'Penis-gate' & Should Lindsey Vonn have dared to ski?

0:02Gabby Logan:This is a Global Player original podcast. Well, the Winter Olympics have so far been incredible, awe-inspiring and downright bizarre. Reports of injections into a very sensitive area in order to fly further. Don't worry, we'll explain further. Can't wait for that. Also, we'll talk about the woman who's dominating the game so far, Lindsay Vaughan, 41 years old. She tore her ACL nine days before the Olympics, still competed and then crashed out at 60 miles an hour after just 13 seconds, ending all hopes of one of the greatest Olympic comebacks of all time. And later we've got a special interview with 2026's answer to Torvalendine, Lila Fear and Lewis Gibson, who've been dancing to none other than the Spice Girls.

0:45Gabby Logan:Welcome to the Sports Agents.

0:55The Sports Agents with Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman. Hello, Mark. Hi, Gabby. Are you dried out? Well, you can probably hear I'm sounding a little bit nasal, and that's because I think standing in rain for three hours and getting soaked to the skin and then shivering your way through a broadcast is a sure-fired way to pick up a cold. I've never, ever experienced anything quite like that weather in Rome on Saturday. We had thunder and lightning in the distance, and we were told the match would get abandoned if there was lightning.

1:26Gabby Logan:So it would have been abandoned, not like... They would stop and hope that that lightning would go away. There was a point where Martin Johnson said that the puddles on the pitch were dangerous. And Martin Johnson saying that, I mean, very little is off limits for him. And he said it's very dangerous. And I was chatting to another player who used to play for England a prop the day after and he said, well, one of the reasons is because if you collapse into that, he said, and you've got a player with a face in... Oh my God, I never even thought about it. They could potentially kind of drown in there.

1:53You know what I mean? So it was ridiculous. I mean, it was ridiculous. And not only that, obviously, the players is so funny in a kind of slapstick way. Watching a player who's normally like a flying winger get hold of the ball and think that they can run. And then realising that they can't take off because their studs are just absolutely soddened and in the ground. And so there was no real rugby to watch there. It was just very attritional stuff that was happening.

2:18Gabby Logan:But in some ways it made it even... That kind of made it even more compelling. The narrative being, of course, that Scotland could lose to Italy is always compelling. The beauty of sport is two such different contrasting examples between France just flying everywhere and free flowing against Ireland on Thursday night, which was just a joy to watch. And in the same way, it was really enjoyable to be watching the Italy-Scotland game, but for completely different reasons. Yeah, it was one of those moments you kind of knew that the audience would stay with because of the tight scoreline, but also because it just looked so unbelievable.

2:55Was that the same for the Super Bowl?

2:57Gabby Logan:No, it was a very, look, there will be some people who are very much purists who will be like, oh, it was a defensive masterclass and so on and so forth. I don't know. This has been a season in the NFL where there's been so many great attacking stories, so many really tight, high scoring games that have been a joy to watch. and this was properly attritional no touchdown in the first half 9-0 at halftime it was look if you like watching a team put on a defensive masterclass then that's what Seattle did and destroyed New England by doing it but as a spectacle there were so many people who I was whatsapping during that first half and they all said the same thing my god this is tough this is really tough he is the defensive coordinator he's the defensive coordinator of seattle so so basically what they what they have do seattle they have a head coach michael mcdonald who is a defensive mastermind and and he calls the plays and is in charge of defense but you still need a coordinator to run the room and try so and that is what alan derda does who started out with london warriors coaching people like vernon k and so on and so forth and helping kids in london get into american football and he's worked his way up through this through this international pathway over in america to now become amazing and is there a chance he would be a he has interviewed he so the amazing thing with the nfl is any team that looks for a head coach has to a request an interview and it is also made public.

4:36Gabby Logan:So you know who is in. So if you go on NFL.com or you go on the NFL app, they have a sort of hiring and firing page and you click that on and you see everybody that has been interviewed. So it's all in the name of fairness. It's all in the name of fairness. Yeah. And it means that there isn't necessarily any sort of shenanigans going behind the scenes with people being approached and this, that and the other. So it's all there. And he has had a couple in that window when he could be interviewed before they got into Super Bowl prep I think he had one or maybe two every head coaching vacancy has now been filled for next season so I think and normally coordinators don't get it on their first go so he'll do another season he'll do another season I would imagine in Seattle and half-time entertainment we were obviously teasing ahead of Bad Bunny's performance has actually garnered a lot of attention not least because the great critique himself, Donald Trump has called it, absolutely terrible, one of the worst ever, probably because it shone a light, didn't it?

5:39Obviously, I mean, more than shone a light, it was pretty much a kind of two fingers up to what is going on in American politics right now. I thought it had.

5:46Gabby Logan:I thought it had. I don't know any of the songs. Do you know what? It reminded me of a bit. And you're going to think, what? The setting, the stage setting and everything, reminded me a bit of Islands of Wonder, the 2012, which, let me explain myself here, right? I watched the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, which was called Isles of Wanda. Michael Johnson was not far away because he was working with him. But you're going to say Michael McIntyre, never go back to him. Go back to him again. And we had a little bit of a disagreement in the taxi ride back to our hotels afterwards because he didn't get it.

6:13Gabby Logan:Right, okay. And I loved it because I thought it was the most beautiful kind of representation of the history of this country and how they did it and celebrating things like the NHS and celebrating our musical heritage. And I felt there was a bit of that kind of feel of like, this is how we live as Latino Americans. in America. And it was celebrating, you know, just the simple things. The kid lying across two chairs at a wedding, you know. And that was a real wedding. Yes. That was a real wedding. And a real kid. Yeah. And I thought it was really entertaining. Yes, I did. I didn't know a single one of the songs.

6:48Gabby Logan:I thought it was very energetic. Gaga pops up at one point. Ricky Martin. Ricky Martin popped up at one point. It had loads of energy. I thought it was really creative, even though I didn't really understand or know. any of the songs. I didn't think that mattered really. I thought it was just a good show. What I don't understand, Richard Osman, I have been told this, I haven't heard it, on the Rest His Entertainment podcast, has referred to me as the UK's bad bunny. And I don't know why. But then they've superimposed my face. I'm fed up of podcasts, including our own, superimposing my face. So last week, this podcast put my face on Stephen from The Traitors in a jumpsuit.

7:27Well, that was obviously a reason why. I mean, because you do look at him as your style guru.

7:32Gabby Logan:And now they've put me on Bad Bunny. And what basis have they compared you to Bad Bunny then? Are you like an agent provocateur? Is that what they're saying? I mean, you are. Well, we both do half-times, don't we? But not quite in the same... Oh, I see. I'm assuming that's where the link is. I see, it's the half-time thing. Okay. Not the hips, the Latino hips or anything like that. No? Not your propensity to salsa your way into the Match of the Day studio. I really need this spelling out for me why they're comparing you to him. I have no idea what. Maybe we'll find out at some point. OK. There are a lot of Premier League games midweek this week.

8:10We've got four tonight and six tomorrow night as well. Has Frank Illert, the Manchester United fan, who's looking for five games in a row, five victories in a row, this will be the fifth this week. He said after five wins in a row, he'd cut his hair. It's almost 500 days now. At West Ham, obviously Michael Carrick started his professional life at West Ham as well it's a nice story um and so the hair could be going for

8:33Gabby Logan:the job I think it's a bad time to be going to West Ham I think things have started to change and they've got a bit of energy and that place has not been great atmosphere wise if we as we've talked about on numerous occasions but they're just doing a bit better and and obviously they they will rouse themselves for playing United to the West Ham fans playing Manchester United so So I'm not sure he's going to be cut. I mean, I've got better things to worry about when it comes to United than whether some bloke's going to cut his hair or not. But I don't think he's going to be cut out. I think that might be a draw.

9:06Well, apparently Michael Carrick is aware of it.

9:10Gabby Logan:I can say I'm aware of it, yeah. My kids have made me aware of it, if anything. But it certainly won't go into the team talk from a professional level. But I can understand what's going on with it. And it does make me smile. but it won't have an impact ultimately in the end. His kids have told him all about it. But another demonstration, I think, of Michael Carrick's very unflappable, kind of calm demeanour in any press situation. We've been lucky enough to do some stuff with Michael and he's very understated and quiet and just a genuinely nice bloke. And therefore, I kind of think he sits in front in these press conferences or does interviews and doesn't try and put on a persona or doesn't try and think, well, what message do I need to send out here?

10:01Gabby Logan:Or I think he just answers it as himself, which may sound a very obvious thing to say, but so many managers over the years, and you can go back to Fergie and before Fergie, it's all about what message you send out where. And I think he's at a stage where he's just going, I'm going to enjoy this. I'm going to enjoy this. and I'm going to just talk as I would talk and we'll see where we end up. Well, in spite of your slight reticence to commit, I think Frank's going to be having a haircut. Do you? Yeah, I do. Yeah, but that's also the fan part of me that just kind of doesn't want to get too carried away.

10:34Let us know what you think. Comment on this episode in the show notes or on our socials at the sports agents or you could do it on email, the sports agents at global.com.

10:42Gabby Logan:Catch up on previous episodes on YouTube, Global Player, wherever you get your podcasts. When you're watching or listening, make sure you subscribe or follow and leave a review. Next up, it's Winter Olympics time. The incredible but ultimately heartbreaking story of two-time world champion skier Lindsay Vaughan. The Sports Agents. The Sports Agents. With Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman. OK, let's talk all things Winter Olympics. A nation is gripped. Well, certainly our household has been. I know you've had a few other sports this weekend. It's been a bit harder for me. Yeah, well, I can bring in two women now who are across everything to fill in any of the gaps that you might have in your knowledge so far.

11:25CNN sports anchor Amanda Davis is here. And of course, Great Britain's former Olympic skier, Shemi Olcott. OK, the first thing we're going to have to kind of talk about is Lindsay Vaughan, because watching that coverage, Shemi, and your reaction and the emotion from the side of the mountain there, I think just put into context how important she is actually in the sport and what she was attempting to do, how important that was for women and her empowerment of other women as well, which has come through in the last 24 hours. She supersedes the Olympics. She supersedes women's sports. She is an icon for all of us.

11:59And when we watched her comeback after five years of retirement with that right knee replacement, we knew it was going to be challenging. She had so many people telling her who'd been in that position that she wouldn't be able to do this. And she proved them wrong. I think the hardest thing was coming into this Olympics. She's been on the podium in nearly every single downhill except for Crown Montana, where she crashed and tore her ACL. and that's nine days before the Olympics. And then the narrative massively shifts. Okay, we're not going to get this Hollywood ending, but she's still going to participate.

12:31So we change our focus, okay? And she changes her focus. But then in the training runs, she delivers. She's fifth, she's third, she looks amazing, definitely dominating her right side of her body. She's essentially skiing on one leg. She was still fast. And then the way she went out that start gate, you had so much hope. You had everything crossed that, and she was going for the win. that you know she was not participating she wasn't going for a podium she was going for the wind she took the ballsiest line into that fallaway section and I mean a complete disaster because of five inches and that right hand dropping so she was on the course for 13 seconds the crowd was fizzing ready for this we were ready to watch her come through and see her elation and I mean I've never felt an atmosphere like that in the Finnish area it dropped it was dead there was so much respect there was so much tension and every time the camera went on to Lindsay lying motionless there was this weird clapping like Italian clapping like people were just hoping that somehow they could help make her stand up and and then actually it got so bad that they put music in the finish area to create an atmosphere because it was just no one knew how to react and I think that's where my my emotions also came from marrying Lindsay really well and

13:48Gabby Logan:what she was sacrificing just on the technical side of things then shemi because because lindsey vons put a statement out saying it wasn't a fairy tale it was just life and that the crash had nothing to do with the acl injury and that she she says she was five inches too tight on the line so clipped the gate is it as simple as that or from your experiences i mean you've already said she was not far off skiing on on one leg even if the actual pain of the injury or whatever didn't cause the crash mentally having to compensate would that have played a part i am actually going to go no anyone in her position who took that line that that confident line would have crashed it's really annoying me actually that broadcasters out there are trying to clickbait this and saying she crashed because of her leg if you slow mo that turn before she is fully loading that left knee she wasn't skiing in that race run on one leg that was the training runs on that race day she was channeling everyone everything into that lindsay bun we know so actually anyone else would have also crashed and would have also got hurt in that position and of course amanda the usa win the gold anyway with breezy johnson i wonder what the reaction is like you're broadcasting for the states um what the reaction was like with the american broadcasters because she she does transcend the sport i was fortunate enough to to spend some time with her in 2013 and with one of her sponsors and go to la and meet her and she at the time was in a relationship with Tiger Woods.

15:14And so obviously, you know, she's been in a relationship with one of the icons of world sport, of American sports. So that kind of thrust her into a different kind of stratosphere, didn't it? And ever since, she seems to have retained an iconic position within sport in America. Yeah, and I mean, for us, there's been one story in town over the last, well, nine days. And it has been Lindsay Vonn, which is no mean feat on a Super Bowl weekend, is it? She is the person that everybody's been talking about. And the thing that struck me so much, like you guys, I've been fortunate enough to spend time with Lindsay throughout her career.

15:48And I spoke to her very quickly after that retirement in 2019. And she was so emotional. She was collecting an award. But she was so emotional because you could tell there was such a sense of unfinished business. And she fought so hard to come back to this point. She felt she was skiing as well, if not better than ever, despite the knee replacement. and then I spoke to her just last March after she'd got back to that podium in Sun Valley for the first time and was asking her about what was the overriding emotion and she said I've done it, I've defied the odds, this has been the hardest season of my life, I've got new skis, I've got new coaches, I've got new trainers, everything is new, she was 20 pounds lighter as she put it than she had been when she'd been racing before and this is a story that whether you know skiing, whether you know Lindsay Vaughn or not, has absolutely gathered the attention of everybody around the world.

16:44I have to say, as Shemi was saying, people have had a view whether she should be skiing or not have been skiing. But who are we to tell somebody like Lindsay Vaughn with 20 years at the top of her game, whether or not she should have been at that start gate? She felt she should have been at that start gate. She knew she could compete. And why would we take that away from her? There have been so many great stories coming out already from these games and just after we recorded Thursday's Sports Agents one of the all-time great stories broke and we haven't had a chance to talk about it yet and in the days since I've been able to consume quite a lot of information about this story so I can bring our listeners up to speed with Penisgate because I think the first thing that anybody thought when they saw those headlines about this is the ski jumpers story allegedly putting hyaluronic acid which actually is something that's quite often used in aesthetics into their penises Notice how I'm not really contributing at the moment Yeah, to increase the girth of the penis which in turn would mean you could have a bigger suit and it's the surface area of the suit which apparently gives you the advantage Now, there's a lot of questions that spring to mind from this Maybe ask them Yeah.

18:01First of all, Amanda, have the Americans got a more mature sense of humour and this story hasn't tickled them in quite the same way? In terms of bingo cards and stories we were expecting to cover heading to Milan Cortina, I have to tell you this was not on there. But I have, I mean, I have laughed so much. I don't know whether it's the male journalistic contingent or the female journalistic contingent who have found this more embarrassing to cover. And trying to, watching people trying to find the appropriate words and the correct words to use on television without inadvertently kind of falling into some ludicrous, embarrassing euphemism.

18:44Gabby Logan:Amanda, Amanda, right. The thing that made me laugh the most was somebody from whatever authorities, whether it's ski jumping authorities or Winter Olympic authorities. Or the British Urology Association. And the quote was, there's no evidence of this, but if anything was to come to the surface, we would look at it. It's very hard to tell. One of my favourite headlines was Eddie the Eagle explains the science behind Jesus' injection scandal. And I thought if poor Eddie the Eagle hasn't had enough to deal with throughout his Winter Olympic career, throwing this one on him. But also, if you're looking to increase the surface area of a suit, there are other areas of the body you could just work on naturally to get bigger, could you not?

19:35I'll bring you a female version of this story. In Vancouver, I broke my ribs. And I went to Vancouver racing with broken ribs. And the team GB doctors were really worried. So they sent me off to get a synthetic chest plate made. And I happened to be wearing a Wonder Bra that day. So I had this chest plate made that was quite a lot larger than my natural sizing. And then I tried to race in it. And they banned me from racing in it because it didn't let air through for aerodynamics. And I was like, OK, well, I've got these broken ribs and I don't want to get further injured. So I've got this amazing chest plate that is ready for Lady Gaga.

20:14There's something about skiing with an airbag, an airbag. Anyway, let's let's let's move on from a British perspective. It's all about fourths at the moment, isn't it? The cruelest position. a Kirsty Muir of course by 0.41 and then Mia Brooks in her big air last night which was just amazing because I think everybody who which is most of the audience who don't watch winter sports kind of you know 24 7 thought she'd done enough because that looked so spectacular Shemi what she was doing in the air and it looked like she landed to me I mean gosh how fussy are they she didn't she didn't fall on the backside what's wrong but explain what what happened i know i've had so many messages going but she landed that i don't understand it why did the judges not take that into consideration but it's your control on landing which is one of the most important you cannot over rotate you can't under rotate and actually she landed but then she over rotated so unbelievably the spin kept going now bear in mind mia brooks has only ever done this into an airbag she stands at the top dropping for her third run going I've not landed this before but hey here's a good time to give it a go and she has the confidence to know that the chances of her failing this are so high she could have played it safe and got on that podium but to win it she would have had to do a 16 which has never been done before and she was I mean you know a finger width away from landing that and and setting herself not in history but that is women's snowboarding or any snowboarding they they are a community who wants to see progression the reaction is amazing when they you know when they when they try something a little bit different and they push the boundaries the other competitors appreciation of that is phenomenal it looks like such a sisterhood and my family whatsapp group was kicking off because we felt that lila and lewis the british ice dancing pair were under marked and should go into wednesday's final in third place not fourth but you know what do we know we i mean i think it's okay to be a little bias when someone's gating to the Spice Girls I mean you are transported back to I mean I'm a massive Spice Girls fan but I think I think the worry there is that was their stronger routine we'd hope that they would get the place they deserve so that they could back that up and you're always shouting at the telly in the Olympics do you remember before then you got those spongy bricks to throw at things and yesterday I first threw that metaphorical brick at the telly for Mia and then Kirsty sorry Kirsty then Mia then the curlers and then last night again i mean that was four tv screens i almost uh smashed up yesterday but very frustrating i absolutely love them they're amazing and yes they were under mark there was one little mistake and i think that the judges really uh penalized them for that uh well thank you both for joining

22:58Gabby Logan:us and as i feel more comfortable talking about spy school routines and certain other subjects we've talked about in the last 20 minutes and that's saying something that is saying something we will talk to Lila Fear and Lewis Gibson next who as we've been saying could end Britain's 32 year wait for a skating medal tomorrow The Sports Agents

23:19Gabby Logan:The Sports Agents with Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman Lila and Lewis thank you so much for joining us on The Sports Agents you're sat there in your GB kit and big smiles on your face looking forward to another Olympic Games. And I've got to bring up the T &D words before we get any further, because for this country, that moment when Torvald and Dean, with their Ravel's Bolero routine, won Olympic gold, you know, I think there were 27 million people watched that on the television. So anybody of a certain age knows exactly who they are, right? And they have kind of given this country, I suppose, a love, an irrational love of ice dancing in a way that they don't maybe have other winter sports that they don't kind of know as much about.

24:09And they carried on skating as well and been on primetime TV shows. Has that been a blessing for you? Has it been something that, you know, you've tried to kind of lean into? Blessing is a great word. Yeah, it's always made our life easier when someone asks, oh, what do you do in your spare time as a kid like oh I ice skate and they're like oh like Torval and Dean yeah or if I say skate like with a partner I do ice dance you know like Torval and Dean and they're like oh yeah okay got it got it got it but you know like I started skating because of them because of the first season of Dancing on Ice so I'm so thankful to them and also just of course they come up all the time but being anyway compared to them is such a huge honor like hello I'll take it what they've achieved is huge in the sport of ice dance never mind like their status outside of the sport itself

25:00Gabby Logan:globally globally and in the UK it's like it's incredible yeah you wanted to take up ice dancing because of the first series of dancing on ice then yeah I was playing football and then stopped that and was like looking for something else to do and this popped up on TV and I was like what is it and who are they and my mom is like that's Torval and Dean lead at the Bolero back in 1984 I watched oh okay explain explain that to me yeah and from there I was intrigued by just the way that these celebrities were having so much fun in the challenge of the sport and so I I went along and I felt that exact same challenge and was just gripped by it for years and you were about 11 I think at the time whereas Lylee you were two when you first laced up just kidding I was it's funny because in this sport you most of us we started very very young so Lewis is kind of abnormal in that way but it just shows like what a natural he is my mom uh she was a figure skater growing up in British Columbia Canada she skated competitively until she was about 18 years old and my uncle was an ice hockey player so it was just in my family and I have two sisters we all started you know fresh from the womb pretty much and then I kept going all the way and I I really fell in love with it the most though when I teamed up with Lewis because it felt like we found our skating soulmates and like our identity together and our potential and possibility.

26:25And then since then and even before, but since then, especially, it's just been like the best time of my life. What makes you skating soulmates?

26:35Gabby Logan:What is it that you require, both of you, from a partner? i think as a serious answer like it's like alignment and the goals and communication because that's what got us to that position like when we started we had six years of an age gap it's still six years

26:59it's the same as mark and i we when we started i was older than him but i have got a lot younger but okay so what i was trying to say was age gap yeah the age gap was so different but when you're younger and like I was 21 when we started like that is a very different point in life and so like we really had to just be like okay what is it that we're trying to achieve here and let's yeah like work towards that and our friendship really flourished from that point um and just getting to know each other over the years and spending every high and low and every moment together too and I think like on the there's that professional side of things but like personally I think we just have sheer acceptance of one another we don't need to try to be anything other than ourselves and we're not expected to be and to have that safe space to just be a hot mess sometimes and to feel amazing and be celebrated like if Lewis wanted to stop I would stop like he's my guy really yeah yeah we're Lila and Lewis like that just feels that's our identity and that's that's our journey two um questions I