The Sevan Podcast - #85 - Samuel Cournoyer

Episode Date: July 23, 2021

The Sevan Podcast EP 85 Samuel Cournoyer & Brian Friend @SCOURNOYER95 @SEVANMATOSSIAN @BRIANFRIENDCROSSFIT The Sevan Podcast is sponsored by http://www.barbelljobs.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/therealsevanpodcast/ Sevan's Stuff: https://www.instagram.com/sevanmatossian/?hl=en https://app.sugarwod.com/marketplace/3-playing-brothers Brian's Stuff: https://www.instagram.com/brianfriendcrossfit/ https://morningchalkup.com/author/brianfriend/ Support the show Partners: https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATION https://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK! https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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More details at air Canada.com. It's weird for, for the last, like, I don't know. I was going to say 60 days, but maybe it's the last 15 years. All I've been doing is interviewing people who are at the top of the mating

at the mating mating game. You know, people want strong, fast, handsome, like amazing expressions of people's DNA. And I was just tripping about that right before the podcast. I always take a shower and I always trip on, on, there's always something new popping in my brain. I'm like, Oh my God. And what made me think of that is, is you, you're already, your wife, you've already been captured, right? You have a wife and a child. You've already begun the process of spreading these genes.

Yep, and I'm winning a girl in October. You're what? I'm winning a baby girl in October. Oh, that's awesome. What did you call it, winning? A baby girl. Oh, a baby girl. And do you have a girl or a boy now?

A boy. How old are you? I'm 25. Holy cow. Does everyone say you look really young? No. No? I think it's great, no?

Yeah, you look so young. Brian looks young today, too. I should have shaved. I could have looked like I was 52 instead of 62. I could have looked like I was 52 instead of 62. Some people won't come on the show, and you came on the show, and I can't thank you enough. Thanks for having me. Yeah, it's an honor.

Just a few days. I really, really, really mean that. I know that you are about to push your body and your mind further than maybe you ever have in your life. I know you've been preparing for that. And so to let Brian and I creep into your headspace, we will walk gently and we will tiptoe around in order to hopefully not damage anything. Although I assume it's pretty hard. You must have a very strong mind just to get to where you've gotten to, huh? Yep. No, I'm sure everything's gonna be fine where are you right now i'm across at me i'm

in the media studio room you are in the mayhem empire yeah is that hard to get an invite uh no not really actually i i i don't believe you no for real i mean if you want to come just let me know i'll try to fix something for you yeah what would i what would i do there like dust off the weights make sure the ropes or check the ropes to make sure they don't need to be replaced how does someone how does someone get um the opportunity i would think if i was wanted to go to the CrossFit Games, there would be no better place to be. No better place to be. Not with Tia, not with Matt, not with anyone than to get into the Mayhem Empire. Rich and his team must have the most experience, hands down,

the most knowledge, the most equipment, atmosphere. I mean, it must be the premier place. And so I'm guessing there's some application process. They weren't just like, oh, yeah, Samuel, come on over. You want to go to the games? Actually, it's been like that for me. Oh, poor Rich. Now he's going to get 100 dms wanting to come there right away no but like a quick story is uh so i applied to do the ma'am compete uh as a training uh two years

ago after the ma'am classic and um a couple months after that i reached out to a guy his name is jake lurker so he's uh the ma'am the main programmer of the main company with Rich here. And I was like, hey, is there possible, is there any way I can get the program for free? Because I'm a poor athlete right now, and I cannot pay for programming. He was like, oh, yeah, heck, for sure, just do some story and post on Instagram. So I was like, oh, thanks. And I think one month after that, I get an invite to come down here and train with the crew. So I was like, oh, that's cool.

And since then, I've been here a couple of times. So basically, you started doing the Mayhem programming. You were posting it on your Instagram. They were obviously, you would tag them. They would obviously come and take a peep. And they're like, shit. And they recruited you because they saw that you represented the brand well. Yep.

Wow, that's awesome. And then when you get there, they obviously know you're capable of doing the programming. You have the discipline, the strength, the courage, the speed, whatever it takes. But how about the personality? How do you know when your personality is a fit? Honestly, I've been really surprised when the first time i came here because we uh i mean yes with rich but every with everybody else here tasia ala rory everyone here we all shame kind of the same values in life so it was pretty easy for me to fit inside of that and it's been actually super nice being around them outside of the gym and learn from them

and their lifestyle and i'm really grateful for that. Yeah, I was watching the piece this morning that Mayhem produced. It's like 29 minutes long, very well produced. I think it's Rory's voice that is doing the voiceover, and it's about you and what's the young man's name? D'Angelo? Angelo, yeah. Is his name D'Angelo or Angelo?

Angelo. What's his last name? Didico, if I say it right. I'm not sure. Dichingo, maybe? Yeah. You're fusing the first and last name. We already know your track record with names.

I wonder if he would let me call him that, D'Angelo, just like to mash it all up. And that is one of the things you said in the piece is that how much you've learned from Rich that's not directly training related, that you're not just learning snatch position from him or pacing, but you're learning, what is it that you're learning from him? Is it just Christian values? Are you Christian? Yes and no. I mean, I'm not the guy who practices really, but I believe in that a little bit. But it was more about like what I learned from him outside of the gym. It's been like, there's some, I mean, we all train everybody hard every day in the gym. I mean, don't get me wrong. Every games athlete, we're all doing the same things. We went to the gym has been like there's some i mean we all train everybody hard every day in the gym i mean don't get me wrong every game's athlete or we're all doing the same things we went to the gym every morning every afternoon we all do boat session we all work hard but what i

learned from him is more like about when we are in the gym being 100 percent present in the gym and after that when we left the barn or the gym it's i'm a human i'm not just actually full-time 100 of the time so it's for me was good to learn that i can be an athlete inside the gym and that's after that i can be sam the nice guy the nice human being and live kind of a normal life outside of the gym and enjoying more uh good things and cool thing to do outside of training, outside of the gym. I don't know if it makes sense, but. I'm going to ask you a follow-up question. Hold on to make more sense.

I'm going to pause this for one second. It makes sense. Can you give us an example? Are you suggesting that there's like a two different Samuel Cornway? Yeah, that's good. Thank you. Well brian's been teaching me your name's come up many times so example um like a quick one the whole sam the whole athlete of sam like let's say like in the past if i had a bad morning in the gym like i'm

by the workout and i'm i wasn't like really happy with how trained. I would still think about it the whole day. And it would take energy for me to do that because I was thinking just about that stupid workout. And honestly, it's just training. It's not important. The goal in training is just to give your 100% every day. And everybody has a bad day. And what I learned here with Rich and the crew at the bar is it's okay to have a bad day of training in the morning. But when training

is done just get over it don't think about it anymore and when you come back in the afternoon make sure you're going to push harder and just to prove to yourself that this morning was a bad day and it's not because you have one but one bad workout in your morning session it's mean that your whole day is fuck i mean you can still train harder for the rest of the day. Do you think that you'll be able to take that lesson with you when you leave or is that something that – I guess you don't know yet. But you're saying definitely it's easier there with people like mine. But do you think you'll be able to take that with you when you leave and you train at home? Yeah.

Oh, yeah, 100%. So let me just give an example. So let's say there was a 100-meter handstand course you had to do, and you tried it four times, and you always fell at one spot. Normally, then you would be thinking about it the whole day, like how the fuck did I fall down there over and over and over? And now you're like, okay, I'm going to let it go. And then when you come back, you just try again as hard as you can. Yeah. And me personally, if I'm doing something wrong in training

or I don't like the way I did it, I might try it again the next day or try something different with the same movement to make sure it wasn't a bad day and it's not something I'm not good at. Sometimes it's worse, sometimes it doesn't work, but it's part of the game. How long have you been doing the Mayhem programming? Two years now. And last year before the games, did you come for this games camp? Yep. Okay, so this is your second time. Yep.

And how long do you stay there? How long do you show up before the games? So this year, I've been here for the last 10, 11 weeks now. Wow. Yeah, I've been here the whole summer. I wanted to make sure this year is going to be a great year for now. Wow. Yeah, I've been here the whole summer. Yeah. I wanted to make sure this year is going to be a great year for me. Wow.

And so tell me, where did you come from again? So I'm from Quebec, Montreal, Canada. So, yeah, it's been a hard time to leave my family at home and being here. But at the same time, I have a dream, I have a goal goal and i want to accomplish them and my family and my girlfriend they support me so they understand why i'm doing it and i'm really grateful for that because otherwise it would not be possible for me to come here and just don't think about it um thank god now we have facetime so it's way easier just to stay like with them and talk to them every day but yeah when is your second child due uh mid-october okay well that's for

that's good did you plan that yep you you wanted to make sure the baby didn't come during the games yep i wanted to make sure it was a the off season how how how accommodating is your um is your what is your wife with this and Does she get help from your parents? Yeah. And her parents? Yeah, both. Both of them. Thanks for them because it would be harder for sure if we didn't have those help

to help us with that. Everybody's helping us and I'm super thankful for that. Do you leverage the I really don't like the word sacrifice. Do you leverage – help me out, somebody. I like watching you struggle. Do you leverage the fact that you have these other people who are helping you to get through your days?

Meaning do you use that as pressure to push yourself harder? Like, well, damn, my mother-in-law is helping me. My wife is alone. I'm losing a few months with my kids. Like I can't quit. Like I have to finish these. I have to push hard this last 30 seconds like my life depends on it. Like do you play those head games with yourself?

Yeah, for sure sure especially in training like if it's super i mean it's super easy to train on monday and tuesday you're fresh sunday is rest day for everybody or barely and so you feel great but they like wednesday thursday and friday when you get tired and your body body is sore and you don't want to train for me it's really helping helping it's really helping me because yeah when i don't want to train i'm just talking about my parents my girlfriend my kids everybody here in man who's supporting me i'm like no i have to do it for them today because they're there for me and they're helping me to get my to get me to my dream and making shrek and accomplish it so yeah sometimes it's it's really helpful for me. Does your dreams seem attainable? Yeah, heck yeah.

How long have you been doing CrossFit? I've been competing for the last three years full-time. I started doing CrossFit in 2014, but from 2014 to the end of 2017, I was doing three or five classes a week with some extra work, but nothing crazy. But I've been doing CrossFit full-time now for the last three years. And when you – the first time you made it – what was the first year you made it to the Games? 2019. Were you trying to go to the Games that year?

No. So it was just an accident you just you were just you enjoyed competing you did really well and you're like oh shit i'm here yeah i wasn't i mean it was a huge surprise uh because my goal was to make the original in 2018 and i did it so after that was like oh i made the original this year i finished i think i finished 11 that year so i was like i still i still need to put a lot of work because i was kind of far from the game spot so i was like maybe two years so when i qualified the next year i was like oh my god i made it and since then every year i've been

improving and so yeah when did it when did you think it was um obtainable do you call yourself a crossfit games athlete yeah does that and do you feel that oh yeah i'm a games athlete and one of the best in the world and when when did that happen do you remember the moment that you're like holy shit like i've directed 10 movies and i still don't feel like a director yeah i've done uh've done 85 podcast episodes, and I do feel like a podcaster. So I don't know. But it didn't happen right away. You know what I mean?

Like 20 podcasts in, I'm not like, shit, I'm a podcaster. Now I'm 84, and I think I'm the best in the world. I mean, so something happened. Yeah. Do you remember when – Brian, stop laughing at me. You too, Samuel. When did it happen? When did it click? do you remember the moment it

clicked so that i have a couple moments like that who's like so 2019 after the first day i was sixth overall so just for me being at the game i was like all right mission accomplished i'm just here to have fun and try to pass the cut as much as possible. So the first day, I finished sixth overall. I was like, man, I'm good at that. I mean, I can be one of the best. So for sure, after that day, I was super pumped, and it gave me a huge confidence for my future. The next day, it went super bad, but that's part of the progress, I guess.

And last year, in the stage one online, I didn't have any expectation. I finished 10th and I did some rookie mistake in that online competition. Otherwise, I would be in the top five. So I was like, all right, I can do that. It's time now. Just work harder the next year. Believe in yourself.

Trust yourself. And I can make that happen. You took 10th last year yeah wow congratulations by the way that air conditioner or whatever that just turned off at whosever house that is thank you um i'm sure it's all audio problems are brian's fault it was actually was a train that was passing by near my house. Oh, it was, it was a world's longest train. Um, Samuel, um, what were those rookie mistakes you made?

In stage one? Um, I remember. Wait, wait, sorry. Hold on. Hold on.

Brian, do you know what they are? Let's test Brian out here. Let's give him a role in this podcast. Are you asking about 2019 or 2020? Cause he was a rookie in 2019. But the rookie mistake is from 2020. Yeah. Is that right, Samuel? We're talking about 2020,

right? Yep. His events from 2020, he had some good events, some bad events. I think that the one he's probably going to be most disappointed with is the nasty Nancy workout. I don't, I don't know how that workout went for him, but if you look at his results from 2019, like he said, he did very well on the first two events at the games. And I think the first,

the first cut event and nasty Nancy event should be somewhat similar workouts in terms of time domain and skills that are required with running and overhead barbell work. So I'm not sure what happened there. We can maybe find out from him. I'm guessing that's one of them. Yeah, you're right. You're good, man. He's good. Can someone tell me what the movements are for Nasty Nancy before you tell me what rookie mistake you made? So N uh, nasty when Nancy was, if I remember well, five rounds,

500 meter run, 15 whole rat squat at 185, 15 bar facing burpee. Am I right? Right. Yeah. I'm, I don't know if the run was 400 or 500 meters,

but otherwise, yeah, that's exactly it. Yep. Okay. Samuel, what was the rookie mistake you made on that workout you put you put 205 on the bar instead of 185 no no no no but you see I wasn't afraid of that workout uh kind of because running has always been something hard for me and I'm a strong guy with a barbell. So I was like, oh, maybe I should drop

or just not do the overhead squat unbroken in my workout to keep my legs from running. But the thing is, I didn't trust myself, and my running game was good enough for that workout to keep that barbell unbroken, and I did the rookie mistakes to break those overhead squats. And even if I – after the combination, I look at my video, I think, like probably 20 times, if it's not more.

And if I just don't drop that barbell in that workout and I keep my poor roaring score of that combination I would have made the top 5 for the stage 2 so I was like alright that was a rookie mistake you were too scared of that workout you should be more confident in your running because I did it I put in the work and I'm a way

better runner than before so I was like you can't hold down that barbell you have to if something happened like that again this year at the Games let's say there's like a long run down that barbell. You have to. If something happened like that again this year at the Games, let's say there's a long run with every barbell, I need to be able to go unbroken. I can't. Which sets did you break up?

Every set, actually. Oh, interesting. Except the first one, I was like, all right, let's make the first one unbroken because I'm fresh. And after that, I was breaking the overhead squad like 10 and 5. But the truth is I was strong enough to hold on that barbell. And he is incredibly strong, especially overhead in the snatch and overhead squat. I am willing to bet that if that was a live event competition, that you would have made the adjustments in the field of play

when you see some of the other guys doing it. I mean, it's really rare to have such a high level competition where you're not going against the other guys. So it might've been like a double, kind of a double negative there for you. Yeah. I know there wasn't as much pressure on James Hobart as there was on you doing it there, but I was there when he tested that workout for the first time. And I filmed him test it. And it was at the gym at HQ. There were probably 10 of us there, Adrian Bosman, Dave, Lucas, the whole crew. And we weren't sure whether he was going to go unbroken, right?

I think from what I can tell, he was the first guy ever to test it. And he did the workout, and he made it through unbroken. And one of the first things he to test it. And he did the workout and he made it through unbroken. And one of the first things he said when he came back was, I think maybe Dave said, good weight doesn't need to be heavier or lighter. Like he was debriefing with Hobart, something like that. I'm paraphrasing. And Hobart says, no, there's going to be a lot like I did it.

There's going to be a lot of guys who do this unbroken. And he's all, this is, this is, and it was brutal. I mean, Hobart was holding on for dear life. But he did it unbroken. I wonder, where did you do that workout? We did it at the high school track here in Cougar. And wouldn't that be something that your coaches would tell you? Like, hey, knucklehead. Hey, Samuel. you're a beast do

this unbroken yeah i guess so but actually i don't know it's at the same time as i know myself and but you see when i finish the work right after the workout i i go to hayley because hayley was doing the workout after me i was like don't drop was like, don't drop that barbell. Don't drop that barbell. Just hang on. And yeah. Does it end up, does it, and how do you know that? Because as you pick, as you pick it up, or at the end, you felt like you still had some gas in the tank, or that when you picked it up,

it felt like more work than it was worth to pick it up a second time. What clicks in you that makes you realize that? I did the last set unbroken. Yeah, I made it unbroken. I was like, dang it. I still have some guys in the tank. I was super tired. Don't get me wrong.

I mean, that workout is super hard on the leg. But yeah, when I finished the workout, I was like, dang it. That was stupid. And were you allowed to do those workouts again a second time? No. It was one shot. Yeah, you had a judge there on site with you, right? Yep.

Yep. Great, great. What a great lesson. So, man, you really are good. I didn't realize how good you were. Yeah, you're the shit. He doesn't believe me. How tall are you?

Brian was so excited that we got you on. Yeah. I'm like, what do you mean? It's just Samuel. I'm 5'10". 5'10". Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

And how much do you weigh? 205. Jeez. I don't know when I'm not going to be shocked. Sam, who do you consider to be your coach? Or do you have a coach? There's a guy. I mean, the guy here, Jake Locker, he's really helping me right now

because we've been working on my squat position for the last year, trying to fix something in my squat. I mean, I'm really strong with the barbell. My lifts are super good, but my squat is not the strongest in the field, so we're trying to fix something with my squat and my deadlift. So Jake is kind of my coach. Rich is more like my training partner. Is Jake going to be in Madison?

Yeah, he's going to be with me. Oh, nice. Excellent. Who else is there? We interviewed someone else who's there too. Is it Roy Dunn? Royce Dunn. Royce. That's probably the best one you've ever said.

Oh, he's a good dude. That's lame to mess up his name. Hey, I can barely say my own name. What's his name again? Royce Dunn. Dune. Dune, right? Royce. Royce. What is it? Say it, Brian. Royce. Oh, Samuel name again? Royce Dunn. Dune, right? Royce.

Royce, what does it say, Brian? Royce. Oh, Samuel may know more than me. Royce Dune? Yeah, Royce Dune. Dune. Royce Dune. Yeah, I think so.

I said Royce Dunn. That's no good. Edit that, somebody. Edit that. What's a typical – has your wife been down there to visit you? No, she can't right now because of uh we still have quarantine in canada right now ah right right the great totalitarian nation of canada that's right you are to stay put um have you had covid uh i don't know i didn't i never test positive for covid i think I got it when it started

like two years ago. I think it was in December or January. I think I got it there, but I never really test for COVID. Right. So I guess I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. I think that's most people I know in my town think that they had it two years ago. We had a really bad wave of some shit flow through here, but, but none of us have been ever tested. So we don't know. Um, and do you have any concerns that, I mean, wouldn't it be a travesty that like, we won't use your name as an example. Let's pick another athlete. Let's pick Patrick Vellner. Wouldn't it suck if Patrick showed up to the games and they test you there, right?

Yep. And he tests positive and then he can't compete, right? Yep. And do they test you every day? I think that, no, I think it just, for the individual, it's on Monday. So we're going to test one time and that's it after that. At the athlete check-in, I think.

Yeah. And so it's kind of like, man, it's like, you know, the only thing I can think of is the first time I had an AIDS test for something, like I was giving blood or something. I'd never even had sex before. But when I took the AIDS test, I was still scared that my return was going to come back positive even though there was no fucking way right yeah but this thing is like you didn't do steroids you don't have aids but you're going to be tested for this thing and you kind of have no control over it and you just got to keep your fingers crossed right yeah you're right no it's it's i mean i i wish for everybody's going there they're all going to test negative because especially pat because i want to be pat this year so there they're all going to test negative because especially pat

because i want to be pat this year so i hope he's going to test negative well i think that there's i could be wrong but there is there is a i wonder if they test you twice because twice because there is a false positive rate i can't remember what it is i want to say it's like i want to say it's like i think i just saw something recently that it was 1.2%. So for like every million people, 12,000 people test positive or something. I can't remember. Don't quote me on that. Someone's going to, someone's going to yell at me, but that would really suck if you tested positive and you didn't have it. I'm guessing that they test you again or something. Do you know about that? Probably. I mean, I know there's, I mean, I think if you

test positive, they're going to wait a couple of hours and do another test on you. Because just like you said, I mean, and I think the test is not pretty accurate. No. So they might be testing you like two or three times. And if you got like, I don't know, let's say like two times positive and one negative, all right, you can compete. If you have got one positive and two negative, you might be able to compete after that because you test twice negative. So I don't know. But probably, I mean, CrossFit are not stupid.

They're not there to test us and make us test positive and I don't know. And not be able to compete. Yeah. And then, so when do you go home? When do you go back to see your family? So I'll be back after the games. I'll come back and go do a couple of days after the games.

And after that, I'm going to home. And then do you get to see your – is it like Australia where they lock you in a hotel for two weeks? Or do you get to just see your family? So when I go back home, I'll be fine to do my quarantine at home. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, they're going to remove the hotel quarantine. Oh, that's great. Do they put an ankle bracelet on you or anything to make sure you don't leave your house?

No, but actually, I mean, it's kind of crazy, but the cops go at your house and look if you're there. So it's pretty intense. There were some people just now when I said that are like, God, Sevan's a fucking idiot. And then you said that, but the cops come to your house. So I want to say back to you guys, no, you're a fucking idiot. So tell me a typical day. How close do you live to the gym? Like how far, when you have your head on a pillow at night, how far is it from the mayhem empire?

So I'm from seven minutes from the gym to 12 minutes from the barn. Wow. And do you guys normally work out at the barn or the gym? The barn, every day. Okay. So, and you said you're 12 minutes from the barn? Yeah. Do you get excited every time you pull down that long driveway?

You're like, holy shit, I'm here. Not anymore. I mean, for me, it feels like home right now. So, it's just, no, it's been normal for me. It's nice and it's actually easier for me it's nice and it just it's actually easier for me to be here because i'm a training partner and at home i'm training by myself the majority majority of the time so yeah no it just it feels like home and and who else is there besides that you train with besides rich and it's a big group royce royce there's me me rich royce ailey tasia uh angelo aniston luke

uh jim ansel there's helly i mean specifically individual men oh sorry i should have been more clear uh just going to the games there's me richce. And so Royce is your only direct competitor who's there. Yeah. And does he train with you and Rich? Yep, every day. But he has not been there nearly as long as you. No, he's been there for like two weeks, three weeks now. Yep.

And we actually train together. So if the workout is like, we did the workout yesterday morning, was four or six sets of 20-cal ankle bike, handstand walk, and dumbbell snatch at 100 pounds. So the rest was one for one. So we partnered together. So we were pushing harder because, I mean, I'm competing against this guy, and this guy competes against me.

So every time, we wanted the ground to be faster than the last guy on the bike. Oh, and how did he place in the games last year? I think he didn't compete last year, actually. The only year that Royce competed at the games individually was 2018, and he placed 34th. Okay. So tell me a typical day. What time do you get there? Around 8.30 in the morning.

Are you already fed and coffeed up? Yep. And so you walk into the barn and… We warm up for like a 30 minute… I mean, we talk for 20 minutes, 25 minutes, stretch, warm up after that. So we start the first workout around like 9.30-ish. We finish session one by 12.30, 1. Go back here at the gym or the house, eat, relax, chill out a little bit,

and go back to the barn around 3, 3.30 and finish at 5.30, 6.00 every day. And when you say go back to the house, you mean you'll actually go up to Rich's house, throw your feet up on the couch and watch a game show? Or a Marvel movie with the kids. Wow. Yeah.

That's intimate. So, wow, that's incredible. And he's really opened up his life to you. Yeah. Yeah. Wow, that's amazing. I wouldn't let you in the house. I would be like, okay, there's a couch in the barn.

Stay out there. I've had my fill of you. Because if you guys didn't get along, I mean, the guy needs some sort of break, doesn't he? Yeah, yeah. But I don't know. I think he likes to have people with him. But no, I mean, at night, we're always, I mean, I'm not living with Rich at night. I have another house with Luke Parker and Brian.

So we hang out with him part of, I mean, the whole day. But after that, we leave him with his family to have his time. And so when you, this first three-hour session, is it, do you know what it's going to be the day before, or do you get there and the whole thing's a surprise? The whole thing's a surprise every day. And Rich has it all laid out. And what was the other guy's name, Luke? Luke, yeah.

So Luke and Rich lay it out for you guys. Not Luke. I don't think Luke's involved in that. No, yeah. Oh, sorry. Who is the coach? Who is the coach you said in the beginning that you said you might probably consider your coach? Jake.

Jake. So Jake lays it all out for you guys. I mean, I think – so what Rich is doing is he's taking the man-comfy programming, and you just make it harder for us. Right. So, yeah, that's it. And then when you leave for lunch, when you take your midday break, do you guys know what you're going to be coming back to or that's also a surprise?

That's also a surprise. And it's been like that for three months, you're saying, two or three months? Yep. Incredible. Yeah. And do you see progress just in this last three months? Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. It's been a huge game changer for me, for sure. I think it's the best game spread that I ever had since i'm i'm a games athlete and are you ready now like like are you ready like you know how fighters like the night before like hey let's just fight right now like are you ready like hey okay let's start tomorrow yeah yeah i'm tired to train now i just want to compete that's what i mean that's the hardest part for us the athlete the the games prep is actually it's not i mean don't get me wrong it's not easy but the games prep it's i mean i didn't see the last two months fly they fly i'm

like oh my god it's already games time but now like because it's like the temper week a little bit and we drop the volume and just keep the intensity we do so we don't do as much workout as usually so it's like sometime i'm just like waiting for the game's time so i'm like all right let's just can we compete now let's go i'm done my training is over the goal now is just to stay like healthy make sure my recovery is 100 and ready to rock in one week your english is incredible by the way. There's a lot of people I've spoken with from Canada. You clearly speak French. French was your first language, right?

Yeah. But your English is incredible. Thanks, man. Is that getting better from being in Cookville too, or was it great when you got there? I started learning and speaking English like three years ago. Wow. Yeah.

I mean, for sure, because being here for the whole summer, it's helping me because I can't speak French with anybody here, except for Kundo was here last week, and he speaks French. So it was kind of weird for me to speak French again, but otherwise no. Yeah, for sure. It's helping me a little bit. Have you picked up any of their, their vernacular? Like, do you, do you say dad or like, do you say y'all or like, do you have any, do you say any words that make it sound like you're from Cookville now?

No, no, no, I'm not there yet. Sam, did you do, did you, were're there for the last chance i mean for the um semi-finals as well you did the semi-finals in cookville and were you wanting to do the online atlas games or did you did you try to get into one of the live competitions i wanted a live competition yeah Yeah, I mean, I sent my email to CrossFit and I told them, hey guys, I'm moving in the US for the whole summer, so it would be nice if you give me a live one

and not a whole line one. But after that, when I saw that all the Canadians were together, I was like, alright, it is what it is. I was pissed for sure. I wanted to be back on the floor just to, I don't know, kind of like break the ice because I didn't touch a competition floor for the last two years.

But I was pissed, but after that I was like, all right, it is what it is. I can't do anything about it. So that's it. How does your finish in that semifinal affect your headspace? Are you happy with it because of where you placed, or are you like, no, I should have won that? That was my chance to send a message to Vellner. I mean, Pat is fit.

Pat is super fit. I don't know. I wasn't happy. I wasn't mad with my score. I mean, I finished third. It sucks because I would prefer to have more workouts than just like, because we had like five real workouts.

I don't count Friendly Friend as a real workout because it's so short, like a sprint one. And we had also the griddle, like the 10 round of three clean and joy, three bar facing burpee. It's kind of a stupid workout to do online. When you have like live combination with more workouts, it's kind of fine. But for online one, I think a live commission with more workout it's kind of fine but for online one i think it was like i don't know i don't think it

was the right programming for that commission to do to send people to the games but that's my opinion and so i wasn't mad but i just i'm excited for the games because it's more like high skills workout if i said it right and it's it's more like in my in my jam and yep do you agree with him brian uh i do agree with him and and most of what he just said part of the reason i wanted to ask him about that is because was tyler christopher also there at mayhem doing the atlas games the same time as you yeah yeah we did it together and they're so they're they're the they're both part of the Mayhem crew that have been following Mayhem's programming.

And Tyler actually finished sixth. So he missed making the games by one spot. Was that difficult? Like as happy as you were to make it, were you kind of bummed for him? Yeah, that was actually a super awkward moment because his girlfriend, Bailey, made it to the Games because she did the workout with us also.

So she made it to the Games and him, he didn't qualify. So it was hard to see both families kind of happy for Bailey and sad for Tyler because he didn't make it. But at the end, uh, he would know he came to me. It was like, Hey, good job.

You deserve it. And I like him for that. He's a nice bro. Wow. Not only did she make it, but she was one point away from winning it. I mean, she technically win,

but CrossFit give her so major penalty for, I don't know why, because I saw her life come and doing a workout and there's no penalty in any movement that she did but seven what he's referring to when the when the leaderboard first came out she was in first place and then they retroactively applied a penalty that dropped her down to uh wherever she finished tied for second or something like that yeah oh wow what was the workout that she got the penalty on i think the one with the dumbbell the one with the row climb i think and i'm not sure there's like two or three workout that where

she get penalty but it was kind of weird because uh i mean we look at the video every time and before submit the score everyone was like all right that video is good. And even me, when I did my rope climb roaring workout, we look at the rule after that, and we saw one thing with the instant walk. And when we look at my video, we weren't sure if my video was good. So I have to redo the workout two hours later. And I did it.

Yeah, because I didn't want to take the chance to get a penalty. So we were pretty strict with everyone here at man we're doing that the huddles game semi-final so it was kind of weird to see crossfit giving her so much penalty after that but did you do better the second time yeah i don't know how but yeah wow yeah it's crazy it's crazy just so you know the so the mortals the mortals can't even imagine doing the same workout. and I'm doing a workout again, or we submit that video and we take a risk. I was like, no, I'm not taking any risk. So 35 minutes after that workout,

jump into griddle, use a sprint where you're dying. So finish griddle. There's one hour left to submit my video for my even five. So went back to the barn to do the workout at the barn, do that workout again in a two-hour window, beat my score, and submit my video 15 minutes before the time gap.

And that's a 20-minute workout, right? Holy shit. Yep. And what's the rest of the team thinking when you do that? Are they like, holy shit, he's going to do this again? Does everyone walk back to the barn with you to cheer you on again yeah everyone was there and it was a pretty cool moment because when I was in the workout we look at the timer we were like man he's he's gonna beat himself he's gonna

be this course on this morning so I was trying to keep myself like relaxed and my mindset in the workout and when i finished and i saw this my time i was like oh my god i just did i just did twice the workout and i did my score and that was fun just to cheer with everybody and yeah and just to be clear no one knows what their competitor scores are so it's not like you can do it again shooting for another score no yeah you only know your own um was that weird since you were working out with tyler and you would know his scores and he would know your scores like if he beats you aren't you like well shit i'll just do it again uh i mean we did all the workout together at the same times

so after that what we said if if he wants to redo the workout without the partner we can there's no rule i mean it's it's it's we're friends we're real close i like him a lot as a bro but at the end we're competing against each other so if he saw my score if he wants to try to work out again alone do it it's it's part of the game so do it and if i have to do it i'll do it yeah you have to have that mentality or else you'll leave there hating people right you have to be like hey this is one of the things if we have if we do these in the same room together we're gonna have to be comfortable with someone trying to beat you yeah i mean we're second time i mean we we are competitor so i don't know if example like other games alex caron and jeff otter they're both my friend but

if we're swimming and they're in front of me and they're blocking my way but i'm gonna grab his leg and i'm gonna pull i'm to remove it from my way and just, or swim through it because I'm competing right now. I want to win. Yeah. Swim over the top of them. Yeah. I really liked that story. Whenever someone says that someone they'll be like,

I'll be interviewing a games athlete and they'll be like, yeah, someone swam over the top of me. I just love that visual of just like one person. Someone else. That's just brilliant. I mean, yeah, we're there for a win. So, Sam, obviously Tyler advances to the last chance qualifier.

And so you got to see him. He had to take a couple weeks, reevaluate, and then get after the last chance qualifier. And really what I want to ask you about that is because in the future, I don't think any semifinals are going to be online. I think that we'll hopefully be able to have all live semifinals, but I think the last chance qualifier will probably always, if it continues to exist, have to be online because people are competing all over the world and it doesn't really make sense for them to travel for just that one thing when so few people

get anything from it. And you'd already said that the programming for the semifinals in the online format was a little questionable at times. When you saw the programming for the last chance qualifier, first of all, you know, it seemed like it was a little bit cutthroat and like really short and difficult. But at the end of the day, I think they found the fittest guys. So were you okay with the formatting for that? I don't disagree with the workout that they did.

Like the real dumbest snatch one is a sprint one, but you need to be able to push yourself really, really hard if you want to do well in that workout. So that was good. I like the burpee one with the standard, the 12-inch from your hands. It's a hard one for sure. So, I mean, the test was fine. The only thing I think personally wasn't great is there was only four workouts

to qualify a games athlete. I'm like, no, you can't. It's impossible. You need at least six or seven workouts. Just because I don't believe you can test all the capacity of one athlete in four workouts. I don't believe it. It's impossible. At the Games just this year, we're going to have 15 workouts to do.

So how can you send someone at the Games with only four workouts? So it might be just like a luck. The guy was just good in those workout and he cannot be like super like he cannot walk on his hand can't do pistol can't do straight kiss and push i don't know whatever it is but i think there should be more workouts even though well let me let me let me push back on that for a second what if it was just one workout and you don't even have four just make it at that point that point, if the issue – That would be stupid.

That would be really stupid actually. I'm sorry, but I'm being honest here. Fair. No, no, be honest. Be honest. Because at this point – and I don't know what I'm talking about. I just want to put the data into you and Brian and see what comes back. What if you just made it one workout and the argument you have is like, like, Hey man, this is the last chance qualifier. They've already done

the open. They've already done the quarterfinals. They've already done the semifinals. And the reason why I bring this up is that James and I think it was James and Brian also had a similar feeling to you. Like, Hey, four workouts might be not enough, but they also looked at the last workout and Brian said, Hey man, you could, I mean, the last workout and brian said hey man you could i mean this last workout could you could also argue could be and i'm paraphrasing for brian i'm sure he'll correct me could just be the only workout you could probably pick the guys from that last workout i forget what the workout was do you remember brian it was like rope climbs and yeah rope climbs the crimes double under and squat clean yeah yeah um i'll say yes and no but it just at some point if you if you create like kind of like online even just do it for real just don't do don't do all

of that just for one workout it's i mean it's pretty easy for you for for them just to create workout and put like a deadline submission for each workout and that's it there's pretty easy for them just to create a workout and put a deadline submission for each workout, and that's it. There's no job for them. The athlete has all the jobs to film himself, do the workouts, submit a score. So, but I guess… I get your point. From a fan base, I would love it if it was just one workout.

It would be exciting. That would be exciting. Yeah, that would be exciting. That would be exciting. Yeah, that would be exciting for sure. But I see what you're saying. Like, hey, give seven workouts. Fuck, give ten workouts and put it on the athletes. They have a choice. Do they want to try?

Do you want to go to the CrossFit Games or not? We're still going to make it as fair as possible. One thing before you talk, Brian. Brian said that he doesn't think there will be more virtual competitions. He's out of his fucking mind. Dear Australia and Canada, you will never, ever. Hey, Australia had a live competition this year. So I'm wrong there, I guess.

But those countries will be virtual. They're going to get all of you guys goggles soon, and you guys are going to live your life through virtual goggles. Go on, Brian. I was thinking about it because obviously you get the results for the last chance qualifier, and we see Alex Caron, who's a friend of Sam and has competed against him. They're both from Eastern Canada in second. And then Tyler Christoffel once again, who he's been developing a friendship with there in Mayhem,

one spot outside. And I just can't help but think of competitor Sam versus nice guy Sam, looking at that and saying, like, man, I'm happy for Alex, but I'm so bummed for Tyler because now he's missed it by one spot twice. And how you have to, like, what was it like for the group there? Was that pretty devastating? How did he handle that? That was hard.

And I think the hardest part was, alright, so now, can Roman make it to the Games again? Because he's been qualifying for the last three years. And now he's finishing first. So we all know that the guy is fit and he deserves a spot at the

Games. There's 100%. But the last three years, he wasn't able to come. So at some point, why are you doing it if you know that you can go? But on the other side, the competitor inside of me is like, yeah, but the guy wants to prove that he deserves to be there at the same time. So I'm like, it's hard. It was hard because we just knew today, this morning, that they're not backfilling Tyler at the games,

and Roman cannot go to the games again. Why don't they do it like fighting? You know what I'm talking about? Like in the UFC, they'll say, hey, Brian and Sevan, you're going to fight each other on this day. Samuel, make sure you make weight and you show up at the venue because if Brian gets sick or Savon breaks his ankle, you're going to jump in there and fight the guy. I mean, they could say that to Tyler. They could say, hey,

dude, just so you know, you're man 41. If Roman doesn't show up, you can suit up. I mean, the inverse is true. I think, Sam, you can tell me if I'm right or wrong about this. I think Tyler reached out to CrossFit and said, I'm ready and I'll be ready if the spot opens up. Hey, I have a huge, huge, huge respect for Tyler because he's been training super hard even without knowing if he was going to games or not. I don't know how he did that because...

You mean after the last chance callifier, he's still in there? He takes two days off because he just did two online qualifiers back-to-back. And he takes two days off, and he jumped back in training with us, and he's been doing the game prep with us since then. Without knowing if he was going or not, it takes a lot of courage to do that because if it was me, if I'm not competing, I'm not going to push for nothing. I mean, why? Why would I push myself

and crush myself every day in training if I'm not competing? It doesn't worth the price. But he's been doing it, so I have a huge respect for him for that. Did he cry? No, he didn't cry. You didn't see him cry. Did anyone cry? Probably his girlfriend.

Who? His girlfriend. Oh, right, right. Oh, that's she's a good girl. Did anyone who made it cry? Did you cry? Huh? Did you cry?

No, I didn't cry. Did you cry the first time you made it to the games? Were you like... No, I didn't cry. I was... Did you cry when your baby was born? So my boy, I'm a step stepdad it's not my boy yeah okay i might cry for in october though when my when my kid was born i don't even know if it was

like crying it was so weird it was so different than crying but tears were just pouring out like a faucet opened up especially when i had my twins it was nuts but it's not like crying because I never cry. But it was a lot of tears. Sam. Go ahead, Brian. I just want to shift back to him. So now you're – Not me? No, no, no.

You can talk about you later. So now obviously you're getting ready for your third games. But in some ways does it feel like the first like your first games because the last two years we know have been a little bit different you only got to do a couple events you had to do them online and if so which i'm assuming is yes does it like do you feel like going into this season you had like even though you have some games experience it's also going to be like do you feel like a little bit like a rookie because of that at all? I don't feel like a rookie because all the competitors know me and they know that I'm great.

But it's going to feel like a rookie year because it's going to be my first real CrossFit Games. I mean, 2019, I did four workouts and I got cut after that. I wasn't even sore. So I was like, oh, that's boring. I mean, I've been training hard and i'm not even sore so i'm is so i'm excited for that this year because i'm i mean i don't want to talk too fast but for now i'm living for madison to live a fully weekend of crossing games with 15 workout inside of them so it's going to be exciting for me

it's like my fully first crossing games i'm curious who you're going to pal around with there i wonder who you're going to but he's got a lot of those canadian guys are pretty tight so like him and adler and caron you guys have like trained together in the past competed together a lot and you probably haven't you know you haven't seen him in a while because you've been down here and they've been up there yeah and i i didn't talk to them the last three months wow on purpose yeah on purpose yeah do they um do they speak english as well as you do uh jeff he's probably better than me in english alex he's speaking uh kind of like me he's good he's not bad he's good do you have a shoe sponsor no um are you with this announcement that rebox giving what is it like

10 000 yeah does that do you wear rebox anyway yeah oh so it's it's not it's a no-brainer for you you'll just no i'm gonna wear rebox shoes and you're gonna win it are you gonna win one event uh for now with the workout announcement i have a shot at maybe two workouts so we'll see. That's awesome. I love hearing that. I'm really excited for the Anson Walk workout and the pig muscle-up one. Oh, tell me about that pig.

So I see these guys flipping this pig. So the pig obviously is made out of some sort of cloth at the games, right? I don't know. I never touched it before. Well, I can't remember. I'm sure I've touched it, but I forget. But it basically looks like a giant bale of hay that's wrapped in some vinyl. I'm assuming that thing is not made of steel. I'm assuming it's some sort of hard rubber.

But the things that you guys are flipping and practicing are these steel contraptions. Are those really... Comparable? Do they really give you the stimulus? Yeah. What did you say, Brian? Comparable? Yeah, comparable. That's the word. Thank you. I think the ones that we use in practice are maybe a little bit harder than the one in the games

just because the one in the games is like a full piece of, I don't know what, just like you said. So you can put your knee on it. You can push your elbow or your shoulder. But those ones in practice that we have, there's nothing. There's just endo, and after that there's a plate. So you don't want to put your knee on the plate. You're going to hurt yourself. So I believe they're harder than the one in the games.

Have you seen anyone get injured by that thing? Not yet. No. Did you hear our interview with Taylor? Taylor. Taylor Self. Did you hear our interview with him? No.

He was on the demo team. Not the demo team. He was just testing workouts at the ranch. Thank you. He was testing workouts at the ranch, and he lifted the pig, and while he was underneath it, it fell on top of him, and he lifted the pig and while he was underneath it it fell on top of him and he did the split he did the splits so i i picture a grown-ass a grown-ass man with the pig resting on his head and hands but doing the splits you haven't seen that happen over at the

no that hasn't happened to any of them at the mayhem empire you've never seen a pig squish a man flat on the ground no i don't want to see it i don't want to see that video there's a video i don't want to see it oh my god i do i just had that picture in my mind i'm like ouch yeah it's a great that's the only reason why i told this story because it makes for a great visual doesn't it yeah he's a good dude for sharing that story. Tell me about childhood. Are your mom and dad athletes? My dad did boxing. He boxed for like 30 years.

And my mom was motorcycle racing. Wow. Two very safe sports. And they're born in Montreal? They're Canadian? So we are born in the south. So it's not like Montreal is like in Iceland. So we're born in the south.

Okay. And then when you grew up, what did you get into? What sports did you get into as a child? I played hockey all my life. Played what? Hockey. Ice hockey. Oh, ice hockey.

Yeah. What do you call it? Hockey? You guys call it hockey there? Yeah, hockey. That's the French. The H's are silent. Yeah.

Oh, God. I'm learning so much. Sam, do you remember the first time you were on a motorcycle? Did your mom have a motorcycle and drive you around? I think the first time was actually with my grandfather. Did he let you drive? No, I was too young. I had one before.

I had a motorcycle before. So, Samuel Kornwaye first do you remember the first time you put on ice skates or it's you were so young you can't even remember uh no i don't remember that well i was i started playing hockey i was four but i don't remember the first first time i put my first like skipping my feet yeah that's amazing just like none of us remember the first time we walked you were ice skating so young that you don't even remember like your whole life like for all you know you were born ice skating yeah and and you started playing ice hockey when you're four and then how

long did you play uh my whole life i stopped playing in i was 16 years old, 16, 16, almost 17. Yeah, I had a car accident, so that's why I stopped. Oh, wow. So did you have aspirations to play professionally? I was supposed to go play in Switzerland, actually, after my summer. But I got a car accident in the summer, so my career as a hockey player stopped after that. How bad was the accident that it ended your… At the beginning, we thought it wasn't that bad.

But after like weeks, we found that I had a huge concussion and I got blood in my brain. So I've been out for a year actually. You were out for a year because of the injury? Yeah, the concussion and did they have to do a uh cut the horseshoe in the side of your head and peel the flap down no it just it was a um the way to heal that it was just take to take time off and my body would like flush by by itself but it's been a it's been a rough time when I was young because I was playing hockey. Like I'm doing CrossFit right now.

And to stop like in the 24 hours, my, my life changed. So it's, it's been a rough time, but yeah. Were you driving? Yep.

And was anyone else in the car? Yeah. I got one friend. He got nothing. Oh, good. Yeah. That makes me happy to hear that. Yeah, he got nothing.

I wasn't driving fast, though. I was like at 40 miles. So it wasn't that fast. It was a rainy day. We just finished working and missed the curve and hit the ground. And did the car roll? So we hit the ground in the the corner so we missed a curve and the car just like flip on this side came back on the top and flip on the other side after that

oh yeah so the car rolled but end to end yeah from yeah from the top uh from the front to the bottom yeah wow what kind of car uh in that time, I have like a Sunfire, Pontiac Sunfire. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I don't even know what that is. I don't think American cars are made to be driven in the rain or the snow. Every car that I've been in, it's like where it's dangerous in the rain or the snow is an American car.

Was it rear wheel drive? Do you remember? I don't remember. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty intense to just have that. And it kind of, it's interesting, I make this joke, that's probably not a joke I should tell in front of you, but I will anyway, is that CrossFit is where professional athletes go to die.

When something doesn't work out in your career, whether it's you're too small or too slow or you have a car accident, CrossFit is there waiting for you to express your human potential. I agree with that. And so then – so you take from 16 to 17 off and do you do any sports during that time or do they basically say, hey, you can just walk? Oh, I was – I mean the first two months, was uh just taking a walk outside was taking all my energy was so hard so i didn't do any sports for a year and after that because i missed the boat to go play hockey in switzerland so i was trying to find something else to do because outside of hockey i was like i don't know what to do. And I remember one of my friends was coaching at a CrossFit gym at this time.

She was like, hey, you should try to come. You see, it's more like a sport. It's not really like training because when I was playing hockey, I was the laziest guy outside of the ice. Training for me was like, no, I'm not training. It's not for me. And so I went to do a CrossFit class with him. And I was like, you know what? not training it's not for me and so i went to do it across a class with him and i was like you know what yeah it's kind of fun so i just signed up and i start like that you said you missed the boat um is that a can that's definitely an american

phrase is that a canadian phrase like if we were all talking french would you have said that i missed the boat yeah i'll say miss the boat but in french oh yeah wow okay so you guys have that too i missed the boat that's good to know um and um so you were 17 years old when you started training crossfit i was close for my 18 when i started crossfit and as you started as you started realizing you were good at crossfit did you think about getting back on the ice were you like oh shit maybe i can get back on that no No. No, I was too late. I was too old. Man. Yep.

Yeah. Is that the most competitive thing you can do in all of Canada? Hockey? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's the sport in Canada. I think hockey for us is like football here in the US. There's these three books that I've read and they always use, I think it's, there's a book

called Bounce, a book called Range, and then I think it was Outliers. Anyway, these pop psychology books, they all mention the same phenomenon in Canada where basically if you're going to be a Canadian hockey player, if you're not born in January, February, or March, you basically have no chance based on the way they send people, based on in the calendar year, how they send people to the next grade. So basically if you're born in December, you would be too young and those players don't make it. Do you know what I'm referencing? No, not really. No. Okay. Yeah. I'll send you that chapter in the book. It's funny because I just started reading this book Bounce and they just mentioned it too. But basically, kids, there's some cutoff for school

on December 31st in Canada. And if you look at the birthdates of most professional hockey players, it's January, February, March based on where they were in their. And that if you look at the birth dates of most professional hockey players, it's January, February, March based on where they were in their schooling and the advantage it gave them when they went to the pro league. Someone will comment about it and unfuck, unfuck me in the YouTube comments. So if you want to hear the details of it,

you can look in there. Yeah, that is interesting. Um, so, so then, so then basically, um,

did you, do you have a job at this time? No. No, when you were 18? Oh, yeah. I was working in construction in the summer. Wow. That's interesting.

That's not a job for lazy people. No. And when you say you were lazy outside of hockey, I'm assuming you weren't lazy in hockey either. You always were the first one there and the last one to leave. assuming you weren't lazy in hockey either you did you always were the first one there and the last one to leave like you were pushing oh yeah i was i mean when i was on the ice i was i was i could i could crush myself i love being on the ice but outside of that doing like the speed drill agility skill drill i was like oh that's boring that's not fun i want i just I want my skate.

I want my hockey stick. I just want to play hockey. With hockey, there's other men trying to stop you from your goals. And in CrossFit, there's no one trying to stop you. Is there anything in your brain when I tell you that? Does that stimulate any ideas in you? Do you feel that? Do you know that?

What do you mean? Is it a different Samuel? So when we talked about a swim event, you basically made it very clear that was the hockey side of you. Like, hey, if you're in my way, if you have your stick and the puck and you're headed towards the goal, there's no one who's going to stop you. By any means necessary, you're going to get to the target. But in CrossFit, if there's a chipper, it's just Samuel and Samuel. And there's no man trying to stop you. Do you think that that's a better environment for you? Do you think that you had to do some sort of mental switch? Or is it just seamless from an activity where there's other men trying to stop you versus it's just all on Samuel?

I mean, it will depend on the workout because at some point, if we're doing like a chipper workout and I saw, for example, let's say like Adler is passing me, but I know that my pace is fast, he might be going too fast and I know he's going to crash at the end. So you want to stay focused on your game and follow your plan for the workout. But if the workout is a sprint one and he's

got a little bit lead in front of me, I'm going to push harder to catch him because I want to beat him. So I guess it depends on the workout. Did someone have to teach you that? No, I learned by myself. I was a rookie sometimes and was going too fast. And at the end, I was just laying down on the floor and the other guy was just passing me saying,

Hey, rookie, you went too fast. Good job. Who said that to you? Do you remember? I had the chance to train when I started with Albert Dominic LaRouche so I've been training with him a couple years

so at the beginning when I started I was like for sure starting way too fast so I was like yes I'm leading I'm beating him

and five minutes later he was way ahead of me and I was still on the road dying so yeah is it easy to stick to your game plan? Before, yes.

Now, I think it's impossible. My mindset is too good right now to keep me out of my zone. And I would say thank you to Rich for that because, I mean, Rich is fast. He's fit and he's the fittest guy alive right now. And in the barn, sometimes when he's passing me, I'm like, no, don't try to follow him. Stay in your plan. Stay in your zone. You'll see. You'll catch him or

you'll be close. You said something very interesting right there. Do you want to ask him about that, Brian? Or should I? You can ask him. Rich is the fittest man alive right now? Yeah.

That's awesome to hear you say that. Boy, everyone's ears just perked up. Why do you say that? Because I had a chance to train with him, and I'm really good at CrossFit, and he's one step ahead of me. It's crazy. He's fit. He's still super fit.

He just turned 34 today, and he looks like he's 25. He's fit. He's still super fit. He just turned 34 today, and he looks like he's 25. He's unstoppable. Do the other people on his team know that? The other three people? Yeah. That not only that they're more fit than him, but that they're dealing with the fittest man alive? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I don't think they feel the pressure, but they know that. They don't feel pressure? No. No, Rich. I don't think they feel the pressure, but they know that. They don't feel pressure? No. No, Rich would never do that. Would never put pressure on them just because he's the fittest guy. Yeah, but they have to feel it, right? I mean, being on a team, you have to be concerned that you're going to be the weakest link at all times, right?

I mean, there is that built-in pressure, like, oh, shit, I don't want to be the weakest link. No, yeah, for sure. But I think it's helping them to push harder in the workout, I think. Is there ever discussion of him coming back to individual? No, never. No, even though – Not even master.

Oh, so it's – yeah, because I can't remember where I saw recently, but it sounded like he was even done with team competition. I think he said that the only reason why he came back is because his cousin wanted to do it. So he's like, oh, fuck it. Okay, I'll go with my cousin. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, last year when they decided to cut the team for the games

and just do the individual, he was like, well, maybe it's my time to just stop. I mean, there's no point anymore to compete. So I think he didn't know at this time, so he was just like, I'll wait and see what's going to happen. And when Chase asked him to go, he was like, all right, I'll do one more year when I'm fit. Where else have you trained?

Did you have a coach before these guys? Yeah. So when I quit my job and started doing CrossFit, I started with Dicocomp, Michelle, the challenger. Okay. Yeah. So I start my, when I quit my job and started doing CrossFit, I started with Dicocomp, Michelle, the talent. Okay. Yeah, she really helped me

at the beginning to being more, being more a complete athlete and being more wise in my workout. Was that hard, changing coaches? Yeah, for sure it was hard.

I mean, she really helped me. I'm super grateful for what she did for me but at some point it's my career and i had a decision to make if i want to accomplish my goal and that was a hard decision to do but yeah it sucks and and what do you what what does someone do when they're going to switch coaches you just call her and you say and you just basically say hey michelle this has been a great run i want to try something else this is no um this has nothing to do with you this just has to do with where i want to take my career yeah exactly yeah it's it's never fun to do that but i mean it's my career just i just and i just have one and so i don't want to miss anything and i want to make sure that I'm doing everything I can in my power to be the better version of myself.

Right. Yeah, it makes total sense. As opposed to like if you were to switch with someone who, for the reason that they were hurting you or they didn't give you enough attention or you felt like they had too many athletes. That wasn't the case. No, no, no. You wanted to come and see, hey, let's go to the Mecca. Let's go to the Mayhem. Yeah.

Mayhem. Did competing at the Mayhem Classic influence that at all? Yeah. Actually, that's a big part of it because when I came here to Classic two years ago, I got myself crushed. I looked like I was unfit and not because of the outcome programming it just I wasn't I didn't really do really well in that commission and so when I came back home I was like

alright so there's one thing in that weekend really crushed me in what it was a volume of the workout in that weekend so I was like all right i'm going to try the man programming because if they come the competition was like that it's mean the training is a high volume training and i remember when i started doing the man programming the first i'll say the first two months i have to scale down the programming because it was too much for me wow yeah it was way too hard at the beginning i was like that's too much I can't hold on that and it take me around two months to put myself in the programming and make like being able to do the full things in the full week of training was it just was it just the volume of training or did you have to

adjust lifestyle things to make that volume more attainable like sleep or nutrition or anything like that no it was just about the volume workout which just it was way more than what i was doing before uh my my sleep always being well my my nutrition wasn't at the best in the time now it's pretty good um but i think in that at that time it wasn't about that. It was really more about the volume in the training. That's it. Um, you, do you want to keep going, Brian? Nope. Um, the, uh, when I hear, you'll hear these stories about professional fighters and they'll

tell you, you know, you'll hear a professional fighter who's a world champion and he'll be like, yeah, I trained with the best jiu-jitsu guy in the world. He can beat me every time and he's so good and he can beat anyone. But no one's ever heard of this guy, right? Are there people like that within the mayhem community that are like that no one's ever heard of who are just so damn good? Like you get there, like when you showed up the mayhem classic to compete, you're like, who the fuck is this guy? Are there people in the gym there that are just freaks? I'll say, I don't want to name anybody.

I want to keep you to surprise. But there might be one guy. I'll give you a clue. In the media team, he's really fit. Super strong. He's training a little bit more right now to might go at the one of the semifinal next year

so he might I'm not saying he's going to go to games next year but for sure he is able to go to one of the semifinal

and make some noise with a barbell he could be the super strong he could be the next Dre Strom yeah yeah

exactly yeah so so so that that environment just like a great jiu-jitsu camp that environment is just pretty there there's a lot of impressive people there yep yeah that's awesome yep um tell me about your nutrition um two questions one you said it got better but also do you have to eat more now with this level of volume? Yeah, for sure. So in the past, I wasn't counting my micros.

Is that right? Counting? Yeah. So I wasn't counting my micros. I was just eating food when I was hungry. And now for the last year, I've been making sure I was hitting my numbers to eat enough in my day. And especially in the summer, my carbs was way higher than normally. And I'm the kind of the guy who's like, I don't like to eat in the morning and afternoon, but I can eat anything at night.

But it's not pretty good for an athlete because you want some food in the day to make sure you can have some fuel in training. So it wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy for me to hit like at lunch enough quantity of carbs to make sure i have fuel in the afternoon but at the end i think i did a great job and i feel great so i just want to stay there for a second and like it's one thing to get into a routine with that for training but then to apply that to a competition setting, you know, excuse me, specifically at the games, is there anything that you need to tweak? Is that like,

how much in advance do you prepare for something like that? Because from my perspective, obviously you want to perform your best at every event there, but in order to do so, what you're doing between the events is pretty important. Yeah. So this year I'm excited because we have a girl from Mayhem who's coming with us and she's going to cook everything for us. She's going to do everything that we need as a shake, food, electrolyte, everything. So at the end of each workout, the only thing I have to do is walk the camper and everything will be ready for me. Oh, that's amazing.

So I think it's going to be way, yeah yeah it's going to be way easier for me um will will you guys be staying together will you and um royce will you and uh thank you jesus will you and royce be staying together uh i don't know yet we have so we have like seven camper on this web on the game site we have like seven campers on the game site. We have some hotel room also. So we need to talk about it to see who is living where. But probably we're going to live together. So wait a second. So you might stay at the – what's the name of that place?

That Madison – what's it called? The StubHub Center? What's it called? Yeah, the campgrounds. Mayhem has done that in the past. we're athlete i i mean i i knew uh dad stayed there rich froning senior stayed there but what do you call him dad no i call him boss he's the he's the boss here um when where you you may sleep in a camper yeah and where would you shower where would you shower? In the camper.

There's a shower in there. There's hookups in the whole damn thing. Yeah, I mean, it's a nice camper. It's a pretty damn nice camper. And what about your mattress? Will you bring your own mattress? No, no. That's one of my superpowers.

Everybody is like, it's crazy. Sam can't sleep anywhere. Like, sometimes i'm here in the coffee shop at lunch eating my food talking and just go on the couch and i can fall asleep like that and taking a nap for 20 minutes even with all the noise that is i think that's a super valuable skill at the games also like if you can just find a spot and lay down for 20 minutes that a lot of people struggle with that yeah no it's sleeping for me is not a problem i can fall asleep and i can sleep even if a bed is too soft or too hard or it's not a bed that

you're used to you're good you'll just go sleep yeah wow that's awesome that's awesome i can never find a comfortable bed although i can sleep on a moment's notice um I would need a bed. Well, that's awesome. That would be really convenient also to be right there. Yeah. I mean, it's easier between events. We don't have to take the car and go to the restaurant and try to go to the grocery store to find food.

I mean, we could just go there. Everything is prepped for us. It's super easy. We have a chair. We have everything to lay down and relax. And then what do you do to keep the fans away? I don't know. I mean, one thing for me is I'm not the famous.

I guess you can always go inside the camper. Yeah, and one thing for me, I'm not the famous guy in the field right now. So I'm not like Pat Vellner or Fikowski. If he's walking around everybody, he's going to have to take picture. I don't have that problem for now. So it's easier for me. I'll take a picture with you, Sam. Oh, damn. Damn. I wanted to say this at the beginning of the show to anyone who's listening, please. Anyone who's at the games, please, please take any time you spot Brian, please take video of him and send it to my DMs. Take a photo with him. Anything you send me, I will repost, but I would like to keep track of him at the games. And I know he's going to be

ignoring me because he has like five jobs there. So anyone who sees Brian friend at the games, please sneak a video, sneak a picture with them, post it, send it to me in my DM so I can know what my boyfriend is doing while he's there. Because that's really going to be hard for me because normally I can just call him, and I know he's going to block my number that week. So, damn, I need to say that at the beginning of the next show. I even have it in my notes. How did I screw that up? No one's going to make it this far. Well, maybe they will.

Samuel, you're easy to look at, so maybe people will make it this far on the podcast. Staying at the campground is really cool. At first, when you first said it, I was having this adverse reaction to it. Like, no, Samuel needs to be kept in a castle and protected. But really, you can maximize everything. If you save an hour of driving every single day, that's an hour more rest. That's an hour more rest. That's an hour more downtime. That's an hour more recovery that I mean, and, and, and, you know, like you

were saying, go home in between events. I mean, shit, it could save you two hours a day. Yep. Yeah. That's fantastic. It's huge. I think, I think it's huge. What is event number one again? Is the swim puddle workout. Yeah. All you have to do is win that event and everyone will know who you are. Actually, maybe the second event. That one's going to be hard to see. What's the second event? The sled pole pig muscle workout. Yeah, that's the one. You got to win that one and then the whole weekend will be different for you. Pictures, autographs, the whole thing. You have to hide in the camper. Have you practiced the paddling much?

Like before, I mean, maybe you guys have practiced recently, but in like the last couple of years, have you ever done that? I had a chance to touch the paddle from the games one time two years ago with Michelle when I was at Dicacom. So I kind of know what kind of paddle it's going to be. But it's been a long time since we touched it because we don't have it here at Mayhem. But, yeah, no.

I think it's going to be interesting to see how I can do on that puddle. Wait a second. You're not telling me that since that event was announced that you don't every day go to Dad's house and... Oh, we've been doing swimming paddle workout yeah but okay we cannot find one puddle like the one at the games it's impossible to find one so we've been why what distinguishes that that implement versus the ones you guys are using i

think because one of the games is like a home homemade one so they they're like only we can only find them at the games i guess so we have some of the puddle it's it's it's look like the same it's kind of the same puddle but it's not exactly exactly the same one so and he hasn't said it's a paddleboard has he has he he hasn't said what exactly what's going on right no no yeah it's yeah i don't believe it's a paddleboard i i really don't believe that i would like to right? No, yeah. I don't believe it's a paddleboard. I really don't believe that. I would like to see something different. I don't know, like a kayak or something new just to make something different and more exciting. Yeah, I don't trust Dave's announcements.

I don't trust those announcements at all. There's always something. Sam, some athletes like finding out the information ahead of time and some people prefer not to. Do you have a preference? I would like to not know any workout. I would like to be at the games and hey, we have an athlete meeting

at 8 a.m. We go there and oh, guys, here is the workout number one. And you're starting in 30 minutes.m. We go there and, oh, guys, here is the workout number one. And you're starting in 30 minutes. Yeah. And we go, after the workout,

we go back, hey, guys, here's your workout number two. Just because, like, that way,

you can really see who's the fittest guy because nobody had the chance to practice before that. And now that the pig was announced, everybody tried to find a chance to practice before that. And now that the pig was announced,

everybody tried to find a way to practice the pig on a certain way. So if the guy or the girl wasn't really good at it, but she or he had like four weeks and did it now, so he might be fine at the games. So I think it would be nicer if there was no clue or just no announcement before the games. When did you meet your girlfriend? When did you meet her?

I've been knowing her for the last five, seven years now. And where did you meet her? In the CrossFit gym. Oh, no shit. Yeah. And I take it you guys lived together? Yep. And how long did you know her before you guys moved in together?

I don't remember. A couple of years. And did you already live alone or were you living with your parents and then you moved out and moved in with her? I was with my parents and I moved with her. Wow. Okay. And she was already moved out of her parents' house. She had a kid.

Yeah. Have you ever been away from her for this long? No, first time. How is that experience going? Are you just craving her? I miss them, for sure. It's hard. But it was hard.

I mean, some week was harder than the other. Some week was easier for me because of training. I don't see the time. I mean, the time passed so fast. So for me, I think it was easier than for her because she's at home and just waiting for me to come back. Right. But just like I said, we have FaceTime. So it was easier because we can talk to each other every day with FaceTime and with the kids

so yeah has it caused any surprises like has it caused any instability in the relationship or has it caused anything that's affected your training or is it better for your training no it's perfect actually there's nothing

there's no issue she's not like hey are you cheating on me or you're like hey are you cheating on me or when i when i would travel i mean i i same i would never it was weird i would never like wait i didn't facetime with my wife at the time or my she was my girlfriend but um i never realized how much i missed them till I got home. Yep. You know, then I would be like, oh my God, this, that was crazy. I guess, I guess I just kind of kept pushing it down in a way, but the second I would see her,

I would like want to take out a fork and a knife and eat her. Like it was just crazy. Like it was nuts. Like, you know, like when you come home and a dog goes crazy. Yeah. Like I would just absolutely lose my shit when I would see her. Man, that's going to be quite the reunion, huh? Yeah, I'm excited. Yeah, that's awesome.

It'll be even better if you do well at the games. Yeah, I'm going to do well. When you do well at the games. Yeah. Do you have an agent? I have a friend who's helping me. He's kind of my agent right now. I mean, we didn't sign anything yet, but he's helping me with that.

Is he Canadian? Yeah. But he lives in the U.S. Oh, okay. Oh, so he's a free man-ish. And how did you decide on him? Does he have any other athletes he's a couple other athletes also he's a thing zach was so he's going zach is going to

games also um i just decided to go with him because he got me my first sponsor ever a couple years ago so i was like hey you want to help me with that and everything is like yeah and we've been hanging out together a couple times in canada so yeah he's a good friend of mine um sorry i want to i want to figure this out a little more so he wasn't like your friend in canada he was a he happens to be canadian and he one time just said hey he just basically cold called you and was like hey i got a sponsor for you and you're like okay cool thanks and you're like shit that's it this is a good relationship and you just move forward forward with it kind of yeah yeah i like that so he proved his value yeah i mean he got my first sponsor and after that we had the chance to meet a couple times hang out trying to get her talk and after

a couple of times we like a kind of like we have relationships start like that. So we've been friends a couple of years, and after that, he's just been helping me with that. And does he advise you on things? Before you go on a podcast like this, do you ask him, hey, is it okay if I can go on the podcast, or what do you think about doing this podcast?

Sometimes I'm going to ask him for a couple of things, if it's good or not. And also he's helping me. Hey, don't forget to post about that. I mean, about your sponsor. Hey, don't forget to post this next week. It's important. So he's helping me with that. So you still do your own Instagram?

Yeah. Do most of the athletes still do their own Instagram? I don't know. That's a good question. I like to do it by myself. I would like to have someone to help me with just to get a little bit better at it, but I like to respond to my DM by myself and make sure that the person who is answering the fan question, it's me and not somebody else.

Gotcha. Yeah, it would be nice if someone – is that an added benefit of being at Mayhem? That you'll get pictures, you'll get content, the guy will cut you off. If you did a snatch and you look good, he'll be like, hey, do you want this, Samuel? And he gives it to you? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

For sure. It's successful. That's awesome. And we interviewed Zach Watts. He was a great guy right brian didn't we we interviewed that guy and he what did he wait there was something i was i i quoted him the other day but i gave someone else the credit for it do you remember what that was because then we corrected it afterwards no i'm struggling to remember right now. I can't remember. Did he do the last chance qualifier? No, he was fifth place at the MAAC. Yeah.

I'm trying to... I have him and Andrew Luckett. Brandon Luckett. Brandon Luckett. What did I call him? I don't know. God damn it. Samuel, I will not forget your name you can send samuel cornway yeah i will not forget your name you're pretty you're pretty good to say my last name actually

telling you brian beat it into me i was having a blast with it making fun of you for a long time and he was just like every he didn't like it he just kept correcting me kept correcting me i remember it can be worse my when i was an original 2018 i mean i was nobody at this time and i was racing tim poulsen in the muscle workout so the announcer i don't remember the guy he was like oh and now sam oh sam is racing again he didn't even he didn't even try he was like what the heck is that name? As long as I don't look at it, I'm fine. The second I look at it, I can't say it.

Like I'm looking at it now and that was a mistake. That was a mistake. As long as I don't look at it, I can say it. Like I just like Patrick Vellner. Like it just reads just like that. Vellner, Patrick Vellner, Jeffrey Adler, Samuel. Uh-oh. And then even the guy below you.

What's his name? Alex. Vigneault. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just. And then maybe that's why Patrick and Brent are so popular because their names are so easy.

It's probably not the three straight years inside the top four at the games. It's just the ease of the name. Sam, when you're talking to your agent and you're looking at this year, do you guys recognize that if you do as well as you think you're going to do this year, it's also going to open up doors for you sponsorship-wise and endorsements and stuff like that? Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, I mean, we've been talking with a couple of companies for the last month, but I decided to not sign anything before the games because if I do well, I want more. You're taking a chance on yourself. I love it.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I believe in myself. I decided to not sign anything and just wait until the games to see what's going to happen. Have you always believed in yourself? No. Oh, no. No. No, that's been a rough, I mean, not a rough road for me to do that. But I guess when I had my car accident and stopped playing hockey, it was such a rough moment for me. So moving to another sport was completely new for me. And passing from a team sport to an individual sport, it's pretty different.

It's not the same mindset every time. Because when you are in a team sport, you're going to play for your other partners in the teams. When you're by yourself, if you suck, it's because of yourself. in the things when you're by yourself. It's, I mean, if you suck, it's because of yourself. There's nobody else to complain about it.

It just, if you didn't do well, it's your fault. So that was kind of hard at the beginning, but now I'm good. Yeah. It's weird. It's,

I don't know if weird is the right word. It's interesting. Some, some, some athletes, when they tell me they believe in themselves, I, I sense they're faking it until they make it but i don't but i don't sense that from you i sense like you really believe it yeah i'm gonna prove it also there you go that's why that's it's comments like that that make me believe you yeah i mean it's to be honest last year

being online pissed me off because for some people, I mean, I finished 10th. That's a big thing. I mean, I finished 35 the first year. And the second year, I finished 10th. That's a huge improvement. I mean, for me, it's a huge improvement. And this year, I set myself a higher goal, and I want to do it. But it pissed me off last year because for some people finishing 10th online

doesn't count. I'm like, hey guys, by the way, all the guy who works with me or all the same guy who works with me in 2019

is the same fucking feel. Sorry for my language but it's the same feel. So why it's online, it doesn't count. So my goal this year is just to not at least finish top 10, but do better and step on that fucking podium

and just shut up everybody who told that about me. And just like, oh, yeah, you finished 10 because it was online. No, go? No, no. I'm going to stop there because it pisses me off. But I'm like, no, I'm going to prove to you. I'm going to prove to everybody who say that that you're wrong. I deserve my place there, and I'm one of the best. Who were the five men who went to the games last year to the ranch?

It was Medeiros, Matt, Adler. Sam Quant and Noah Olsen. And, Brian, do you think that all of those of those guys minus matt of course will be in the top 10 this year oh i guess minus matt and quant maderos olsen and adler um yeah no i don't think all three of them will be in the top 10 this year you don't think adler will be i don't i won't release my rankings closer to the games but i think that the men's field is very, very deep this year, and there are a lot of guys that are going to make it very difficult to finish in the top ten.

And will you be releasing that on this podcast so I can make another $13.84 off of you? If you want to do that, yeah, we could do it maybe Sunday night or something. I would love to do that. Thank you. I would love to do that. Thank you. I appreciate it. All your hard work is sending my kids to jiu-jitsu.

Thank you. So basically, you're leveraging everything you can to keep this mindset. I mean, you have the whole – you have things. to keep this mindset. I mean, you have the whole, you have things. You have the idea that you know that if you do well, at least better and bigger sponsors. You know that it changes the discussion in the, you know, from pundits, like guys who talk shit about you behind your back, like me and Brian.

And you have the healthy love and pressure from your family and the sacrifices. God, I hate that word. And the commitment that they've put into you. You have a whole, yeah, it's smart. It's really, really smart. I think we're done. Sam, I got a last question for you. For now.

Does any part of you think that the, because you were set to compete at the Atlas Games, and that was obviously canceled right at the last moment. And since then, you haven't had a live competition to do. But you've had – you could look at it as a disappointment that you didn't – having had that chance to prove yourself. Or you could maybe say, well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I've had 18 months to train by myself, to put in the work, to refine certain things, and now I have an opportunity to show the best version of myself.

That maybe if you've done Atlas Games, maybe you do one or two more sanctionals, and it's maybe distractions from getting to this point. Is there a part of you that sees, like, maybe this is the best thing that happened? I could put in this base, I can put out my my best product and then build my career off of that uh i always believe that everything happened for a reason so i guess so i guess it's it's on the moment what it sucks but at the end it's it is what it is i can't do anything about it so maybe i'll say yes. Wouldn't that be fascinating if you won the games this year in relationship to the fact that you train with Rich, who's still training his ass off?

From what you can see right now, obviously you can't make a commitment a year's long way away, but do you see yourself coming back to mayhem next year oh yeah you found your groove oh yeah and do you think it was i'm leaving sort of the the discussion here but are you would you think you'll bring your wife next year do you think you would ever move to cookville uh for now, I don't think it's possible, but maybe in the, in the near future, maybe. Yeah. Man, that would be fascinating. And, and, and this thing, this, what did they have an event called the Mayhem Classic you referenced? It was a sanctional, uh, one year. I don't know if they'll, if they'll run that event again or not going forward.

Do they do any competitions there in Cookville that Mayhem sponsors? Don't they have a charity event? They have some charity events. They're not in Cookville. I don't remember what the city is. And I think they're actually planning another competition in November, but I can't tell you what is the name and where. I don't know.

Does Rich ever compete individually in those? No. The charity events are usually teams or teams of three or something like that, and he'll always participate, but it's always in some kind of a team environment. Yeah. Boy, what a draw that would be if he participated as an individual so that people who wanted to take their shot at him could take their shot at him. He did.

But, man, if you won the games, that's got to fuck with his head a little bit because he trains with you every day and he's got to be like, well, shit. No. I'm going to go back next year and beat this guy up. No, no, no. He's just going to be happy for me. Okay. I'm sure he will be. Don't get me wrong.

I'm sure he will be. I'm sure he will be. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure he will be. I've never seen anything from Rich except the highest level of sportsmanship gentleman. Oh, yeah, speaking of sportsmanship, do you learn that from Rich too? I was always impressed. I always thought that Rich, I mean, obviously Matt too,

but I always thought that Rich had the best movement in the sport, meaning he didn't leave anything up to the judges. Have you learned any of that from him? No, I've been a fair player so i don't like to lose i mean i'm a competitor so for sure i want to win i don't like to lose but i have enough respect for all the athletes where i'm competing against them to if they beat me fair enough like if everything is fair and the guy beat me, I'm going to go to him and say, hey, good job. You deserve this one.

Love that. But you're not going to beat me next time. Not exactly. Yeah. Thank you, Samuel. Thanks. Corn YA. Thanks to you guys. Hey, will you say your name once for me?

In French? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah your name once for me? In French? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So it's Samuel Cornoyer. Samuel. Say your last name again. Cornoyer.

Cornoyer. Samuel. So like in English, just Cornoyer. Cornoyer. Yeah, that's good. Samuel Cornoyer. Yeah, that's good. Samuel Conwaye. Yeah, or just Sam. Sam is good.

Does anyone call you Samuel? No, nobody. Except for Salva.