Top 2 Inches of Sport

Episode 33 - Tash Jordan

Episode 33 - What happens to academy kids when they don't get offered a professional contract and get released from their club? Former academy footballer Tash Jordan discusses a side of the game that we don't hear enough about.

Episode 32 -Natasha Jonas

For this episode, I spoke to world champion boxer, Natasha Jonas.

Natasha discusses the mentality she has had to develop to become an elite level boxer and reach her goal of becoming a world champion.

Episode 31 - Greg Jackson

For episode 31, it was a real privilege to get the opportunity to speak to one of the greatest minds in combat sports, Greg Jackson. Greg is one of the most successful coaches in the history of MMA and has been voted as MMA coach of the year on three occasions.

He has worked with some of the greatest fighters to ever compete inside the octagon, with the likes of Jon jones, Georges St-Pierre and Holly Holm among the list of elite world champions Greg has coached.

Greg discusses the role he plays as a coach to help his fighters reach their potential when dealing with the pressure of elite level MMA.

Episode 30 - Fintan McCarthy

For the 30^th episode of the podcast I spoke to recently crowned Olympic champion, Fintan McCarthy.

Fintan discusses all things rowing, including the mentality needed to compete and win at the elite end of the sport.

He also tells me all about his experience in Tokyo this summer where, alongside Paul O’Donovan, he brought an Olympic gold medal home for Ireland.

Episode 29 - Dr. Sinead Kane

On this episode of the podcast, I spoke to Dr. Sinead Kane.

Sinead was born with only 5% vision and is registered as legally blind, but hasn’t let her disability hold her back as she has broken down barriers both in her professional life, as well as in sport.

She is a double Guinness World Record Holder, an ultra-endurance athlete, has two PhD’s and also qualified as Ireland’s first ever visually impaired solicitor.

She holds the Guinness World Record for the furthest distance ran on a treadmill for a female over 12 hours, as well as holding the Guinness World Record for being the first visually impaired person to complete a marathon on each of the seven continents, which she completed in just seven days. These achievements are made all the more impressive considering she only started running at the age of 30 with absolutely no sporting background.

In this episode she discusses the mindset she has developed to help her accomplish some incredible feats.

Sinead is also a motivational speaker and combines her successes in sport with her degrees in Law to become a vocal advocate for people with disability, both in sport and in the workplace.

She has an incredible story and you can find out more about Sinead on www.sineadkane.ie.

Episode 28 - Conor O'Keeffe

This week I spoke to former Thai Boxer and current ultra-endurance athlete, Conor O’ Keeffe.

Conor has accomplished some incredible things in his sporting career to date, including;

• Completing two 100-mile endurance races
• Winning the Enduroman, a 200-mile race and becoming only the second person to do it in under 60 hours
• Running around the patio in his back garden for 24 hours straight
• Fighting for an Irish title in Thai Boxing

In this episode Conor discusses the mindset required to complete some of the most physically brutal tasks imaginable. He is clearly someone who has placed a strong emphasis on the mental side of competition and he talks a lot about how his mindset has changed throughout the years.

He has had an extremely interesting life so far, accomplishing some incredible things, so it was brilliant hearing all about it this week.

Enjoy.

Episode 27 - Eddie Abbew

For this week’s podcast I spoke to one of the top names in the UK bodybuilding industry, Eddie Abbew.

Eddie had a very successful career as a bodybuilder. He is a former British overall champion, as well as being one of the only British bodybuilders to qualify for and compete at the open Mr. Olympia. Eddie also worked as a prep coach for 10 years with multiple high-level bodybuilders, so he has seen it all when it comes to the bodybuilding industry.

In this episode, Eddie talks about a range of topics, including;

• His background, including the first time he picked up a weight.
• Experiencing racial abuse while working as a psychiatric nurse and a bouncer in London.
• His journey in bodybuilding and the levels he had to go to in order to get his body in prime condition for competition.
• The mental side of a sport that requires so much dedication.
• Meeting Muhammad Ali, plus much more.

Eddie has had a very, very interesting life and I loved hearing all about it this week.

Enjoy.

Episode 26 - Dr. Chris Barry

This week I spoke to Dr. Chris Barry of Washington State University, a clinical psychologist who specialises in the study of psychopaths.

Chris has researched psychopathy for many years and in this episode explains exactly what psychopathy is and he also explains the various personality traits that psychopaths exhibit.

Seeing as this is a sports podcast, Chris links psychopathy to sport and discusses the traits of psychopathy that can actually be beneficial to elite athletic performance.

It was really interesting hearing Chris talk about a range of ways that elite sport and psychopathy are linked, and I definitely think it is worth a listen.

Episode 25 - Ryan Johansson

This week I spoke to professional footballer Ryan Johansson.

Ryan is from Luxembourg, but because his father is from Sweden and his mother is from Ireland, he has actually represented Luxembourg, Sweden and Ireland at underage international level.

At club level, he played alongside some of the world’s best players at Bayern Munich and last year signed for another huge football club, Sevilla in Spain. Ryan talks a lot about the mental side of football and discusses in depth the importance he places on the mental side of the game. He also talks about what the sport psychology set up looks like in some of Europe’s biggest football clubs.

It was great to hear from a young professional, who is still making his way in the game, discussing his experiences of elite level football.

(Unfortunately there are some small audio problems on my side at different moments throughout this episode. This has been sorted for the next episode.)

Episode 24 - Oliver Dingley

For this week’s episode I spoke to Olympic diver, Oliver Dingley.

In 2016, Oliver became the first diver to represent Ireland at an Olympic Games since 1948, and would go on to become the first ever Irish diver to reach an Olympic final.

Oliver explains all about the different aspects of diving and talks about the mental demands of a sport where the margin for error is so tiny. He discusses the strategies he uses to cope with high pressure, elite competition.

Enjoy.