Athletes: The Other Side

#007 – Born without legs in Lebanon, and moving to England at just six months’ old, the word ‘hardship’ doesn’t feature in Ali Jawad’s vocabulary. The Briton, who during his teens was diagnosed with uncurable Chrom’s disease has always grasped life with both hands, a skill evident by his determination to secure the Para-Powerlifting Silver Medal for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Games.

Today, he is one of Britain’s most ambitious athletes, and in an era when free speech is under increasing threat, a fierce defender of the uncensored athlete voice. His passion for overhauling an athlete-light anti-doping system and advocating for athlete rights has grown no end in the past couple of years, as Ali has taken on prominent athlete committee roles at UK Anti-Doping and Global Athlete.

Ever one to defy the odds, Ali has refused to be a victim of the Covid-19 global pandemic downturn that has affected so many; seeing what is a challenging year to so many as a year of opportunity to spur him on to new ventures including an upcoming mobile App he is set to launch next year.

With a plethora of projects on the go, Ali is now targeting going one better than Rio by securing Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2020 (or is 2021?) Games next year.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:
http://bennichols.co.uk/free-speech-champion-with-ali-jawad

#008 - The GOAT (Greatest of all Time), two-time Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion in the triple jump and five-time World Athletics Diamond League Champion. What else is there you can say about Christian Taylor?

Quite a lot, as it happens. The 10-time NCAA All American recently founded and became President of his own progressive athlete union, the Athletics Association aimed at giving athletes a greater say over the future of track and field athletics. Set-up in response to World Athletics’ decision to cut Taylor’s trademark event, the triple jump, from the Diamond League Finals, Taylor’s new athletes rights movement boasts Adam Gemili, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Shelly-Ann Fraser Price and Emma Coburn amongst its ranks.

Born to Barbadian parents in Georgia, USA, Taylor is a true internationalist, and relishes the opportunity he has had to travel and live all over the world - the education of life - which led to him meeting his fiancée, the Austrian athlete, Beate Schrott.

As someone that wants to give the next generation better opportunities than he had, Taylor is mindful of the issues that today’s instant gratification culture poses on the younger generations, not least the dangers presented by social media and the impact new technologies have on getting young people to play sport.

Christian Taylor is an athlete going places in life after sport, but he’s not done yet. With the postponed Tokyo 2020 (or is Tokyo 2021) around the corner, he has one more Olympic Gold Medal in his sights.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:

http://bennichols.co.uk/the-education-of-life-with-christian-taylor

#005 – If Athletes: The Other Side was tailor made for any one athlete out there, it must be Callum Skinner. The Olympic Champion, who scored his greatest success in the Rio de Janeiro Velodrome at the 2016 Games, has clocked up more 'other side' successes in the 18 months since his retirement from the track - and by the mere age of 28 - than many athletes will manage in a lifetime.
Symbolising a new breed of athlete reformers taking a grip on Olympic sport, Callum, in his prominent role as Lead Athlete of athlete-led movement, Global Athlete, has been taking on organisations such as the International Olympic Committee with his plans for shaking up how Olympic sport should be run. With a burgeoning career in sports governance, he also sits on the athlete bodies of the British Olympic Association and UK Anti-Doping.
In this fifth outing of Athletes: The Other Side, Callum talks to host and friend Ben Nichols about this and much more, including the two new businesses he has launched this year, in the wildly different markets of coffee and cycling – and all this, despite Covid-19.
Hear more about the Scotsman's pursuits in sports marketing, sport science, business and more – and prepare to be inspired by an athlete going places.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:
http://bennichols.co.uk/the-athlete-entrepreneur-with-callum-skinner

#006 - Our first Doctor to feature on Athletes: The Other Side, Matt Hanson is a professional triathlete and coach for triathletes, cyclists and runners.

Hailing from Minnesota, Matt is one of life’s achievers and an Ironman guru. With an extensive background as an athlete, he is a highly-educated figure when it comes to anything sports-related.

As an athlete, he came from the sport of wrestling, yet it is running that has always a been a passion of his. In 2014, his first year as a pro, Matt set 3 run course records and won Ironman Chattanooga (in Tennessee). He has since tallied 10 professional wins, including 3 North American Championship titles.

Remarkably, this former Professor of Exercise Science also owns the fastest ever time at an Ironman-branded, full distance event (7:39:25) where he also clocked the fastest ever marathon off the bike with a 2:34.

Today, he has his own coaching business for athletes from a plethora of sports, not least cycling, swimming, running and triathlon itself. The business offers customized training strategies that covers nutrition, training strategies, race plans – and anything the modern-day athlete might need in 2020. He does all this from a city of 10,000 people – Storm Lake in Iowa.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://bennichols.co.uk/the-iron-man-with-matt-hanson/

Bryan Fogel is an American film director, producer, author, and 2018 Academy Award Winner in the Best Documentary Feature category for his revelatory film, Icarus.

Icarus was released in 2017 and achieved huge critical acclaim having been described as “illuminating” by the New York Times and “Game Changing” by Variety due to its pivotal role in revealing evidence of systematic doping in Russia. Fogel’s Icarus premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, winning the first ever Special Jury "Orwell Award" as well as the first ever Audience Choice Award. The film was then acquired in a historic $5 million sale to media giant Netflix, before going on to secure Fogel the coveted Oscar, in what was the highlight of his career to date.

As a former standup comedian and actor, and the writer of long-running Off-Broadway show, Jewtopia, Fogel describes himself as having a “goofy” personality, a characteristic in stark contrast to the serious, thrilling nature of his recent work.

Fogel’s most recent film, The Dissident, follows the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's effort to control international dissent. It is currently available to watch in the UK on Amazon Prime.