Latest news with #teenathlete
ABC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Diver Ellie Cole on chasing perfection and beating impostor syndrome
In the last 12 months, diver Ellie Cole has experienced more than most teenagers. She made a final in her first Olympics, competed at a World Cup, won two national titles and now, she's diving at her maiden World Championships. It's a lot for a teenager who quietly made her way onto the international scene. "Oh my gosh, they [the last 12 months] have been chaotic, but fun," Cole told ABC Sport. "I took away so much, I learnt so much, I just kept developing and growing as an athlete." The pursuit of perfection is hard in any sport, and as Cole recently found out, it takes a good deal of mental toughness too. "I think the most important thing I've learnt in terms of my diving, is the strength of my own mindset," she said. Cole loves diving. You can see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. The way her long limbs glide through the air and into the water has even been described as art. And for Cole, that is part of the sport's appeal. "I feel like it really ties together both art and power," she said. "I just think it's really beautiful." The other thing that keeps her focus is the potential of a perfect score. "It's the chase of perfection I love about it [too]." At the Paris 2024 Olympics Cole was on a high, making the final of the women's 10 metre platform event. She finished seventh overall — the best result for an Australian in the competition. After that came the World Aquatics Diving World Cup, which Cole says was a big mental challenge. "It's the first time I went into a competition, and I didn't perform the way I would have hoped consistently," she said. "I had a bit of impostor syndrome and it kind of clouded my brain. It was hard for me to come out of." The event was split into three competitions across three locations, Mexico, Canada and China. In Mexico, Cole finished in 11th and in Canada she came ninth. Between Canada and China she was able to come home for a week, train, and lean on her support network. "My coach and parents helped me see that I'm not defined by my performance at those competitions," she said. Cole ended up going to China with a positive mindset, made the semis and finished with a performance she was happy with. "It was good to end the World Cup with a highlight," she said. Cole is just as impressive outside of the sport as she is in it. She will move to the United States later this year, having accepted a place at Stanford University, where she will dive and study over the next four years, with a view to becoming an aerospace engineer. "Ultimately, I decided that it was the best thing for me and an opportunity I can't pass up," she said. Cole has been doing extracurricular science projects since she was in primary school. More recently she did a Year 12 Science Extension research project looking at recirculated air in tunnels. It got selected as part of the International Science and Engineering Fair. "I got onto the team to represent Australia with my project, but I wasn't able to go because I had World Championships trials," Cole said. For the World Championships, Cole joins a team of 13 other divers, who will compete in Singapore from July 26 — August 3. She'll dive in the Women's 10 metre platform event, and the 10-metre synchronised and mixed team events. "It's a little bit different to the Olympics and the World Cups," she said. "This is where all the athletes from all the countries of the globe come, and it means the competitions are going to be a lot longer." Cole has been strategising on how to use that waiting time wisely. "I usually only focus on the dive when I'm up on the platform," she said. Leading up to it, she tries to think about anything else. She plays Blockudoku on her phone, or listens to music. Do you have a story idea about women in sport? Email us abcsport5050@ Her plan for the competition is to take each dive as it comes, and have fun. "Adopting this new positive mindset, I'm just going to enjoy my experience," she said. And as long as Cole keeps her love of diving, we'll keep seeing her on the platform. "My goal is just to keep enjoying the sport," she said. "I love the feeling of flipping in the air, I love the chase of perfection, it brings me so much joy."
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
F1 Academy driver Chloe Chong shares the advice Lewis Hamilton gave her: 'I get goosebumps thinking about it'
F1 Academy driver Chloe Chong is thinking about her next moves — both on and off the racetrack. The British-Canadian teenager was just 16 during the inaugural F1 Academy season in 2023. Today, at age 18, Chong is still learning how to balance life as a teenager with that of a high-performance athlete. Cookie Box Crochet Kit for Beginners Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow Tinted Moisturizer WHOOP 4.0 with 12 Month Subscription Wunder Train High-Rise Tight 25" Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Bluetooth Earbuds "There's one part of your life where you're an athlete and you're very focused" on training, media commitments, sponsorship deals, as well as your sport, Chong told Yahoo Canada. But "there's another side of yourself that is just a normal teenager." "A lot of athletes sometimes feel limited by their sport, that competitive side of their life," she said. "They feel like if they take time to do stuff they really want to do, it shows that they're not trying enough, or they're not working hard enough. "For me, I've realized that working hard is one part, but I also need to be able to do the things I want to do and not get overly invested in my sport." If you get overly invested, you try too hard. And if you fall out of love with it, "it all goes downhill." Racing in the #27 Charlotte Tilbury car operated by Rodin Motorsport, Chong is still very much invested — and in love — with racing. When you're in the thick of it, when you're competing against some of the best and fastest drivers out there, "the whole world slows down," she said. "You don't think about anything except your feelings in the car. That's what keeps me going." Have you ever wondered what the world's most interesting, successful and talented people are adding to their shopping carts? Yahoo Canada's new series, , is exploring just that. From the supplement regime of professional athletes to supermodel-approved skincare, this is what celebrities actually spend their money on. F1 Academy is an all-female racing series launched in 2023 by Formula 1 to develop and promote young female drivers in the motorsport industry. The Formula 4-level racing series recently partnered with Netflix for a new docuseries, F1: The Academy, which shines a light on one of the world's most demanding sports. Chong, who is nicknamed "Miss Second Place" among her peers, said it was fellow driver Lewis Hamilton who told her "don't let anyone tell you no." "He said, 'nothing's easy. Nothing good comes easily,' which applies to my journey into racing," Chong told Yahoo Canada. So far, in the 2025 season, with eight races behind her, she is sitting in 11th place with 11 points. His advice "taught me to keep tenacity and keep looking forward and not look back at the mistakes I've made, because everyone makes the same mistakes." Hamilton, who competes in Formula One for Ferrari, "was so inspiring to me," she said. "I get goosebumps thinking about it." Still in the early stages of her F1 Academy racing career, Chong said the nickname motivates her to work hard and push herself to "always do better." "Every driver in the championship that I'm racing in will not accept second place as a victory," she said. You always want P1 [first place]. You want world records. You want something above what you've already got. And that's what keeps the sport very interesting, because you're always looking for more." From her "game-changing" tinted moisturizer to her "go-to" pair of workout leggings, here are five things F1 Academy driver Chloe Chong is Adding to Cart. Cookie Box Crochet Kit for Beginners "[My mom] thinks I'm really uncoordinated," so getting into crocheting "started off as a bit of a joke," just to prove her wrong, Chong said. She said she initially got the kit from Amazon and bet that she could finish it in one day. After that, "it just became a thing." On travel days, you can spend three to four hours driving to a track or nine hours on a plane, so crocheting is something that's "easy to do" to pass the time, Chong told Yahoo Canada over a video call. "It's a bit mindless" and helps "take my mind off" things. "My mini goal is to hopefully make [crochet] animals for most of the team that work with me," she said. "I've already made animals for my engineer, for one of the mechanics, and I'm starting to work on something for another engineer." "It's just a little something for everyone on the team," she continued. "I'm incredibly grateful to have them around and working so hard on my car." Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow Tinted Moisturizer Representing Charlotte Tilbury has been the "biggest privilege," Chong told Yahoo Canada. "I've never been the girliest of girls and I've never been that girl who is super interested in makeup," she said. That said, "I really, really like the [Healthy Glow Tinted Moisturizer] and the [Airbrush Flawless Waterproof Setting Spray]." While "I'm not one to put on loads of makeup," the tinted moisturizer is "honestly game-changing." Skincare-wise, Chong said Charlotte Tilbury's famous Magic Cream has helped her skin stay "consistent" and combat any irritation that her racing helmet causes. "A lot of damage happens to your skin because there's so much friction between the helmet and your cheeks," she explained. Before adopting the Magic Cream in her routine, "I would come home after race weekend and have massive spots on my cheeks and break out everywhere." This year, since incorporating the anti-aging cream in her routine, "I don't think I've had a single experience of that. My skin has stayed quite consistent." WHOOP 4.0 with 12 Month Subscription "I found that with an Apple Watch, I was getting really distracted by all the ping notifications and games. With the Whoop, there's no screen, no nothing, no BS, in other words, but again, it gives me really good data on how I've recovered I am in terms of heart rate variability and how much sleep I've had and the quality of my sleep," Chong told Yahoo Canada. "It has a cool alarm feature where it vibrates as an alarm, so you just tap it twice to stop the alarm, which I find quite simple." Wunder Train High-Rise Tight 25" "I love Lululemon because I'm quite a small, small girl, so it fits my shape well." "All Lululemon leggings are great," she said. "I've never had leggings that fit so well." Chong said that what usually "annoys" her about leggings is "they start sliding down." But she's "never had a problem" with these Lululemon ones, which she calls "her go-to." Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Bluetooth Earbuds "I love headphones, I love music," the F1 Academy driver said. "I keep a good two sets of headphones in my bag and I actually have another set of headphones in my race bag, as well. "I'm a bit of a music geek and they're all different sets of headphones. One set I've tried recently is the [Beats Powerbeats Pro 2]. They have a heart rate sensor in the ear, and they're really, really good," she said, adding that "they don't fall out."
RNZ News
03-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Christchurch teenager wins fitness competition Torian Pro
Tahlia Vosaki, 14, will represent New Zealand at the global teenage CrossFit Games. Photo: Tahlia Vosaki A rigourous CrossFit training schedule continues to propel Christchurch teenager Tahlia Vosaki to new levels of success. The 14-year-old won the teen individual female 14-15 division at the Torian Pro 2025 in Brisbane over the weekend, which is considered the top CrossFit competition in Oceania. Vosaki won three of her five events and finished second and third in the other two events to give her a significant 74-point winning margin over her closest competitor. She won the Alfred, made up of three rounds of one kilometre row, 20 chest to bar (pull-ups) and 10 cyclone sandbag squats. In the Clean Complex, made up of one clean, one hang clean and one jerk, Vosaki lifted a total of 230 pounds (104kg) - which was the most by any female or male competitor in her age-group. Vosaki also won the Double Isabel, made up of 150 double unders on the rope, followed by 30 snatches of a barbell, followed by 150 more double unders. She finished second in the Move It or Lose It IV which involved a mix of a calorie ski, dumbbell snatches and burpee box jump overs in a three minute rotation. The Hann, involving a 100ft handstand walk, 100ft walking dumbbell lunge, six legless rope climbs 12ft, 100ft handstand walk, 100ft walking dumbbell lunge, four legless rope climbs 12ft, 100ft handstand walk, 100ft walking dumbbell lunge, three legless rope climbs 12ft, was the event Vosaki finished third in. Vosaki is working towards proving she is the strongest teenager in the world at the global teenage CrossFit Games in the United States in August, where she will compete against the top 30 fittest teenagers in her age group. Tahlia Vosaki. Photo: Supplied / Morgan and Kaden Gibbons Following her success in her first major competition in Brisbane, her coach Justin Cotler reflected on the teenager's work ethic on social media. "In May of last year, I got an email from a 13-year-old named Tahlia Vosaki," Cotler wrote. "She told me it had been her dream since she was eight years old to compete at the CrossFit Games as a teen. "She didn't ask for shortcuts. She asked for coaching and ever since that day, she's shown up with discipline, heart, humility, grit, and desire… every single session." Cotler looks forward to what Vosaki can achieve at the CrossFit Games in the United States. "Tahlia is everything that's right about this sport," he wrote. "Hard-working. Coachable. Grounded. No drama. "She's earned every bit of this moment-and it's just the beginning." Vosaki told RNZ last month she trains five days a week, up to four-and-half hours a day around homeschooling. "On my training days I train once in the morning, which would be about one-and-a-half to two hours, then I go home and do my schoolwork, and then in the afternoon I would go back to the gym and have a two to two-and-a-half-hour session," she told RNZ's Afternoons. She said she got into CrossFit through her parents. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
