307. Braving Anxiety: Olympian Nikita Ducarroz On Tackling Hurdles Head-On, Cultivating Community Around Struggle & Going For BMX Gold
Hurdle with Emily Abbate
iHeartPodcasts
4.9 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2024
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
BMX Racer Nikita Ducarroz is no stranger to differentiating anxiety and fear. Heading for her second Olympic Games in Paris in just a few short weeks, she's on the show this week talking about how she's managed to navigate crippling anxiety from a young age and turn her fear into her power. Plus: What it was like for her to sign with Red Bull before her first Games, how she feels about cultivating community with M1ndtricks, and what she's excited for now beyond sport.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
How Nikita’d relationship with her anxiety is treating her these days (4:30)
How she copes with the stress that goes with the Olympics (5:00)
Nikita breaks down her anxiety symptoms including heart rate increase, loss of breath (5:48)
How saying positive words and affirmations helps keep her focused in the moment (12:22)
How Nikita first found BMX on YouTube and what it felt like (13:56)
How it felt for Nikita to share openly about her struggles with other members of the extreme sports community (18:04)
Exactly how Red Bull became her sponsor before the Olympics (24:12)
How does someone train to ride BMX? What Nikita’s workouts look like including bike time, mobility, injury prevention, and strength training (27:30)
How Nikita defines what her “best” performance really looks like (31:56)
The strategy Nikita uses to fight fear and trick her mind to do hard things (36:50)
What is exciting right now outside of the Olympics (43:40)
The importance of young women and girls picking up sport (45:12)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You get up and you try it again and it's taught me to like transfer that into life as well. |
| 0:05.0 | You know you'll be there for like three hours trying this thing over and over and over again. |
| 0:09.0 | But get that reward at the end you get that feeling of like accomplishment and |
| 0:14.4 | not giving up and it's such a good feeling. What's going on everyone? Emily Abbadi here. You are listening to |
| 0:35.3 | episode 307 of hurdle. A wellness focused podcast where I talked to |
| 0:40.5 | inspirational people about everything from their highest ties and toughest moments |
| 0:44.5 | to essential tips on how to live a healthier, happier, more motivated life. |
| 0:50.0 | We all go through our fair share of hurdles. |
| 0:53.0 | My goal through these discussions is to empower you, to better navigate yours, |
| 0:57.1 | and move with intention so that you can stride toward your own big potential. |
| 1:01.5 | And of course, have some fun along the way. For today's |
| 1:06.7 | episode I am chatting with Nikita Dukerow. She is an Olympic BMX writer and she's going to be making her second ever games appearance |
| 1:17.6 | this summer in Paris. |
| 1:20.2 | I was so excited to have the opportunity to chat with Nikita because she is my first PMX writer on the podcast. |
| 1:28.0 | For today's conversation, we really dial in on Nikita's experience with anxiety. |
| 1:35.8 | She talks to me about dealing with severe anxiety attacks |
| 1:40.6 | starting at around age 13, which led her to isolation within her own home. |
| 1:46.9 | She talks about how finding BMX was actually a major gateway for her, |
| 1:52.4 | something that allowed her to learn how to |
| 1:55.2 | navigate her feelings to manage her anxiety and to get outside and try something new. |
| 2:01.7 | It wasn't long after finding the MX that she started to really |
| 2:05.7 | excel first on the local level, then on the national level, and finally on the world stage |
... |
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