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In celebration of the Summer Olympics, we're reprising some past episodes featuring guests who have been there!

Sue Humphrey says she was a "not very good" athlete growing up--but she loved sports, and she found her niche early: as a teenager she started helping other athletes. She excelled at coaching track and field, and worked her way up to college coaching (experiencing the beginning of Title IX), and eventually the international stage--although the field wasn't always welcoming to a young woman. At the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, Sue was a member of the coaching staff for USA's Track and Field team--and in 2004, she became head coach, dealing with everything from overseeing schedules to taking media calls in the middle of the night asking about athletes' drug tests. Sue shares what it's like to coach at the Olympics (the glamour of napping under a table on the field, for example), the importance of developing rapport with athletes, and what to do when an athlete is disappointed in a performance.

In this episode:

• What's required of a Head Coach of an Olympic track and field team (03:00)
• The value of developing rapport with your elite athletes (08:45)
• Coalescing competitors into teammates (12:45)
• Olympic coaches vs. personal coaches (15:52)
• Experiencing the Opening Ceremonies (and what Sue did during Closing Ceremonies)(18:44)
• A typical day at the Olympics for Sue (24:16)
• Sue's complaints with the current NCAA and elite coaching systems (27:15)
• Her thoughts on being an Olympic coach vs. college coach vs. age-group coach (30:52)
• What makes her so successful? Coaching philosophy (31:56)
• How to help athletes who are disappointed with their performances (34:47)
• Sue's path to coaching (37:43)

Want to know more about Sue?

• Connect with her on Instagram: sue.humphrey.32
• Find her on Facebook: Sue Humphrey
• Tweet at her on Twitter: humphreyhj
• Send her an email :sue@goldmedalcoaches.com or humphreyhj@gmail.com

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Send us a Text Message.

In celebration of the Summer Olympics, we're reprising some past episodes featuring guests who have been there!

Justin Spring went from tumbling around his neighborhood to later winning NCAA gymnastics titles and eventually earning a place on the 2008 Olympic team. The road getting there had its share of twists and turns (pun intended), including a slew of injuries leading up to the Olympics. Justin shares behind-the-scenes stories of his journey, from the lowest moment in his gymnastics career (when he had to army-crawl to his coach's room due to excruciating pain); to the mental techniques he relied on to get his body back into shape; to what life was really like in the Olympic Village. Justin is now a college gymnastics coach (formerly for the University of Illinois men; now for the University of Alabama women). We learn about pressure, expectations, why men's gymnastics is losing popularity (and college teams) in the U.S., and why competing for "perfect 10s" makes women's gymnastics much more entertaining.

In this episode:

• Why gymnastics is such a difficult sport (05:47)
• How gymnastics suited Justin's personality (08:20)
• Thoughts about pursuing the Olympics and gold medals (09:26)
• Justin's many injuries (15:06)
• The importance of mental training in recovery (15:58)
• His journey through injuries to the Olympic Trials (19:30)
• The darkest moment of Justin's career (21:32)
• The underdog story at the 2008 Olympics (25:07)
• What the Olympic experience was like (31:06)
• The state of men’s gymnastics in the US (34:04)
• What's happening in collegiate sports (36:05)
• Thoughts on coaching (41:42)

Want to know more about Justin?

• Follow him on Instagram: springerzz
• Find him on Twitter: @justinspring

Want to know more about the podcast What It's Like To... ?

• Sign up to be on our Insiders' List to receive our newsletters and insiders' information! Go to whatitsliketo.net (sign-ups are at the bottom of the page)
• Follow us on social media:
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  • Facebook
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Support the Show.

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Send us a Text Message.

In celebration of the Summer Olympics, we're reprising some past episodes featuring guests who have been there!

Photographer Jeff Cable has had a front-row seat at the past seven Olympic Games--although his seat is cluttered with cameras, lenses, and laptops. As the photographer for the United States Olympic Committee, Jeff has an all-access pass to any event he chooses. In this episode, he shares:

• how he edits 2600 images down to 10 in a matter of minutes
• how social media has changed the pace of his job
• how he stays focused (literally and figuratively) from 9:00 am to 2:00 am every day for nearly three weeks straight
• what Simone Biles and her teammates were talking about in those minutes before the world knew why she pulled out of the Tokyo 2020 Games
• the best angles to shoot a water polo game
• how photographers deal with bathroom breaks (or the lack thereof) in the middle of certain events
• the importance of mastering the Olympic shuttle bus system
• and much more.

There's a whole lot more to photographing Team USA than just settings and shutter speeds. It's an exciting, exhausting gig, and Jeff approaches each Olympics like it's his one and only.


Want to know more about Jeff?

• follow him on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeffcablephotography/
• read his blog: https://blog.jeffcable.com/
• check him out on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffcablephoto

Want to know more about "What It's Like To..."?

• Sign up to be on our Insiders' List to receive our newsletters and insiders' information! Go to whatitsliketo.net (sign-ups are at the bottom of the page)
• Follow us on social media:
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Support the Show.

Support the Show.