WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.299 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I'm your host. 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:07.339 And today, we're looking at a resume that, well, 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:10.320 on paper, it looks like a typo. It really does. 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:13.039 I'm your expert for today's dive. And yeah, usually 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.000 when we track the career of a high level government 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.179 minister, it follows a pretty standard script. 00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:19.359 Right. Like law school, maybe some time in the 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.480 private sector. Exactly. Years of climbing the 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:24.140 committee ladder, lots of handshaking. It's very 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:26.839 linear. It's a path of negotiation and paperwork. 00:00:27.129 --> 00:00:29.510 But today's subject, he spent the first half 00:00:29.510 --> 00:00:32.229 of his life voluntarily subjecting himself to 00:00:32.229 --> 00:00:34.890 arguably the most painful event in track and 00:00:34.890 --> 00:00:37.890 field. In the second half, navigating the absolute 00:00:37.890 --> 00:00:40.729 minefield of Iranian politics. We are talking 00:00:40.729 --> 00:00:43.869 about Hamid Sajadi. A man who is essentially 00:00:43.869 --> 00:00:46.450 a study in extremes. Right. You have the physical 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:48.469 extreme, the Olympics, national records, the 00:00:48.469 --> 00:00:50.869 lactic acid. Right. And then the political extreme, 00:00:51.270 --> 00:00:53.549 the cabinet, the bureaucracy. And as we will 00:00:53.549 --> 00:00:57.170 see later on, genuine life or death danger. So 00:00:57.170 --> 00:00:59.710 here is the mission for this deep dive. We want 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:01.969 to figure out if there's actually a thread connecting 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:04.890 these two completely different lives. Does running 00:01:04.890 --> 00:01:08.290 3 ,000 meters over solid barriers and jumping 00:01:08.290 --> 00:01:11.250 into water pits actually prepare you to be the 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:14.650 minister of sport and youths? Or are these just 00:01:14.650 --> 00:01:17.489 two separate chapters in a very weird book? It 00:01:17.489 --> 00:01:20.290 is a totally valid question and I think by the 00:01:20.290 --> 00:01:22.549 end of this you'll see they are much closer than 00:01:22.549 --> 00:01:24.890 they appear. To get to the bottom of this, we've 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:26.890 pulled together a really comprehensive stack 00:01:26.890 --> 00:01:29.590 of sources here. We're looking at his world athletics 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:32.510 profile, the official Olympic archives from Barcelona 00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:35.150 and Atlanta, and the political records regarding 00:01:35.150 --> 00:01:37.629 the Iranian cabinet and his tenure under President 00:01:37.629 --> 00:01:39.969 Raisi. So let's start with the track. And I want 00:01:39.969 --> 00:01:42.670 to pause right here because when I saw Steeplechase 00:01:42.670 --> 00:01:46.099 in our notes. I kind of chuckled. It sounds quaint, 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:47.939 doesn't it? It really does. It sounds like British 00:01:47.939 --> 00:01:50.599 people riding horses over hedges in the countryside. 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.040 It does sound quaint, but in human track and 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.760 field, it is absolutely brutal. It is arguably 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.019 the most disruptive event in the entire sport. 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:00.299 Walk us through this, because Sajjati wasn't 00:02:00.299 --> 00:02:02.400 just a runner who did this on the weekends for 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.719 fun. He was elite. Highly elite. So why is the 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:07.959 steeplechase different from, say, just going 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:11.139 out and running a 5k? So imagine running a 3 00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:13.800 ,000 meter race. That's seven and a half laps 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:15.900 around a standard track. Okay. If you've ever 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:18.099 run on a track, you know the distance running 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:21.280 is all about rhythm. You get into a zone, a hypnotic 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.699 state, where you just tick off the laps. Right. 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:26.080 You zone out. You just breathe and go. In this 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.900 steeplechase, you are not allowed to zone out. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.039 Every single lap, you are interrupted by five 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:33.719 barriers. And these aren't the flimsy plastic 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:36.099 hurdles you see in the 100 meter sprint, right? 00:02:36.219 --> 00:02:38.319 The ones that just fall over if you tap them? 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:41.870 Not at all. These are massive, solid beams. If 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:43.969 you hit them, you don't knock them down. You 00:02:43.969 --> 00:02:46.310 break your knee. OK, so the penalty for failure 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:49.389 is incredibly high. Extremely high. And then 00:02:49.389 --> 00:02:52.930 there is the water jump. Oh, man. The pit? The 00:02:52.930 --> 00:02:56.090 water jump is just diabolical. It's a solid barrier 00:02:56.090 --> 00:02:58.509 followed immediately by a sloped pit of water. 00:02:58.849 --> 00:03:00.750 So you jump over the beam and just land in a 00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:04.030 puddle. You land, usually on one foot, from a 00:03:04.030 --> 00:03:06.639 significant height. Yeah. The water splashes. 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:09.039 Your shoes get completely soaked. They get heavy. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.419 It completely breaks your biomechanical rhythm. 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:13.740 That's the part that gets me. Running with wet 00:03:13.740 --> 00:03:16.280 shoes is miserable. It's the worst. Running at 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.780 Olympic speeds with wet shoes seems physically 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:21.199 impossible. It changes the physics of your legs. 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:23.979 Your feet are heavier. Your traction changes. 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:26.460 And you have to do this lap after lap. It is 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:28.819 an event designed to break your rhythm and your 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:31.879 spirit. And Sajadi, he was the master of this 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:34.240 in his region. He wasn't just participating. 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:37.879 If we look at the early 90s, the guy was untouchable. 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:41.479 The 1991 Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:43.620 is really the headline here. He took the gold 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:45.520 medal. That was his breakout moment. Exactly. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.599 He proved he wasn't just fast. He was tough. 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:50.860 But what stands out to me in the records isn't 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:54.020 just that one win, is that he kept showing up. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:57.039 Seven years later, at the 1998 Asian Games in 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:59.960 Bangkok. He's back on the podium. Taking silver. 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:03.259 And that is a crucial point for you to understand 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:06.259 as a listener. In the world of track and field, 00:04:06.740 --> 00:04:09.580 especially in an event as damaging as the steeplechase, 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:13.139 a seven -year prime is massive. Because the body 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:15.900 just breaks down. Yes. It means his body held 00:04:15.900 --> 00:04:17.879 up against that pounding for nearly a decade. 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:21.100 That speaks to a level of durability that is 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:23.420 incredibly rare. Now I want to pivot and talk 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:25.220 about speed for a second because sometimes when 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:27.620 people hear endurance or steeplechase they think 00:04:27.620 --> 00:04:29.439 these guys are just joggers who happen to be 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:31.959 good at jumping. Which couldn't be further from 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.199 the truth. Right. I was looking at his personal 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:37.019 bests in our sources and honestly the math didn't 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:38.879 make sense to me at first. Which number grabbed 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.019 you? The 5 ,000 meters. He has a personal best 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:47.860 of 13 minutes and 53 .40 seconds. Sub 14. Now, 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.120 for you listening right now, maybe you're driving 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:52.680 your car or jogging on a treadmill at the gym, 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:57.600 let's contextualize that. What does a 13 .535K 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.519 actually look like? Okay, let's break it down. 00:05:00.030 --> 00:05:02.689 Most people, if they're reasonably fit, might 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:05.250 run a mile in maybe eight, nine, or 10 minutes. 00:05:05.490 --> 00:05:08.430 Sure, a 10 -minute mile is a very standard recreational 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:11.949 jog. To run a 13 .535k, you are basically running 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:14.550 three back -to -back miles. And you have to run 00:05:14.550 --> 00:05:16.370 every single one of them at a pace of roughly 00:05:16.370 --> 00:05:20.230 four minutes and 28 seconds. Wait, 4 .28 per 00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:23.029 mile? Yes, for three miles straight. That is 00:05:23.029 --> 00:05:25.470 sprinting. That isn't running. That is a dead 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:27.569 sprint. It is controlled suffocation. You are 00:05:27.569 --> 00:05:29.769 operating at the absolute limit of your aerobic 00:05:29.769 --> 00:05:32.670 capacity. If you or I tried to run at that pace, 00:05:32.709 --> 00:05:35.029 we might make it 200 meters before completely 00:05:35.029 --> 00:05:37.410 collapsing. And he held it for over three miles. 00:05:37.470 --> 00:05:40.189 He did. And he did this across the board. The 00:05:40.189 --> 00:05:42.649 1 ,500 meters, the steeplechase, the 5 ,000, 00:05:42.850 --> 00:05:45.170 the 10 ,000 meters. He held national records 00:05:45.170 --> 00:05:47.449 in Iran for all of them. So his speed translated 00:05:47.449 --> 00:05:49.629 to every distance. The 10 ,000 meters is actually 00:05:49.629 --> 00:05:54.009 my favorite stat of his. 29 minutes and 22 .65 00:05:54.009 --> 00:05:56.750 seconds. Zub 30. Breaking 30 minutes in the 10K 00:05:56.750 --> 00:05:58.730 is the holy grail for serious runners. Yeah. 00:05:59.069 --> 00:06:01.069 But Sawjati was doing it well underneath that 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:02.889 mark. It shows he had this incredible aerobic 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:06.449 engine. He could go fast, like his 3 .41 .66 00:06:06.449 --> 00:06:08.930 in the 1 ,500 meter. And he could go long, like 00:06:08.930 --> 00:06:11.430 in the 10K. And he took that engine to the Olympics 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:15.470 twice. Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996. 00:06:15.889 --> 00:06:17.870 Now, looking at the results from the archives. 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:20.540 He didn't medal at the Olympics. No. And to be 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:22.939 fair, we have to contextualize that too. The 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:25.439 jump from Asian champion to Olympic medalist 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.939 in distance running is a massive leap. Right. 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:30.540 The global stage is just a different beast entirely. 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:33.480 That era was heavily dominated by East African 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:37.089 athletes, Kenyans, Ethiopians. In Barcelona, 00:06:37.389 --> 00:06:41.350 he ran the 5 ,000 meters and clocked a 14 .04 00:06:41.350 --> 00:06:44.649 .54. He got eliminated in the preliminary heats. 00:06:45.009 --> 00:06:48.110 But just the act of simply qualifying. Exactly. 00:06:48.269 --> 00:06:50.029 Being one of the top distance runners in the 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:52.209 entire world, standing on that starting line 00:06:52.209 --> 00:06:55.089 in Barcelona, that sets you apart mentally. You 00:06:55.089 --> 00:06:57.209 know exactly what it takes to get there. You 00:06:57.209 --> 00:06:59.089 know the isolation of the training. You know 00:06:59.089 --> 00:07:01.310 the sacrifice. It's that mindset I really want 00:07:01.310 --> 00:07:03.709 to dig into next. Because usually when athletes 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:06.689 retire, especially in the 90s, the path is pretty 00:07:06.689 --> 00:07:08.589 predictable. You open a gym. Right. You open 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:10.490 a gym. Maybe you become a coach. Maybe you sell 00:07:10.490 --> 00:07:13.970 cars. Sajadi went to the library. He did. And 00:07:13.970 --> 00:07:16.410 this is the bridge to a second life. He didn't 00:07:16.410 --> 00:07:18.990 just retire from running. He pivoted straight 00:07:18.990 --> 00:07:21.790 into academia. He went out and earned a PhD in 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:24.689 physiology. See, this is fascinating to me. He 00:07:24.689 --> 00:07:27.810 spent 20 years feeling intense pain in his legs 00:07:27.810 --> 00:07:31.129 and his lungs. And then he decided I want to 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:33.610 study the chemical reaction that causes that 00:07:33.610 --> 00:07:36.350 pain. It's actually a brilliant move on his part. 00:07:36.490 --> 00:07:39.170 It legitimizes him. He isn't just an ex -jock 00:07:39.170 --> 00:07:41.649 telling you to run faster because no pain, no 00:07:41.649 --> 00:07:45.170 gain. He is Dr. Sojati. Right. He's explaining 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:48.389 VO2 max. He's explaining lactate threshold. He's 00:07:48.389 --> 00:07:50.990 explaining the biomechanics of the stride. He 00:07:50.990 --> 00:07:53.029 understands the machine from the inside out. 00:07:53.290 --> 00:07:56.089 Precisely. He became a lecturer at Azad University, 00:07:56.350 --> 00:07:59.350 specifically the central Tehran branch. So picture 00:07:59.350 --> 00:08:02.060 this. You're a student, you walk into your 8 00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:05.660 .0 a .m. physiology class, and your professor 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:08.579 is a guy who has been at the Olympics twice and 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.139 holds multiple national records. You are definitely 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:12.959 going to listen to that guy. Absolutely. It gives 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.459 him an intellectual authority that most former 00:08:15.459 --> 00:08:18.000 athletes just don't have. And I think that authority 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.740 is what eventually put him on the radar for the 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:21.379 government. Because he wasn't just a pair of 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:23.600 legs. He was a brain. Right. He could talk to 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.379 the scientists and he could talk to the athletes 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:27.899 on their level. Which perfectly brings us to 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:31.079 the suit and tie chapter of his life, the ministry. 00:08:31.220 --> 00:08:34.019 The ministry of sport and youths. Now, for you 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:35.860 listening who might not be familiar with the 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:38.659 Iranian cabinet structure, this isn't a small 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:41.480 ceremonial role, is it? Not at all. Sport and 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:44.080 youths. In a country with a demographic as young 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:47.039 as Iran's, that's a massive portfolio. It is 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:50.500 huge. You aren't just deciding which soccer stadiums 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:53.240 to renovate. You are dealing with national infrastructure. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:55.899 You are dealing with national pride. Which is 00:08:55.899 --> 00:08:58.200 huge in sports. And you are dealing with these 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.700 socioeconomic issues facing the entire youth 00:09:00.700 --> 00:09:02.820 population. It's an absolute pressure cooker 00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:05.600 of a job. He officially took the job on August 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:09.559 25th, 2021, serving under President Ibrahim Raisi. 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:12.620 Yes. But looking at the timeline in our sources, 00:09:12.940 --> 00:09:14.779 this wasn't his first time being asked to the 00:09:14.779 --> 00:09:17.059 dance. No, and this speaks volumes about his 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:19.419 political survival skills. This is where the 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.480 steeplechase strategy comes into play. How so? 00:09:21.659 --> 00:09:25.179 Well, years earlier, under former President Mahmoud 00:09:25.179 --> 00:09:27.840 Ahmadinejad, Saji was actually nominated for 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.039 this exact same position. But he didn't get it 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:32.879 back then. He didn't end up taking the job. There 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.299 were complications, parliamentary approvals. 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:37.700 It just didn't happen. But think about what that 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:41.500 actually means. To be nominated by Ahmadinejad... 00:09:41.340 --> 00:09:43.700 and then eventually appointed by Raisi years 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:47.100 later. It implies a very rare ability to stay 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:50.179 relevant in a shifting political landscape. You 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:52.460 played the long game. He didn't burn out. He 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:54.240 didn't just disappear when the first nomination 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.899 fell through. He actually served as the number 00:09:56.899 --> 00:09:59.200 two in the Iranian sports organization for a 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:01.419 long time. That's a great point. He didn't just 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:03.820 parachute in from the track straight to the minister's 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:06.659 desk. He spent time in the B team learning how 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:08.899 the bureaucracy works. He learned the machinery. 00:10:09.139 --> 00:10:11.580 He knew where the hurdles were. To use the track 00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:13.879 metaphor again, he knew where the water jumps 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:15.720 were in the administration long before he took 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:19.000 the top job. So he finally gets the job in 2021. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:22.519 He replaces Massoud Sultanafar. He's the minister. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:25.100 He is the guy in charge. And for about a year 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:27.320 and a half, it's the standard work of a minister. 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:30.919 Meetings, policies, public appearances. But then 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:33.919 we have to talk about February 2023, because 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:36.440 this is where the story stops being about sports 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:40.230 policy and starts being about survival. Literal 00:10:40.230 --> 00:10:42.710 survival. Yes. This is the moment that completely 00:10:42.710 --> 00:10:46.029 defines the end of his tenure. February 23rd, 00:10:46.149 --> 00:10:50.389 2023. He is visiting Baft County. It was supposed 00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:53.529 to be a standard ministerial visit. He was traveling 00:10:53.529 --> 00:10:56.309 by helicopter to inspect sports facilities in 00:10:56.309 --> 00:10:58.610 the Kerman province. And the helicopter crashed. 00:10:58.909 --> 00:11:01.009 It didn't just have a hard landing. It crashed. 00:11:01.610 --> 00:11:03.549 The official reports state it suffered a loss 00:11:03.549 --> 00:11:05.730 of control during landing and slammed into the 00:11:05.730 --> 00:11:08.299 ground. This wasn't a minor bump. No. It was 00:11:08.299 --> 00:11:10.840 catastrophic. And tragically, not everyone made 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.080 it out. No. His deputy minister, Esmail Ahmadi, 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:16.840 was killed in the crash. Several others were 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.480 seriously injured. And Sajjadi himself. Sajjadi 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:21.919 suffered a brain hemorrhage and sustained very 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.820 serious injuries. It's horrifying, but it really 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:26.879 forces you to stop and think about the reality 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.700 of these government jobs. We often think of Minister 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:32.580 as a cushy desk job in a nice air -conditioned 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:35.539 office in Tehran. But the reality on the ground 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:38.779 involves flying into remote areas, often in older 00:11:38.779 --> 00:11:41.340 equipment, in highly questionable weather. It 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:43.179 is incredibly high -risk. And here is where I 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:45.200 want to circle back to your earlier point about 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:48.500 the steeplechase. Sajjati survived. He was critically 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:51.259 injured. He was in the ICU with a brain hemorrhage. 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:54.289 But he pulled through. He did. Now, obviously 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:57.409 a massive amount of luck is involved in any aviation 00:11:57.409 --> 00:12:01.679 crash survival. But you have to wonder. did having 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.120 the heart and lungs and the physical resilience 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:06.980 of an elite endurance athlete play a role? We 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:09.779 know from physiological studies that elite conditioning 00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:12.279 improves your body's ability to handle extreme 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:15.539 stress, to oxygenate blood efficiently, and to 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:17.919 recover from severe trauma. He spent decades 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:20.240 building a physiological tank that was just deeper 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.340 than the average person. When he was lying in 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:24.440 that wreckage suffering from internal bleeding, 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:27.850 that elite aerobic engine Might very well have 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:29.830 been what kept him alive. It's the ultimate endurance 00:12:29.830 --> 00:12:32.850 test. It really is. And amazingly, he didn't 00:12:32.850 --> 00:12:36.610 even resign immediately. He didn't. No, he recovered 00:12:36.610 --> 00:12:39.269 enough to actually return to his duties for a 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:41.870 short period. That is just pure tenacity. It's 00:12:41.870 --> 00:12:45.070 stubbornness. It's the refusal to take a DNF. 00:12:45.230 --> 00:12:47.990 That did not finish. He eventually did step down 00:12:47.990 --> 00:12:51.529 on August 1st, 2023, citing his ongoing health 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:53.470 conditions from the crash. And he was succeeded 00:12:53.470 --> 00:12:56.759 by Kiyomars Hashemi. Yes. But the fact that he 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.799 tried to go back to work, that is pure athlete 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:02.100 mentality. You hit the barrier, you land in the 00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:04.019 water, you get back up, and you keep running 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:06.299 until your legs physically give out. Exactly. 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:08.940 It's a very heavy story. We started this dive 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:11.100 joking about gold medals and funny water jumps, 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.220 and we finished with a tragic life or death survival 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:17.370 story. But they are deeply connected. It is all 00:13:17.370 --> 00:13:20.049 about capacity, capacity to suffer, capacity 00:13:20.049 --> 00:13:23.269 to learn, capacity to lead, and ultimately the 00:13:23.269 --> 00:13:25.649 capacity to survive. So when we look at this 00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:28.110 entire arc from setting national records in the 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:30.509 90s to managing the nation's youth and sports 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:33.070 portfolio in the 2020s, what are we really seeing? 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:35.990 We are seeing a life completely defined by high 00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:38.230 performance and high stakes. Whether it was the 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:40.029 clock on the track or the demands of the cabinet, 00:13:40.370 --> 00:13:42.690 he never chose the easy path. It really makes 00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:45.210 you think about the skill set required for both 00:13:45.210 --> 00:13:48.210 of those worlds. In track, especially long distance 00:13:48.210 --> 00:13:50.950 running, you are completely alone. There is no 00:13:50.950 --> 00:13:53.129 team to pass the ball to. It's just you and the 00:13:53.129 --> 00:13:56.269 clock. You can't hide. And in a way, high level 00:13:56.269 --> 00:13:59.450 political office is very similar. You are surrounded 00:13:59.450 --> 00:14:03.710 by aides and advisors, sure, but the actual responsibility, 00:14:03.809 --> 00:14:07.289 the final decision, that is incredibly isolating. 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:10.230 The pressure is just constant. And the obstacles 00:14:10.230 --> 00:14:12.820 never stop coming. whether it's a massive water 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:16.080 jump in Bangkok or a turbulent helicopter ride 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:18.740 in Bath County. Exactly. It requires a certain 00:14:18.740 --> 00:14:21.700 type of person to endure that. So here's the 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:23.519 question I want to leave you with today. We often 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:25.720 talk about transferable skills in the workplace. 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:27.600 You know, you hear people say, I learned teamwork 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:29.759 from playing high school soccer. Sure, standard 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.440 resume filler stuff. But Sujati sport was the 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:36.019 3000 meter steeplechase. It's lonely, it's painful, 00:14:36.019 --> 00:14:38.779 and it's full of solid obstacles that are literally 00:14:38.779 --> 00:14:41.139 designed to break your flow. Is it possible that 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:43.700 that specific type of misery is actually the 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:46.279 perfect training for high -level politics? Is 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:49.139 the best preparation for government not a law 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:51.639 degree, but running alone until you think your 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:53.940 lungs are going to explode? It's a really compelling 00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:56.440 argument. If you can handle the water pit in 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:59.240 Bangkok, maybe you can handle the budget meetings 00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:01.519 in Tehran. And the crashes. And the crashes. 00:15:01.659 --> 00:15:04.399 If you have never seen a steeplechase, seriously, 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:07.990 do yourself a favor today. Go online. Search 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:11.830 for 3 ,000 meters steeplechase. Just watch one 00:15:11.830 --> 00:15:14.370 single lap. Watch them hit that water. And then 00:15:14.370 --> 00:15:16.470 imagine that guy running a massive government 00:15:16.470 --> 00:15:18.529 ministry. It completely changes how you look 00:15:18.529 --> 00:15:20.330 at it. It really does. It's a powerful image. 00:15:20.769 --> 00:15:22.129 Well, thanks for taking this deep dive with us. 00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:23.029 We'll see you on the next one.