Player's Own Voice podcast: Ivanie Blondin lays out her plans for Beijing
Hungry for Olympic success, multi-event speed skater emerges from difficult years
She makes it look easy, flying around the oval at world class times, but for speed skater Ivanie Blondin, the years since her medal-less return from the Pyeongchang Winter Games have been marked by deep depression and poor mental health.
Strangely enough, the versatile long-track athlete takes comfort in that history.
Her attitude: if she can still post winning times, even when she's not feeling anywhere near top form, then she has to admit — the process is working.
Fresh off becoming a national champion in the 1500 metres, the skater sat down to chat with Player's Own Voice host Anastasia Bucsis, surrounded by a small menagerie of rescue animals.
Blondin lays out her plans for the road to Beijing. She goes deep into the unusual living arrangements she and husband — Hungarian speed skater Konrad Nagy — find themselves in, as the two athletes train and practise an ocean apart in Canada and Europe.
Blondin has tasted competition peaks and valleys before, and she is making no secret of her drive to perform better than ever at the Beijing Olympics.
For our hard of hearing and deaf audience members, we are pleased to provide a transcript.
To see the interview (and Blondin's animals at play!) head to CBC Sports on YouTube.
Like the CBC Sports' Player's Own Voice essay series, the POV podcast allows athletes to speak to Canadians about issues from a personal perspective.
To listen to the entire fourth season, follow Player's Own Voice for free on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Tune In or wherever else you do your podcast listening.
