Advertisement
Singapore markets closed
  • Straits Times Index

    3,224.01
    -27.70 (-0.85%)
     
  • Nikkei

    40,327.33
    +159.26 (+0.40%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,249.15
    +482.80 (+0.69%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,541.25
    +10.65 (+0.70%)
     
  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,288.81
    -21.28 (-0.29%)
     
  • PSE Index

    6,903.53
    +5.36 (+0.08%)
     

Gold medalist swimmer Ryan Murphy on Tokyo 2020, Bridgestone partnership

Tokyo gold medalist Ryan Murphy, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss his experience at the Tokyo Olympics with the new COVID guidelines and discuss his partnership with Bridgestone to help promote youth athletic programs.

Video transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Well, we're now 11 days into the competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Plenty of headlines about the ups and downs of the games, and, of course, plenty of controversy. But, of course, plenty of successes and a lot to celebrate for American athletes. And joining us now to discuss his recent gold medal victory, four-time Olympic gold medal winner Ryan Murphy. Ryan, appreciate the time this morning. Congratulations on everything that happened for you guys over in Tokyo. I just like to get your thoughts on your impression of this games versus your experience in Rio and sort of how you as an athlete navigated those two events.

ADVERTISEMENT

RYAN MURPHY: Yeah. I think Tokyo did a fantastic job in terms of navigating the challenges of COVID and the challenges of hosting Olympics. And think it's been a beautiful game so far. I can't wait to watch the rest of it. In terms of the differences between Rio and Tokyo, I'm someone where, when I'm at an Olympics, it's kind of a business trip. I'm going to my room, to the pool, and back anyway, so this year, it was not super different in that case. For me, in Rio, there was definitely more opportunities for distractions if someone wanted to do that. This time, everyone had to treat it like a business trip.

- And I'm curious, Ryan, when you got to the pool, and you are over waiting for that buzzer to go off in a final, does it feel the same even though there are only, you know, basically your teammates and some coaches in the stands versus what you've seen at a World's or what you've seen at Rio. And, you know, does your mind kind of get to the same place knowing it's an Olympic final regardless of how many people are there in the building?

RYAN MURPHY: Yeah. And I think to be fair, I definitely did miss the fans. I love having a crowd in the stands. They do add a level of excitement and a level of adrenaline. Team USA did bring the energy, though. Our team was definitely well represented in the stands. We were definitely the loudest group.

So it was fun. It did feel pretty intimate with that group. Right when you finished, you were able to quickly spot your friends and teammates in the stands and give them a little flex or a point. And that was something that is really special. As compared to Rio, we had no idea where our team was sitting as we were competing. And so it was nice to be able to just see them real quickly after each race.

- And Ryan, I know you've gotten this question. But we have not had a Tokyo athlete on our program yet, so I must ask about the beds.

RYAN MURPHY: The beds-- the beds were hard. The beds were hard. I brought a mattress topper 'cause I kind of anticipated that at an Olympics, I think the thing that was nice is knowing that the beds were not going to be great. They weren't great in Rio either. The pillows are never great. So I packed a pillow, I packed a mattress topper. And it definitely-- it definitely helped my sleep quality out there.

- Ryan, we have heard that you enjoy stocks, you enjoy the markets. It's something you will follow for some time. What are some of your biggest things you're looking now at the markets as you, perhaps, have just a little bit more time on your hands.

RYAN MURPHY: Yeah, well, I got caught up. The past month and a half, I I've really been dialed in on the swimming and have not paid too much attention to the stocks the past month and a half. So I got to get caught up on everything that's been going on. And I'm really looking forward to that, to see if everything I'm holding still makes sense, if I've got to ship into something new. I do really enjoy following it.

- Well, and that does bring me to a question, Ryan, that I always think about when I'm watching you guys compete. It's a four-year build up to this moment. And then there's this huge comedown of like reintegrating, in some ways, to civilian life, let's call it. I mean, what is this-- is this a couple months for you to take a step back from training and calm down again. Like, how are you going to plot through the next few months after having been not just focused on Tokyo for four years but actually five given the COVID delays from last year.

RYAN MURPHY: Yeah, yeah. And that's a great point. Everything is really geared towards the Olympics. And in my sport, that's where the major goals are. We're always operating, we call it, in the quad. So that's a four-year plan. We're always looking towards the end of that and trying to create checkpoints along the way so that we stay engaged over that entire time.

I think outside of that pool, I do have a lot of interests. I am really looking forward to getting involved with some philanthropic efforts with some of my partners. Bridgestone is doing a really cool campaign to help young adaptive athletes chase their dreams. They've made a huge donation to the Challenged Athletes Foundation. And I'm really looking forward to doing great things with my other Team Bridgestone athletes to help those kids chase their dreams.

- Ryan, you're working with Bridgestone. But how do you also pick potential opportunities and people you work with? I imagine you're coming back and you're getting inundated with people that want to work with you.

RYAN MURPHY: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is is you have to be authentic to yourself. You have to be comfortable speaking about the things that you are endorsing, and people can tell when you're not being real. And so for me, I really try to look for companies that are top in class and that are really interested in both their business and also their philanthropic efforts. So those are the two main things I look for. I want to be with companies that value me as a as a person and an athlete. So those are probably the main things that I am looking for.

- Ryan, before I let you go, our colleagues at Yahoo Sports, they were on the ground at the Olympics. I know they covered your swimming and your events very, very closely. Can you just clarify what you meant with regard to the Russian swimming team, you know, anything you want your fans to know.

RYAN MURPHY: Yeah, 100%. I think context is really important. After the race, I was asked a really specific question about doping in swimming, and I answered that question honestly. I do think there's doping in swimming. It's something that I've talked at length about with the CEO of USADA so that's the US Anti-Doping.

Travis Tygart, he is someone that follows-- that spends every day talking about doping, researching doping internationally. He's made some dire statements in this past year. And so I think as a result of that, I do think there's doping in swimming. I didn't specifically name any country. I didn't name a specific swimmer.

It's disappointing that-- to me that it was taken in that way. And so I have connected with Jimmy [INAUDIBLE] offline. We've had some good conversations. And I am really looking forward to seeing how the sport improves. I think there is definitely room to grow, and I look forward to being a part of that.

- Four more games for you are only three away, only three years away from Paris.

RYAN MURPHY: Can't wait, can't wait. I'm really looking forward to these next couple of years. I love this sport. I'm really motivated. And hopefully, Team USA is going to be great out there.

- All right, Ryan Murphy, gold medalist in Tokyo. Four-time Olympic gold medalist. Ryan, appreciate the time this morning. Congratulations.

RYAN MURPHY: Thank you.