The Rise, Fall, and Reinvention of an Olympic Champion | Missy Franklin

Missy Franklin is one of the greatest swimmers of all time. She made her first Olympic Trials at 13 years old, and four years later she went to London and absolutely dominated—four gold medals, a bronze, and a world record in the 200 backstroke. But what I loved about this conversation is that we spent just as much time talking about what happened when things stopped going perfectly. Four years after London, Missy went into the Rio Olympics carrying enormous expectations, injuries, sponsor pressure, and the weight of trying to recreate the greatest week of her life. She didn't make a single individual final and describes those eight days as some of the hardest of her life. After bilateral shoulder surgeries and fighting for 18 months to get back, she eventually had to retire at only 23 years old. We talked about all of it—the insane suffering swimmers put themselves through, making the Olympics as a teenager, what it actually feels like to win a gold medal, breaking a world record, turning down life-changing money to swim at Cal, failing publicly in Rio, and learning that sometimes the way you lose says more about you than the way you win. Missy is also in a completely different chapter now. She's a mom of two, she's training for HYROX, she's somehow learning to love running, her husband Hayes is racing professionally in triathlon, and they're building Gold, a goal-setting platform for athletes. I really loved this conversation. Missy is exactly who you hope she is—positive, competitive, thoughtful, and completely honest about both the incredible highs and really difficult lows that came with her career. Hope you guys enjoy this one. Follow Missy: @missyfranklin88 Please subscribe to The Other Side of Hard, leave a comment, and let me know what you think of the episode. Learn more about the show, my upcoming book, and everything we're doing at theothersideofhard.com. Thank you to our sponsors Our Title Sponsor ROKA: www.roka.com/ Code “RIDEOUT” Wild Roman: wildroman.com/rideout Code “RIDEOUT15” Ken’s book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/ Chapters (00:00) Meet Missy Franklin (00:18) Why Swimming Hurts (00:52) Swimming vs Running (02:45) Husband Triathlon Journey (05:55) Missy Finds Hyrox (06:37) Sponsor Gifts Moment (07:24) Growing Up in Colorado (09:31) Teen Olympic Trials (12:56) Sponsor: Roka (14:36) Support System and School (19:42) London Olympics Breakthrough (31:54) Record Heat Magic (32:14) Celebrity Shoutouts (32:32) Gold Medal Reality (34:11) Parent Reactions (34:45) Sponsor: Wild Roman (35:46) Motherhood Moments (37:19) Learning To Fail (39:40) Staying Amateur (41:54) NCAA Glory Days (43:34) Pro Pressure Spiral (45:27) Rio Trials Heartbreak (50:36) Retirement And Next Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices