On the show this week: with just eight days to go until the Olympic flame is lit, Mark and Haig talk hockey and Covid complications for athletes (2:18), a change in the testing systems that lowers the Covid-19 testing threshold (8:25), and an update on event invitations — Haig just may go to an event or two (11:57).
Then: until recently Joop Wiersema was the strength and conditioning coach for China’s ski cross team. He was abruptly let go after he was diagnosed with Covid. Mark talks to him about what happened. (14:37). On the agenda: testing positive on arrival at Calgary airport and parting ways with the Chinese team (16:07), the differences coaching in China vs coaching in his native Holland (21:00), dealing with input from administrators who may not have the expertise to be giving advice (23:20), the surprising recruitment process for ski cross athletes (33:56), and Joop’s predictions for China’s winter sporting future (40:39).
Mark’s new book is available for sale on Amazon now.
You can follow us on Twitter. Mark is at https://twitter.com/DreyerChina and Haig is at
https://twitter.com/haigbalian
If you’re enjoying the show, do us a favor and rate and review us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.