Many athletes struggle to find a balance in their life and take out time for anything other than training. Moreover, training to compete at the Olympics is a full-time job for most athletes. That is, unless you?re Jo Brigden-Jones.
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The 33-year-old has somehow managed to juggle two highly demanding professions at once. When she?s not representing Australia in sprint Kayaking, she?s out saving lives as a paramedic. She finds the time to train between shifts and emergency calls.
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Jo Brigden-Jones Kayaking career
The 33-year-old kayaker was balancing a hectic schedule of training for the Olympics and being a paramedic even before the pandemic hit.
This demanding schedule saw her combining training on rivers and working out in the gym with emergency calls and night shifts.
Jo Brigden-Jones was first spotted at a program to identify sporting talent at the age of 13. She was told she would do well at paddle sports because of her strength, fitness, and her long reach.?
“I didn’t even know what kayaking was when I got involved,” says Jo. She quickly fell in love with the sport.?
She was in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when she heard the news that they would postpone the event. The news was harsh, but she understood the reasons. “I was completely heartbroken and devastated but I fully understood the reasons why.
“But the choices and sacrifices I made to dedicate my life and my every day towards this one goal and to have that postponed by 12 months, was massive for me.
“Being an older athlete and knowing that my body is breaking down and only just holding it together with some sticky tape, would my body make it through another 12 months of beating myself every single day? It was quite hard to take.”
I’m not sure when the plane is taking off, but I’m so excited to be officially named on the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo Olympics!! #Tokyo2020 #Tokyo2021 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/Hbt0o4ERRh
— Jo Brigden-Jones (@JoBrigdenJones) March 27, 2020
Tokyo 2020 was meant to be a reward at the end of a long career. It saw her miss the 2008 and the 2016 Olympics by one spot and having her shoulder surgically rebuilt.
Life outside the sport?
There was another love in her life, other than her love for kayaking. The Australian loved the medical side of things, she loved being part of the community and making an impact on it.?
Jo Brigden-Jones, kayak
Being a world-class kayaker and a paramedic can be hectic. But the Australian, who helped transport one of the first confirmed COVID-19 patients from their home to a hospital, says her career takes some of the pressure off when she’s at the starting line pic.twitter.com/sSvFsvI8HA
— TIME (@TIME) July 22, 2021
She planned to retire after the 2020 Olympics, but it got postponed, so now she will plan on retiring after making her last appearance in the Olympics this year.?
She’ll be content knowing that she has something else to look forward to, something she loves just as much as kayaking. Saving lives as a paramedic?
