August 5, 2024 • 13 mins
Scotty and Hannah talk to Tamara and Joey Cheek about what it's like being an athlete at the Olympic Games.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I feel like we should be playing the Olympics theme
because some Olympians have joined us.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hannah, how lucky are we?
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You want to do the official introductions?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yes, I do. I would love to introduce Joey Cheek
and his lovely wife and Olympian herself, Tomorrow Cheek. Now,
Joey is a speed skater, gold medalist, Tomorrow an Olympic canoeist,
which I have so many questions for her, and they
live right here in Greensboro.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
As Hannah mentioned, Joey, you were born in Greensboro. You're
Princeton grad from what I understand, Bronze in two at
Salt Lake and then gold and silver in six at Turin.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
That's correct.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Yeah, I got the whole set and then got out
of there.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Okay, now, joe how does a kid from Greensboro decide
speed skating should be my thing?
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I know it's a crazy story, right. So I actually
grew up racing in the early nineties on inline so rollerblades,
and I was a junior national champion on wheels. And
I watched the nineteen ninety four Olympics A saw a
guy named Dan Jansen whin a gold medal for the
US and I saw him the stars in my eyes
and I said, oh, my gosh, I want to do that,
and my mom said.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, it ain't going to happen here.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I grew up racing on wheels, and I left and
moved to all over the Midwest, Calgary, Milwaukee, Utah. Eventually,
but I had to move to colder grounds to get
on the ice skating.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Oh that's awesome. And now tomorrow I am wondering about
your journey. How does one become a canoeist?
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Yeah, well, I was really really lucky. I grew up
in Seattle, Washington, and right next to a lake called
Green Lake, and it's a big, big city lake with
an amazing parks and rec program. And so every day
on my way to school, I would pass by seeing
these kayakers and rowers and all kinds of athletes, you know,
competing on the lake and practicing on the lake. And
my club, Seattle Comune Kayak Club, was the best place
(01:45):
for kids to learn in the entire country. And I
was lucky enough to learn there from some incredible coaches
and had a mentor in Greg Barton, who was a
double gold medalist in nineteen eighty eight, and you know,
he's just a regular club member, and so it was
like a really fantastic place to learn. So I was
very lucky, just right place at the right time.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
All right, let's get to the ten questions we have
for you. Hannah's going to start things off, and I
think yours.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Is for tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Laura.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, you hear all of these hushed rumors about what
really goes on in the Olympic village. Sometimes it's a
little debaucherous. What was your experience like and it is
it as crazy as sometimes it's been made out to be.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Well, my son listens to this radio broadcast, so I'll
be generous, and I would say that it is a
very fun place and actually the best place to meet
your future husband. Although we didn't meet in the village,
we did meet through the alumni, and so it was
a great, great thing for me.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
What about you, Joy, Yeah, it's pretty nook.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Okay, well we'll leave it at that.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Now, my question, obviously is gonna be for Joey. How
and when did you realize that the Olympics was a
real possibility. Did someone say you've got something special? Was
there a conversation you had or did you just start
beating everybody and thinking, well, this is inevitable.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Well, you definitely don't think it's inevitable.
Speaker 6 (03:11):
I would say though every Olympian I've met, and probably
every Olympic champion, is irrationally delusional about their own abilities.
And that's hard to tell, you know, like reality'll come
and bite you eventually.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
But I remember watching the Olympics and thinking I want
to go win a gold medal.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
That was the whole mission.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Actually I wanted to win multiple gold medals, so I
actually didn't reach the goal.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
But I think that that's kind.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Of a prerequisite prerequisite for the kind of person who
goes to the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And tomorrow, what was your Olympic moment? You're there and
it hits you that, oh my gosh, I'm about to
represent my country.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
The moment for me was actually opening ceremony and we
have two flag bearers now you know, Lebron and Cocoa,
and we had two last year, but in my Olympics,
my teammate Cliff Midel was actually chosen to be the
flag bearer. And so for me, walking into opening ceremony
in Sydney, Australia, where my teammate was at the helm
(04:04):
of the entire US team, was really really incredible, and
he was an amazing guy. He got struck by some
pretty powerful electric bolts and lost the use of his
legs for a long time and then came back and
was able to make our team as a kayaker, and
so his story was wild, and he carried the flag
all around that stadium and represented US, and for me
(04:26):
that was like, oh yeah, I'm here. Oh christ For.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Joey, what was the most nervous moment you experienced during
the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Wow, Well, the second Olympics it was. I was unnaturally unnervous.
I was sort of famous on my team for being
incredibly nervous. And the day of the five hundred, the
day I won the gold, I was having breakfast with
my teammate and we were all sitting around and we're all,
you know, I was right for the land and we've
done this race a lot, so it wasn't new to us,
but is the Olympics, And so I was like, I
(04:56):
don't know, O, Casey, I'm not that nervous. He's like,
that's weird.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
You're It was a pretty nervous.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I got no, do you think it's good again? I
guess we'll see in about an hour and it worked
out great. So usually I was an anxious ball of nerves.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
The day I won.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
For whatever reason, you know, the universe was just calming me.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Wow, No, Dora, I am interested. I am fascinated by
the kayaking and canoeing at the Olympics. It is honestly
my favorite event because I could never do it.
Speaker 7 (05:23):
It's light track and field, but you're just using your arms,
so it's it's extremely difficult to stay up right when
you're first learning, but by the time you get to
the Olympics, like everyone, yeah, it's pretty hard, like flying.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
Flying maybe ANX eighteen or something, yeah like that, but
it's really by the time you get to the Olympics,
you know, everyone is extremely, extremely good at their sport,
so you don't worry so much about that. Although some
people have fallen in at the finish line because they're
so exhausted, and that does happen from time to time,
but typically people.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Stay up right.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Okay, Joey, I know you have the three the trifecta.
Where do you keep your medals?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Honey?
Speaker 7 (06:02):
Do you know where they are right now, right next
to the milk, right next to the milk.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I think you're in a backpack in my closet, but
I'm not. Actually, I'm not one hundred percent sure. I
kind of just wherever the last event I needed them.
And that's rarer than it used to be, which is
why I don't always remember. I just throw them in
a bag, and then somebody calls and I need them,
and so then I've got to like go dig them
(06:27):
out of the closet.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
But I genuinely don't know what it was.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
When was the last time you were asked or wanted
to just wear them? Because I think I might just
wear them to the store.
Speaker 8 (06:36):
Right Scotty, You think that, And let me tell you
if I did it.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
The first time, you'd be like, man, that's so cool,
look at those metals.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
That's amazing. And then the second time and some at
the store, you'd be like, well, still wearing those things.
And then by the third time you're like, all right, dude,
I get it. Put the letterman jacket away a great run.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It's the Olympics a little different than the letterman jacket,
but I understand.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
All right, Now, let's talk about life post Olympics, because
you're in this moment of just on the highest of highs,
and then you come home and you're like, well, guess
I'll just watch TV and go to the grocery store.
What's that transition like for me?
Speaker 5 (07:14):
I think I came right back to a calculus class
because I was in school. So that was incredibly humbling,
because all of a sudden, you're super normal again, and
you know, if you're not Michael Felt or Serena Williams
or something like that. I think it's a little different
for the nine percent of us, but my experience is
much much different than Joey's.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Well, bonus question for Joey's then, yeah, I know you're
a Chamber of Commerce member. What else has gone on since?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh my gosh, it was a big arc.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
So the year after the Olympics are really heaty if
you win a gold medal.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
So I was doing a lot of fun, amazing.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
For charities, and so it was a bunch of years
of really pretty crazy, pretty fun adventures. Is pretty heaty,
and that paides, and then I had a kind of
a rough couple of years where you're like, oh man,
I everyone knew how cool I always thought I was,
but now I'm back to not being that cool again.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
What happened?
Speaker 4 (08:07):
And so it was the there's a transition for everybody
no matter what, and eventually go Okay, I got to
go and keep moving forward in life, like I can't
just keep living on this thing. So I started a
company and failed miserably at that, and then got into
tech and did pretty good at that, and then got
into the startup game again. And now I run entrepreneurship
for the Greensborough Chambers. So I help companies every day
(08:28):
they are getting started and help entrepreneurs scale their companies,
raise money, build.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
A business, and I love it.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
It's not as exciting, maybe as Olympic sports, but it's
definitely I would say maybe even more fulfilling because I'm
working with other people all the time.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Let me throw this out as a suggestion if you're
ever in a heated argument about something at the Chamber,
just dropped that golden medal right on the table.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Quack. I love it. So you mentioned Princeton earlier.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
So I went to school and you know, brilliant people
all around me, and you know, there was a bunch
of kind of cocky young kids and I remember at
one point we were all sitting on table and just
you know, you're just verbally jabbing back and forth ties
and having fun.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Some kids said something. I was like, what are you
twenty two now? And he's like, yeah, that's crazy, man.
I'd won my first Olympic medal by year. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah, and the only time I've like done that is
that kind of flex because you know, it is always
it's appropriate.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Nice. Okay, I am curious. So you guys win the
games from two thousand to two thousand and six, it
is a very different world from Sydney, from Turrent. Going
back to the Olympics. Now, how is it different not
only as just being a spectator, but just the setup
of it all. I have to imagine now it's quite
the secure event.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, well I'm having worked on an Olympic bid for
the LA twenty eight Games, I would say that the
world has really changed. But also are our access. You know,
there's so many ways to interact with Olympic athletes and
Paralympic app fleets, whether it's social media or the way
(10:03):
that broadcast has shifted, and you know, for example, they'll
go and interview someone's mom in the stands or like
the thing that blows my mind all the time is
that the guy I listened to when I was in
high school Snoop Rug is now like some kind of
Olympic mascot slash correspondent.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
It's a wild world.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
And so it's you know, it's it's really really different
from the Dan and Dave era that I grew up in.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But I think it's great. I think it's fun.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
I think we get to know the athletes now in
a way that we never got to before. Physically, the
games are much more clamped down. You know, it's a
different world and it's an incredibly safe place to be
now at the game.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Do you just want to quick circle back to you
were on the committee for LA.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
Bringing the Games back to the US and back to
Los Angeles. Was about the heritage of the Olympics and
the heritage of being in LA. And it'll be the
third time that LA hosts the Games. It's going to
be a really special game and I'm really excited to
bring our fun and watch it. And he'll be at
the age I think he'll really get it, so it's
gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Oh well, he needs to get to training, is what
needs to happen.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
It's true.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
That's the one thing we may have overdone it on.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
He is a sprinter.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
He never stopped.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
He both Joey and I got our g tested and
we had the sprinter Geane, and so Jack definitely he
knows what sports two will be doing, track and field
or swimming or anything that goes in a straight line
and really fast.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
He loves.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I love this because I was talking to Scotty before
the interview and I'm like, imagine if their son has
like the coordination of a baby giraffe learning to walk
like me and no athletic ability whatsoever. I have to
imagine like, as a child, you're like, I let my
parents down, and as a parent you're like, well.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
No pressure, right, no pressure kid? Well, okay, last question
probably the most important one, by the way, this year
there's a new Olympic sport, breakdancing. If you guys were
to compete, which one of you would place higher in
the breakdancing competition?
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Say?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I know that I have to go home to her,
so I'm going to say not me.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Oh, all right, fair enough.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
I think our son. They they're teaching these kids how
to break ins and school the day so I have
a feeling that Jack would take over and steal the show.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Yeah, that is all.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, he's got the best shot of all three of us.
I tell you.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
It's so cool to know that you guys are in
our community right here with such incredible experiences with the Olympics.
As we get set for the Games this year, is
there anything in particular that you're looking forward to watching
as we kick into the twenty twenty four Games.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
I love watching these kids who spent their entire lives
just doing this one thing and dreaming of this moment,
no matter what sport it is.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
You see these moments where people just transcend what they
thought they're capable.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Love.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
I love watching those moments when it happens, and it
always happens. There's one hundred of them every Olympics, and
you get to watch it in real time and you go,
oh my god, that young man or woman, their whole
lives just changing that one moment.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
That's so cool to me Still to.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
This day, I still get goosebumps and on my end,
like obviously Shakari and all of these incredible stories that
we're going to see a lot of, but also gold
medalist Alan Johnson coaches over at A and T and
his athlete Daniel Roberts is going to be in the Games,
and so I feel like there's a few there's a
lot of North Carolina hopeful heavy. The kayaker as well,
(13:17):
who trains and lives here is going to be doing
like kayak cross and canoe and kayak. So I feel
like there's a few hometown or state athletes that are
going to be really amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
We didn't even get into kayak cross because that fascinates
me to We're just going to need you guys on
for seven hours straight of non stop questioning.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Well, I know they have real lives to tend to
and a child, so we will let them go at
this point, let them off the hook. Joey Cheek tomorrow Cheek.
We're so again thankful for your time today and thanks
for sharing your Olympic experiences with us.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
I'm really thankful for you guys, thanks for having us
I feel like we should be playing the Olympics theme
because some Olympians have joined us.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hannah, how lucky are we?
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You want to do the official introductions?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yes, I do. I would love to introduce Joey Cheek
and his lovely wife and Olympian herself, Tomorrow Cheek. Now,
Joey is a speed skater, gold medalist, Tomorrow an Olympic canoeist,
which I have so many questions for her, and they
live right here in Greensboro.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
As Hannah mentioned, Joey, you were born in Greensboro. You're
Princeton grad from what I understand, Bronze in two at
Salt Lake and then gold and silver in six at Turin.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
That's correct.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Yeah, I got the whole set and then got out
of there.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Okay, now, joe how does a kid from Greensboro decide
speed skating should be my thing?
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I know it's a crazy story, right. So I actually
grew up racing in the early nineties on inline so rollerblades,
and I was a junior national champion on wheels. And
I watched the nineteen ninety four Olympics A saw a
guy named Dan Jansen whin a gold medal for the
US and I saw him the stars in my eyes
and I said, oh, my gosh, I want to do that,
and my mom said.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, it ain't going to happen here.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I grew up racing on wheels, and I left and
moved to all over the Midwest, Calgary, Milwaukee, Utah. Eventually,
but I had to move to colder grounds to get
on the ice skating.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Oh that's awesome. And now tomorrow I am wondering about
your journey. How does one become a canoeist?
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Yeah, well, I was really really lucky. I grew up
in Seattle, Washington, and right next to a lake called
Green Lake, and it's a big, big city lake with
an amazing parks and rec program. And so every day
on my way to school, I would pass by seeing
these kayakers and rowers and all kinds of athletes, you know,
competing on the lake and practicing on the lake. And
my club, Seattle Comune Kayak Club, was the best place
(01:45):
for kids to learn in the entire country. And I
was lucky enough to learn there from some incredible coaches
and had a mentor in Greg Barton, who was a
double gold medalist in nineteen eighty eight, and you know,
he's just a regular club member, and so it was
like a really fantastic place to learn. So I was
very lucky, just right place at the right time.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
All right, let's get to the ten questions we have
for you. Hannah's going to start things off, and I
think yours.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Is for tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Laura.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, you hear all of these hushed rumors about what
really goes on in the Olympic village. Sometimes it's a
little debaucherous. What was your experience like and it is
it as crazy as sometimes it's been made out to be.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Well, my son listens to this radio broadcast, so I'll
be generous, and I would say that it is a
very fun place and actually the best place to meet
your future husband. Although we didn't meet in the village,
we did meet through the alumni, and so it was
a great, great thing for me.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
What about you, Joy, Yeah, it's pretty nook.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Okay, well we'll leave it at that.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Now, my question, obviously is gonna be for Joey. How
and when did you realize that the Olympics was a
real possibility. Did someone say you've got something special? Was
there a conversation you had or did you just start
beating everybody and thinking, well, this is inevitable.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Well, you definitely don't think it's inevitable.
Speaker 6 (03:11):
I would say though every Olympian I've met, and probably
every Olympic champion, is irrationally delusional about their own abilities.
And that's hard to tell, you know, like reality'll come
and bite you eventually.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
But I remember watching the Olympics and thinking I want
to go win a gold medal.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
That was the whole mission.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Actually I wanted to win multiple gold medals, so I
actually didn't reach the goal.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
But I think that that's kind.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Of a prerequisite prerequisite for the kind of person who
goes to the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And tomorrow, what was your Olympic moment? You're there and
it hits you that, oh my gosh, I'm about to
represent my country.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
The moment for me was actually opening ceremony and we
have two flag bearers now you know, Lebron and Cocoa,
and we had two last year, but in my Olympics,
my teammate Cliff Midel was actually chosen to be the
flag bearer. And so for me, walking into opening ceremony
in Sydney, Australia, where my teammate was at the helm
(04:04):
of the entire US team, was really really incredible, and
he was an amazing guy. He got struck by some
pretty powerful electric bolts and lost the use of his
legs for a long time and then came back and
was able to make our team as a kayaker, and
so his story was wild, and he carried the flag
all around that stadium and represented US, and for me
(04:26):
that was like, oh yeah, I'm here. Oh christ For.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Joey, what was the most nervous moment you experienced during
the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Wow, Well, the second Olympics it was. I was unnaturally unnervous.
I was sort of famous on my team for being
incredibly nervous. And the day of the five hundred, the
day I won the gold, I was having breakfast with
my teammate and we were all sitting around and we're all,
you know, I was right for the land and we've
done this race a lot, so it wasn't new to us,
but is the Olympics, And so I was like, I
(04:56):
don't know, O, Casey, I'm not that nervous. He's like,
that's weird.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
You're It was a pretty nervous.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I got no, do you think it's good again? I
guess we'll see in about an hour and it worked
out great. So usually I was an anxious ball of nerves.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
The day I won.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
For whatever reason, you know, the universe was just calming me.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Wow, No, Dora, I am interested. I am fascinated by
the kayaking and canoeing at the Olympics. It is honestly
my favorite event because I could never do it.
Speaker 7 (05:23):
It's light track and field, but you're just using your arms,
so it's it's extremely difficult to stay up right when
you're first learning, but by the time you get to
the Olympics, like everyone, yeah, it's pretty hard, like flying.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
Flying maybe ANX eighteen or something, yeah like that, but
it's really by the time you get to the Olympics,
you know, everyone is extremely, extremely good at their sport,
so you don't worry so much about that. Although some
people have fallen in at the finish line because they're
so exhausted, and that does happen from time to time,
but typically people.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Stay up right.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Okay, Joey, I know you have the three the trifecta.
Where do you keep your medals?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Honey?
Speaker 7 (06:02):
Do you know where they are right now, right next
to the milk, right next to the milk.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I think you're in a backpack in my closet, but
I'm not. Actually, I'm not one hundred percent sure. I
kind of just wherever the last event I needed them.
And that's rarer than it used to be, which is
why I don't always remember. I just throw them in
a bag, and then somebody calls and I need them,
and so then I've got to like go dig them
(06:27):
out of the closet.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
But I genuinely don't know what it was.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
When was the last time you were asked or wanted
to just wear them? Because I think I might just
wear them to the store.
Speaker 8 (06:36):
Right Scotty, You think that, And let me tell you
if I did it.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
The first time, you'd be like, man, that's so cool,
look at those metals.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
That's amazing. And then the second time and some at
the store, you'd be like, well, still wearing those things.
And then by the third time you're like, all right, dude,
I get it. Put the letterman jacket away a great run.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It's the Olympics a little different than the letterman jacket,
but I understand.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
All right, Now, let's talk about life post Olympics, because
you're in this moment of just on the highest of highs,
and then you come home and you're like, well, guess
I'll just watch TV and go to the grocery store.
What's that transition like for me?
Speaker 5 (07:14):
I think I came right back to a calculus class
because I was in school. So that was incredibly humbling,
because all of a sudden, you're super normal again, and
you know, if you're not Michael Felt or Serena Williams
or something like that. I think it's a little different
for the nine percent of us, but my experience is
much much different than Joey's.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Well, bonus question for Joey's then, yeah, I know you're
a Chamber of Commerce member. What else has gone on since?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh my gosh, it was a big arc.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
So the year after the Olympics are really heaty if
you win a gold medal.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
So I was doing a lot of fun, amazing.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
For charities, and so it was a bunch of years
of really pretty crazy, pretty fun adventures. Is pretty heaty,
and that paides, and then I had a kind of
a rough couple of years where you're like, oh man,
I everyone knew how cool I always thought I was,
but now I'm back to not being that cool again.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
What happened?
Speaker 4 (08:07):
And so it was the there's a transition for everybody
no matter what, and eventually go Okay, I got to
go and keep moving forward in life, like I can't
just keep living on this thing. So I started a
company and failed miserably at that, and then got into
tech and did pretty good at that, and then got
into the startup game again. And now I run entrepreneurship
for the Greensborough Chambers. So I help companies every day
(08:28):
they are getting started and help entrepreneurs scale their companies,
raise money, build.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
A business, and I love it.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
It's not as exciting, maybe as Olympic sports, but it's
definitely I would say maybe even more fulfilling because I'm
working with other people all the time.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Let me throw this out as a suggestion if you're
ever in a heated argument about something at the Chamber,
just dropped that golden medal right on the table.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Quack. I love it. So you mentioned Princeton earlier.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
So I went to school and you know, brilliant people
all around me, and you know, there was a bunch
of kind of cocky young kids and I remember at
one point we were all sitting on table and just
you know, you're just verbally jabbing back and forth ties
and having fun.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Some kids said something. I was like, what are you
twenty two now? And he's like, yeah, that's crazy, man.
I'd won my first Olympic medal by year. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah, and the only time I've like done that is
that kind of flex because you know, it is always
it's appropriate.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Nice. Okay, I am curious. So you guys win the
games from two thousand to two thousand and six, it
is a very different world from Sydney, from Turrent. Going
back to the Olympics. Now, how is it different not
only as just being a spectator, but just the setup
of it all. I have to imagine now it's quite
the secure event.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, well I'm having worked on an Olympic bid for
the LA twenty eight Games, I would say that the
world has really changed. But also are our access. You know,
there's so many ways to interact with Olympic athletes and
Paralympic app fleets, whether it's social media or the way
(10:03):
that broadcast has shifted, and you know, for example, they'll
go and interview someone's mom in the stands or like
the thing that blows my mind all the time is
that the guy I listened to when I was in
high school Snoop Rug is now like some kind of
Olympic mascot slash correspondent.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
It's a wild world.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
And so it's you know, it's it's really really different
from the Dan and Dave era that I grew up in.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But I think it's great. I think it's fun.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
I think we get to know the athletes now in
a way that we never got to before. Physically, the
games are much more clamped down. You know, it's a
different world and it's an incredibly safe place to be
now at the game.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Do you just want to quick circle back to you
were on the committee for LA.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
Bringing the Games back to the US and back to
Los Angeles. Was about the heritage of the Olympics and
the heritage of being in LA. And it'll be the
third time that LA hosts the Games. It's going to
be a really special game and I'm really excited to
bring our fun and watch it. And he'll be at
the age I think he'll really get it, so it's
gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Oh well, he needs to get to training, is what
needs to happen.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
It's true.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
That's the one thing we may have overdone it on.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
He is a sprinter.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
He never stopped.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
He both Joey and I got our g tested and
we had the sprinter Geane, and so Jack definitely he
knows what sports two will be doing, track and field
or swimming or anything that goes in a straight line
and really fast.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
He loves.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I love this because I was talking to Scotty before
the interview and I'm like, imagine if their son has
like the coordination of a baby giraffe learning to walk
like me and no athletic ability whatsoever. I have to
imagine like, as a child, you're like, I let my
parents down, and as a parent you're like, well.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
No pressure, right, no pressure kid? Well, okay, last question
probably the most important one, by the way, this year
there's a new Olympic sport, breakdancing. If you guys were
to compete, which one of you would place higher in
the breakdancing competition?
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Say?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I know that I have to go home to her,
so I'm going to say not me.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Oh, all right, fair enough.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
I think our son. They they're teaching these kids how
to break ins and school the day so I have
a feeling that Jack would take over and steal the show.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Yeah, that is all.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, he's got the best shot of all three of us.
I tell you.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
It's so cool to know that you guys are in
our community right here with such incredible experiences with the Olympics.
As we get set for the Games this year, is
there anything in particular that you're looking forward to watching
as we kick into the twenty twenty four Games.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
I love watching these kids who spent their entire lives
just doing this one thing and dreaming of this moment,
no matter what sport it is.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
You see these moments where people just transcend what they
thought they're capable.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Love.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
I love watching those moments when it happens, and it
always happens. There's one hundred of them every Olympics, and
you get to watch it in real time and you go,
oh my god, that young man or woman, their whole
lives just changing that one moment.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
That's so cool to me Still to.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
This day, I still get goosebumps and on my end,
like obviously Shakari and all of these incredible stories that
we're going to see a lot of, but also gold
medalist Alan Johnson coaches over at A and T and
his athlete Daniel Roberts is going to be in the Games,
and so I feel like there's a few there's a
lot of North Carolina hopeful heavy. The kayaker as well,
(13:17):
who trains and lives here is going to be doing
like kayak cross and canoe and kayak. So I feel
like there's a few hometown or state athletes that are
going to be really amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
We didn't even get into kayak cross because that fascinates
me to We're just going to need you guys on
for seven hours straight of non stop questioning.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Well, I know they have real lives to tend to
and a child, so we will let them go at
this point, let them off the hook. Joey Cheek tomorrow Cheek.
We're so again thankful for your time today and thanks
for sharing your Olympic experiences with us.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
I'm really thankful for you guys, thanks for having us
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!