Olympic Waiting Rooms: The Moments Unseen

An Olympic athlete’s career defining performance may last just seconds, but before and after it lie hours of logistics, warmups, and waiting in “ready rooms.” While they might sound tedious, those moments are often full of team-building, mind games and obstacles that come to define the athlete experience and actually contribute, in no small part, to the golden outcomes.

Feel the energy of the aquatics ready-room with 2-time gold medalist Lilly King and hear about other defining moments unseen, from Kerri Walsh Jennings’ porta potty mishaps to Chase Kalisz’s video game rivalries and Brooke Raboutou’s explanation of isolation rooms for climbing events. Ahmed Fareed tells the story of how Josy Barthel’s unexpected win threw a wrench into a very customary post-win moment.

Join host Lauren Shehadi for Season 2 of NBC Sports’ The Podium.