On The Line - Njisane Phillips

  • last year
Njisane Phillips takes Robert Dumas through the paces of his training in preparation for Rio 2016 and gives Robert an insight into the highs and lows of his his thus far.
Transcript
00:00 In this episode of On The Line, I ride side by side with the same philip.
00:07 On the line.
00:08 I'm so tired.
00:09 In every sport, there's a line.
00:10 All athletes put themselves on the line for club and country.
00:11 I'm going to do it.
00:37 I'm going to do it.
01:04 So we're driving in San Fernando on our way to meet Jay.
01:09 Going for that gym workout.
01:11 I'm really nervous, I must say.
01:14 And I'm already running late.
01:16 Yo.
01:17 How's it going, bro?
01:19 Doing cool.
01:20 You want to come and train and you're coming late?
01:26 I know, I know, I know.
01:27 Let me find my gears.
01:28 Come on, man.
01:29 Organize.
01:30 This is the easiest place to find, you know.
01:37 Take it as what we're doing first.
01:50 This is Mr. Short, right?
01:56 You good?
02:00 Yeah, man.
02:03 Cool?
02:05 Yeah.
02:07 Let's go, let's go, let's go.
02:16 Up, up, up, up.
02:21 Inside, inside, inside.
02:24 Take your time.
02:27 Up, up, up, up.
02:30 Nicely.
02:31 How are we talking?
02:34 Nice.
02:35 That's good, that's good.
02:38 Next one, next one, next one.
02:41 One more, one more, one more.
02:44 1,000 pounds here.
02:46 1,000.
02:47 Let's go.
02:48 Let's go, let's go, let's go.
02:51 Up, up, up, up.
02:53 Good job, good job.
02:54 That's why you are an Olympian.
02:55 Someone has a feeling it's not going to be easy.
02:59 It's not easy, it's not easy at all.
03:01 So let's just put it straight to Rio 2016.
03:03 This?
03:04 Yeah, just set that pace one time.
03:06 One time.
03:07 3, 2, 1, come on.
03:10 Up, up, up, up, up.
03:12 Boss, 100 and something normal.
03:14 Let's go, let's go, let's go.
03:17 You're not in the big leagues yet, man.
03:22 You just did it for one second and you dropped off.
03:26 So what you're trying to do is get him up to 200.
03:30 So it's not just a day to get it up to 200.
03:32 It's not just getting it up to 200,
03:34 because you can hit 200 and come down.
03:36 It's about getting it to 200.
03:38 My bad mind will take me to 220.
03:43 Yeah, for a second.
03:44 Boom, let's touch and fall.
03:47 Quality, not quantity.
03:49 Oh, well.
03:51 All right, we good?
03:54 I think you're ready for the track, aren't I?
03:56 I think so.
03:58 Jay's horsing around or riding around on the journey,
04:15 getting acquainted with the track.
04:17 But let me just give you an idea of what I'm facing.
04:21 I'm here.
04:23 This is the part that I have to somehow get around.
04:38 I'd certainly be impressed if I made this.
04:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:45 You see how easy you can get that look?
04:59 Just like a walk in the park.
05:09 I'm going to have a chat with Elijah Green,
05:11 former national cyclist and now Justine's coach.
05:14 Tell me, before we hit the track,
05:16 I saw you all adjusting something earlier.
05:19 Is that the timing system?
05:21 That's the starting gate.
05:22 And because it's a new gate, I'm set it on the track.
05:24 Right, well, that's what you're doing here.
05:26 I'm setting the bike, because the end dimension of the gate,
05:30 it must be in this position.
05:32 And I set it to the angle of the bike.
05:34 I stand a good chance meeting Justine today.
05:36 I know.
05:38 And I will say everything I can.
05:40 Right now--
05:41 You don't have much support?
05:42 No.
05:43 Whenever he's concerned, that is my action.
05:45 I will support him.
05:47 Will you fix my bike?
05:48 No, I don't need a bike.
05:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:53 The time is here.
06:07 I'm going to try and conquer this track.
06:09 At least-- I think if I can get up to at least the blue line,
06:12 I'll be happy.
06:13 Give this guy a good run for his money.
06:16 See if he's as good a trainer as he is a cyclist.
06:21 Jay, you have my back, right?
06:24 I don't did.
06:25 So let me just hear a bit about the bike.
06:28 So there's no brakes.
06:29 No brakes.
06:30 And--
06:31 Stationary.
06:32 All right, let's do this.
06:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:40 Stay close to me.
06:50 There you go.
06:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:54 More, more, more, more.
06:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:59 All right, we're going to pick up the speed now.
07:05 But yeah, let's stay on my shoulder.
07:07 All right.
07:08 Start the pedal now, fast.
07:10 More, more, keep riding.
07:11 More, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more.
07:13 Let it go.
07:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:17 More.
07:27 Let it go, let it go, let it go.
07:28 Don't panic, don't panic.
07:29 Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic.
07:31 You're good.
07:32 Keep riding, keep riding.
07:34 Ride, ride, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
07:37 Pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal.
07:39 Pedal, pedal, pedal.
07:41 Pedal.
07:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:54 Literally on a high now.
08:11 No pun intended.
08:12 Where is he?
08:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:16 That was easy, right?
08:20 That was easy, man.
08:21 I told you you did well.
08:22 That was real good.
08:24 Wow.
08:25 So you see what we do.
08:27 It's fun, right?
08:28 Even more.
08:29 I mean, I was impressed before.
08:30 Yeah.
08:32 I feel like I want to do it again.
08:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:37 So I was late for Justine's world.
08:48 Now it's time for mine.
08:50 Guess what?
08:51 He's late.
08:52 We are at the Pillars waiting to go on our trek.
08:55 And when I asked I called him, he's still in Curum.
08:58 I'm very, very sorry for coming late today.
09:01 I mean, you know, it's two different places.
09:03 You know what I mean?
09:04 It's south side, this is the north side.
09:06 So I was a little late with traffic.
09:08 So forgive me.
09:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:12 [DOG BARKING]
09:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:41 I need to get rid of these things.
09:47 Chop them up here.
09:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:51 Real butch mountain thing though.
10:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:10 [WAVES CRASHING]
10:34 [INAUDIBLE]
10:35 [INAUDIBLE]
10:38 You see?
10:39 I know we take a wrong turn.
10:41 We got to go back.
10:42 But the ribbon said.
10:44 No, no, no, no.
10:46 I know I have a feeling inside.
10:48 You know when you get a feeling?
10:50 I know we took a wrong turn.
10:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:55 I did it.
10:59 [INAUDIBLE]
11:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:04 I wasn't that far.
11:19 It's definitely down--
11:21 On this side now.
11:22 Yeah, it's definitely down this way.
11:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:31 Take your time.
11:32 Take your time.
11:34 So it's not-- it's not--
11:37 it's not quite the waterfall I promised you.
11:39 No?
11:40 No.
11:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:53 We took him out of Kitchon Cove or Shodoe,
11:58 whichever you want to call it.
11:59 I think it's more Shodoe.
12:00 Yeah.
12:01 And we had to get him to eat.
12:03 Cool.
12:04 So now I'm going to show him Avocado Falls.
12:06 And he's going to-- he's going to try and go inside the falls.
12:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:22 And they're going to--
12:25 he's walking ahead.
12:27 He thinks he knows where he's going.
12:29 I know he's going to pass the path to--
12:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:34 I'm ready.
12:44 Where are we going now?
12:45 [INAUDIBLE]
12:46 Because you gave me some talk earlier about going
12:48 a little off course.
12:50 But you clearly just passed the trail.
12:52 How?
12:53 [INAUDIBLE]
12:55 Woo!
12:56 That's snake, partner.
12:58 [INAUDIBLE]
13:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:03 He thinks he's ahead.
13:04 He got lost just now.
13:05 But now-- now he's a bushman.
13:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:10 I don't really have to say much.
13:18 This is what became of his-- his jays.
13:21 Jays, jays.
13:23 So he's rocking his socks now.
13:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:28 [INAUDIBLE]
13:29 Yeah.
13:30 [INAUDIBLE]
13:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:35 Yeah, yeah.
13:39 Yeah, I'm a little frightened here now.
13:41 [INAUDIBLE]
13:43 So we'll take it easy going through here, right?
13:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:47 This jay is your blue line.
13:50 All right.
13:52 Just check it out.
13:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:57 All right.
14:14 I was a bit uptight in the beginning.
14:16 But I got it done.
14:17 I'm here now.
14:18 I'm about to jump in the water.
14:22 We on the line.
14:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:26 In 1991, Justine Philip was born,
14:43 which just makes him just that bit older-- sorry,
14:46 younger than I am.
14:47 In this church, La Divina Pastora,
14:50 it's been just over 232 years.
14:53 And it's now the pride of South Trinidad and Separe in
14:56 particular.
14:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
15:00 And in his quest to create history,
15:04 Justine became history.
15:06 Thousands flock here every year for the feast of La Divina
15:09 Pastora.
15:10 Justine Philip would have been amongst us.
15:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
15:15 What's going on, bro?
15:17 Things cool?
15:18 Yeah, man.
15:19 What do you think?
15:20 Yeah, man.
15:21 That kind of thing, yeah?
15:22 [LAUGHTER]
15:23 You want panna cool?
15:24 Yeah.
15:25 [LAUGHTER]
15:26 Yeah, man.
15:27 Sun hot.
15:28 I grew up on panna cool.
15:29 Me and my friends, we always eat panna cool.
15:32 Come on, let me take you over to my trophies.
15:34 All right.
15:35 All right.
15:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
15:40 I think my most memorable one will be my World Cup silver
15:43 medal in Manchester, which I don't know where it is,
15:47 actually.
15:48 Because there are so many.
15:50 Yeah.
15:51 And then I have Guadalajara here.
15:54 I got bronze in 2011.
15:57 It's a big one.
15:58 There was Kazakhstan, Argentina, Mexico, even Colombia
16:03 over Christmas.
16:04 Yeah.
16:05 You've been everywhere.
16:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:10 Hey, how you doing, man?
16:11 Good, good, good, good.
16:12 It's his second Olympics.
16:14 You played a huge role in that.
16:16 I provide the financial support, which wasn't there, right?
16:18 And I would give him the moral support that wasn't there.
16:21 And I would try to push him.
16:22 This is his life.
16:24 This is his job.
16:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
16:35 This is actually my first school that I ever went to,
16:45 Sephora Boys ROT.
16:47 I had a big accident right here when I was in second year.
16:52 I was running, and I ran into a fellow student of mine.
16:56 And my teeth actually stuck him on the forehead.
16:59 And he actually had to get like nine stitches.
17:01 But this is where, you know, lunchtime and recess
17:06 was the battleground, you know?
17:08 It's the all-boys school.
17:09 [CHANTING]
17:12 This is Mrs. Valez.
17:23 She taught me, I think, was in standard one.
17:26 A little naughty.
17:27 [LAUGHTER]
17:28 She didn't used to say much then.
17:30 Yeah.
17:31 But I'm proud of what you have become,
17:33 to see what you have grown into, the young man.
17:36 Thank you.
17:37 And I really follow your career.
17:40 Yeah.
17:41 You know, on the TV, on the radio, on the newspaper.
17:45 Yeah.
17:46 We're proud of you here at the Boys ROT.
17:48 [CHANTING]
17:51 We're by pressure with them kids.
17:53 They're not going to take you to my old house.
17:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
17:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:02 This is where I lived as a child growing up.
18:08 We're currently here.
18:09 It's a bit different.
18:11 Next door, my best friend lives there, Nicholas Stroud.
18:14 Again, I was just really hyperactive, you know?
18:16 Used to throw a lot of rocks, you know,
18:19 like on the roof and stuff like that.
18:21 I was just really, really miserable growing up.
18:24 So this is the truck that was named after you?
18:26 Yeah.
18:27 Pretty nice, eh?
18:28 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:29 Real, real nice.
18:30 It's like the first time I come in to check it out too, though.
18:32 Serious?
18:33 Yeah.
18:34 I thought it was cool because this is my hometown.
18:36 Exactly.
18:37 So it's nice.
18:38 And it probably felt real good, eh?
18:39 Yeah.
18:40 I mean, just looking at it now too, you know?
18:42 You've never actually walked on the track?
18:44 No, I never did.
18:45 This is where you'll bring your gold medal.
18:48 So this is what?
18:49 All right, this is the corner.
18:51 Yeah, famous place in Safari.
18:52 Everybody like it.
18:53 This is my uncle here, actually.
18:54 This is country.
18:55 Oh, you're good.
18:56 Robert.
18:57 Yeah.
18:58 You cool?
18:59 Yeah, Ian Morris over here.
19:00 Ian Morris?
19:01 Yeah.
19:02 The Ian Morris?
19:03 Yes, sir.
19:04 Yes, for real, boy.
19:05 Yeah.
19:06 So Jay, is he doing you proud?
19:07 Of course.
19:08 Definitely.
19:09 When I knew this young man here, a little toddler learning to ride on a tricycle.
19:10 So you saw that in him?
19:11 I can't say I saw that in him at that point in time, but he was a little bit more mature
19:12 than me.
19:13 He was a little bit more mature.
19:14 He was a little bit more mature.
19:15 He was a little bit more mature.
19:16 He was a little bit more mature.
19:17 He was a little bit more mature.
19:18 He was a little bit more mature.
19:19 He was a little bit more mature.
19:20 He was a little bit more mature.
19:21 He was a little bit more mature.
19:28 He was a little bit more mature.
19:29 He was a little bit more mature.
19:30 He was a little bit more mature.
19:31 He was a little bit more mature.
19:32 He was a little bit more mature.
19:33 He was a little bit more mature.
19:34 He was a little bit more mature.
19:35 He was a little bit more mature.
19:36 He was a little bit more mature.
19:37 He was a little bit more mature.
19:38 He was a little bit more mature.
19:39 He was a little bit more mature.
19:40 He was a little bit more mature.
19:41 He was a little bit more mature.
19:42 He was a little bit more mature.
19:43 He was a little bit more mature.
19:44 He was a little bit more mature.
19:45 He was a little bit more mature.
19:46 He was a little bit more mature.
19:47 He was a little bit more mature.
19:48 He was a little bit more mature.
19:49 He was a little bit more mature.
19:50 He was a little bit more mature.
19:51 He was a little bit more mature.
19:52 He was a little bit more mature.
19:53 He was a little bit more mature.
19:54 He was a little bit more mature.
19:55 He was a little bit more mature.
19:56 He was a little bit more mature.
19:57 He was a little bit more mature.
19:58 He was a little bit more mature.
19:59 He was a little bit more mature.
20:00 He was a little bit more mature.
20:01 He was a little bit more mature.
20:02 He was a little bit more mature.
20:03 He was a little bit more mature.
20:04 He was a little bit more mature.
20:05 He was a little bit more mature.
20:06 He was a little bit more mature.
20:07 He was a little bit more mature.
20:08 He was a little bit more mature.
20:09 He was a little bit more mature.
20:10 He was a little bit more mature.
20:11 Do you think that cycling saved you?
20:15 Yeah, I would definitely say it saved me.
20:18 I mean, I was introduced to it at a young age.
20:22 I didn't like it at a young age.
20:24 It was more forced on me.
20:27 That was really, really hard on me with cycling.
20:29 I wasn't allowed to try any other sports.
20:31 It definitely saved my life, I would say.
20:35 Saved, changed my life, and I really, really appreciate it.
20:39 I've been all over.
20:41 I've seen so many different things in my life.
20:44 This is the part that I had to cool down.
20:46 I went through my depression in 2014, 2015.
20:49 When I was going through the depression, I was losing.
20:51 I was really, really losing.
20:52 Because the same thing with the kidney.
20:54 I was in the hospital for seven days.
20:56 I lost a lot of weight.
20:58 And I took two weeks off after the hospital,
21:00 and I just jumped back into cycling.
21:02 I didn't do any proper weight that I needed to do.
21:04 I didn't take any proper rest.
21:05 I just jumped into it.
21:06 I was losing a lot of races.
21:08 It was taking a toll on my confidence.
21:10 Races that I knew I was supposed to win,
21:12 against components that I knew I could have beat,
21:14 I was making dumb mistakes,
21:15 because I just wasn't confident in me.
21:19 It took a toll on me.
21:20 I lost a lot in 2014, 2015.
21:23 I was just chasing, chasing, chasing the Olympics,
21:26 because that was my dream.
21:27 I didn't have all the results that I wanted to,
21:29 but you see, later on in 2015,
21:32 I was able to get silver at the Pan Am Championships
21:35 and Pan Am Games, which was really, really big.
21:37 Put them back cycling on the map again.
21:39 So, I mean, I'm happy that I qualified for 2016,
21:43 and I'm very, very excited for the Olympics.
21:45 You know what I mean?
21:46 A lot of people count on me out on it.
21:48 They don't know half of what I go through.
21:50 One of the pressures I would like to say,
21:52 which I put on myself, is coming fourth at the Olympics.
21:56 This time, I don't want to come fourth.
21:58 I don't want to come fifth, sixth, seventh.
22:00 I need to be on that podium.
22:02 I need to be number one on the podium.
22:05 You know what I mean?
22:06 I knew it. I always dreamt about it as a child.
22:08 I know I can do it. I've seen it.
22:10 I had so many dreams about it, you know?
22:12 So, you and me good.
22:14 Last time we were in LA, we had a good time.
22:17 You were going through a lot of ups and downs.
22:20 Yeah.
22:21 But one person that was in your life at that stage was your dad.
22:24 I mean, there's a lot that goes on there with that relationship.
22:27 I actually didn't talk to my dad for probably about a year
22:30 and maybe like two months now.
22:32 Was he the one that got you into cycling?
22:34 Yeah, definitely.
22:35 He got me into it.
22:36 I mean, I love my dad at the end of the day,
22:38 but we got our differences.
22:40 I was going through my depression in 2014, 2015.
22:44 It was really, really hard for me.
22:46 He just really wasn't there for me.
22:48 He didn't hold me down.
22:50 He always held me down.
22:52 It's just hard.
22:53 It's just hard that for my father,
22:55 the person who wanted this for me,
22:57 when I was going through the most important time,
23:00 let you know, "Hey, yo, I really feel it right now.
23:04 "I'm going through this depression."
23:06 And he just looked at me and said, "What you depressed for?
23:09 "You a happy child?
23:11 "There's no way you could be depressed."
23:13 You know what I mean?
23:15 So in the times when I really, really needed you, you left me.
23:18 Nobody was there for me 2014, 2015.
23:21 Everybody left me. Everybody.
23:23 Everybody left me.
23:25 They said all kind of things.
23:26 "Oh, yeah, he on drugs. He on this, he on that."
23:29 They turned their back on me and they left me.
23:32 They said, "Not a young boy. Not again."
23:36 So you know what I did?
23:38 I went away. I had my depression.
23:40 Nobody saw me. No party. No club.
23:43 And that time that I really, really needed my father,
23:45 he wasn't there for me.
23:47 But he is instrumental in where you are.
23:49 He pushed me. He beat me to ride.
23:51 And I'm happy because this is my career.
23:53 This is how I live. This is how I make a dollar.
23:55 This is how I'm able to do everything that I do,
23:58 which is cycling.
24:00 I'm 100% thankful to my father.
24:03 I'm not saying that me and my dad can't fix our relationship.
24:06 It's definitely going to take time.
24:09 I love him.
24:10 He said that I wouldn't make it to the next Olympics.
24:12 You know what I mean?
24:13 That's something that my father told me.
24:15 He's not going to make it again.
24:18 It was one time only.
24:21 So it's just pride.
24:23 You know what I mean?
24:24 I'm going to get it done and put it on that red, white and black.
24:27 And I'm going to do it again.
24:29 I'm Sean Phillips.
24:31 And we're the Red Bull Kings.
24:34 And I'm back.
24:36 [music]
24:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]