On Her Turf
On this episode of On Her Turf, hosts M.J. Acosta-Ruiz and Lindsay Czarniak hit on a plethora of topics with guests from all across the sports world. From chats about gold-medal moments to round-table discussions of race and privilege, On Her Turf covers the top stories out of Tokyo.
Acosta-Ruiz and Czarniak open the podcast with Duke women's basketball coach Kara Lawson, who coached the USA women's 3x3 basketball team to the sport's first ever Olympic gold. Larson describes how it felt to watch her team win a historic gold. She also reflects on what she learned from coaching an Olympic team and her experiences playing in the WNBA.
Three-time Olympian Lily Zhang shares the story of how she got her start in table tennis and says her experience in Tokyo has been "absolutely amazing" so far. When detailing her training regimen to Acosta-Ruiz and Czarniak, Zhang dispels the misconception that table tennis doesn't require intense physical training.
Finally, NBC Olympics basketball analyst Monica McNutt and Olympic gold medalist Michelle Carter join the conversation to discuss the pressure Simone Biles faces as a Black woman in a sport that has historically lacked diversity. McNutt emphasizes how the difficult skills Biles is known for are extremely risky and could have resulted in physical injury had she attempted them while feeling like her mind and body were not in sync. The women close the episode by speaking on the importance of representation, how the landscape of sponsorships open to athletes has changed and what can be done to continue conversations around mental health and privilege.
You can listen to this episode of On Her Turf on Apple Podcasts or below:
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