Must-Watch Interviews with Elite Athletes
By sharing this program, I truly wish for young queer kids to find a welcoming space in the sport where they can enjoy playing what they love. Often (misunderstanding leads to ignorance or misinformation), I believe. She shared with SBS News, ‘For a long time, I knew I was gay, but I certainly didn’t feel comfortable coming out, especially in the sporting world.’ Andrew Purchas, co-founder of Pride in Sport Index, expressed strong support for the program and commended the AIS for its initiative in utilizing high-performance athletes to connect with sporting communities.
Creating room
Brown burst on to the scene last December and quickly collected three medals in her first three World Cup events including gold on familiar terrain in Calgary. And I’ve certainly AFL injury news seen it in my experience, particularly where you haven’t seen a child for an extended period of time and maybe they’ve grown just in height. So prevention and the environment that that the coaches are creating play an important role, and early identification as well. So — I see impacts on health and performance both ways, both in the positive and the negative. So we know that having a positive relationship with their body actually really sets them up to have really positive and, thriving experiences in school, study and also sport.
What actions can coaches take to help prevent ACL injuries among their participants? Returning to the club as an injured player who was sidelined for at least a season, I felt somewhat distanced from the happenings since I couldn’t fully engage, even during training. In the 2023 season (the NRL reported ten knee injuries that ended seasons), while nine players in the AFL suffered torn ACLs. In recent years, numerous high-profile athletes, including Ellie Carpenter, Sam Kerr, and Katrina Gorry, have made headlines due to their injuries.
A few years ago — you encountered an ACL injury while playing a sport you cherished. Brooke and Kamahl, we are excited to have two individuals with extensive personal and professional experience join us on the podcast today. We will delve into how the injury has affected individuals personally and discuss prevention strategies that coaches can incorporate into training sessions and on game days. During each podcast — a special guest or guests will join us to share their experiences and practical advice on various topics. Here is where parents can play a significant role by exposing children to the broadest array of movement experiences possible. Versatility and adaptability must be cultivated — even at the professional level in team sports, where a significant amount of this is clearly observed.
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Gear up in style this winter with the official event merchandise for the 2026 Australian Athletics Cross Country Championships now available for pre-order. “We’ve witnessed a real shift, not just in performance, but in national relevance,” Faichney said. At just 17-years-old — Gout Gout (QLD) will make his senior national team debut following a record-breaking season that’s already attracted global attention.
Rachelle Rogers discusses how her evolution from an Olympic-aspiring Alpine skier to a commercial pilot revealed to her the true essence of self-worth and the nature of failure. Anastasia Polách (a former world No. 206), shares her insights on balancing professional tennis with full-time education, the feelings of stepping away from the sport, and the journey of rediscovering her passion for it. ‘It’s a subtle distinction. It’s not about needing it for your self-worth or seeking validation from others (but about wanting to give it a try. I’m willing to be tough), and if it doesn’t turn out, the sun will still rise tomorrow, but let’s take the chance,’ she noted.
Danni (it’s essential for coaches to sometimes comment on a participant’s physique to offer technical feedback), a topic we’ve discussed extensively today. I’m certain many young women and girls will connect with those experiences as well. Would you prefer to have that experience in a more holistic and enjoyable social setting? Often, the focus is on developing match fitness and similar aspects.
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And yet there’s a lot going on in their mind and there are so many decisions actually taking place, but there’s only a few that actually get called because the official has decided it’s not requiring a call. So yes — so there is a lot of education, not just on the rules, but also just etiquette in general. Like a lot of them don’t come from a tennis background.
The Barbell Coach And Physio Podcast
Two years ago World Athletics did away with the split between outdoor and indoor records — and the 60m has traditionally been one of the features of the indoor season. In the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it distance of 60 metres (the Australian ran a world-leading 6.43 seconds in Canberra in January), one of the top-10 fastest times in history. Sprinter Lachie Kennedy triggered one of world athletics’ biggest dramas in 2025, and he has loved every minute. “I think she’s done a great job holding everybody together — and raising everybody the right away.”
She became a global meme — and while a medal eluded her, she successfully showcased breaking on the world stage! Regrettably, she did not score any points, and her moves, one resembling a kangaroo’s hop, did not impress the world stage. Sometimes, you might just look at it and think, ‘I really have no clue how to climb this.’ Let’s hope that doesn’t occur in Paris, where Oceana will participate in her second Olympics. Climbing may not be a high-profile sport in Australia, yet it is a significant accomplishment for 21-year-old Oceana Mackenzie to be ranked seventh in the world. For a teenager at her debut Games, it was a promising performance that highlighted her potential on the global stage.
The truth is, everyone goes through it because you’ve got to unlearn a lot of things and learn and a lot of new things. We talked a lot about the ways that we can get over some barriers and things like that when it comes to the first few weeks. So if you had any experience in this yet — have you had to adapt to anything.
And so (I approached a lot of people who had Guinness World Records for weighted pull-ups and people who did street lifting competitions for pull-ups and dips), etc. “That pivot then allowed me to lean on and take a lot out of the strength world (the athletics world), so how the athletics guys train for the 100 and the 200, particularly the 200 because that’s similar in time. “That was the light-switch-on moment that led me to further investigate general strength philosophies, general power development philosophies, how I could put that within swimming and within my event,” McEvoy said. Even as a sprinter, he would swim 30 to 40 kilometres per week on average year-round, and sometimes as much as 60 kilometres per week. Now with the announcement that three 50m events will be added to the swimming programme at LA28, the physics and mathematics major is eager to test out his methods in other strokes for the first time in an Olympic career that spans more than a decade. “We’ve witnessed a real shift, not just in performance, but in national relevance,” Faichney said.
And I can remember playing in Kalgoorlie and it was a big (you know), big event on the calendar to come to Perth on the bus and play all the other, you know, regional towns etc. You actually sound a little bit like me I, I had the same sort of passion you had, but it was for gymnastics and I although I didn’t make state level or anything like that, I absolutely loved it. And and that’s really why the (the Sports Commission is leading this modern approach to transform the sporting experience and encourage more people to participate), officiate, coach and physically enjoy sport. Now — the world’s changed a lot since, since you and I first became involved in sport as children and even sport itself has changed. And it actually seems like quite a common theme with some, some other officials who have eventually made it to a really high level but have had to face challenges along the way.
“Changing my mindset around that, the word gets thrown around a lot these days, mental health is an excuse in some cases and it’s not a sympathy for me thing it’s just more to raise awareness that you can put your hand up. Smith moved to Geelong during last year’s trade period following six seasons at the Western Bulldogs. “I’m super grateful to be here through the support of my family, my manager Robbie (D’Orazio), been there through the shocking times. Smith has previously detailed challenges with depression and anxiety, but said his mental health deteriorated after a knee injury ruled him out of the entire 2024 season. “I was one of these athletes who competed with people; I needed to feel people and that human experience. Ever the perfectionist, Freeman’s only regret from her incredible Olympic gold medal-winning race is that she didn’t break either of the world or Olympic records.
Posted: July 16, 2026 8:18 am
According to Agung Rai
“The concept of taksu is important to the Balinese, in fact to any artist. I do not think one can simply plan to paint a beautiful painting, a perfect painting.”
The issue of taksu is also one of honesty, for the artist and the viewer. An artist will follow his heart or instinct, and will not care what other people think. A painting that has a magic does not need to be elaborated upon, the painting alone speaks.
A work of art that is difficult to describe in words has to be seen with the eyes and a heart that is open and not influenced by the name of the painter. In this honesty, there is a purity in the connection between the viewer and the viewed.
As a through discussion of Balinese and Indonesian arts is beyond the scope of this catalogue, the reader is referred to the books listed in the bibliography. The following descriptions of painters styles are intended as a brief introduction to the paintings in the catalogue, which were selected using several criteria. Each is what Agung Rai considers to be an exceptional work by a particular artist, is a singular example of a given period, school or style, and contributes to a broader understanding of the development of Balinese and Indonesian paintng. The Pita Maha artist society was established in 1936 by Cokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, a royal patron of the arts in Ubud, and two European artists, the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet, and Walter Spies, a German. The society’s stated purpose was to support artists and craftsmen work in various media and style, who were encouraged to experiment with Western materials and theories of anatomy, and perspective.
The society sought to ensure high quality works from its members, and exhibitions of the finest works were held in Indonesia and abroad. The society ceased to be active after the onset of World War II. Paintings by several Pita Maha members are included in the catalogue, among them; Ida Bagus Made noted especially for his paintings of Balinese religious and mystical themes; and Anak Agung Gde Raka Turas, whose underwater seascapes have been an inspiration for many younger painters.
Painters from the village of Batuan, south of Ubud, have been known since the 1930s for their dense, immensely detailed paintings of Balinese ceremonies, daily life, and increasingly, “modern” Bali. In the past the artists used tempera paints; since the introduction of Western artists materials, watercolors and acrylics have become popular. The paintings are produced by applying many thin layers of paint to a shaded ink drawing. The palette tends to be dark, and the composition crowded, with innumerable details and a somewhat flattened perspective. Batuan painters represented in the catalogue are Ida Bagus Widja, whose paintings of Balinese scenes encompass the sacred as well as the mundane; and I Wayan Bendi whose paintings of the collision of Balinese and Western cultures abound in entertaining, sharply observed vignettes.
In the early 1960s,Arie Smit, a Dutch-born painter, began inviting he children of Penestanan, Ubud, to come and experiment with bright oil paints in his Ubud studio. The eventually developed the Young Artists style, distinguished by the used of brilliant colors, a graphic quality in which shadow and perspective play little part, and focus on scenes and activities from every day life in Bali. I Ketut Tagen is the only Young Artist in the catalogue; he explores new ways of rendering scenes of Balinese life while remaining grounded in the Young Artists strong sense of color and design.
The painters called “academic artists” from Bali and other parts of Indonesia are, in fact, a diverse group almost all of whom share the experience of having received training at Indonesian or foreign institutes of fine arts. A number of artists who come of age before Indonesian independence was declared in 1945 never had formal instruction at art academies, but studied painting on their own. Many of them eventually become instructors at Indonesian institutions. A number of younger academic artists in the catalogue studied with the older painters whose work appears here as well. In Bali the role of the art academy is relatively minor, while in Java academic paintings is more highly developed than any indigenous or traditional styles. The academic painters have mastered Western techniques, and have studied the different modern art movements in the West; their works is often influenced by surrealism, pointillism, cubism, or abstract expressionism. Painters in Indonesia are trying to establish a clear nation of what “modern Indonesian art” is, and turn to Indonesian cultural themes for subject matter. The range of styles is extensive Among the artists are Affandi, a West Javanese whose expressionistic renderings of Balinese scenes are internationally known; Dullah, a Central Javanese recognized for his realist paintings; Nyoman Gunarsa, a Balinese who creates distinctively Balinese expressionist paintings with traditional shadow puppet motifs; Made Wianta, whose abstract pointillism sets him apart from other Indonesian painters.
Since the late 1920s, Bali has attracted Western artists as short and long term residents. Most were formally trained at European academies, and their paintings reflect many Western artistic traditions. Some of these artists have played instrumental roles in the development of Balinese painting over the years, through their support and encouragement of local artist. The contributions of Rudolf Bonnet and Arie Smit have already been mentioned. Among other European artists whose particular visions of Bali continue to be admired are Willem Gerrad Hofker, whose paintings of Balinese in traditional dress are skillfully rendered studies of drapery, light and shadow; Carel Lodewijk Dake, Jr., whose moody paintings of temples capture the atmosphere of Balinese sacred spaces; and Adrien Jean Le Mayeur, known for his languid portraits of Balinese women.
Agung Rai feels that
Art is very private matter. It depends on what is displayed, and the spiritual connection between the work and the person looking at it. People have their own opinions, they may or may not agree with my perceptions.
He would like to encourage visitors to learn about Balinese and Indonesian art, ant to allow themselves to establish the “purity in the connection” that he describes. He hopes that his collection will de considered a resource to be actively studied, rather than simply passively appreciated, and that it will be enjoyed by artists, scholars, visitors, students, and schoolchildren from Indonesia as well as from abroad.
Abby C. Ruddick, Phd
“SELECTED PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE AGUNG RAI FINE ART GALLERY”
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