Steps Ahead Ep 1 - Tony O'Connor on Being Average and winning Olympic Gold

NZ Olympic Men’s 8 Rowing Coach Maths Teacher, Christ’s College

00:00 Olympic Gold Vision 01:12 Being Average Mindset 01:38 Being Average Under Pressure 03:41 Finding Rowing in Ireland 04:11 Growing Up and Finding Rowing 05:40 Olympic Dream Spark 06:06 Olympic Dream Spark 07:51 From Nationals to Olympics 08:28 From Nationals to Worlds 09:22 Thor Nilsen Influence 09:39 Thor Nilsen Philosophy 11:52 Training Limits and Respect 12:20 Brutal Training Experiments 16:05 Resilience and Winning Late 16:16 Resilience and Loving Process 17:46 Olympics Mindset and Debriefs 19:32 Mindset Debriefs and Nutrition 21:47 Nutrition and Marginal Gains 23:46 Coaching Culture in NZ 23:46 Coaching in New Zealand 26:18 Joining the Kiwi Eight Campaign 26:38 Joining Late and Selecting Crew 29:02 Selecting the Eight 29:16 Selection System Debate 29:47 Selection System Frustrations 30:09 Early Regattas Reality Check 30:31 Early Races And No Time 31:27 Seat Racing For Magic 31:27 Seat Racing For Magic 32:01 Worlds Heartbreak Sixth 32:01 Worlds Heartbreak Sixth Place 32:43 Rebuilding After Missing Qual 32:43 Rebuilding After Nonqualification 33:55 COVID Reset New Blood 34:50 Knowing Athletes As People 35:07 Athletes Are People First 37:05 One Year Out Setting Goals 37:05 One Year To Tokyo 38:57 Daily Excellence Flywheel 40:16 Excellence In The Details 42:01 Competition Without Obsession 42:01 Ignore Rivals And Fads 45:04 East German Sports Machine 45:04 East German Sports Machine 47:42 Honesty Trust And Selection 47:47 Brutal Honesty Builds Trust 52:44 Pressure Tools Visualization 52:44 Pressure Tools Visualization 56:44 Advice For Future Olympians 56:44 Advice Be Humble Average 58:14 Closing Thanks And Wrap 58:14 Wrap Up And Tech Talk

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