Katie Smith (Host)

Hello and welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Katie Smith. And I'd like to recommend the podcast that I host, Not By The Playbook, where we bring you inspirational stories from around the world, featuring interviews with people who are defying the odds. You can listen and subscribe to Not By The Playbook wherever you found this podcast. And in this episode, we explore the concept in sport and in life that it's never too late.

It's never too late to be what you might have been, so wrote the Victorian author George Eliot. And I think she would herself be inspired by the guests we've gathered together this week. Having searched the world for the best stories in sport, we're about to embark on an hour of radio that might force a rethink to what you can achieve.

To rip apart their hands and break their backs for the person who sits in front of you and the person who sits behind you and themselves. Those are the kind of people I need in my life. More from the world's strongest women Meg Robson-Austin and Roa Arshe Cooper on Not By The Playbook from the BBC World Service with me Katie Smith.

Ja aloitamme Teksassa. Ja huomattavasti Mike Flintin tarina. Tämä on niin yllättävää, että se lukee niin kuin hollywoodin elokuvan. Joten luulen, että he tekevät tämän hollywoodin elokuvan. Mikes on resilienssi. Ei kuitenkaan ongelmallinen koulutus, mutta hänen onnistunut onnistuminen.

Mielestäni meidän täytyy mennä takaisin aluksi, koska mainitsit, että olit erilainen. Olin nuori ja mainitsit viiollisuutta ja taistelua. Kerro meille, miksi se oli ja kuka olit silloin. Isäni oli World War II-veteran. Puhuin paljon ihmisistä siitä,

The remarkable Mike Flint. And check out the movie and the book. And his website is mikeflint.com.

I'm Katie Smith, and from the BBC World Service, this is not by the playbook. Still to come, Meg Robson-Austin tells us how she fought back from crippling pain to become the world's strongest woman. But first, it's just over a year since the world lost big George Foreman. Revered for his fights with Muhammad Ali, his Olympic gold in 1968, and of course, his lean, mean grilling machines.

But it's his longevity and never too late attitude that we're going to focus on today. Back in 1994, George shocked everyone by winning a second world title at the age of 45. A night he remembered with not by the playbooks, Ashley Byrne.

From the BBC World Service with me, Katie Smith. This is not by the playbook. Still to come, an award-winning author known as the captain of the first all-black high school rowing team in the US, changing what it means to be part of a crew. But first, living with chronic pain is all too common. It can affect your capacity to work, impact relationships and halt the ability to participate in social activities, especially in sport.

When pain hits suddenly and you're used to being active, it seems particularly cruel. That happened to our next guest, Meg Robson-Austin. She was enjoying a very successful weightlifting career until injury caused her constant pain and severe depression. But Meg was determined to return. With help from coach Tom Morrison and his simplistic mobility method, she would eventually be re-crowned the world's strongest woman.

Was that because you felt as though there was no answer to it or no solution? Was that the mental weight?

Voin ajatella, että on myös toivottavuus. Esimerkiksi jos olet jokainen, jolla on atletiikkaa, jossa tuntuu, että olet yrittänyt kaikkia ratkaisuja.

bit of progress then started leading on to bigger and bigger successes. It's so funny that, isn't it? That idea that we all think we're special. Yeah, we're really not. Well, we're really not. But also in the way that we always think we're special in a bad way almost. I'm the one that it can't fix. Try me. I'll be the sob story that it won't happen to.

Luulen, että se kertoi minulle noin vuoden, kun menin seuraavaan koulutukseeni. Olen hyvin tietoinen siitä, mitä minun täytyy tehdä nyt ja olen erittäin hyvä hallitsemaan sitä. Pidä minua taas alkaen, Meg, sinun, miten voisit kertoa sen, vahvistusjärjestelmän, järjestelmän? Mitä se on sinulle?

Mikälaista todellista henkilökohtaisen parasta puhutaan tänä päivänä? Minulla on maailmanrekkori Master's Lightweightin, joka on 230 kiloa. Se on väärä. Onko sinulla mitään suorituksia siitä, mitä se vaikuttaa, en tiedä, autoon tai jotain? En tiedä. En tiedä.

En tiedä. Meidän täytyy miettiä sitä, eikö? Minä rakastan, kun olin tekemässä Parissa olympiasta muutama vuosi sitten. Emily Campbell, joka on yksi brittisistä weightliftajista. Hän purkaisi jotain noin 160 kg. Se on African Lionin väärä, mikä on melko kiva. Se on todella kiva. Hän on todella mahtava.

Oh, that's fantastic. I love that. Oh, brilliant. Well, I'm glad we got our comparison there. I'm going to always remember that one now. But that must be so empowering from you going from something that I guess you found a natural strength for, but then to have trained to a point where you are one of the very, very best in the world.

Mielestäni myös, Meg, kun mennään läpi sitä aikaa, kun olit nuori ja puhuttiin itsenäisyyttä, niin myös yksityiskohtaisuuden, kun olet naisessa, joka on nyt menossa maailmaan, jossa on iso, vahva ja paljon syötyä, on niin tärkeää, eikö niin?

Well, here's to stepping out of our boxes, striding out of our lanes and seeing what we can achieve. Meg, thank you so much for your time. I love chatting to you. Thank you for having me. It's been great. Meg Robson-Austin, quite rightly proud of all she has fought to achieve.

I'm Katie Smith and this is not by the playbook from the BBC World Service. Sometimes it can seem like it's too late, even before you get going. That the random chance of being born into specific circumstances can dictate large parts of your own life.