Sow It Goes
Stories shape us. Conversations connect us. Ideas plant the seeds for change. That’s what Sow It Goes is all about. This conversational podcast explores the journeys of diverse individuals—from artists and scientists to entrepreneurs, athletes, and everyday people. The title plays on the idea that growth, much like life, isn’t always linear; it’s messy, unexpected, and full of twists. The podcast's tagline, "Great things grow from small beginnings," reflects the belief that every success, no matter how big, started from somewhere small, often unnoticed, or unplanned. Welcome to Sow It Goes!
Sow It Goes
From Doubt to World Champion: A Para-Athlete's Journey
Flurina Rigling's story will move you. 🌟
Six-time world champion & Paralympic medalist, but her journey is far deeper than medals. Flurina, born with a condition affecting her hands and feet, reveals how para-cycling transformed her life, not just her athletic career.🚴‍♀️
Hear how she navigated a world where she felt neither "disabled" nor "typical," finding her path to elite sport. Discover the incredible collaboration with ETH Zurich, where 3D-printed technology became a lifeline, enabling her to push beyond perceived limits. ⚙️
More than just a sports story, this is a tale of self-discovery. Flurina shares her raw, honest emotions about how para-sports reshaped her identity and empowered her as a woman. "Para sports really changed myself as a woman with a handicap, or how I go through life." ❤️
Feel her passion as she speaks about defining your own limits, a message that resonates far beyond the cycling track. This is about resilience, innovation, and the power of believing in yourself. Listen now and be inspired.
You always have to explain a bit. I'm a para-athlete, but that doesn't mean that I'm not just an athlete. I'm an athlete and para-athletes or para-cycling is like my discipline. When you are young, you just want to be part of the society or, like everybody else, I always compared myself to my sister, to my friends who don't have a handicap. It really hurt me back then when somebody was looking at me or saying something, and nowadays it doesn't kind of hurt me in person that hard as it did before. I have that handicap, but that's okay. Define your own limits. That was always important for me and I think that's true for everybody. That's true for everybody.
Speaker 2:Florina Riegling, you are a force to be reckoned with, a six-time world champion, a Paralympic medalist and a record-breaking paracyclist. But titles don't tell the full story. How did para cycling journey begin?
Speaker 1:oh well, that's a long story, or actually it's kind of it's not that I planned it or something. I was always kind of sporty as a child, but I didn't really look only for cycling because I mean there was always something in my side like I would like to do competitive sports. But somehow you also feel like, oh, that's just not a possibility for me, because I mean I have a handicap since I'm born on my both hand and feet. So you're always like, or I was always a bit like, that's not something for me. And I did a lot of different sports. I just tried to. I tried different sports, like every child does it. And then later I was like I also want to train more specific because my sister, she started to row, she was really successful in rowing and that fascinated me. And then I was like there must be something for me.
Speaker 1:And I was never really looking for para sports because I didn't know it for me. And I was never really looking for para sports because I didn't know it. And I also never identified myself with other para athletes or with people with a disability, because I grew up like, say, normal. I was never in a special school, school or anything. So I also was looking for kind of no, not para sport, not disabled sport. And then I also realized that I was able to really take a normal bike, because for a very long time I could only brake with kind of my pedals when pedaling backwards, and then you are limited in your gears and in Switzerland that's not so much fun with only seven gears. But I mean, I always used to cycle, but then I realized I have stronger hands and, moreover, the technique just made so much progress that I could really buy a normal bike and I used to ride it a lot.
Speaker 1:And then, at the same time, I started to look what could be my possibility for professional sports and I got in touch with Bluesport, that's the federation for parasports in Switzerland, one of two and I was really insecure Is that really what I'm looking for? Because I thought that's not so much professional, that's just a bit kind of leisure sports. That's not what I'm looking for. But they proved me wrong.
Speaker 1:And then it was thanks to the national coach who was so motivated and he came to me and he brought some bikes and he he was like, yeah, use, use this bike, we go for a ride. I was a bit afraid because I mean, I couldn't really brake and I think he was also a bit afraid, but he was so motivated and he was really supporting me. Then he helped me to get to know my coach that I'm training today. Also, if he's and I think he he really gave me what I was looking for and that was kind of the beginning. So I started not really knowing what was expecting me, but it was really what I was looking for.
Speaker 2:How old were you when you started to seriously pursue cycling?
Speaker 1:Well, it was before the pandemic, so it was around six years ago. So I was 22 or something.
Speaker 2:Is that considered late? I have no idea how early people start training in a professional sense.
Speaker 1:Well, it's an endurance sport. I think if you would like to do gymnastics or something, you would have no chance because it's the technique. You need a lot of time to get that well and I think if you look at cycling at the moment especially women's cycling it's pretty interesting. A lot of people started during the pandemic and it's often that people were sporty before, they did a lot of endurance sport and then they start with cycling. So it's not. It is really possible to start later with cycling. I mean, it's technical but it's not the same like gymnastic, as I said, before.
Speaker 2:In what way is paracycling similar or different to traditional cycling?
Speaker 1:There are a lot of similarities. So I mean the bike is the same, the training, training is the same, like we do aero tests, that's the same. But the interesting thing is, what makes para sports really special is people have different abilities or disabilities, so they have like a different starting point, and that also means that we need a lot of creativity, because you need to adapt your bike. And, moreover, I mean there are special bikes. I mean there are bikes for people in wheelchairs, so they are doing hand bike, they are kind of laying, and they are pedaling with their arms. There are tricycles they have like three wheels for people with neurological disease or impairments, and then there are tandems for people who are often blind or have problems with their eyes. And then there are the standings like that's what I do with a normal bike and these are often athletes who are having an amputation or something.
Speaker 2:Since there is such a wide range of handicaps or disabilities, how are athletes grouped in such a way that a competition is fair?
Speaker 1:We have like a classification system, so within these bike groups or classes there are further classes depending on how strong your disability is, but it's really how strong the disability is on the bike, so how much power do you lose?
Speaker 1:And it's all about that.
Speaker 1:So, and this is an international process that you have to go through with the UCI, the Federation for Cycling in the World, and it's also clear it's not about being the same, because I always say it's not. If you look at non-parasports, people are also not the same. But it's about having the same kind of starting point or a comparability, and it's not like everybody's the same, it's more kind of a range and I think that's also making parasports really interesting, to see how people kind of use their strength to get the best out of their performance. They still can do even if they have a handicap. And I think it's also clear that there are some people they are maybe stronger in sprint, but that's also the same in regular sports, but with the handicap it maybe gets more pronounced. So some people are rather in sprinting because of their handicap, others like me. For me it's more the longer distance or time trial, and for me that's really the fascination seeing how these people with different preconditions kind of make their best and bring such a high performance.
Speaker 2:How do the experts decide who goes into which category? What does that process look like? What do you, as an athlete, have to do?
Speaker 1:Well, you have to hand in some medical papers. There are doctors within that process. They are looking at you on the bike, they are doing tests of the bike. They are looking at you on the bike, they are doing tests of the bike. They are looking at you in the competition. Sometimes it's also that they are saying you're on the review so you have to come later again.
Speaker 1:And it's also clear that with some disabilities you have a change. So it might be that somebody will change category because maybe the disease got worse. So, especially for neurological issues, that that often happens and that's just part of the game and it's always the discussion. Is that fair? But, as I said, it's. It's about making sports comparable and you could also say, yeah, we leave it. But from my point of view that's just part of the para sports, having these categories and it's important to make them better and to improve the system. But you could also because for me it doesn't make sense to compare somebody with only having one leg with somebody who lost a finger. So for me it's kind of necessary and necessary to have these categories. But it's clear you have to make it the the process really always improve the process.
Speaker 2:And then, on top of that, you were saying that also your bicycle itself needs certain adaptations. So what does that look like in your case?
Speaker 1:I need a special handlebar because I'm missing the fingers to really grab the bar, so I have like a support on side of the handlebar and it was fun, or that's always something, since ever I have to be creative because there's no standard solution for me and nobody can tell me, kind of what is the solution. And we started really with simple things like testing different angles to see what do I really need? Was that of plastic from the garden market or something? But it was also clear for me I can't race with them. So I was looking for a solution and I got in touch with ETH, a university here in Zurich, and I mean they made it possible for me to develop it further, and it was with a student, and now these adaptions are 3D printed and this was a huge gain for me.
Speaker 1:On the one side, security I mean I can handle my bike better but it also meant that it was more comfortable than before and, moreover, I also got more aerodynamics.
Speaker 1:So I'm kind of a bit I'm not so holding my bike so wide, and this is really important in cycling, because then you need less power for the same speed. And that's one bike, that's the road bike, but I also do time trial, and so in time trials, you need a different handlebar, and there the story begins from you I do track, you don't have gears or you also don't need to brake there, which makes it a bit easier, but still you have to be creative and, moreover, I also need special shoes. And also there we started with a normal shoe and we started to test and I knew I need somebody who is really understanding it, because it's so complicated, also with biomechanics, and nowadays I have also a shoe that is 3D printed again a huge gain, a huge progress for me, because it's faster to reproduce it. I can have more than one shoe, which is not normal for me, and, yeah, so I'm really dependent on experts and also the technique, but also thanks to technology, I'm able to do these sports.
Speaker 2:Take me back to kind of the beginning, when you started training more professionally. You mentioned earlier that you were a bit scared because you couldn't really break at the beginning. When did you realize, hey, I've really got a talent for this. I can really do this more.
Speaker 1:More seriously, I think I didn't really feel like I have a talent, I just enjoyed it because it was really what I was looking for.
Speaker 1:I just love to do long rides to to hurt myself a bit maybe. And also then back then the coach the national coach he took me to the track pretty fast and I was so scared Because, again, a bike with no brakes, with only one gear, you have the track that is kind of not just flat, so you need to have a certain speed that you stay on the track. I never did that before but I thought that's just so normal for me. It's clear I need special shoes, I have to do adaptions and I didn't expect it to be good. And then I started to invest and I think that's something I did my whole life. Beginnings are always uncomfortable for me and I just got used to kind of handle this uncomfortability somehow. And again it's, and then still it's like super cool if you see the progress, so if you invest and you see where you came from, and I think that that just fascinated me.
Speaker 2:As we see from your results, you've been extremely successful. So, first of all, congratulations, because not everyone gets to stand on a podium and celebrate their achievements. And maybe a completely different question for people who don't know much about cycling at all what are the different disciplines?
Speaker 1:Well there, I mean, cycling is a huge sport. I think it's super cool. You have mountain bike, you have track, you have road, you have indoor. There is a huge variety.
Speaker 1:I do road, so it's like you're with several people on the road and it's about who is crossing the finish line. First there's also a lot of tactics, and then I do time trial, so you're alone on the road and it's all about kind of against the clock, who is going fastest the same course, and their aerodynamic again is really important. So you also have a different bike. And then there is track, where we have different disciplines. So you also have like a road race which is called scratch, so there are several people on the track and who is crossing the finish line after so and so many laps, first wins, and then you have, for example, elimination races where always the last rider gets has to go out.
Speaker 1:There is like there are sprint disciplines. There is also like the individual time trial, which is a bit more similar to a time trial outside. So you have a huge variety and I think my strength is really the endurance. I'm not a sprinter. So time trial, road races, scratch, the individual pursuit, but you also have to be kind of a bit an all-rounder to to, especially on the track where you have also several disciplines that are combined to one race, and I like the variety.
Speaker 2:When you're preparing for a race and you're at the starting line. What is going through your mind in that moment?
Speaker 1:very often I'm like, could we start? Because yeah, then I'm always nervous and it's, it's stressful, everybody's nervous, and I try to maybe think about what we were discussing, about what we want to do today in the race, or yeah but very often it's just about. Can we please start now?
Speaker 2:and how do you make sure these nerves don't affect you or influence your performance?
Speaker 1:for me it's just part of the game and I also know as soon I as I'm on the bike, it gets better and I forget it and then I'm really focused and I think it's always about making the best out of the situation and not feel like I'm so nervous, that's so bad. For me it's like, yeah, I'm nervous now and it's part of the game. It's a bike race. I think it's good that it is how it is, but it's also a process and I work with a sports psychologist who is always helping me and for me the preparation starts months, years before, kind of, when I do my training Because I wanted to be at the starting line and kind of know that I did everything I could, and then I'm totally fine with whatever, because I'm like I trained so hard, there were so hard moments, but now I'm here and I know I did my best.
Speaker 2:What does your training look like? What do you have to do to prepare?
Speaker 1:Well, I have longer trainings, so you're not riding super hard, but long, like three, four, five hours.
Speaker 1:And then you have shorter trainings, like intervals, which are super hard, and then it's also during the year. It's a bit changing. Maybe at the beginning they are longer, so 10 minutes, 20 minutes, which is more kind of time trial distance where you have to be able to push hard but it's not like a sprint. And then there are shorter intervals, like three, four minutes, which are really hard and it's really specific to race situation, so like maybe you have to do some sprints and then be able to hold the pace high, which is what is happening in a race when people are attacking. And that's also part why I'm so fascinated of cycling. The whole training it's really scientific and I didn't know that before, because you can measure power and you have all these variables and you can measure heart rate and you have to control over your fatigue and stuff and at the same time you need to be able to really listen to your body and that game, or finding that balance, that's interesting and that's also possible because I have good coaches who help me to find that balance.
Speaker 2:How many days a week do you train, or what does that look like? I have no idea what it takes to prepare.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have to add, maybe I do also strength training, so that's another part of the game. And normally it's a bit depending on where you are, because if you're in altitude you're recovering not that well as if you're kind of on sea level, so then you have to have more recovery. But normally at the moment I really had like six days in a row, which is pretty hard, and then sometimes it's also four days in a row and then one recovery day. So for me it's not like I don't really have a seven day week. I always go in that blocks and then the recovery day comes again and then it starts again.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I mean you also your body's changing, you have to get to know yourself better. Also, together with your coaches, you have to discuss, you always have to find new things to challenge yourself. So, yeah, most of the time I have like either one long session a day or then I have two, so for example, the interval in the morning, which is hard, and then you go again out two hours and a half, sometimes a bit less, in the afternoon.
Speaker 2:So it's not only important to keep your body in shape, but also your mind. How do you balance this out?
Speaker 1:On the one hand, I think cycling gives me a lot, so I always say, like para sports especially really changed myself as a woman with a handicap, or how I go through life. I would also argue that I never had such a high life quality like I have it at the moment. Also because I mean a lot of things like, for example, with the shoes I always have to do in my life, but I get to know other people that I probably wouldn't have met before, which then also helps me in my everyday life. And then, yeah, I mean the sport is hard. So I work with a sports psychologist, which I honestly think I would also continue doing it without doing competitive sports or anything, because I think it's just such a cool thing to exchange with somebody, maybe just asking you the right question, and that's important for me.
Speaker 1:I think, having that balance and, moreover, really my family I mean it's not only the coaches, the experts all around me, it's also the exchange with my family, the support of my family since, ever since I'm born, who kind of also made me become what I am today, or who kind of supported me, who offered me these possibilities. I mean you could also say why do you need to take your bike and go out five hours when it's raining or why do you want to kind of go into the mountains with your feet? But they never did that and I think that was always important for me, that I kind of that I define my own limits and that it's not somebody else who is saying why do you want to do it. That doesn't make any sense, and that's really thanks to my family, I think.
Speaker 2:So bad weather doesn't stop you from going out and cycling, then no, no, normally not.
Speaker 1:I mean you can go on the rollers and I also have to do that in winter, but normally I just love it to be outside, whatever the weather is. Sometimes it's hard, but then coming back is so nice and that's also something, maybe how I grew up. I was born or we grew up on the countryside and we were always outside and we went mushrooming when it was really wet all the time and we were small kids and the grass was higher than we were and you were wet and soaked on every part of your body. But then, coming back, the best memories and I think I feel like a lot of puzzle pieces come together in cycling that I did before in my life and that's just super nice, feeling like you find a bit your niche, your place where you are, where you bring the story, the, the things you, you, um, got to know before in your life, just make sense and bring you also a bit further than before or other people so you said cycling really also changed you as a person.
Speaker 2:How did it change you? What were you like before compared to now?
Speaker 1:It's really towards myself. I wouldn't say it's like coming out towards outside. It was really for myself because, as I said, I was never in touch with other people with a disability. I didn't feel like I belong there. And at the same time, now seeing the world of para sports with all these stories how other athletes tackle their life, just makes you more aware of where you are and which privilege you have.
Speaker 1:And I really believe that I have huge privilege living that life that I do at the moment. And then I think I have like two worlds now to compare. I mean I always compared myself to my sister, to my friends who don't have a handicap, and I always felt like I mean, you see, you saw that there is sometimes a gap. And then you question yourself maybe a bit because you invest the same or more. And nowadays I'm like totally fine with it because I know there is some reason and I have it. I have that handicap, but that's okay. And you also have the other world of parasports where you are more comparable to others and that's super cool because I always can challenge myself and you still know.
Speaker 2:There's the reason, and that's fine for me. Speaking of comparing yourself to others, you've been very vocal about inclusion. What does that mean to you personally, and where could we as a society do better?
Speaker 1:For me it's all about kind of having the same possibilities and also kind of the same estimation, maybe. Or you don't have to say I'm also an athlete, I'm a para-athlete and that's super cool because it's it's para sports and it has its own fascination and it's about having the same possibilities, like finding bikes, finding sponsoring or having just the same opportunities, like if you would do normal or non-parasports, and that's a lot of the time you see that there is a difference. And I think it is also a huge potential for society to use, use these stories, these for the resilience that these athletes have more, because I I think, as I said before it, it's so fascinated what they, what they saw, what which, which stories they have and which positivity, which resilience they have. I I'm always impressed by myself and I think there is a huge potential for society and at the same time I feel like it also needs time. For example, in cycling I mean para-cycling or para-sports in general it just developed so fast over the last years, like the level is so high and that wasn't there before. But that also means that nowadays it is possible to use more synergies with non-parasports and that's really something I'm advocating for, especially in cycling.
Speaker 1:I mean I have the same issues with organizing training camp, organizing bikes, doing aero tests, but at the moment that I do that all by myself, which is also super nice I mean I was just two months in Mallorca alone and I did it on my own, everything which is again part of the kind of preparation for me to be at the starting line, and I know I did it. I took my car by myself. I was there two months over winter. I did the best training. That that's super cool, but still, I mean it's also it would make it more easier for other athletes with a disability to be able to really do that sports, because I mean not everybody's able to organize everything by her or himself to find a bike, to have the capacity, to have the resources, and I really look forward and I'm quite optimistic that there is a process that is going on.
Speaker 2:Do you have a piece of advice for other people who would want to start and do a sport, but they feel like they don't belong, as you've also felt in the past?
Speaker 1:I mean it's connected with visibility, I would always argue I mean it's connected with visibility, I would always argue.
Speaker 1:I would say, if parasports is more visible, if there is more how to say, maybe know-how in society that there is parasports or which possibilities there are, it will also become more normal for people to go into parasports. Because a lot of my friends who do parasports they were a bit like me they got in touch with the federation by themselves and they weren't really sure if they, if it is the right place, so if it will, if it becomes more visible or normal, then also more people would go into parasports. But my advice would really be like, yeah, listen to your inner voice. Because I always felt like I would want to do it but I felt like it's not for me. But then again I was like I want to do it and the next step for me is create your environment, because I wouldn't be here alone. That's my family, that's my coaches, that's so many experts who helped me to get here, and then I think it also becomes your passion and you can really invest and also see what you did and I think that's so rewarding.
Speaker 2:Did you ever have a moment where you doubted yourself and felt like giving up?
Speaker 1:I maybe feel like, but I never did. I would really argue also now. I mean, I really had a hard winter. I did so many trainings and sometimes you're like I just can't stand that anymore, but I always continued knowing like it's just part of the game, it's my job, it's not always fun, fun and that just makes me stronger in the race. And then I would also say a lot of the time then I look ahead like what is coming after, which then makes it super cool. If you did that afterwards it's gonna be better. And for me that's also something I always had in my life it would be so much harder for me or to not do it and then go home and feel like I didn't do it then just do it. And I was also in school. I always want to just finish my homework first or do it early, not wait until it's the last minute, because that stress was so much worse for me than just do it, and that's really maybe a pattern that I have.
Speaker 2:Take me back to one of your races where you were awarded a gold medal. What did that feel like?
Speaker 1:I think each race where you're really able to show all your potential and everything is working is unique. I mean it needs so much. It's sometimes things you can't control, like being not ill, being healthy, not having any problems with your bike, not crashing, and then, for sure, your physique. But I would say the first world champion title on the track for me was so special. I was working also with a new coach and I think he really made a huge difference over the last year, together with my personal coach and then again with the whole team. One doesn't really help With only one of these puzzle pieces. It wouldn't work. But that was really a special moment because I mean we invested a lot and I knew that I'm in shape, but still it was unexpected. But he gave me so much self-confidence in that moment and I felt like I can do it and I made it. But that was really the first time and and that's special I mean you don't forget these moments.
Speaker 2:What is the craziest thing that has happened to you during a race?
Speaker 1:Craziest things, I don't know. I mean you crash. I don't know if that's crazy, but that sounds scary.
Speaker 1:It's not fun, but in these moments I'm always just kind of I just act without really being conscious of what I'm doing. Like I remember like, oh, where is where are my glasses? Oh, they are there. They are damaged. Oh, I don't take them. Where is my bike? Okay, I have it, I go, but yeah, it's, it's not fun, but it's part of the game and other things. Maybe a dog who is on the side on the path, on the side path, and he's running into the race, which?
Speaker 1:is also not fun but it was a time trial, so you're a bit more flexible then. Um, I would say, in general, you need to be flexible and super concentrated, and it's always a bit like a film in a race. You also forget a lot of things because you're just doing what the others looking what the others are doing. You have to be super attentive all the time, and also for the mind it's really a hard thing. How?
Speaker 2:do you even get into the mindset to make sure that you can clear your mind and just be super focused on the moment in the race?
Speaker 1:maybe the bike just helps me. When I'm on the bike it's just like switch and then it works. It's also when training you're outside you, you're in the nature. Maybe that is something that helps me, and the preparation before and with more experience, you also kind of trust yourself that's going to be okay as soon as the race starts, and you don't question yourself all the time is that okay now, or should I be different? Or and that's a bit for me that's also a bit the art of being ready at the start line, like accept what, what you have, and then kind of use what you have at the moment and use these emotions in a positive way. And yeah, experience really helps, I think, because then you trust yourself more and I think that's that's a key, key factor.
Speaker 2:Could you describe what you're feeling when you're on the bike?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's freedom. I mean it's the speed, it's the dynamics you have, it's technical, which is fascinating, but, moreover, I mean it's a bit further than just a bike. I mean it's the team, your teammates, you have friends, you see the world, you exchange. I really think it widens your horizon because in many senses I mean you travel, like I said before, you meet these people, you, you get to know yourself more, so a lot of positive things really connected to the bike. And sure, there are also downsides, but I, like I said before, in every situation you have them, and I'm have the huge privilege being a professional athlete at the moment, which is a huge privilege because I'm a para-athlete, so even more.
Speaker 2:What have been your personal highlights? Have you had a race that was particularly special to you, or what has that been like?
Speaker 1:They are all somehow special for me having their place. But I mean, last year was so special having the Paralympics and then the World Championships at home in Zurich. And, yeah, crossing the finish line at home in Zurich after having been in Paris with my family, there was special. All these emotions was also a bit surreal for me. And then I remember well when I was on the podium seeing my sister with her child standing there, yeah, that made me emotional somehow.
Speaker 2:What is next for you? What are the big plans after such a big, successful year in 2024?
Speaker 1:At the moment we are really focusing on training because this year is not like important for next qualification or anything, and it gives us some freedom to test stuff. I want to improve some material issues. I always see a lot of potential and things I want to improve, but this is part of why cycling or paracycling is so interesting for me and I'm really looking forward to work on them, or we are working on them currently and it's just super interesting Again. I mean, I just did something with biomechanics and I'm always impressed Like millimeters change the world for me, and I'm always impressed like millimeters change the world for me. And yeah, at the end of the years we we have the world championship in Belgium. I think that's an important race and then it's going on and on. Next, like the long, longer, longer goal for me is LA, but it's a long time, so you never know what life brings you, but I'll take it and make the best out of it. How long?
Speaker 2:is a cyclist's career usually. How many years can you do this for on average?
Speaker 1:Well, if you start early I mean, you see it in the pro races they are always younger and younger, but it's an endurance sport you can do it pretty long, and I think, moreover, parasport is different again because you have people who have a disability since they are born, like I do, but you have also people who had an accident, so you then start a bit later. So then you also have athletes who are older, and so I still have some years to go. I think I mean with 32, 35, you still see riders doing races also in regular sports, but for me it's about doing it when I'm healthy and when I enjoy it, and maybe I think after four years it's enough, but maybe I continue because it gives me also a lot.
Speaker 2:What is something about para sports that most people might not know that you would like to share?
Speaker 1:You always have to explain a bit. I'm a para athlete, but that doesn't mean that I don't that I'm not just an athlete, because that's actually what. I'm a para-athlete, but that doesn't mean that I don't that I'm not just an athlete, because that's actually what I'm in the first place. I'm an athlete and para-athletes or para-cycling is like my discipline and that would be really cool if it's more. It's if there is a higher awareness of it and maybe something specific, that's always a bit handbikers, so the athletes in a wheelchair who are kind of pedaling with their arms. Very often people feel like, oh, that's like athletics, like the athletes in the wheelchair doing their training on the track like athletics. That's not true. It's a handbike and it has shifting and it has brake, brakes and that's a bit the thing that a lot of people are not aware and it would be cool to just have more know-how, but that's I mean again, I also don't know everything, and connected with with visibility, I guess.
Speaker 2:I don't think you know this, but you're actually the person who really opened up this world of parasports for me, because before I had no idea and then I got to think you know this, but you're actually the person who really opened up this world of parasports for me, because before I had no idea. And then I got to meet you and that was the first time I realized hey, there's this whole other world that I know nothing about. What do you think it takes to create more visibility, or what would you wish for people to do so that this world gets recognized more?
Speaker 1:I would say that's really something that changed over the last year. I mean, the media did a good job, I would say, in Switzerland. That wasn't the case when I started, I think. And that really helps and it's cool because I I mean I do it really for myself the sports, but then seeing also kind of that other peoples are interested in it or they, they, they discover a new world, is really cool to see and, yeah, one goes with the other. If you see it more often, if you get to know more people, you maybe talk to somebody else. Then it's just like snowball effect.
Speaker 2:So to say Since cycling is your job, do you also still enjoy just cycling for fun after training, or not really?
Speaker 1:Not really after training and that's also the time where I take the e-bike to go shopping or something, because then it's I, cycling is my job and I don't go again to work after I did my job. But I enjoy just to take my bike ride with friends. But I really have to separate it. If I know that I have to train, I do my training and if I have it done, if I, if I did it, I also enjoy to do it a bit more for just for fun earlier you were talking about your training and how you really push through even when it's hard.
Speaker 2:How do you find the resilience to just keep going when things get tough?
Speaker 1:I feel like it's like a muscle in the brain and it's fun. There are really studies that prove that If you have children and they are motivated to overcome obstacles, they just get more resilient or they are better in tackling stress later if they're older. And I think that's thanks to my parents, who kind of made me see that. I mean, they always supported me and I wanted to kind of be able to jump on one leg, so I tried it every evening until I was able to do it, and then having that switch oh, you did. It is so rewarding and I think that's the pattern that I follow.
Speaker 2:Apart from cycling, what do you do in your free time? To recover or relax, or for fun?
Speaker 1:I just love to be outside, like hiking or mushrooming, watching birds, being with my family. We have a huge garden. I really love, or I enjoy, gardening and that gives me a lot and at the same time, I also enjoy cooking. Going out, having a good dinner gives me a lot and that's also important for me. Having that balance and, yeah, I think at the moment it's just a really nice puzzle that is coming, or a lot of puzzle pieces are coming together.
Speaker 2:Since you started cycling at 22,. Were you doing something else before then?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was already studying. I did political science and environmental science in my bachelor and I just finished my master's degree in political science and environmental science in my bachelor and I just finished my master's degree in political science. Congratulations, thank you. Yeah, it's super cool that I did both and at the same time, it's a huge relief because, I mean, it's two things that really demand a lot of you. So I'm super happy now just to be able to focus on sport and at the same time, I also need something besides sport. So I was just in Mallorca and started to learn Spanish, and also, with political science, I see a lot of potential in the future to combine it with sports and I'm looking forward to where I end up with it.
Speaker 2:As you said, both studying and cycling. They're very, very demanding. How did you combine the two things?
Speaker 1:I was a bit lucky with the pandemics because it helped me. A lot of stuff was online so I could do a lot, and then I just it took me a bit longer because I didn't do 100 at university, what just wasn't possible.
Speaker 2:And then I was also maybe lucky about the support that I have from at home, also a bit of the university, and I think it was a good thing to do to do both going back to the topic of inclusion, I feel like often, when we are confronted with something new that we don't know for example, we meet someone with a handicap that we hadn't seen before Sometimes it feels like we need to walk a little bit on eggshells, or we don't know how to address it. Do you have a piece of advice on how to talk about handicaps in a more normal way?
Speaker 1:For me it's like there are two sides, like it would really help if it's more visible, because then there is the chance that it becomes more normal and you're no more on eggshells, and for me it's just good to talk about it openly. And that's again then linking to the other side, to flip the coin, like my side or the side of people with having a handicap. It's okay if people are asking, or that you understand, or I always try to say myself he doesn't know, but he wants to know something, or he tries to, and it's not like that he wants to be mean, but of course it's. It's a really it's. It's a balance. And just looking back, it's also from my perspective.
Speaker 1:When you are young you just want to be part of the society or like everybody else, and it it really hurt. It really hurt hurt me back then when somebody was looking at me or saying something, and nowadays it doesn't kind of hurt me in person that hard as it did before and that's maybe also a development you go through. So for me it's totally okay if somebody's asking or if she, she or he is looking, okay, I don't like it, but it kind of doesn't hurt me anymore. So, yeah, the visibility, the exchange. Having this, having the contact, is important. And then some races like inich, where inclusion is really kind of lift, where the para-athletes are racing the same or at the same time the same courses. That just helps, because then people are there. See, there are huge potential just from sports in general. That it's kind of making that bridge, making a natural contact where people see, but it's not about inclusion per se.
Speaker 2:If you had to choose one important takeaway for our listeners, what message do you want to leave with them?
Speaker 1:Yeah, listen to your inner voice and if you really feel like you want to do it that's the thing, that's your passion Go all in, create your environment and do it.
Speaker 2:Just go for it. Don't let anyone else tell you you can't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, define your own limits. That was always important for me and I think that's true for everybody.
Speaker 2:That is such a good and powerful message and something I think we all need to remind ourselves of over and over again, because we always have situations where we might feel unsure or insecure or not confident. So thank you so much for your insights and your advice and for being here on the podcast. It's been such a pleasure to talk to you.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:If you enjoyed this episode, please consider liking, commenting and subscribing.