For our 15th episode, Jason is joined by GB Bobsledder and Swifty Scooters ambassador Toby Olubi. Toby gives us a rundown of the different roles of the riders in a bobsleigh as well as the work and motivation it took for him to make it onto the team. He also tells Jason all about his past 2018 Olympic experience and why he’s so determined to make it back to the Winter Olympics in 2022.
The talk also covers Toby’s earlier life, how he has mentally built himself up to deal with challenges, why he’s invested time into getting a degree as well as being an athlete and the role his mother and family have had in helping him build his character.
Skip ahead to the section you want to hear about below:
- How Jason and Toby met and how he got involved with Swifty 01:14
- Toby’s journey into professional sports and why he chose to also get an Economics and Politics degree 05:25
- A breakdown of different 4-man bobsleigh riding positions 09:26
- The differences in the ride quality of each position and how they’re affected differently in the event of a crash 12:54
- The lead up to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang 16:39
- Why Toby is so driven to get to back for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing 22:19
- The pride of getting the Bobsleigh speed record and the importance of camaraderie in the team 26:51
- Toby’s involvement with the British Olympic Association (BOA) as part of Team GB and the work they’re doing to help businesses 34:02
- Facing adversity and how Toby uses his experiences to make him stronger 37:35
- The importance of Toby’s family in building his character 44:45
- Finding your own ‘mental mechanism’ to help you get through hardship and learning from failures to better yourself 49:29
- Toby’s experiences on gameshows 54:17
- The financial instability and the other difficulties that come with being an athlete 57:40
- Focusing on the little wins and the benefits of earning success step by step 01:05:43
- The role of hope for families that are in less privileged areas 01:17:21
- Gentrification, the effect of communities being broken up and people finding community in the wrong places as a result 01:25:27
Find out more about the mindset of a top-class athlete in Episode #13 of The Swifty Podcast with Para-Cycling Double World Champion Jon Gildea