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
Jillian Weir's Unique Path From Water Polo to Olympic Hammer Throw - Episode #253
Discover the inspiring journey of Jillian Weir, an Olympic hammer throw athlete who excels in her sport and provides insights into competing against strong rivalries and personal adversities. Jillian highlights her non-traditional path from various sports to hammer throwing as well as the differences between Commonwealth Games and the Olympics, shedding light on each competition's unique challenges and opportunities.
- Jillian discusses her early athletic influences and competition experiences
- Insights into the Ducks vs Beavers rivalry and its effects on the athletic community
- The transition from high school sports to collegiate athletics
- Challenges and highlights of competing in Commonwealth Games vs Olympics
- The need for the hammer throw's inclusion in the Diamond League
- Tips for young athletes on recovery, nutrition, and maintaining peak performance
- The importance of well-rounded sports exposure in shaping Athletic careers
- Motivational insights on perseverance and self-care in Sports
Jillian also shares her favourite post-workout meals and personal philosophies on staying grounded throughout her journey.
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The Ducks and Beavers do not like each other. What's that rivalry? Like Any fun stories there.
Speaker 2:Well, I would say in other sports the rivalry is more serious and in track and field they only have a women's program. They don't have a men's track and field team and, to be honest, we didn't look at them as much of any competition.
Speaker 3:What's up everyone? Welcome back to the athletes podcast. Is everyone fired up from that canada usa game? Because I sure am. That was incredible. Oh my god, that was one of the best hockey games I've seen in a long time. Of course, canada had to get the win. You love to see it. What tournament from? Uh, my boy, dylan lark, shout out, that was awesome. I hope everyone enjoyed that Today. Today we have Jillian Weir on. She is incredible. Canadian Olympic hammer throw athlete has the second best finish of any female Canadian hammer thrower all time at the Olympics. That's pretty damn cool. Dave will get more into that in the episode, but yeah, hope you guys enjoy. As always, shout out Perfect Sports. They're awesome. Their stuff's incredible. Use the code AP20 at checkout. You're going to save 20%. You're going to love this stuff. It's awesome and without further ado, let's get into this episode.
Speaker 1: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, jillian Weir, what's going on? This is episode 253 of the Athletes Podcast. Thanks for coming on the show.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Long time overdue. I know we've been chatting for probably six, eight, nine, 10 months now. What's it like down in California? First off, are you okay? Fires, obviously, things going on there, everything good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, everything's great. So last five years I was training in Alberta and over the summer I just relocated back to California where I grew up. So I'm splitting my time up at Stanford in the Bay area and then down in LA and I was down there when the fires hit and I had to like turn around and drive back up, but I wasn't anywhere super close. There was just a lot of congestion in the LA area and you know, air quality was spotty depending on the like, wind direction and everything. So, yeah, I just needed to bounce, but luckily I was okay and everybody that I knew was all right as well glad to hear that.
Speaker 1:Typically some pretty beautiful places to be able to train and spend your time, as opposed to Kingston, ontario, where you probably had to grow up. But throwing hammer throws a little colder yeah, yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:So I have a lot of family out in Ontario, some in Alberta, um, but my mom's whole side of the family is from Canada and living in Alberta very, very cold, grew up down in California because my parents were working here. My dad used to coach at Stanford and now he's coaching at University of Missouri, so I'm a dual citizen, but I have lived in Canada in some rough winters and I cannot complain about the weather that I've been training in lately in California.
Speaker 1:I think that's a testament to why Canadians are always doing so well. Whether it's winter or summer games, we've got to be able to participate in any kind of weather, absolutely, jillian. You are likely familiar with Liz Gledel, who's also a three-time Olympian. She's in, or she was in, alberta throwing down one winter like ugly stuff uh, similar to your dad, who's also a three-time Olympian no big deal uh, a little bit of pressure when you've got a dad who's competed in three Olympic games like what was that like growing up?
Speaker 2:yes and no. I mean to me he just always was, you know, dad and dad competed in track and field and he's a coach, and so that's just what he did. But as I've gotten older, I've definitely recognized, like, the success that he had and the effort it took to not only be a husband and a father and a coach but an athlete competing at that high level um, and he also played in the cfl and he's done a lot of super cool things and so, yeah, I look back now as an adult and think he had such a great career, um, but as a kid I didn't really know any different.
Speaker 1:It was just like oh yeah, dad like works at a track yeah, he just casually competes in the olympic games when he's not being my dad and bringing me to school I uh, one of the things I appreciated about your upbringing as I was doing some research, is the fact that you were playing a ton of sports growing up and you didn't necessarily go right into hammer throw immediately. Can you share a bit about that upbringing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think that is a key part of the athlete that I've become and some of the success that I've had.
Speaker 2:So, growing up, I played water polo for seven years Growing up in California that was a regular sport to play and then I played softball for a year. I even did wrestling in middle school because my brother was doing wrestling. I played basketball and then even in track and field I did running events, jumping events, throwing events, and I didn't specialize to the throws until high school and I was throwing shot, put and discus and then, when I got to university, started doing the hammer throw and then I just got better and better at it and then became a hammer thrower, which I would consider was pretty late in my career. Opposed to, I have friends and people that maybe have been throwing since they were a teenager or even younger, or at a high school age at least, and so, yeah, I kind of came about it in a in a different way. But I think all of those other sports really developed and shaped me to become just a better, well-rounded athlete.
Speaker 1:Was there one that you enjoyed the most growing up?
Speaker 2:I had a good time playing water polo. It was I just had a good arm, and so a water polo ball is like very light and, uh, at the time, like I would just taking shots that I think other girls weren't taking. So you know, I might have been like 15, 16 years old, shooting from near like the halfway mark and people like wouldn't expect it so it would go in because the goalie wasn't really, like you know, ready for a shot coming that far, uh, in that age group. So, yeah, I I think water polo was a fun sport, but I even like was skateboarding with my friends or riding like a scooter, or I used to go to the skate park on like rollerblades and like dropping half pipes and stuff, so I was literally always doing something super athletic.
Speaker 1:Was that ingrained at a young age? You just always had to be outside moving and shaking. It comes with an Olympic dad and parents that are always pursuing great athletic achievements.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think so. But like my brother and I, our parents just always were like, do whatever you want, like go ahead, and like I grew up in the way where it was like, all right, hey, I'm going to the park, yeah, okay, I'll come back, like you know, when the sun's going down. So I was able just to go out and hang out with my friends and just I enjoyed getting out and just doing something fun, something athletic, and then, as I was like getting older and more competitive, I found out that I was pretty good at it as well. So it definitely, yeah, it made it fun.
Speaker 1:Okay, tell me about the difference between Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games, because most people don't know what that looks like and you've competed in both. I'd love to get the inside scoop on what those look like. The differences intricacies.
Speaker 2:So my first commonwealth games was 2018 and that was in australia, and that was a lot of fun. Um, I went over to australia early, before our training camp and before the games, because I had a family friend that connected me with somebody else and so I got to go like, stay with another athlete an australian athlete and go get some training in. So I just had a really, really great trip. It was fun while I was over there being able to explore a little bit because I was there early, but Australia is just an awesome place, so I highly recommend traveling to that part of the world.
Speaker 2:But going to the Commonwealth Games, that was my first what you consider a games experience and so, um, in track and field, we have a world championships or you know, there's Pan Am games, olympic games, commonwealth games and then there's a bunch of other meets, but anyone or any of those competitions that are games have all different sports. So world championships is just our sport athletics or track and field but when you go to a Commonwealth Games, you've got people playing basketball, swimmers. You know all different sports and so going there in 2018, I was only a few years out of university and it was really, really eye opening. I did not compete well, so if I have any regrets, it was how the competition went, but it was definitely a really good learning experience. So when I went to my second Commonwealth Games I was a lot more prepared and then I ended up meddling. So that was really cool to be able to have that first experience and learn from it and then to do better the next time.
Speaker 2:Olympic Games are just like Commonwealth. Games, I'd say you know times 10 or 20. Games, I'd say you know times 10 or 20. Yeah, exactly Like on steroids. It's a huge, like massive, global event. Opposed to Commonwealth is just certain countries, the Commonwealth nations, and so Olympics. Then it's like it's even more sports, even more countries, bigger. The Olympics that I went to in Tokyo obviously it was during the pandemic, so things were a lot more restricted in terms of what we could or couldn't do outside of the Olympic Village, but nonetheless you could really feel the scale of everything and how much more like precise everything was. In comparison, commonwealth Games felt a lot more laid back and the level of competition was just not nearly as high, but nonetheless, both are, I think, very, very great opportunities and fun events, and anytime you get to compete for your country it's always a good time.
Speaker 1:It brings up an interesting point competing for your country. Because you're born in the US, you have a Canadian mother and you have a British father, if I'm correct.
Speaker 2:That's correct.
Speaker 1:So you got a plethora of options to choose from.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and my dad's parents were born and raised in Jamaica, so sometimes there's athletes that are like trying to figure out which grandparent or somebody like who could they get potentially a passport for and I technically could compete for four different countries. So I think that I guess that's pretty lucky. But I started competing for Team Canada back when I was a teenager. I was on the junior national team, went to World Junior Championships and at that time I was still primarily a shop and disc store, so I didn't even go compete internationally as a hammer thrower until later, um and um, my mom kind of was like, hey, you know, if you want, you could probably compete on the Canadian team.
Speaker 2:And even though I was born here and grew up here, my family, like I mentioned, is super diverse and to this day I don't have any other family that was born in the United States, and so for me it wasn't like I didn't feel American, I just felt closer ties to my Canadian family. I spent almost every summer there and it was just kind of an easy decision. I was like, yeah, that'd be fun, I'd like to represent Canada.
Speaker 1:And it was just a decision I made as a teenager, um, and certainly have stuck with it and have now competed for Team Canada for over 10 years. So one of the biggest things as a Canadian you aspire as a Canadian athlete, younger that is growing up is to go down to the NCAA. Compete, yeah, us college at sports yeah um you, you spend a year in Long Beach before oregon. Can you explain like that whole process?
Speaker 2:yeah. So coming out of high school I was a. I was a solid recruit, um, I was top five in the state and top 10 the country, and that just shows how competitive california is. At the time I was going up against, like, I think, the national record holder in the state and so everybody was kind of competing for second or third place and California was just so good where it's like you can be, you know, third, fourth, fifth, sixth in the state, but you're probably going to be top 10 or top 20 in the nation.
Speaker 2:And that was my senior year, my junior year I was pretty good, but not yet at that level. And so I was recruited by a smaller school, long Beach State University, by Coach Corey Lovell. He's still down there. I actually saw him recently. He and I are still in good contact, but I took that opportunity because it felt right at the time.
Speaker 2:And then, after being there for a year, I had an opportunity to transfer. My dad actually was working at the University of Oregon, which he had not been prior to me starting at Long Beach State, and it was kind of like, hey, you know what, I can transfer up there, I can redshirt, get some good experience and kind of see where things go. So I took that opportunity and I went in and for people who are familiar with the NCAA, you have, you know, your regular tracks, track meets, and then you have your conference championships and then there's a regionals if you make it and then the national champs if you make it. So when I was at Long Beach I just did the regular meets and went to conference.
Speaker 2:That's it Didn't make the regionals, didn't make the nationals, and nationals typically is the top 24 in the country, so 12 from the East, 12 from the West out of the regionals make it to that national championships. So I was not at that level. In my first year of university I went to Oregon, I registered, put in a lot of work and then the next three years I qualified for nationals every year and then became a two-time All-American. So I really kind of stepped up when I went to that bigger school and then my senior year I was fourth in the country and our team won the national title. So it was cool to be like going from an athlete not even making the national championships to being on a winning team and I wouldn't change that whole experience for anything.
Speaker 1:Man being a duck just looks different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, built different, for sure.
Speaker 1:Actually, on the AP tour that I went from Toronto down to LA, up the coast, we stopped at the University of Oregon and chatted with Taya Hansen basketball player. Cool and recorded at, I want to say, that big gymnasium that's named after someone that I should remember, Anyways fantastic facility, matthew Knight Arena, maybe.
Speaker 1:Thank you, that's the one so fun fact about Matthew Knight long-winded circle. I worked for the Corvallis Knights down in Oregon, which is the WCL Baseball League. Spent a summer down there with them. That team is owned by Phil Knight, so small circle there. The Corvallis Knights are well-connected. Spent one evening July 4th actually at the University of Oregon. The Ducks and Beavers do not like each other. What's that rivalry like Any fun stories there?
Speaker 2:Well, I would say in other sports the rivalry is more serious, um, and in track and field they only have a women's program. They don't have a men's track and field team and to be honest, we didn't look at them as much of any competition. And that sounds pretty pretentious. But you know, in the pac-12 at the time, which now is pretty dismantled, but we won every Pac-12 championship. So my whole time there we did not lose and we were competing for the number one team in the country every single year. Oregon State was just not on that level. So from a track perspective I wouldn't really say there was a rivalry.
Speaker 1:Civil war right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but when it comes to basketball and football, they definitely take it pretty seriously.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was. Dan Siegel almost hooked me up with tickets on the 50-yard line with Phil Knight, but maybe next time for that football Civil War game. It's pretty crazy. It brings up an interesting point, though. You're competing for the number one team spot Pressure associated with going from a Long Beach, maybe not to Oregon. How does that? I'm always curious because it's an individual sport, but you're competing as a team. It's kind of like doubles tennis. I was talking with. Aaron Eliff about this. How do you manage that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so in track and field at the collegiate level, when they're scoring a track meet, you get points for the top eight places. So first place gets 10 points and then it goes 10, 8, 6, and then, I believe, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And so if you're third place you're getting six points for your team and then at the end of the meet they add up all the points and the highest point scoring team wins that team title. And so as an individual, you're just trying to get out there and you know for sure aim for top eight, get points for the team and do as best as you can. And then the team that I was on like I felt I feel like we were like very, very supportive of each other and like everybody was out there just performing at such a high level. I mean, some of my teammates were people who have gone on to become not one or two-time Olympians but medalists or NFL players that we had some sprinters and a bunch of different people. So to be able to— Drop some names.
Speaker 1:Come on, jenny, drop some names. Yeah, I can't just leave us cliffhangers.
Speaker 2:De'Anthony Thomas, a football player. He was a sprinter for Oregon. Raven Rogers won an Olympic medal. She was my teammate. She ran the 800.
Speaker 2:Devin Allen, you know he's dabbled his hand in high level hurtling, placing fourth and fifth at the Olympics, and he was a football player, uh. So yeah, lots of, lots of big names. Um, and to be on, like those teams, everybody was just like kind of dropping their ego at the door, showing up and just trying to score points and then we were all, yeah, like I said, supportive of each other and just trying to do as best as we could. So I feel like being at a school like Long Beach. There wasn't the standard of like to get top eight at nationals Now, of course, like that's what people wanted to do, but more often than not we weren't even really like at that level. As opposed to Oregon, it was like yeah, hey, we're here, we're here to stay, we want to make a statement like let's go. And I feel like it was just far more competitive and that's what you got to do to win a national, national championship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, standard of excellence is set pretty high. Also probably set pretty high when you got to graduate with a Bachelor of Science. Were you using the knowledge to at school? They're like what do you want to be when you grow up?
Speaker 2:And I said I want to be an Olympian. So for me, my parents have my old yearbook and I had to fill out something about in grade five what do you want to be? And I've had that goal and the desire to be a professional athlete since I was very young and so through my academic journey, I look back and I'm like I probably could have put in a little bit more effort. Um, but I didn't want to be a lawyer or a doctor or like, go to school for a specific degree, for a specific job. I was like hey, I want to have a well-rounded major. School is very important to me, but I also know my career path is athletics and so I would say that I put maybe put a little bit more effort on the field than in the class. But uh, you know, I guess that's how it goes.
Speaker 1:That's what it's called. That's what's called for from an Olympic athlete or someone who's a high level, like I was just chatting with Richie Bulbrook, who's last week's episode 252, number one skateboarder in Canada, no big deal, and he is only 21 years old. He is currently attending Western. And he's also maybe not putting as much effort into yeah, and I'm like I'm not proud to say that like absolutely, like, focus on your studies.
Speaker 2:It's like very good for me. I also was like, okay, hey, I can fully handle my course load, I am able to have a flexible schedule to have athletics as my priority. And, like there was no doubt, like okay, hey, I'm going to get my degree. I was even looking at going to grad school, but it was just not flexible for the schedule and the amount that I travel. Um, so that's kind of how it went down, but I would not say that my degree had any crossover to athletics. Just good discipline, you know, like good time management, but I wasn't like I wasn't doing any, I wasn't majoring in kinesiology and then like taking that to my sport and honestly, that's okay because it probably gave your body and brain ability to like, disassociate and deal with something else.
Speaker 1:But all that being like the time management aspect, all of that is people don't realize that that's probably 90% of what university is there for. It's like this kind of transition, somewhat kind of vacation period after high school before you have to become a real adult, where you get four or five years to train really hard if you want to pursue academics, learn how to become an adult, manage your time properly, build some lifelong friendships with 20,000 other people that are also academically and potentially athletically inclined. There's benefits to it, even if you don't take it 100% seriously Absolutely. I think the way you did it is probably good because look at where you are now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it worked out, it worked out look at where you are now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it worked out. It worked out. When you look back, how many games like board games did you play over the years at?
Speaker 2:Oregon, because I know that's one of your favorite pastimes. Yeah, I play more board games and card games now as a professional athlete on Team Canada. I feel like all of my teammates could attest to this. If we're at a training camp, I'm usually the one bringing a game, bringing a deck of cards, getting a game started, and so in college I did play like quite a few games and stuff like that, but I play more now. It's easy to like kill time, it's fun just to like hang out, have a conversation, listen to music, instead of just laying there sitting on a couch or in bed on your phone or like watching a movie or something. For me, I like being social and I like doing something that's like easy and competitive and like playing board games or card games is just an easy way to pass the time and kind of stay focused between training sessions I've been also incorporating some puzzling into my life, oh yeah it's kind of great, you know there's kind of great.
Speaker 1:You get a little adrenaline hit after you get that piece in properly. I don't know, there's something about it. I've been chatting with friends and it's crazy because as you're growing up, you realize that, oh, my parents, grandparents, they're so weird. They want to go to bed early, they want to just hang out and play games and socialize and you like, oh, let's go out and do things where you're like oh man, maybe they had it right all along.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I agree, yeah, doing a jigsaw puzzle. I also like doing that and I would would do that sometimes in back in college like my old roommate. She'd be like what are you doing? And like she would never she was on the basketball team, she would never help at all and I would just be sitting there by myself, or sometimes with like some friends or teammates, just like doing a little jigsaw puzzle. Like like I don't have time to like go out, I'm just chilling and getting ready for practice or whatever.
Speaker 1:And yeah, puzzles are definitely a great way to spend your time your favorite motto is it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress. Where'd that come from?
Speaker 2:Just something that I saw that struck a chord with me. I feel like it's easy to think really far ahead and I try to stay in the present, and so that commitment to the process is just something that I really liked. Process is just something that I really liked, and it kind of just keeps me grounded and focused on what I'm doing and not get so caught up with the future.
Speaker 1:So it wasn't something that, like in 1996 in Atlanta or 2000 in Sydney, they got like tattooed on you. You're like I'm going to be here in 10, 15 years, no.
Speaker 2:I don't even know where I saw it, honestly. But yeah, like once I had to fill out like what's your favorite quote, and at the time I was like that's something that I really resonated with and it's a good one.
Speaker 1:Do you listen to any motivational things? Do you listen to like? I'm always curious what gets people going like pre competition. Yeah, are you a music music person? Are you a podcast person? What's uh, what's kind of the Jillian Weir routine?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, I like listening to audiobooks, podcasts and lots of different music, all different genres, but when it comes to practice or to competitions, definitely music.
Speaker 2:And if I'm getting ready for a big meet as a field event athlete and any field event athlete can relate to this, especially the multis, the heptathletes and the decathletes like you're out there for a long time and so I'm not like listening to some like hype music, taking my headphones out, going out and like running a 10 second race and then, like being done, I might have a two, three hour like competition right from the time that you start warming up and if you go to a call room, maybe there's another call room and then you go out to the field and then you warm up out there and then the competition starts like it takes a long time.
Speaker 2:So I don't like to get too hyped up and listen to anything that's like too crazy upbeat. Um, I definitely love like hip hop and rap, but sometimes I listen to not and I wouldn't go as far as like super slow music either, but kind of just like chill, like vibey music is what I like, kind of to just get myself focused, cause I know big competitions aren't over in 30 minutes Like it is a long time to be out competing and getting ready. So yeah, I kind of lean more towards the chill music for comp days.
Speaker 3:Quick break in the action here, because I have the awesome opportunity today to tell you about Perfect Sports supplements. They've got protein powder, they've got creatine, they've got pre-workout've got any supplement you need they have. They're the best. Uh, you got to use code ap20 at checkout. You save 20. It's just you got to do it. I I'm not, I don't make the rules, you just have to do it. But you're gonna love it. You're not gonna regret that decision. So, perfect sports, uh, check them out. All right back to the episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the marathon, not a sprint. Uh, I've learned lots about track and field over the past uh, 12 months. I love working with mary maryam abdul rashid, hannah taylor, amongst others, and, uh, it's crazy the different expectations that each athlete has depending on the sport. I it's, it's, or I guess, the, the discipline or the specific uh competition that you're in. But yeah, when you, when you look at, when you look back, I attended harry jerome in burnaby, I guess what, six, eight months ago now, and then canadian championships that were out in montreal, full weekend events. There's actually a decent crowd coming to these things. Now I feel like there's a bit of momentum with track and field. Have you noticed that over the past five, ten like decade, are you noticing that there's more people paying attention to the sport?
Speaker 2:because I feel like it wasn't given that yeah, no, I would say so.
Speaker 2:And I mean, our team right now is probably as good as it's ever been. Um, and I'm speaking in the last, say five or so years. Um, you know, in Tokyo, damien Warner won the decathlon this last year. You had Cameron Rogers and Ethan Katzberg winning both of their events as well. Um, and then you know Marco Arope and Pierce LaPage like these are all people who are world champions. And you know Marco Arope and Pierce Lepage, like these, are all people who are world champions, and you know, that's just the people that are winning those gold medals. We've got a lot of depth athletes getting in the top eight and having personal bests on the world stage, and so I feel like, as our team is getting better and better, there is a little bit more attention on track and field than there used to be.
Speaker 1:Why doesn't it get the attention it deserves?
Speaker 2:I think in North America, if you turn on the TV and you want to watch something sport related, it's probably going to be one of those male dominated team sports. You're going to see football, basketball, hockey, baseball, um, before you typically see a sport like track and field. I don't have a black and white, clear answer on what the sport needs to do. I think there's a lot of people that have a lot of great ideas and I think there's other things that people have tried that maybe haven't gone as well as we would have hoped. But, that being said, you need eyes on the sport and people also need to be informed.
Speaker 2:Sometimes people go to a track meet and think there's so much going on Like there's someone jumping over a bar over here and someone throwing something, something there and running laps, like what's going on and you're like. You're like, yeah, wait, like, so that could be a little confusing. But then you know there was a meet that they had in New York City where they were like we're just going to do one event at a time, then the viewer in person and at home is able to actually follow it, you know. So more eyes on it, more education to know what the events actually are and kind of highlight those athlete stories and just kind of give, I would say, like, information on the sport.
Speaker 2:Like, for example, when you see Ryan Krauser throwing a 16-pound ball over 23 meters, people are like, oh, that's a big, heavy ball and it's going far. But they don't understand. It's like, hey, that thing weighs you know heavier than most bowling balls and it's going this far, right, and like someone who does a really good job at that. Um, or two people actually is durell hill and kara winger are both track and field athletes. Uh, durell was a shot putter and kara is the american holder in the women's javelin. And they've done some commentating and I feel like they've kind of brought that information to the public to say like, hey, this is what's going on and we just need a lot more of that and the whole sport can be packaged in a better way yeah, it's coming.
Speaker 1:We're we're working on it. That's why we're bringing on people like yourself here to the athletes podcast. We're highlighting these incredible athletes, people like greg stewart, bringing more attention to the sport as well I gotta get. I gotta get up to cam loops. Maybe we'll, we'll just I'll coordinate a big group throwing session. Yeah, up Kamloops, because you guys train up there. That's where Ethan's up there, right he's based out of there.
Speaker 2:He does a lot of training camps throughout the year. But I think a better idea would be for you to come to a training camp, because if we're at a training camp, we will do ones down in Southern California, out in Louisiana. The sprinters were just out in Grenada recently. But if you go to a training camp, you'd be able to hit a lot of different events and see a lot of different people and things like that and in a practice environment, and I think you would see a lot more behind the scenes stuff and you'd be able to do a lot more at once. So we'll try to organize that.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. I was talking with Finley Knox. I was going to get in the pool with him. I suck at swimming, so that was going to be a really good episode. Definitely some shares coming from that. And then, you know, jerome Blake, I would definitely be, behind him in the 100 meter by probably about 50 meters. But that's okay, you know, it's all about the effort and it would make for some great content and that's the thing is.
Speaker 2:You're a young, fit guy, you work out a lot. I see what you're doing and it's like to then see what you know someone on the gold medal relay team, how fast they are and it's like, wow, people I think don't understand the difference of like someone who's in shape and someone who is a great athlete and then an Olympic medalist, like there's a big difference.
Speaker 1:I love providing perspective. Yeah, that's like a big thing. I think that over the years I've uncovered that's like one of my kind of like paradigm shifting moments that I can provide perspective to people, and I think this is one of those things that could be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would love to see that.
Speaker 1:You're like I'm going to throw this hammerball so much farther than you and I'm gonna love it.
Speaker 2:That's what's going through, yeah, and I'll just hand it to you and say you just let's see what you can do, and then I'll give you some tips yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's even like that harry jerome event. I'm watching people like sarah mitten throw yeah and you can't, even people don't realize like, oh, it's just a small metal ball yeah you know why is it exactly? It's like people have no idea so I I'm gonna take you up on that. We're gonna provide some perspective um yeah, where, where would be? Where's your favorite place to train?
Speaker 2:um, that's a good question. I've trained in a lot of cool places around the world. Um, before the tokyo olympics we had a team training camp in Gifu, japan, and that was just awesome because everyone's excited, we've made the team, we're there getting ready and we're going to go back there again this year before the world championships. So I would say that's up there for me. But through track and field I've now competed all over North America, competed in South America, australia, europe and Asia, so I'm getting a lot of continents down. But I'm not sure if we'll have a track meet in Antarctica, or else I'd like to check that off the list too.
Speaker 1:Hey, you might have to talk with my buddy, Connor Eminey. He's done an Ironman on every single continent. Yeah, see, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:And I haven't been to Africa yet either. So there.
Speaker 1:That's the beauty of sport too, though. You get to go to these amazing places again provided perspective, because not everyone is as cold up here in canada or has as much sunshine as you do down in california um what was the transition like from high school to university and then university professional athlete?
Speaker 1:are there pieces of advice? I normally ask this at the end of the episode, but I feel like right now is a good moment to highlight, before we get into the diamond lead things that what, what are those pieces that you would provide to a young athlete to say, you know, at that 15, 16, 17, before going to university, what would you suggest, whether it's academically, athletically, physically, would it be physically? Would it be to sleep more, would it be to eat more, train more, like how would you suggest.
Speaker 2:Definitely Great question because it's very broad but it's easy to get quite specific. I would say to start off yes, absolutely, sleep is underrated. Get as much sleep as you can Feel your body Hydrate well. As long as you're doing all those things, you're going to be able to recover a lot better. Like you know, now as an older athlete, I'm like you know physio appointments and you know seeing different practitioners and like getting my body right.
Speaker 2:When I was younger I was just showing up, warming up, competing, going to the next sport, doing it, and I didn't have to worry about like as many little intricacies, which sometimes I, you know, wish I still, I guess, had the luxury of not worrying about that. But that being said, yeah, focus on the little things and all those different components are really going to be those building blocks to making you a better athlete. But from a high school athlete to a university athlete, you don't need to pigeonhole yourself, like I know in track and field sometimes say, you're a runner, your event might change. You might go into it thinking you're a better 100 or 200 meter runner and you might end up being a better 400 meter runner, um, or you know, people change around. You know their disciplines or their distances all the time. Like myself, I threw, shot, put in discus and then became an Olympic hammer thrower. So I think playing different sports is always great through the youth.
Speaker 2:I would definitely suggest to not specialize too soon. And even if you specialize in a sport doesn't mean you need to specialize in a position or an event or a discipline. It's like continue to be a well-rounded athlete. And then for me, when I then went to university, it was kind of like okay, yep, now I'm doing this at like the highest level I currently can. And just I continued to like follow what I felt was best and the intuition is something that your intuition is something that for sure can't be taken for granted Like listen to your body and like you know what's right and strive for that greatness.
Speaker 2:It's like if your goal is to improve by one second, figure out what you need to do to do that Right, talk to your coaches and kind of work on your weaknesses as well as continuing to work on your strengths. Kind of work on your weaknesses as well as continuing to work on your strengths. And then, from being a collegiate athlete to a professional athlete, it just was taking it. Just another, you know, rung up the ladder and it was like, okay, so if I was here in college and I need to be here to go to the Olympics, what do I need to do? How do you bridge that gap? And sometimes, if you're in a field event, it might be a technical improvement, it might be a strength improvement, it could be a speed component. Like there's so many different facets to becoming a better athlete, and talking with your coach and working with different people that are able to identify those things or help you identify those things are, I think, ways to continue to improve at every single level such a good answer.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad I asked that.
Speaker 2:There you, I feel like I feel like I was saying a lot, but that's what I'm saying is like it's very broad, but like you got to get specific with it along the way people need to also understand that it does take time, right, Like yeah, it's, it's a two decade long process to become an Olympic athlete, right?
Speaker 1:And people try and fast forward that. And I was reading the book Chop Wood, carry Water, and it's talking about becoming a samurai and it's like you know how long is it going to take for me to become a samurai? I can't remember the guy's name and it's like 10 years yeah it's like what if I try really hard?
Speaker 1:what if I carry lots of water and chop lots? What might take you 15? Yeah, you're trying to rush through the process, and so I always like to ask that from you or from our guests. Right, the next step to that is you have a birthday coming up.
Speaker 1:You were that's true, the only and you're sorry, you were the only indigenous individual on team canada. What makes jillian weir unique, outside of the surface level things that we can see the fact that you play puzzles, board games, sure what are some unique characteristics that that people don't necessarily know um?
Speaker 2:Um, that's a good question. I think that my I feel like my friends or family would be able to answer that maybe better than myself. But, um, you mentioned of my indigenous background. My grandmother is from the Mohawk tribe in Eastern Canada and on the Tokyo team I was, uh, not only the only indigenous athlete on the track team, but for all of Team Canada at that Olympics. There wasn't any other indigenous representation this year, or I should say last year now in Paris. I did not make that Olympic team, but there were several athletes Apollo Hess is one of them, who I know, and he is a swimmer, um and so there were more indigenous athletes on the Paris team this year, which is cool to see, um, and I definitely think that that makes me unique, just to kind of have a little bit of diversity in there and represent multiple things, um, just beyond myself. But yeah, I don't know, that's a very, very hard question to answer and I might have to get back to you on that.
Speaker 1:Hey, that's okay. That's why I should have prepped you with that one prior.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I'm always curious because, you know, I asked that question to some people and they're like hey, I really like to sing. Yeah, that's not a world strongest man, right, you know. Vice versa, vice versa, right, there's there's always little things that people don't see on the surface. Yeah, and I think that's what's really important. In a podcast, long form setting, you can actually learn about the individual yeah so that when someone sees you at a meet sure in slovakia yeah, they can reference the fact that they also are a fan of metallica or whatever yeah, yeah, band
Speaker 2:that you like right yeah, well, I mean, I like all types of music and, like that jamaican background, I like reggae music and then my mom grew up on a dairy farm. I like country music and then, you know, growing up in california I like you know the old school hip-hop. So I feel like the music taste is like very, very broad, where there's been a couple times I'll like put on some music and someone will be like who's who's playing this. I'm like, oh, that's me. And they're like, oh, I didn't know. Like, and I'm like, yeah, you know, I listen to whatever.
Speaker 2:Uh, I don't think that that makes me unique. There's a lot of people that have a broad music taste, um, but yeah, uh, I'm pretty laid back and it's kind of like what you see is what you get. I'm like open to talk to anybody and I think I'm quite extroverted in that way. But I guess something that people wouldn't know as much of if, like you know me through track and field is like I'm, I think, also equally as introverted, and so I can go out and talk to anybody and have a conversation and like always like joking and hanging out and whatever. But I like equally, like just chilling by myself, like doing my own thing yeah, listening to my music or reading a book, or just yeah, like spending alone time. Um, and I think some people assume I'm like always like doing like these, like crazy things, but I feel like I like to have that balance.
Speaker 1:Okay, favorite post-workout meal. What is your nutrition and supplementation looks like before we wrap things up?
Speaker 2:Favorite post-workout meal when I'm in California some good Mexican food. That's something I really missed when I was living in Alberta is I would go somewhere and people would be like, oh, they got really good tacos or they got good burritos. And I would go and I'd be like, ugh, this is not that great. And I'd be like this is not that great. But being California, like, yeah, love a good carne asada taco or you know, burrito or whatever, love Mexican food. But yeah, I'm not a picky eater Like I could equally go for like a good burger, sometimes like a burger and fries hits different, I love sushi and so, yeah, I kind of eat all different things, but usually we'll have a protein shake like right after I finished working out um, just quick to get in some protein, um, whether then I'm like driving home and then having food or whatever, yeah, so I I keep the diet, I think, quite balanced, but a lot of different. You know foods in there as well.
Speaker 1:I hear I heard you describe yourself as a scrawny kid when you were younger, to use your words. Specifically, was there anything that you did to you know not become scrawny Like? Were you crushing creatine or what's the? What was the protocol to put on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, good question. Um, I will send you a picture, uh, so you can see, like how kind of long and lanky I was when I was in middle school, and so if you look at me then you would say there's no way that she would become an Olympic thrower. Um, and I have taken creatine at different like stages through university and like post collegiately. Um, I'm not always taking it, but I am taking creatine right now, um, but yeah, when I was in university, it was kind of like all right, hey, you're a little undersized, like let's kind of up the calories, let's put some weight on, let's you know more protein, um, and just like volume of food, um, to be able to fuel myself. Um, so it wasn't like any one specific thing, but it was just like, hey, whatever you're doing, just like do more and like fuel yourself. And like, hey, if you're gonna eat, like you know, one serving of, say, pasta and like meat sauce, it's like, well, have two. Right, like just increase that caloric intake.
Speaker 1:It could be a worse place to be. You know, I know, I know, like there's some.
Speaker 2:Seriously, it's like there's some athletes that are like trying to get to. You know, a competition, weight, weight, um. If you're a runner or a jumper, depending on the person, depending on the event, you may or may not compete at a lighter weight than you train at earlier in the year. And for me, I'm like almost always trying to stay at or gain weight, um, and I've never had to like cut, so I will. I will say it's not a bad part about being a thrower yeah, yeah, the uh.
Speaker 1:There was an article I feel like it was in the athletic that came out a couple days ago, talking about people like patrick mahomes and nikola jokic who, right, don't necessarily have like the five, six, seven percent body fat, right body, but, yeah, performing at their best, if not better than the other athletes because they have their bodies properly fueled yeah maybe not to look the best on a muscle and fitness magazine cover yeah but to perform as a professional athlete absolutely yeah, no, and that's the thing is like.
Speaker 2:If you look at like yeah, yoko, and I saw and I saw him when I was in Tokyo that was like pretty cool to see some of like those other like star athletes at the Olympics and everybody in the Olympic Village is in good shape. But you can kind of walk around and say like oh, that person is probably a swimmer, like you can tell like the different body styles or like the gymnasts stick out Right, you're like OK, there's not a lot of people here that are high jumpers, that might be under five feet tall, so it's easy to you know, guess the different sports and whatnot. But absolutely, um, you got to do what's right for you and your event and your body and from a young age, trying to like cut weight and lose weight, it's not something that you need to be doing. You're growing and you just have to feel your body like as best as you can. But I would always like direct that advice to seeing a nutrition professional or like a team doctor and figuring out what's best for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so true. I'm glad we brought that up, because I think it's an important factor for those to realize that just because someone has a six-pack and is ripped does not mean that they're primed to perform their best on the field or you gotta have a sleeper build.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, people are sleeping on the sleeper build right they end up sneaking up and winning championships like wearing sweats all the time and you know they're like, oh, they're like what? What do you do? Like people, uh, if say like I'm on a plane or something and I almost always just travel in sweats, and I get, oh, do you play basketball? Or oh, you look like an athlete or like whatever I'm like, I'm like, oh, yeah, like I do track and field. Or I usually just say like I like work in athletics. I don't really like to like lead with. I went to the olympics and this like.
Speaker 2:If someone's just kind of casually asking me a question, of course I'm going to answer it. But I remember one time I was on a flight and someone was like, oh, so you do track and field. And they kind of knew a little bit. And they're like, oh, what event I'm like, oh, I do the hammer throw. They're like, oh, you know, is that that one where you spin around and you wind the thing? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's what I do? And they're like, oh, cool, on my phone I showed them a picture of me competing and they go that doesn't look like you, but I'm like sitting there in baggy sweatpants. And then they see a picture and I'm like, you know, in short, shorts and a tank top and they're like, they're like that's you, I'm like and not even, and I'm not like a crazy cut or anything like that, but but it's just like. Yeah, I try to be like unassuming.
Speaker 1:There's something about being underestimated, hey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a little. Yeah, chip on the shoulder or like underdog, it's just like yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1:Even when you are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I prefer it, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, I think it's think it adds a little fuel to the fire, right? You got to have a little hey like, yeah, doubt me, watch this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's go see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that it brings up the kind of point that we wanted to talk about more than anything, or one of the pillars of this conversation was the Diamond League, the hammer throw, the lack thereof. That being able, can you, as the industry expert, share your thoughts, because I want to make sure this is out there, that people realize the fact that this is missing from the diamond league? People are missing out an opportunity to make money. They've trained their whole lives for this.
Speaker 2:I've teed it up, yeah, absolutely yeah, well, uh, if you follow me on social media, um, it hasn't been once or twice, it's been many times over the years where I've publicly kind of been against, uh, the exclusion of the diamond or of the hammer throw from the diamond league. And, point blank, you have every other field event is in the diamond league, so. So in the jumps you have the pull vault, high jump, triple jump, long jump. In the throws you've got the shot put, discus and the javelin, and then there's no hammer throw. And then on the track you have all of the running disciplines through the sprints and the hurdles.
Speaker 2:Now, when it gets to the distance events, and then also the race walk events and the multi events events, and then also the racewalk events and the multi events. Those are events that are typically not contested on a regular basis in comparison to the 100 meters. You can run a bunch of 100 meters every year, but you're not going to run a bunch of 10ks or do a bunch of decathlons or 35k racewalks. So those events have more of a reason to be excluded, even though they could include them in some sort of way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we got to see Dunphy there sometime.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying. Yeah, and if I look at the hammer throw, sometimes they have the hammer throw at a Diamond League meeting, but it's not considered a Diamond League discipline. So what that means is last year at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, I competed in the women's hammer throw and it was a Diamond League meet. But our event, even though it was at that meet and this is the thing track and field, it gets confusing. People are like wait, what's going on? Like how does that make sense? It doesn't make sense. And so our event. The winner received less prize money than the winner of all of the diamond league disciplines, and every diamond league meeting you get $10,000 us for the win. So in Canada that goes a little bit farther right and, um, 10 grand is a decent payday for one competition and if you win five or 10 of those a year, do the math you're getting 50 to a hundred thousand us dollars, you know, or more.
Speaker 1:Six figure salary Right.
Speaker 2:And so, um, on top of that, you might be getting bonuses for, uh, getting a certain mark or time. Uh, you also are going to yeah, your, your brand deals. You might be getting some bonuses from them. You're also going to potentially be getting appearance fees. If you're some of the top athletes, You're probably not even going to show up to the competition. You don't care about winning the 10 grand, You're not even going to show up unless they're paying you tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker 2:And so the disparity between an event that they go oh hair, yeah, you can compete, but you're not included in that it just doesn't make sense. And then the opportunity to see, like the sport on the highest stage. So if you win a Diamond League meet, say, you're an unsponsored runner and I've seen this happen multiple times and you go in and you're wearing like no visible brands, you're not running under like a team kit and you go in and you're wearing like, uh, no visible brands, You're not running under like a team kit and you go and you win a race by the end of the next week. You're sponsored because they go. Oh wait, this person is getting views, they're competing Well, they're winning races, they're beating people who are sponsored, let's get them in a kit and in the hammer throw.
Speaker 2:Oftentimes the track is over here, the hammer throw is over there. No one's even watching it. You're not in the broadcast window, You're not on TV. So it's very hard for a sponsor to say, hey, I want to sponsor her because no one's seeing that event. So there's a lot of challenges that come with being in an event that is not in what I would consider the premier league in the sport is not in what I would consider the premier league in the sport.
Speaker 1:That just doesn't make sense to me as a you know, sport enthusiast, someone who appreciates competition and seeing the best in the world perform on the global stage. It just didn't make sense to me to see it. Or it still doesn't make sense to me even in Oregon, when you have that event there. Is it a money issue from Diamond League? How many people are participating compared to others? I'm just trying to rationalize this in my head as far as why, even at the beginning, it's even a thought, and that's the thing.
Speaker 2:I've heard different theories or explanations, explanations, but almost every single one, if not every single one, could be debunked. Like if you say, okay, hey, like it's very expensive to put on a track meet, okay, but if every other event is getting the opportunity, leaving one out, why that one Doesn't make sense. Also, the headquarters of our sport, for the international governing body of track and field World Athletics, they're based in Monaco. Monaco is not an inexpensive place. So if you have the money to base your global organization out of one of the world's most expensive places to live, it's kind of hard to say there's no money for you. Um, and then beyond that, in the diamond league, so now they're coming out, like with some more meats and then there's a bunch of prize money for that, you know, sometimes hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars collectively for different meats. So it's like if you have the money to put that on, you didn't have money to put the hammer throw in from the beginning at the diamond league. So for me it's like 100, not a monetary issue, um, and then sometimes people talk about facility access. So there's certain tracks that may not have a hammer ring, and that's okay, because in the Diamond League.
Speaker 2:Not every single meeting has every single event. So if you look at the calendar, one event might have men's 100 and then women's 200. It might have men's hurdles and then women's long jump, and then the next one might have different events, and so it's like, okay, well, just put the hammer at the ones that can accommodate that event. That would make sense to me. Um, so I wouldn't consider it a facility issue. Um, and then beyond that, at for certain meetings they try to do cool things which I do think bring some attention to the sport, where they'll have like a shot put in the street. And so maybe you've seen like in Europe, like in you know the square of a city, they close it down and they make a shot, put sector and put out you know the circle and the toe board and the people throw a shot put out there, and so the community can just come by and watch it. So or you know long jump, or they've done different, like street races and things like that. I've also seen high jump, or a cool one is the pole vault in the train station. So it's like, all right, that's awesome, like to see these cool things.
Speaker 2:But then, by that logic. You're saying you can host a Diamond League event outside of a stadium and they still get that prize money. So, for the hammer throw, you could do something super cool, you could showcase it, you could put it somewhere, that would be awesome, and then it could still be included in the schedule, just hosted at a different location. So, uh, for me there's no excuse. Um, it's, it sucks, and I just am trying to leave the sport better than I found it so sure, raising awareness and trying to get better meets put on. And, you know, shout out to Canada, because Canada has really, I believe, embraced all the different events and in Edmonton there's a great track meet that has the hammer throw and they, they also have the shot put. And you know, more throwing events and, uh, like you mentioned, in BC, harry Jerome, like they've got the hammer throw, and so you know, we might not host a diamond league event in Canada, but at least we're trying to give more events, more opportunities, which is not necessarily seen around the world.
Speaker 2:Kudos to you and kudos to all the canadians, making that, uh, that hammer throw more readily available for people to pursue, participate in and hopefully get compensated for their hard work exactly and the thing is is like if we've got cameron rogers, olympic champion, world champion, and we got ethan katzberg, olympic champion, world champion, in our country we should be putting on events that are going to showcase these athletes, and anytime someone of any age sees the hammer throw especially a little kid they're like that's cool.
Speaker 2:Oh, you spin around and throw it and like they're like that's awesome. And I've had people who don't even know me say, oh, my kid wanted to try it because they saw the hammer throw. And that's so cool that you do that. And it's like why not take something like you know, cool and exciting and different and try to put it on a good platform? Um, so yeah, shout out to the ones that are, are, are, put in in a effort, and if anybody ever like, wants to talk about it or anything, yeah, my line is open.
Speaker 1:Hey, we're going to knock down some doors in Monaco. We're going to make it happen. If nothing else, I want to make sure that, hey, I also leave the sporting world a better place through this platform, and this is one of those things. It makes zero sense why it's not included. All the reasons you just described there make total sense and, to your point there at the end, it is probably one of the most exciting events, right like where else are you throwing a 16 pound? Is it 16 pounds?
Speaker 2:for the men meters.
Speaker 1:Uh yeah, so like ethan throws over 80 meters yeah yeah, yeah, you're not throwing a javelin that far yeah nothing's going that distance, nothing is that heavy.
Speaker 2:The top, top level. Javelin throwers do throw farther, but with the hammer I had to get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but this is something that's cool With the hammer. Out of any sport so not just track and field disciplines, but out of any sport there is more kinetic energy generated in the hammer throw than any other sport. So if you look at a golf ball, you can hit a golf ball very far, but it weighs nothing. If you look at how far someone can throw a football in comparison to a men's hammer or even a women's hammer, it weighs nothing, right? You see people slap shot a hockey puck very fast. Still these things are all weighing much less than a pound. And then you take a heavy metal ball and generate enough speed and force for the ball to be going over 60, 70, 80 meters, and the kinetic energy measured in joules is higher in the hammer throw than any other sport.
Speaker 1:That is cool, I had no idea.
Speaker 2:So it's like the power and the tension and the force that's generated is higher than anything, and that's my thing, is like it's easy to say, hey, this is what I do, people should know about it. It's not even about me if I could get the hammer throw in the diamond league or get more prize money and attention on the sport and I never compete in those events, that's a win, like I think that it's underrated and underappreciated and and hopefully we can make some changes.
Speaker 1:We're going to make some changes. It's happening right here, right now, especially when, like even I shook hands with Ethan in Montreal, chatted with him for a bit and it was like he doesn't look like the stereotypical hammer thrower either right Sleeper build he's not a three. The sleeper build right.
Speaker 2:And you're like dang, you're, you're like dang. People probably ask him oh, you're six, six, do you play basketball? Or like, oh you, what sport do you do? And then he's like, oh, I'm just an olympic champion in the hammer throw, and it's like dang, that's so cool yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:No, that kinetic energy. That's the selling point right there. That's it. Like yo, you want to do the sport that requires the most amount of power, energy output possible. Yeah, hammer throw yeah like that's sick. That, to me, fires me up.
Speaker 1:Not I want to get it you're like, let's go yeah yeah, yeah, I want to prove that honestly like it's, because I think that's the ultimate sign of athleticism is the ability to be, to put in a coordinated effort. That requires both power, speed, agility, timing. You can't step out of that little circle that you guys are in. People don't realize all of the little details that go into it. You're basically a ballerina holding a big, heavy ball at the end spinning. How many times? Ten times, four times? There's a lot of Four, okay, fine, it looks more like that. I swear you've got a couple of rotations after. Yeah, four, okay, it looks more like that. I swear you've got a couple of rotations after.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll probably spin 10 times the first time.
Speaker 1:I do. Sure we can arrange that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, Jillian, this has been great. I appreciate not only you shining light on the sport, sharing a bit about your story, your upbringing. You are leaving the sport and hammer throw in a better place, just simply doing what you're doing now. But we've got a lot of time ahead. Uh, we're going to create some more waves here moving forward and yo I can't wait for that training session.
Speaker 2:I'm just trying to think, yeah, dude, hey, maybe this spring we'll, we'll link up and, uh, it would great, it'd be great to see what you can do, like you said, provide some perspective, but really do appreciate you having me on and it's been a great conversation, absolutely, hey, uh, before we wrap up, any last piece of advice you want to leave that next generation of athletes with, I'd say just stick with it. You know, sometimes times are tough, whether it's mentally, physically, emotionally. You know you've got to take a step, a couple steps back before you make a step forward. It's not always going to go your way, but if you have desire to get better, you just got to stick with it and that's the best way to be able to achieve your goals, is you gotta? Yeah, stay, stay on the train some wise words from Jillian Weir.
Speaker 1:Where can people find you on social media?
Speaker 2:just at Jillian Weir, on pretty much every platform. So, um, I'm on there. I use Instagram, maybe the most, but I have a TikTok as well, or even even, you know, twitter. So Heck.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Thanks so much for coming on. Really appreciate your time, Jillian, and for those listening. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next week. Hope you have a great rest of your day. Bye.
