POV podcast: Georgia Simmerling — a year-round competitor
On skis or bikes, the Canadian is motivated by an outsized competitive drive
She is the first Canadian to compete in three different sports in three Olympic Games, but that was never the plan for Georgia Simmerling.
A career in alpine skiing was going beautifully until she discovered an even greater skill in ski cross. The slide from there into track cycling might seem like more of a head scratcher, but as Simmerling tells Anastasia Bucsis, host of the POV podcast, there are more overlapping skills than might meet the eye.
Almost more remarkable than her multi-sport prowess is Simmerling's mental and physical will to recuperate. She has returned to full strength after a series of horrible crashes. So what's powering that laser focus on recovery and improvement? Simmerling says she was born with an insatiable drive to compete. All Olympians are competitive, but this is a will to win in a class of its own. This week's episode of the Player's Own Voice podcast is a portrait of intensity.
Georgia is the latest elite athlete to share her story on the POV podcast, which takes an unconventional approach to sports conversations. Like CBC Sports' Player's Own Voice essay series, the POV podcast lets athletes speak to Canadians about issues from a personal perspective. Simmerling wrote for POV series last year about what makes her tick.
Simmerling's chat and all the other conversations in our growing list of POV podcasts are available free on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Tune In or wherever you get your podcasts.