Stefan Read

0:27Thank you very much for being on the show. Appreciate it. Tell me about how you got into ski jumping Well, I started Alpine scheme I was one years old and we live in France. Well, that was one hardly good walk But yeah, we lived in France for a year So I started in my backyard based thing and you know did the whole racing thing and all that Mm-hmm, but you know on five ten hundred thirty five pounds where I'll find guys are six feet I'm doing in two thirty or whatever You know so I wasn't really meant for it But and I kind of got sick of the whole racing deal so I took a multi-sport camp here at COP You know you'd be that we're the Bobs said Jumping or you do anything you can really in this area It's a week on camp and so after that week mom's like well, they're too athletic for the kid to you know quit sports So good. All right

1:12You got to pick a sport Pressure mom, you know, but so I chose ski jumping obviously because I loved it today You know what they'd ever say it was there anyone that you idolized as a kid growing up Did you watch did you watch every winter Olympics kind of and every well my parents took me down because I started in 99 so It's just after Nagno, so I miss that but you know I knew of who the winner of in Nagno any like of them and all that so it's pretty exciting But we went down to salt lake and watch the Olympics down there So we got Olympic like for jumping we got tickets for that Actually watch that you know just even on the internet just YouTube videos Some people like that watching the little things even we had a bunch of videos of the jump since he jumps under here in Calgary And just watching things like that. Just you know when you're that young

1:59It's your life, right? I mean it's it's still my life, but You know, it's like you can't even do it. It's the one thing you want to do you know you want to do That's amazing. You mentioned you're a smaller guy Is it better to have more weight in the sport or be smaller like does that even make a difference? Definitely be small like It's basically you think of it Everybody has the same speed coming down the interim. So it's basically if you ever rock with these paper you drop them Right obviously the rock went at first so you know, it's way better to be like in the sport They may have to make rules now because people are becoming anorexic and then they're being lost also You know, there's weight limit for certain heights now and you got it. So well, it's crazy I was talking to a friend the other day about the Nord it combined we were talking about why the ski jumpers Do you ever thought about doing both? Well, I started off doing my

2:46But I'm lazy Fair enough to choose one and you made a team so congratulations So the Olympics coming up in a couple weeks here. Do you have tickets to other events? You go into other events or what did you do last time? Did you get to see a whole bunch of stuff? Well, it's pretty cool with our accreditation at the Olympics We can go to any outdoor events So, you know, there's like a little block-bout section for athletes. So, you know, we can go to those We can also Get some tickets from the COC They give us some tickets like Torino and when saw some hockey So it's it's pretty good deal Also, you can put your name in some drafts to get, you know, hockey tickets are basically, you know, there's only a couple in their sport So that's you can pretty much go to any sport. So what was the highlight the last time for you in Torino?

3:36I Don't know. Was it actually jumping or was it just be? Oh, yeah, no definitely jumping part Yeah, I remember I landing half my first jump on the big hill there. He is He was one of the best jumps I ever had in my career and I don't remember a place of this but You know, just said it feeling and you know, wow, I just fit that Mm-hmm You know, that's pretty cool, but even just walking around Torino The closing ceremonies obviously like you had to skip the opening because there are accomplishments a day next day Right, and so same thing here where we got to skip the opening but so what do you do to prepare them? Are you just kind of like just focusing on it jumping? I was watching this video on time of the US Nordic combined guy and they're just jumping like in a room They're not even going outside to do it just to get that because it take off what 90% of

4:25Yeah, of everything yeah kind of thing and you think you train I've trained the past four years for these two seconds, right? Yeah, so yeah All it is basically that take off and so what that guy was doing is he's practicing his take off and his coach is catching Yeah, so we call it in the patience and we do it and basically every day Yeah, it's just get that feeling and get those motor skills to do that on the hill because you can do 10 jumps Off the hill and you know a minute rather than one jump in 10 minutes on So what are you doing for the next couple of weeks to prepare? We're gonna go down to Utah part city Utah where 2002 games are We we were going on Monday and we leave for a week so just get some last kind of on-hill training and then a bunch of mental training and try to be a lot and

5:14Just you know that weight issue, right? You just sport so I just focus on that too It's a lot of running are they all are all the hills the same? Do they feel the same to you when you're going down them or can you notice a difference between hills? You have steepness a little bit. Yeah, and just like the curve of the know You know sometimes be like there's some hills that are super flat. Yeah Now just the size of the normal distance you jump Yeah, it's it's noticeable a little bit but at the same time. It's just it's always one takeoff, right? So it's always one movement, but it's Seen have you done the one that you're gonna be going up against the Olympics. Oh, yeah, yeah No, we've been there spring and fall for the past three years now has everyone done or are you just privileged because you're Canadian? Basically just us

6:02Yeah, there's been couple guys like the World Cup last year. They got out in the hills So you know, we've probably had 300 jumps on it where most of the guys will come probably of So what are you what are you hoping to do at the Olympics? What are you gold? Well obviously gold, but I wish No, I don't know just you know do what I can do Think my mental problems and it and haven't you know, I know if I focus on my problems and the results should count, right? So right you know whatever result it is so be it Gold or it's for you know as long as I do what I can do and I do well and Know I'll be happy for what's going through your mind when you're in the air through the air. It's just You know trying to feel that air you Want to climb as much as you can float down as far as you can so

6:50It all happens so fast to you that there's not much you can actually really Think about I guess you know, it's all just one big it's not a blur, but it's just you know So quick how long how long is the whole thing? From top to bottom well from the takeoff the landing it's about five seconds That's yeah, it's no time at all. Yeah, so you're training years and years for you get three jumps 15 seconds It's a major and it's but it's really long for the takeoff right? Is there a trick to get distance Besides the takeoff is there anything you can do I know there's that V style that that came out what like 15 20 years ago Kind of got pioneered and I know they judge on style, but what are they judging on the V or what are they judging on for style? For judging there's five judges in the H get 20 points. So when you start coming down the hill you have an automatic 20 points

7:40But when you come off takeoff for example say if you move your arm and you throw your arm back from your body You know they can dock half point for you. What if that's your style? What if that helps you get farther? Then whatever I mean you want to be totally calm and relaxed, right? You know you don't want too many crazy movements, so You also it's your landing you have a style on that so I don't for tricks not really just you know maybe aerodynamics in the flight You know it's not much just Basically the physical like physics of the full sport. Do you feel like you have to explain your sport a lot to people? Yeah, it's not very well known candidate, so nobody's getting there. It's starting to get there. Yeah. Well good look at the game

8:26Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you