TV is watching me at that point. Favorite movies Forrest Gump. It's my favorite movie of all time. He just loves to run. Yeah, forrest Gump is hilarious man.
Speaker 2:He's a little above Gump's frame. I'm joking Growing up in the lower mainland or like being here in the lower mainland, comparing it to Toronto. What do you like, like, what do you not like?
Speaker 1:I'm going to say what everybody thinks we are. The other day somebody said man, ain't BC just full of nature and tree huggers crazy, that is crazy.
Speaker 2:We have been called that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the man said dude, it's just a bunch of nature and tree huggers up there. I was like dude, that's crazy. But I love BC because of just like the sheer nature and just how fun it is up here. Like it's, the air is fresh, like fresh food, like the best seafood in North America, I would say is here Because it's the Pacific Northwest. It's the best place, unless you go to Newfoundland or one of those places that's where you get fresh lobster and stuff like that. Yeah, Halifax does have some great seafood yeah.
Speaker 2:Halifax does have really good, yeah. Yeah, there's the bike or the. There's some restaurant that I'm butchering but it's phenomenal. And yeah, west Coast, you can't beat the fresh seafood. Toronto's a little busier, a little faster paced.
Speaker 1:I'm sure you've experienced that when you populated, I was going to say that, yeah, because I don't understand. Like, what's the what's the craze of living in the city? I never understood it. And I went and I was in the city and all I seen was everyone with headphones in and just walking. Yeah, it's like they will walk right into you, just push you out the way and keep going. It's like this is my line I'm not moving, Doesn't matter what you say or do.
Speaker 2:I'm not moving, I'm just walking straight into you. It's like I'm like you're, like I'm wearing, I'm holding a gold medal here in my hand like watch where you're walking. Yeah, I mean, it's true. Uh, the toronto hustle and bustle is a thing I find that, um, I think it's busier and people are accustomed to that, but they're in like a fight or flight mode. Yeah, right, so it's always go, go, go, and you don't, because you always have to be on the lookout. There's always sirens running, whatever. So different pace out on the west coast, right, and it just depends what you're optimizing for. Like, I love, I'm going to toronto on tuesday, I'm going to spend a month out there, I'm going to have probably rip a dozen podcasts because there aren't as many athletes over here in vancouver. Yeah, because they're all training in Toronto or in Calgary. But you know, having the Raptors there, having the Leafs there, having the Jays there, you've got teams coming in. So it depends on what you're optimizing, for you know.
Speaker 2:But for you, being able to train, being able to have nature, being able to have seafood, like those are the things you're optimizing for, right, and that's why you're here. Yeah, and I think you know, being able to wake up and look at the mountains is pretty damn cool right it is.
Speaker 1:I mean, the only thing I would say is that when it gets cold, it's not fun. That's no, no, that's out of that weather. Yeah, pnw seasonal depression.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, it's bad. I have to crush vitamin d when I'm here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's bad, it's it's not the it's not the most pleasing, that's for sure it's it's, but at the end of the day, I think it's still fun, though, just to call this place home, regardless of what anyone says. Like there's Vancouver, the lower mainland, kelowna it's probably the funnest place to live Outside of the Caribbean, though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've only been to Turks and Caicos and that was pretty damn sweet. Kelowna, fornia, is legit. Yeah, I feel like West Coast is probably the best coast, that's the reason why that exists.
Speaker 1:It really is, and a lot of people get it confused because they're like, oh, like, when you say West Coast, you're only thinking about LA. Yeah, like this is West. Coast too man Like. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and LA is only a couple hours away. You can still get there, it's not that far away. Yeah, you only need it. Plus, we got the Canucks, we got the Lions. Yeah, I'm sure they're gonna be bringing out, you know, to a couple games highlighting the fact that you got that gold medal yeah, um, I was supposed to go to a game yesterday but they move it till, uh, the 25th, so next Wednesday.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I called it.
Speaker 2:I just knew. I knew this guy's on a world tour.
Speaker 1:Everyone wants a little piece a little dizzy, but I but it's fun though like I I the all the messages slow down, like they pretty much like slow down. But then you know, of course, like because the moment is, I thought the moment was passed and that's it, it's over. But I like, now that everyone's seen it for the first time, it's like, oh man, like how long are you home? Like like, can we do this? Can we do this, can we do? You know everybody wants you to do something, but you know it's only so much you can't really do because you only have limited time and you know you just gotta do the things that's near and dear to your heart and see as much people as you can and just try to make the best of the time that you have. And yeah, that's pretty much what I've been doing, just like prioritizing the people and prioritizing the time that I have and just make sure I don't do too much.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, I appreciate you carving out time to chat with me today, coming on the show, educating, entertaining and inspiring that next gen. Um, I think for me, this is a big one. You know, having the ability to highlight what you've been doing. The fact that you are still got a ton of time left yeah right, like I think that was one of the things I've heard you speak a couple different times now is like, hey, I'm only just getting started and I think that's one of the things you know I want to highlight to athletes, no matter whether they're 8, 18 or 28, that you can still be pursuing your dreams, goals, ambitions and getting after it in any way, shape or form that you want. Um, do you have a next couple months, anything on the agenda that you want to share? Highlight, put a focus on, make people aware of what you're going to be doing. I know you said you were in here filming for Saks, any other big projects on the go?
Speaker 1:No, not yet I mean the only thing. I just got to go home to Kelowna and just like visit some friends and family there.
Speaker 1:And yeah just do some stuff there and I go back to my old high school. Just, you know, see the, yeah, see the school. I guess, yeah, it's one of those things where I mean, yeah, I don't know. Like it's one of those things where people never really. It's almost like you tell people what you want to do with your life and how you want to do it, and everyone look at you like you're crazy or how are you going to do that? You know that's always, that was always the thing. How are you going to do that? Like, oh, that's not, that's not, that's not possible. You know it's a lot of that's not possible there, and that's the one thing I. I hope most people look up what I've done and where I'm from and like don't let anybody tell them that nothing's impossible and just go after what you want. I think that's a win-win for me.
Speaker 2:Dude, you've done it already and they only call you crazy until you do it right. That is true, and then afterwards they want a piece of it. So I appreciate you again sharing that, highlighting that, as you know, the way we wrap up every episode is we ask our guests their biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes. You've already dropped 48 minutes worth of gold, but if there was one piece nugget wisdom quote that you want to leave our guests with today, what would it be? Jerome Blake.
Speaker 1:Trust it, believe it, see it and go after it. It's, it's one. It's something like my old high school coach in jamaica told me. He said if you believe in yourself, um, you can. You can achieve anything. Because the only person gonna believe in you is always you. It's like you. You're only as crazy as your. Your imagination is just as crazy as you.
Speaker 1:So if you believe you can do something, go after it. Don't let nobody tell you nothing's impossible and just if you do that you'll be all right. And that's the one thing like I'm thankful for the people I have around me, because they always tell me like you are really good at this, you should really believe in yourself and you can really go far. And that's the one thing I've done a really good job of like surrounding myself with good people because they keep me grounded and and as much as I've achieved so much, nothing's really changed much for me because it's the same people and I try not to bring new people in the circle because it's like the more people you bring in, it's like they disrupt the flow of everything. So that's the cool thing. Like just make sure if you're going to do something, you're doing something really cool, doesn't matter what you achieve and how you achieve it, just keep the same people around you so sick, same people around you.
Speaker 2:So it's a. I appreciate you, man. Thank you, um, I have to ask, since you said that, what is something that jerome blake is doing differently than the rest of the world that allows you to be one of the fastest men on this planet?
Speaker 1:sacrifices. I've made a lot of sacrifices, like to miss birthday parties, miss hanging out with friends, miss seeing family, you know, and going to events, miss my friends getting married and stuff like that, because I either have to train or I can't leave. I have to go, you know, I can't just up and leave like everybody else. So I've made a lot of different sacrifices to make sure I achieve my goals.
Speaker 1:One may think it's selfish, but I think if you want to achieve something, you have to be selfish, like to achieve what I've achieved and what I want to achieve after this.
Speaker 1:Like, you have to be a little selfish and you have to be self first and everybody else second, but in a way where, of course, you respect and appreciate all the people that are there. You never try to put them down or put them out of their way in any way, shape or form. So you try to just make sure whatever you're doing, like you're doing it for you, because at the end of the day, like I've always, most people don't understand like with this sport that we're in, you have to be emotionally and physically connected to it In a way where, like you have to be so locked in and so focused on it. You can't be 50-50. Like you, literally you can't be 50 foot in, foot out, like if you're in, you're in. Like it's not one of those where you can just, okay, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, and then I'll come back tomorrow and I'll start running. No, it doesn't like at this level, like if you slip up, like that's it, that's here, you're out of there.
Speaker 2:That's just that's what. That's what it is and that's why you committed in 2020. Then go after it full time. Yo uh again. Thank you, I need to. We talked about sacrifices. I'm gonna sacrifice another minute or two here because we need to highlight some positive aspects, because I think you just shared some some deep Shit. Let's go into some funny stuff. 2020 Tokyo you guys were like speed dating while you were eating. Any fun stories From this year's food, other than the muffins the chocolate muffins that became the hit of the villa oh, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Like I Often, I laugh. I was, I made a video but I didn't post it. Like the video I was gonna make was, um, because of how the dining hall set up. It reminded me of love island. It's just a bunch of random people like random places and it's like the food places are called. This one is called alal and this one is called something else. It's something else. I was like, okay, I'm gonna go to alal and see what I can find here. So it's just so funny, like you know. But yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 1:It's such an interesting place like the olympic village is like such an interesting place. Like you go and you see all these people and all these athletes and you like look at all of them and you're trying to guess what sport they do based off their body type. Yeah, I sat there and I'm guessing. I'm like I see people like, okay, what's where you think that person, you know we'll get something. I'm resting this girl, right, she was maybe five or five, five, but she had like really, really like big legs and like our arms were a little bit small, but like she had muscle definition. I was like I'm saying she's probably a cyclist or like she's probably a gymnast. I was like so I made a bet with my friend.
Speaker 1:I was like, okay, let's go, sounds like 20 bucks. He said, okay, cool. So he said, okay, cool. So I was like what'd you say? And he said I forgot what he said. And then I was like okay, cyclist. I went up to her. I was like, excuse me, what sport do you do? She said I'm a weightlifter. What I said? What I girl? Two days later with a freaking gold medal on her neck jeez, apparently she's like one of the best weightlifters in the world. Just a little muscle definition she's got some dude, it's crazy. And then, like I seen simone biles she's like this much and I was like I was like man. That's so crazy. I was like fanning out but like because, like, I'm not really a fan of like a lot of people, but like people like you see, it's like you see all these people on TV all the time and you're just like man. This is really cool. That's the only place where you just see the best of the best in the world and that's where you should go pro-free.
Speaker 2:Trust me, I was trying to figure out a way in. But you realize that's how people think about you. I know it's the strangest part about it.
Speaker 1:That's the part. It's funny. Somebody was like I told like somebody messaged me and they're like what are you doing? I was like this is strange, because it's like you would never expect somebody like that. I mean to like just message you randomly. So it was like a person of significance and I was like this is very confusing. And then I was showing the guys. I was like it's like this person messaged me and they're like what are you going to do? You didn't go say it.
Speaker 2:I was like, no, I'm not going. This guy Missed opportunity or what.
Speaker 1:No, this guy missed opportunity, or what? No, it's not a missed opportunity. I just feel like it was one of those things where like so you didn't do it. No, I didn't go. No, you just left her on red. Yeah, oh, I did no because it was the night before I run it was the night before she's gotta know she's gotta know. Yeah, so I don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is like no, I'm not going is this like a mike tyson 30 days before?
Speaker 1:man, man, no, no, it's not like that. But I think it's just one of those things where it's like I just try not to like do anything I typically wouldn't do out of my comfort zone, because it's one of those things where, like, people don't understand, like it's so weird to the point where, like, if I have to go compete say if I have to go compete at four, right, and I fell asleep and I wake up, like I have to get on the bus at two and I wake up and it's 1.45. You're gonna start rushing, right, you're like, oh, shoot, and then start rushing to do everything. So by the time you get to the track, your whole body is so sped up to the point where, like, you can't even warm up properly, you can't even focus on what you need to do, and people would say, oh, that's crazy, that's a lot like it doesn't work, like that. But your body's so sped up at the time you're rushing everything, so you're gonna rush everything yeah, there's a golfer.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it was ben hogan, but he used to drive like half the speed limit on the way to his golf tournament.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like driving slow yeah, like literally, like when I'm like I'm, I started getting ready like an hour and a half before I have to go to the track. Yeah, like I literally put my clothes. I put my clothes on the bed, like I laid out, like, and I started packing my bag like piece by piece, like literally one thing at a time, and then I open it and check it again and zip it up, put it down, then open it again like 30 minutes later, check, just make sure everything's in there. Yeah, I just do that like just to um, just make sure I have everything. But like you do it over and over again and it puts you that, you makes you calm, and then we get on the bus. Like I listen to the same song on repeat. What song?
Speaker 2:like just whatever song I choose that day it's like.
Speaker 1:I mean, sometimes I'll be listening to shania twain and syrian the rider and just stuff like that. Okay, no, it's crazy, because like so, no. It's. The reason why, though, is you can't always just be like up here listening to rap. You gotta do something that calms you down, like you like you literally go like full left field and start playing like country music, cause it's just like, it's like you can sing along to it and it calms you down. So that's why I do that. If I'm stressed or tense, I do that. I choose something I can sing along to, like Adele.
Speaker 2:So something that's super slow and low. It just helps you calm down. Do you think they went through all the condoms that the Olympic Games gave?
Speaker 1:I don't know. There was a lot there, I think there was 300,000.
Speaker 2:Is that the number?
Speaker 1:I didn't see none because I didn't do nothing.
Speaker 3:I said I didn't do nothing. Oh yeah, I said, like I said I didn't do nothing.
Speaker 2:I didn't know. I was going to say I think she might have been an international spy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know she was trying to distract you. Yeah, I know she was American too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man Can't trust nobody. Man, I'm saying, and that's why you had to celebrate after with just the boys, cause you know what? We just chill like, yeah, like.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying we're all just chilling. You know, Like it's just a vibe Cause at that point, like you already done everything, so everyone's going to know who you are forever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have any idea like how many Canadians are like just proud because of you.
Speaker 1:It's strange man. I went out the other day and like somebody was like it's like. You do know, you're a Canadian hero. I was confused. I was in Toronto this is in Toronto and I was at the airport and this man seen me and he came up to me and he's like "'No way, it's you". And I was confused because I've never like.
Speaker 1:And then now I'm realizing like people actually know who I am, like outside of the track and field world, like it's so significant to the point where, like people now like look at, like somebody said the other day, like it's like, like, oh, I'm, I'm such a big fan, like I'm, like I'm like starstruck, I was like for what it's like. I just think I'm a regular dude like everyone else is like, oh my goodness, like maybe it's because of all my friends, like they, just like my friends were like yo, like you want to go here. Nah, nah, jerome, sit, sit your ass down. You're not going nowhere. That doesn't make no sense. It's still the same relationship. We deal with each other the same way. Obviously, they know what I've done, the significance of it. They already knew that was possible and they always tell me that you can do that. That's the one thing I'm thankful for for them, because they're always just there and they keep it grounded, so my head doesn't get big and it never will.
Speaker 2:No, honestly, it's true, and like same experience when I was chatting with you in Montreal, with a guy like Marco, same thing, Everyone's salt of the earth, great human beings, and I think that's also a testament to just Canadians as a whole. And yeah, man, kudos for being you, kudos for inspiring a generation, a nation. And you know, mr Donovan Bailey, they got the W, they got the gold.
Speaker 1:Nah, that's funny. Nah, it was just a spur of the moment.
Speaker 2:I loved it, dude. I've got him on when I'm in Toronto, so that's why I was like I need to talk to you about this.
Speaker 1:So, basically, the thing is right, because he he said he's like. He's like come on, boys, you really gotta do you, really you gotta go really do this thing. You know like we've been waiting, we went so long for this thing, come on, you gotta go do it. And he's like we know the Americans are really good, but we know you guys can do it. This is the tone of voice he was talking into. He's like come on, boys, you can really do it. You gotta go out there and do it though. So I was like man, like you know, we're gonna shock the world, let's go do this thing, yeah. So then, like now, because they would. They kept saying like well, g-man glenroy, head coach, said he kept telling us like he's like your team ain't as good as ours until you know, you win olympic gold. So the minute we won the first day on the line, I was like no, I'm better so you know I was like.
Speaker 1:So that's why I was like. You know you guys can step aside, now it's ours. Now you know they kept saying like they're like the cuz back when they, when they won in 1996, Everyone called like the fast forward. So now I tell them like it's our turn. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So now, that's why yeah. But now, like Bruni and you know Glenroy, like they Glenroy said the back switch is mine now. Before he said yeah, he didn't really know it's back there, even though I run faster than what he has, but yeah, he still said I'm the man back there, it's not yours. So now he says it's me now, so I'm good Now we just got to wait for that statue. Yeah, I know I need mine in brass. So I'm doing a Flavor Flav so mine needs to have brass.
Speaker 2:There you go, you heard it. Thanks, thanks, man, appreciate it, appreciate it. And uh, hey, thanks for tuning in to the 243rd episode of the show. We're powered by perfect sports. As you folks know, the best protein in canada. It's going worldwide and we're along for the ride. Thank you to jerome for coming on the show in vancouver. It was amazing being able to talk to him about this incredible feat, what it's like to be able to be one of the fastest men in the world and ultimately be a part of history in Paris and representing our nation. Thank you again for tuning in to this week's episode of the Athletes Podcast. We'll see you next week for another new show. Bye.
