it

absolutely put Barcelona on the map.

And I would say that more people pretty much visit Barcelona than they do the capital of Spain, which is Madrid.

No one wants to really go there, but everyone wants to go to Barcelona.

And that was because they hosted an incredible game.

There are still some iconic images.

I'm thinking of that diver, that shot of the diver looking out over the Barcelona cities when he was diving from the pool up in the hills.

And those stories because Rocky's now part of the games.

But I will

say that this isn't an issue isolated to sport.

This is a reflection of society and we see this shift and change and women's bodies are kind of, we go in and out of fashion, right? It's fashionable to be heroin chic and then it's fashionable to have a big booty and then it's fashionable to have a tiny waist and we see that go in and out of fashion.

But What I have started to see in the sporting landscape is this transition away from, again, what female athletes look like to their performance.

And don't get me wrong, I am in a sport where body composition plays a big role because we are working against constant resistance.

Water is 900 times more dense than air.

Therefore, the shape and size of your body has an impact on your performance, and it should be on the table for discussion.

tell me about the moment when you won your first gold medal and is it something that you specifically when I speak to athletes a lot of them will say that they didn't win gold they failed like did that does that ring true at all to you like was that it or was it just getting to a games and and for you that would have been enough

But I will

say that this isn't an issue isolated to sport.

This is a reflection of society and we see this shift and change and women's bodies are kind of, we go in and out of fashion, right? It's fashionable to be heroin chic and then it's fashionable to have a big booty and then it's fashionable to have a tiny waist and we see that go in and out of fashion.

But What I have started to see in the sporting landscape is this transition away from, again, what female athletes look like to their performance.

And don't get me wrong, I am in a sport where body composition plays a big role because we are working against constant resistance.

Water is 900 times more dense than air.

Therefore, the shape and size of your body has an impact on your performance, and it should be on the table for discussion.

tell me about the moment when you won your first gold medal and is it something that you specifically when I speak to athletes a lot of them will say that they didn't win gold they failed like did that does that ring true at all to you like was that it or was it just getting to a games and and for you that would have been enough

What are some of your memories there? Was that like you were looking off into the distance? Was that a pondering, reminiscent look?

Yeah, I haven't thought about that race in a very long time and I'm not going to think about how long ago it was, but we were not supposed to win that.

So the Netherlands were the heavy favourites.

They were defending Olympic champions.

They were world record holders going in.

They were, you know, three seconds ahead on paper and really like...

Everyone thought that it would be Netherlands and then Australia and America battling it out for silver or bronze.

What are some of your early memories of Malawi and growing up over there? Talk us through, spent a lot of time, I guess, out in nature is how I imagine it.

We would still be invited, from what I can gather.

Yeah.

So if we were gonna become a republic, and I'm all for that, then we could still take part in the Commonwealth Games, which I think is really important.

And I know that there's been a lot of chat about these games in the lead-up to them, because they should've been held in Victoria, and now Victorians are paying extortionate amounts of money for them to be held, uh, in Glasgow.

But for a while, I was really worried that the games weren't gonna get picked up, and they were just gonna die this little spluttering death where no one put up their hand and said, "Actually, I think that this is a movement and an event worth preserving." And there are a couple of reasons why I think it's really important.

One, I think that it gives an opportunity for us to have multi-sport events, which is incredible.

There is the inclusion of para sport in the Commonwealth Games, which doesn't exist, uh, in any other sporting context in the world.

Oh, yeah, I know that guy.

There's just a lot.

It's ...

And but afterwards, there were moments that were so kind that- Broke my heart in a way, but helped p- begin to piece me back together.

Mm-hmm.

You know? Uh, I had members of, of the team write me a note and, like, leave it, uh, th- leave it for me and, and saying all the things that they valued about me outside of my performances.

By the time I'd gotten back to the Olympic Village, it was, like, 3:00 AM.

Mm.

Mm

How are you feeling about the Vic Park venue today?

I think that it's something that is going to be imperative for the future growth of Queensland.

I can understand the pushback and I understand that this is a very and highly emotive issue for people.

And I actually think that it's really good that we have pushback.

You want to have dissenting voices because you need both sides of the argument to make sure that we land on the right decision moving forward.

You're not going to please everybody.

Yeah.

How did that come about?

But we had we had one and it was only just.

Yeah, but I don't ever think that that was going to happen because the level of excellence that these athletes adhere to to compete at the Olympic Games is far and beyond something that you can just inject into yourself or swallow.

Like it is decades of dedication.

It is decades of precision.

It is decades of sacrifice and early mornings and grinding.

And that's not something that you can just pop a pill and get the benefits from.

And I think it's really important when we're talking about the fact that, yeah, there was you know, that Greek swimmer who went just faster than Cameron McAvoy.

You know, we're hiding nothing, whereas the legitimate games do their best to catch all of the cheats, but they probably never hoover up every fish in the ocean.

Yeah, and how do you feel, like, seeing this news today and looking back at Ariarne's career?

Mm.

Look, I, I think that bittersweet comes to mind, and, and Arnie used those words herself.

You know, you're saying goodbye to a part of her who has been so important for so long and has been so successful for so long.

Uh, but it's a great chance for us to reflect and look back and, and see all the things that she managed to achieve.

And when I saw the news break today, I would say that I was shocked but not surprised, in that the last few times that I have seen and spoke to Arnie, she has seemed so much at peace.

Uh, she has seemed relaxed and really ready to take that next step.

Was, was that a hard decision to make?