Although we’re home from Paris, we still have a lot of Paris 2024 content to share with you! Here’s some mixed zone tape from the last couple days of competition. Jill talked with several athletes after their final competitions, so we have:
- Para powerlifter Bobby Body, who just missed out on the podium
- Sitting volleyball players Lora Webster and Kaleo Kanahele after winning the gold medal
- Wheelchair fencer Ellen Geddes after finishing up the team epee competition
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
TRANSCRIPT
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Paris 2024 Paralympics: In the Mixed Zone with Bobby Body, Lora Webster, Kaleho Kanehelo and Ellen Geddes
Jill: Hello and welcome to this bonus episode of Keep the Flame Alive, the podcast for fans of the Olympics and Paralympics. I am your host, Jill Jaracz, and I’m just popping in here because we’ve been home from Paris a couple of days. Still getting over the jet lag. Don’t know about you, but I do have a whole bunch of mixed his own tape that we haven’t shared with you yet.
So I wanted to get it to you today and have you have something to listen to while you wait for us to come back. We’ve got, uh, Bobby body who’s in pair of powerlifting. We have from sitting volleyball, Laura Webster and Kaleo Conahalo McClay. Both of those are after they won the gold medal. And then we also have some tape from Ellen Geddes after team epic.
fencing. So take a listen to all of these. Uh, they will go in that order, Bobby, Laura, Kaleo, Ellen, and we will catch you back here soon to talk Paris 2024 with you. Thank you so much for listening and until next time, keep the flame alive.
Bobby Body: Dang it.
It wasn’t a strength issue, it was a technique issue.
Jill: Really? Okay, so talk us through the second lift that was the no lift sequence.
Bobby Body: So the second lift, um, I attempted 230 kilograms, and um, when I pressed it, um, they said that um, the, the press sequence was, uh, Because that bar literally has to go down and up like that bar cannot even a little bit once I go faster than the other.
And that’s what happened on the second one. So we challenged it, but it didn’t work because when they go through the slow motion, they’ll see one side was a little bit faster than the other side and you can’t lock it out, you know, even though in real speed, it looks like I was good to go, but you know, even if it’s just this much, once I can’t lock out before the other.
So, and, um, and then. So I was like, well, for my third attempt, because I knew I, you know, could push the weight. I was like, I’ll go to 32 because Castillo was at 231 and, you know, Kalamoff was at 231. And I was like, so if I get this 232, that’ll put me in a metal position. And, uh, and I knew that strength wise, I could get it.
It was just a matter of, so I told my coach, don’t give me a press command. I will do it myself because the second attempt, I also anticipated his press command. And so that threw me off a little bit coming off my chest as well. So I was like, so this one, because at home I trained by myself, I don’t train with a press command.
So on the third one, I said, don’t give me a press command. I’m going to treat it like I’m how I’m training at home. I will press it myself. I just didn’t hold it long enough. So that was because I went down and I went up too fast and, but it, I ended up pushing it up, racked it, and, but they said I just didn’t pause it long enough.
So, and I was like,
Jill: And then were you out of challenges at that point? Yeah, you only get one challenge, so.
Bobby Body: And, um, but, you know, it is what it is, and I’ll get them next time. So.
Unknown Reporter: Um, looks like we’re going to be finishing up. How, how do you feel about being fourth in the world here?
Bobby Body: I mean, you know, you want to get on the podium.
Um, and I trained very hard to get on the podium and, and, uh, um, you know, when I was at home and everything and, and I know there was a lot of expectations of me and, and, but at the same time, you know, I’m here. I can’t be more proud and happy to be here and, and, um. And if I would have gotten that third attempt, I would have gotten a medal and it would have been a personal best.
And so, you know, so now I just have to clean it up and, uh, get it next time. So, but I’ve enjoyed this.
Jill: What is it like, that first lift, get it, making it to take the pressure off of?
Bobby Body: Yeah, the first one’s very important because for a lot of lifters out there, that first one, you know, you got the nerves, especially when you’re on a stage of this magnitude.
Um, and so, you know, You got to get those jitters out and a lot of people make the mistake of going too big on their first attempt knowing that, you know, that there’s going to be like some butterflies going. And even if they’ve been here before, you still get that. And, uh, and so that’s why the first attempt, I never go too big just so I can get a good lift in.
I got it out of the way and now it’s time to go to work. So, and that’s why I only opened with 218.
Jill: How did, I don’t want to say it. What was your plan? Hopefully it had you had things gone according to plan. What was your hope to get lift
Bobby Body: wise? Um, my, my whole goal was to open with that 218 kilograms and then go 230 kilograms and then 237 kilograms.
Unknown Reporter 2: Okay.
Bobby Body: Because the 230, uh, cause right now the America’s elite record is 236 kilograms. And I wanted to break that America’s elite record. Oh,
Jill: go ahead.
Unknown Reporter 2: You had to weigh. 11 days from the opening ceremony. So now what was the anticipation like going up while you were here?
Bobby Body: For the weight, it was, it was tough because I went up a weight class.
I started this quad in the 97 kilogram weight class. And when I decided to go 107, it was actually really hard for me to put the weight on and keep it on. And so, um, the nutritionists and, and the dietitians were feeding me with smoothies. Well, that had a lot of calories in it and everything, packing it with peanut butter, packing it with oats and, um, you know, and even the honey and, and, um, uh, fair life, you know, high protein drinks and, and, uh, just to keep the weight up and, uh, and I still only weighed in at 103 kilograms, you know, and it, you know, but I’m eating five, six times a day.
So, uh, the nutrition part was tough. Um, and, um, so this next squad, we’ll see if I, Decided to stay at 107 or dropped to 97.
Jill: Did you have a lot of chocolate muffins?
Bobby Body: I mean,
Jill: it’s a very important question There’s a big
Bobby Body: thing about the muffins, you know, I have not had one muffin yet
Jill: So,
Bobby Body: but but we’ll see, uh, you know later today
Jill: In that going up compared to the the field like are you on then the smaller side of this field
Bobby Body: Yeah, um, and, uh, there’s only I think it was only one or two guys that were lighter weight than I was.
Otherwise, everybody else was much heavier. And, you know, hats off to those guys that are in chairs. They’re strong as heck. And, you know, but the benefit for them is, you know, because they have, you know, A lower body deficiency, they can make their upper bodies, you know, big . So, you know, and, um, um, you know, but for me, you know, my body frame was small already and so trying to get that get to 1 0 7 was really tough.
So, and, uh. Because it’s not so much getting to 107, it’s getting there with functional weight, you know, functional mass. So, yeah, because otherwise I could have just gone to McDonald’s every day and put on the weight and But I wouldn’t have gotten any stronger, so, you know, it was all about that functional mass.
So, and that’s the hard part, so
Jill: What’s the, um I don’t want to say it though, what’s the fun in competing?
Bobby Body: What’s fun? Yeah,
Jill: yeah, I mean, like here, was it Did you have a good time? Oh, I had a blast.
Bobby Body: Um, but, but it’s also because I really, really love doing this. I love powerlifting. I’ve been doing it since 2014, not on the para side.
I was doing able bodied powerlifting since 2014 and I’ve gone to, I had a stint where my wife was like, stop doing so many competitions because I would do it like every month I’m going to a competition and competing. Because I enjoy it so much. And and then when they reached out to me to try to join the parent team, I actually knew nothing about, you know, um, para power lifting.
And so at first I was like, I don’t know anything about it. And I just kind of, you know, just said, I’m not going to do it. And, uh, they reached out to me again, right before COVID. And I said, I would do it, but then COVID hit, but then I ended up with two more surgical procedures. And so, um, so in 2021, When the new quad actually started because of the whole COVID era, um, you know, so I was able to get on the pathway for here.
So, and, um, but yeah, I mean, it’s, I, I will go to every competition I can. Um, and I know that our team lead and our coaches like, you know, slow down, there’s only five mandatory meets. You don’t have to do all these side ones. But I, I love doing it. So it’s, it’s a blast. I’ll, you know, I’m looking forward to LA 28 and then even, uh, where is it in, uh, 32 Brisbane.
Yes. So, and, uh, so that’s, you know, and I told my team lead, I said, Oh, I’ll stop when I’m 62. So, cause I’ll be
Jill: when you get your social security, when
Bobby Body: I’m 60. Because I’ll be 54 in L. A. And then I’ll be 60 for that. I said, I’ll stop after that one. So, and she’s like, okay, so
Jill: what is the potential for growth in the U.
- For para power lifting?
Bobby Body: The potential is actually, it is growing. Um, we had a long cold streak of getting athletes on the team because no one really knew about para power lifting. Um, and ever since, you know, over the last year, We’ve tried to make an effort to reach out to, you know, people with disabilities all over the nation.
And we actually have over 100 people interested in joining our team now. And, but we’ve only, we’ve only had about 12 athletes on our team, on the average, for an entire quad. Um, and, um, you know, but because of the USOPC marketing team and, and, what some of us have been able to do. And then me actually qualifying for the games and not through a bipartite.
Um, you know, they, we now have our own web page and everything, and they kind of made it go viral. And so we’ve been putting it out left and right. And so a lot of people are taking notice and they’re like, Oh, I want to give it a try. And, and, uh, cause I’m going to even be going to like the warrior games, military games, you know, wheelchair games, just to kind of say, Hey, this is, you know, what we do.
And, and to get more, you know, participation. So, and, uh, for the team. And so hopefully, cause if we have a hundred people interested in it, 50 of them at least come to our camp and then 25 decide to do it. We’ve already doubled what our, you know, team already has. And then, plus the ones that are already on the team.
Unknown Reporter 2: What are the big takeaways from competing at the Paralympics?
Bobby Body: Um, the one thing that was tough was, uh, Um, waiting so long, so, you know, cause we arrived on the 26th and then today’s the last day of the game. So it’s like we had to wait till the very last. Um, but I mean, I just love every minute of being out here though.
I’ve had a, such a great time and I’ve met so many great people from other countries and so many people from other countries. I want to come to the U S and train with you and you know, stuff like that. And it’s like, you know, and so, and a lot of people from other countries actually live in the States. So they’re like, when can we come and train with you and hang out and stuff like that?
And I’m like, come on out. So, yeah, so I, I just love every, every, everything about the games. I enjoy it. So
Unknown Reporter: you mentioned the military games with you being a veteran and everything. You feel like that’s like an untapped group that can really help grow this sport.
Bobby Body: Absolutely. Um, and because, uh, our coach, his wife was at the last one and she spoke to a lot of the athletes and they had no idea that there was a Paralympic powerlifting team.
And so Um, so now that’s one of those things where it’s like, cause I know from, you know, one service member to another, the, the mindset of discipline and as far as training and such. And, uh, so I know that, you know, those guys would be, I think they would be all for it just because they, they love the camaraderie of team, you know, and stuff like that.
And, uh, just like being in the military with your unit and, you know, and I know that they’ll train hard and they’ll, you know, and they’ll, A lot of them will do very well. So, and, um, and that’s why I want to reach out to a lot of these veterans that are, you know, that have, uh, you know, specific physical injuries, get them doing the same thing.
So, and, uh, plus it helps, you know, because there’s, you know, if they’re hooked in with the VA, there’s a stipend for being on the national team and stuff and, you know, and it’ll help guys out too. So financially. very much. Are
Jill: you going to closing? Uh, we will be at the USA House. Okay.
Bobby Body: Because a couple of us have to leave really early.
Oh,
Jill: man. To the
Bobby Body: airport, so. And, uh, then go from there. Excellent. Well,
Jill: thank you, Bobby.
Bobby Body: Thank you. I appreciate it much. Thank you very much.
Jill: You need to stop those.
Lora Webster: Okay, hi!
Jill: Congratulations! You got an Andrew Parsons hug. That was pretty awesome.
Lora Webster: Yes, he’s my buddy. He gave me my greatest compliment ever. Oh, what did he say? Um, he told me that he loved the kind of teammate I was.
Jill: Aw, that is good. And that was
Lora Webster: the greatest compliment I’ve ever received as a player.
Oh, that’s good.
Jill: Um, uh, I’ll hold Heather if you want me to. We talked as we were in the first game, how there was, um, That feeling of momentum shift. And this time, even though there were shifts in the points, there wasn’t that momentum shift. So how did you How’d you flip it on? I don’t know how to answer that question, but you know what I mean?
Lora Webster: Yeah, so the second set, we started down like six to zero or something. And we came back and lost by two. So that was kind of, we love adversity apparently. And so that was like our, hey, let’s see how hard we can dig back and how deep we can get. Um, we knew what we had to do and we knew that, I don’t even think out there we played our best either.
I know that I did not play my best. Um, and, but it just goes to show the whole thing. Every, uh, every time out was, let’s do this together. We got this. It’s just us out there. And that was the everything we said. That was our affirmation statement. Every time was one more point. We got this. Let’s just do it for us.
And that was it. And that’s how we got through it.
Jill: Did you feel that China ever gave up? Oh, gosh, no, no,
Lora Webster: no, no. We know them and they know us and We have both played in these gold medal matches now five times, and they’ve got six. Uh, you don’t give up and end up in the gold medal match. Yeah, no, you don’t. Um, these are teams that fight tooth and nail and never think that any game is hopeless.
Um, and our second set is proof of that. So we make it here because we dig and we fight and we scrap, and that’s how we came out on top.
Jill: How was the crowd? I mean, the crowd was awesome. Oh my gosh, it was amazing. What did they do for the game?
Lora Webster: I went back to serve in one of the sets, match point, or game point.
And it was just deafeningly loud. And I was just like, this is fantastic. This is what every athlete wants to play in. And so it was phenomenal. The crowd, Paris has been wonderful. The crowd, they have shown up, and they have just been so supportive. And hearing USA being chanted is, of course, the best thing.
But the crowd in general, no matter who either is cheering for you, you want to hear the noise, and it was spectacular.
Jill: Thank you. Congratulations. so much.
Congratulations. Thank you so much. Um, first of all, just after losing to China in the prelims, what’s the mindset coming into this, not having that hang over your head? Yeah, I think for us, it’s really just remembering, uh, who we are and our, the game that we bring. You know, I think, um, you can get overwhelmed with losses and you can get overwhelmed with that mindset, but for us, it’s really just focusing in on who we are as a team.
Um, and how can we be the best versions of ourselves? So that’s really what we brought into tonight. That energy of really trusting our team and being ourselves. And uh, today the outside hitters were really just dominant. They were. How easy does that make your job when you can be so confident in your sets?
Yeah, really easy. I mean, I trust all my hitters. But when one’s hot, and a couple are hot, it’s just The icing on the cake. And so, you know, I think no matter where we were going to go tonight, um, it was going to be awesome. So Heather really showed out. That was crazy. And so did Katie and the middles even came in, it was impressive.
And some really impressive digs tonight. How do you stay cool and calm in a situation where it’s very, uh, close like that? Yeah, I use breathwork and grounding into the court. Like I grab the ground, um, and I’m just ready to move. So really my goal was to watch the hitters, to, to think of what’s going to happen next.
Um, and really be present in the moment and move from those walls. And finally, what was that feeling when Katie got that last point to get you guys the gold medal? Oh my gosh, it was incredible. I like, can’t even understand it all yet. Like, oops, sorry. Um, like I just am in awe. I’m in awe of our team. I’m in awe of our teamwork.
And I just, I really can’t believe it. Congratulations. so much. You guys dropped that second set, but how important was it to fight back being, you know, starting down 6 0, and how important was that going forward? Yeah, volleyball is a lot about momentum. And so, you know, even if you don’t win the set, if you gain the momentum, you’ve really won, uh, the beginning of the next set.
And so whether you’re down six, I think it’s really about the drive in the fight. I think it really proved to us that we can continue to fight and dig in, um, to the game. And one thing we like to say about volleyball is you can’t bully volleyball, so you just have to let it come to you. And I think we really did that tonight.
The final five points you guys had to endure two timeouts. So what were those conversations in those timeouts kind of comforting, reminding you that you’re almost there? It’s really just reminding us to stay present. Like that’s, that’s what we always try to end timeouts with, is being in the moment and being present.
Um, to be honest, I like can’t even remember what we talked about. But for me, it was just, um, I remember Lexi coming up to me and us just having a moment. And Bethany, me and her having a moment. It’s really Being with your team, I think, is what’s so special. So it’s like, even if you’re in those timeouts, and you cannot hear a thing, it’s like you are taking a moment to re connect with your team, and then to go out and do what you need to do.
And how nice was that crowd? You heard USA, USA, you heard some China, but how nice was it playing in It’s amazing. It’s so loud. I think this is what we’ve always hoped for the Paralympics. Um, and each, each games, you know, it’s just getting better and better. So, I mean, they are loud and passionate and I loved it.
And having my kids out there was really special too. I was going to say, it felt like really smart clock usage with the timeouts and using it to, Points were going to China, but then clock stop and you can regroup and go back. Was that did you feel that help? Do not. Yeah, I think even, you know, whenever we are down and coaches take timeouts or they’re getting a run and could just take time out.
So it’s honestly so nice because you kind of forget where you are in the court and what was going on before you left. And so I think it’s nice to really just take a second, take a breath, regroup as a team and then to go back out and it almost feels like a fresh start. And that’s what I love about volleyball to is, you know, each set is a fresh start.
And, um, yeah, they really did, Bill did a great job of that tonight. How nice was it to see Chuck and Brody and everyone out there screaming? Oh my gosh, amazing! It’s been, it was so special, and to like, They tried sitting volleyball, like Brody tried sitting volleyball, and uh, Chuck is just like the biggest cheerleader, and he’s like in this world too, but I mean it was amazing, and having them standing there cheering you on just feels so special too, like they are the rowdiest couple of people, like I love them so much, cause you can look over and you just know that, like, they have, they understand, and that they’re just cheering you on, and I think that’s the most special thing about having your family in the stands, having people there who care about you is just like, you know, they’re cheering for you no matter what you do.
Thank you. Thanks for coming.
Jill: So This this one. I don’t know. You know, I don’t know how you’re gonna play But like you’ve either matched or being your Tokyo results. Yes. How do you feel?
Ellen Geddes: Very good. It’s uh, it’s great to come to a second games and do like at least as well If not better than I did in the first game. I am like very happy with like This women’s team and all of the work we put in throughout the quad that gave us the seat that we had in team foil That allowed us to achieve Sixth place finish in the foil.
Like that was absolutely phenomenal. Um, uh, team at bay, we had some like misses throughout the cycle where we like, didn’t get to compete. So our seed wasn’t as good and this one as it wasn’t the foil, but I’m still like very happy with like how we fenced and I’m thrilled to be here. Like with this group of girls and then like the greater team as a whole, like we all get along so well, we all support each other and it’s just like a really positive team environment.
So like, I’m so happy to be here in Paris. And, you know, look toward the future with all of these people. Yeah. Because you, you know, you work alone. Yeah. So what is it like to have a team? Oh, it’s, it’s wonderful to have people around that are like supporting you and in your corner.
Jill: Um, what’d you learn about yourself as a fence
or like . Cool trick you wanna take away. That was cool, I gotta learn this.
Ellen Geddes: Oh, um, I don’t think I have anything like really specific like touch wise, fencing wise, that like I was like, oh, like that’s a new thing that I need to try cause like I’ve been fencing for such a long time but I think just like continuing to work on like being confident and trust in the fact that it is just fencing and I do do this all the time.
Um, I think my favorite thing My favorite thing an opponent, uh, and friend said to me is Irma from Georgia, the country. Um, she was like, Oh, like if I’m nervous, like, even if I had wings, I couldn’t spread them to fly. So I have to not be nervous. So, you know, that’s, that’s a useful turn of phrase. Um, Favorite bit about being here, the crowd, the energy of having an audience and the fact that like we have people from the US for each one of us here supporting us.
Nice. Did that, obviously a totally different energy than it is from Tokyo. Tokyo is probably something more that you knew on the regular. Yeah, no, usually we don’t have any spectators and we didn’t have any spectators in Tokyo. It was normal , but this, and they like What is the feeling when you say. When you have an audience like this in this place, it’s so loud.
Yeah, no, so I like really appreciate it. It’s a positive energy, right? They’re throwing positive energy down at you or at someone, right? It’s positive energy in the room. The only thing that was difficult for me was I had to spend a lot of like mental energy focusing on like listening to the referee and then finding the space to like have that like intense And be thinking about what I’m going to be doing next fencing was a little bit of a like balancing act, but you know that that’s that’s not a bad problem to have right?
Uh, what’s next? Um, a little bit of a break and I have a lot of goals for like growing para fencing. Um, we have a great opportunity to like add to the sport and add more people into the sport as we’re looking towards a home games in L. A. And so like that’s going to be like my goal and priority right now and we’ll see how I feel about my own fencing.
Excellent. so much. It was great to see you.