Player's Own Voice

The Gold medal winner had no idea he was the first openly gay man to take top honours at a Winter Olympics. Eric takes Anastasia back to his early teen years in Northern Ontario, and his puzzlement: why was he being bullied at the rink? He just wanted to excel at his sport! Quiet determination was his method then, and it still serves him well today.

Olympian lead curler Ben Hebert takes a back seat to none when it comes to speaking his mind. Sure, that chirpy tendency will get him kicked out of beer league hockey games, but it also makes him a hilariously honest friend. Ben and Anastasia have a meeting of the minds on the subject of competing at the highest level, and being driven athletes who also need to find a place off the ice in regular society.

The first openly Transgender athlete on a U.S. national team- Chris Mosier is a duathlete, triathlete and role model for a generation of LGBTQ2S competitors. He and Anastasia explore questions of gender equality, and steroid use- issues that are testing sport governing bodies come to the fore in Chris' career. And his perspective on male privelege should give everyone pause for thought.

Tessa Bonhomme has killed at every sport she ever played, but hockey is where she shone brightest. A pro in the CWHL and a national team defense player, Bonhomme helped Canada win Gold over the USA. Her on-ice arsenal includes a knack for chirping, and that wit serves her well talking and reporting hockey at TSN. Tessa and Anastasia huddle to talk about life inside the crazy intense competition of Canada-USA women's hockey. There are layers within layers of rivalry between those two teams, and we peel back a few of them today.

As Scott puts it, being in a relationship with an Olympian is not so peachy. The winningest figure skater in Canadian History manages yet another delicate dance in this conversation... Scott recounts, among other things, how he negotiated relationships in his personal life at the same time that he was being judged for the performance of a relationship on the ice with Tessa Virtue. He's genuinely funny in the way he describes things, but Scott's situation makes you think.

Anastasia Bucsis, host of Player's Own Voice podcast, tees up a quick selection of excerpts from her chats with figure skater Scott Moir, Hockey player and broadcaster Tessa Bonhomme, and curling lead Ben Hebert.