EP79: SOAR with Charles Austin, Olympic Gold Medalist, Entrepreneur, Author and Coach

About the Guest:

Charles Austin is an American high jump legend best remembered for his extraordinary athletic achievements. He won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, setting an Olympic record and securing his place in sports history. Not only is he a world champion, but his jump is ranked as the fifth highest in recorded human history. Apart from his track and field success, Austin has successfully transitioned from sport to entrepreneurship. He owns and operates one of the country's most prestigious athlete development centers and has founded Total Body Board, bringing innovation to fitness training.

Episode Summary:

The latest episode of Becoming UnDone features a riveting conversation with Charles Austin, an Olympic gold medalist whose journey from a severe knee injury to the top of the podium is an inspiration to all. From his late start in high jump to clinching the Olympic gold, Austin shares how he defied expectations and overcame setbacks to emerge victorious.

Austin delves into the adversities he faced, starting with his career-threatening knee injury that prompted him to self-rehabilitate using a unique process of his own creation. His determination to return stronger and win Olympic gold, despite professional advice claiming his career was over, is a testament to his resolve. Austin’s account sheds light on the mental challenges of being a high-level competitor and how he leveraged his track and field discipline into successful business ventures, including the creation of the Total Body Board fitness equipment.

Key Takeaways:

• Charles Austin illustrates the mental and physical hurdles he conquered to achieve Olympic gold.
• He emphasizes the importance of failure and self-correction as key components of growth and success.
• Austin's post-athletic career as an entrepreneur and sports performance coach is as much a story of determination as his athletic triumphs.
• Translating athletic discipline into business acumen, Austin has found success in the competitive world of entrepreneurship.
• His innovative approach to training and fitness has led him to create the Total Body Board, used by NBA champions among other professional athletes.

Notable Quotes:

"I knew in my heart and in my soul what I could accomplish. I know what God, the talent that I was blessed with that God gave me." "It's a challenge. It's another way to compete." 

Transcript

[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:00 - (Charles Austin): I was more determined than ever to get my knee back healthy and jump to my potential. But the knee got even worse and was giving me more trouble and spoke with four different doctors. And after they looked at my MRI, they were like, Charles, your career is over with. We advise you not even to walk and get this looked at as soon as possible. Those forced me to look at myself and who I am as a person and what I want to become.

0:00:28 - (Charles Austin): And I always understood that's a part of life. That's what is going to help me to grow. To get better, you have to fail. There's going to be a lot of failing along the way. And even though I didn't like it and it bothers me, but it helps me to become more focused and dig deeper in myself. I'm Charles Austin, 1996 Olepihaji. I'm gold medalist Oleepihaji. I'm record holder and I'm undone.

0:01:13 - (Toby Brooks): Hey friend, I'm glad you're here. Welcome to another episode of becoming undone, the podcast for those who dare bravely, risk mightily and grow relentlessly. I'm Toby Brooks, a speaker, an author, and a professor. I've spent much of the last two.

0:01:25 - (C): Decades working as an athletic trainer and.

0:01:27 - (Toby Brooks): Strength coach in the professional, collegiate, and high school sports level, and over the years I've grown more and more fascinated with what sets high achievers apart and how failures that can feel like they're destroying us in the moment can end up being exactly the push we needed to help us build success.

0:01:43 - (C): Each week on becoming undone, I invite.

0:01:45 - (Toby Brooks): New guests to examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place. I'd like to emphasize that this show is entirely separate from my role as a professor, but it's my attempt to apply what I've learned and what I'm learning, and to share with others about the mindsets of high achievers.

0:02:01 - (C): This is your first episode. You're in for a treat.

0:02:03 - (Toby Brooks): I'm thrilled that you've given the show a chance, and I sincerely hope that you love it. Over the past year and a half, nearly, I've had the pleasure of interviewing some incredible guests. So I would be thrilled if you'd consider sticking around and becoming a regular. Scroll back through those past episodes and pick out some other high achievers who didn't let failure or setback stand in the way of their eventual victories. And if you're already a regular, then thanks.

0:02:26 - (Toby Brooks): I do my very best to pour all I have into every episode, and I hope you'll enjoy this latest installment. I'm happy and honored you've chosen to take this ride with me, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you. For Texas native Charles Austin, growing up the youngest of ten siblings meant dreams might be a little bit different from other kids. With his wildest goal simply being to go to college and eventually become an engineer.

0:02:58 - (Toby Brooks): An accomplished athlete himself in basically every sport he tried up through high school, he decided to try it for the track team his senior year. While his coach initially said no, it was fortunate for him, for Charles, for the whole team, and eventually all of America, that those initial reservations were reversed and Charles was allowed to jump, as just a few short years later, he.

0:03:20 - (C): Would go on to secure the US.

0:03:21 - (Toby Brooks): Record, the fifth highest recorded high jump in human history and an Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in the 1996 Summer Games. The journey wasn't without its challenges, though. A nagging knee injury threatened to cut Charles career short, and the years that followed his career and the transition from world class athlete to business owner and entrepreneur have required an iron willed persistence.

0:03:44 - (C): Today, he owns and operates one of.

0:03:45 - (Toby Brooks): The most successful and sought after athlete development centers in the country and has also jumped into entrepreneurship as the founder and president of total bodyboard. But jumping is one of the things Charles does better than anything in the world. I hope you'll enjoy my conversation with olympic gold medalist, author and entrepreneur Charles Austin in episode 79 Soar.

0:04:08 - (C): Joining us this week is our first ever olympic gold medalist on the show, Charles Austin, joining us from San Marcos, Texas.

0:04:16 - (Toby Brooks): Welcome, Charles.

0:04:17 - (Charles Austin): Hey, thanks for having me.

0:04:20 - (C): So it's been a busy day. You've had some exciting things coming up, and we'll certainly get to what you're up to these days. But I usually start with a little bit of a softball. What did you want to be growing up and why?

0:04:33 - (Charles Austin): As far back as I can remember, the first thing was I just wanted to go to college. My oldest brother, who was right at 18 years older, but he was the first in the group, the youngest of ten, when he was the first to go to college and get his degree. And that's what I wanted, first and foremost. And then if I narrow it down to what I wanted to be, it was an engineer. That was the first thing. And then it went from there to wanting to box, and it just continued in basketball.

0:05:10 - (Charles Austin): So it was interesting. High jumping wasn't on the radar by any means. Yeah.

0:05:16 - (C): As I was doing research on your bio, I saw that you didn't start jumping till your senior year and go on to become the I believe your jump is recorded as the 6th best jump in recorded human history, which is a pretty doggone awesome thing. So I guess start at the beginning. You're the youngest of ten.

0:05:35 - (Charles Austin): I'm the youngest of ten. It's actually the actual equals fifth best jump of all time.

0:05:41 - (C): Okay, my stat. There you go. So talk us through those early childhood experiences growing up in southwest Texas.

0:05:51 - (Charles Austin): Yeah, like I said, I'm the youngest of ten. There were seven boys, three girls, single parent household, all raised by my mom and great family unit, all played sports. But I was the one that took it to the next level, to the collegiate level. And growing up, I did it all. Baseball, football, basketball. And even though I was small, my 8th grade year, I was probably five two, 5370 something pounds. My freshman year in high school, I was five four eightyat pounds.

0:06:32 - (Charles Austin): My senior year, I was 510 and a half, maybe 130 pounds max. But the funny thing, when it came to sports, I was always really good. I was one of those who picked a team, very rarely me being picked. Yeah, I was one of the ones who always picked the team, but sports always came very easy for me. Talent wise, I was okay, but I think my biggest hindrance was my size. But as far as mindset and ability, that was always at a high.

0:07:17 - (Charles Austin): I started high jumping my senior year just as a way to hang out with friends. I didn't even want to high jump. So at the end of the year, some friends asked me after basketball season, hey, why don't you high jump? Because, like I say, at that point, I wanted to play basketball, and that was my goal. And that year, we had a really nice team, but we didn't do very well. And they were like, hey, why don't you come and Haj, we're graduating, and give us a chance to hang out some more before we go on to the next phase of our lives.

0:07:51 - (Charles Austin): And after constantly talking, I was like, okay, I'll come out. So went and asked the coach if I could high jump, if I can come out for the track team. I didn't even know what event I'd be on the track team. He looked at me and said, no, you hadn't been on the team all these years. So, no, you can't be on the team. And it didn't bother me because I didn't want to do it. Anyway. I was leaving, left his office, and my friends came. Hey, what did he say?

0:08:22 - (Charles Austin): And I was like, no. He told me, no, I can't be on the team. And they're like, really? Yeah. I was like, it's cool. I don't care. And so Robert Blackman, who was our top athlete, who went on to play with the Seattle Seahawks and the Indianapolis Colts safety, he went in and talked to the coach, and Robert was really good in tracking the hurdles, and he went in and was like, hey, coach, we want him on the team or whatever. I don't know what he told.

0:08:54 - (Toby Brooks): Two things jump out at me right away here. First, it would be easy for me to criticize the coach who initially turned away an eventful gold medalist. Everyone loves to talk about the teams who failed to draft Tom Brady, or the coach who cut Michael Jordan, or the publishers who turned away J. K. Rowling. When we aren't in their shoes, it's so easy for us to second guess and wonder how dumb these folks must have been to overlook once in a generation talent to do so misses the critical importance of context.

0:09:23 - (Toby Brooks): And it's downright unfair because something happens when high achiever is rejected. They don't see it as final, and they aren't devastated beyond belief. Consider San Francisco 49 ers quarterback Brock Purdy, the 262nd pick in the 2022 NFL draft that featured, you guessed it, 262 picks. Purdy was saddled with the title Mr. Irrelevant for the year, and he expected to be cut before the end of training camp.

0:09:50 - (Toby Brooks): But he wasn't. He fought. He proved his worth. He used that chip on his shoulder to prove the doubters wrong, in much the same way Brady, Jordan rallying or countless others before had. So before we get too critical of Charles'track coach, let's give him some grace and acknowledge that if not for adversity, some of our greatest heroes might not have ever happened. But make no mistake, Charles'story isn't exactly well, that he left the coach's office okay with the fact that an idea to spend his last few months of high school as a member of the track team didn't pan out.

0:10:24 - (Toby Brooks): After all, he hadn't competed in the sport since junior high. It wasn't exactly a passion just yet. He asked. He was told no. So he left. But the story doesn't end there. Ender friend, not to mention eventual world class athlete himself, Robert Blackman. Blackman ended up being a second round pick, going 34th overall in the 1990 NFL draft to the Seattle Seahawks as a safety out of Baylor. He played four seasons in the NFL before ending his career with the Indianapolis Colts.

0:10:53 - (Toby Brooks): But before that, Blackman was a friend of Charles's. And more than that, he was a leader and an advocate at a time in his life where Charles was resigned to the know of a track coach who didn't see any reason for allowing a senior to not participate in track for three years and then suddenly come out. Robert fights for Charles. He goes back in and brokers a deal. If Charles can prove his abilities, Robert has secured him a spot.

0:11:18 - (Toby Brooks): Americans everywhere owe Robert blackman our gratitude. And his example of leadership and willingness to fight for a teammate is honorable and noble. In a world where we are all looking for our place, like young Charles was, we'd all be well served to have a Robert in our lives. Or perhaps what's even better, we'd all do well to look for opportunities to fight and advocate for our friends so that they could be given opportunities to do great things.

0:11:45 - (Toby Brooks): Because although it was Robert who ultimately got Charles'spot, it was Charles who made the most of it.

0:11:52 - (Charles Austin): Once he got it, he came out to office and he was like, snake. That's what everybody calls me. He said, if you can jump 6ft, you can be on the team. And prior to that, I actually high jumped in the 8th grade. And like I said, I was five two and I jumped 510 in 8th grade. When he said jump 6ft, I was like, okay, I was five two and jump 510. In 8th grade. I'm 510 and a half now. 6ft shouldn't be that bad.

0:12:26 - (Charles Austin): They put it up to 6ft, and I started laughing. And all the guys were out there, they're like, you think you can jump that? Yeah, I can jump that right now. And I had on jeans and my basketball shoes. No, you can't jump. That is. No way you can jump that right now. So I took three five steps or so, went right over it, and they all took off to the coach office. Hey, man, he just jumped 6ft. And the coach came out, hey, Snake, you jump 6ft? I was like, yeah, that's no problem.

0:13:00 - (Charles Austin): Okay, show me three five steps went over. You're on the team. There you go. It all started. And the first meet, I jumped six four. The second meet, I jumped six six. Next meet, I jumped six eight. And then after that, I jumped 611, which was. I equaled the school record at six six. But then I went on to jump 611. That year. Didn't even make it. I actually choked at a regional. It was cold and rainy at blen, and that was my first time jumping in that kind of weather. That's like, man, this is crazy. And ended up getting third.

0:13:42 - (Charles Austin): Yeah, it was cool.

0:13:44 - (C): If you're trending that ascent, that's a pretty steep improvement curve, and you obviously learn later. On just how technical it was. What would you attribute that early success to? Had you been training specifically for explosiveness or it was just something that came natural?

0:14:02 - (Charles Austin): No. It's so weird because during basketball season, I was the point guard. I could dunk with one hand pretty easy. Got to the point where I can dunk with one hand pretty easy. Not two hands. One went out for tracks, never lifted a weight, never. My practice was, I may go out there and take a couple of jumps, but I would just go and sit on the high jump mat and watch everyone else. I didn't do anything.

0:14:33 - (Charles Austin): Nothing. And ended up jumping 611 after track season, went back to the gym just playing pickup ball. I could do whatever dunk I wanted to do. It just happened. I don't know. I can't explain it. And then I got two scholarship offers in track, and I got one in basketball. McNeese was the first to come. They came to the school to recruit me and had me come up on a visit, talked to the track coach, and after that we finished. He was like, hey, the basketball coach wants to talk to you as well.

0:15:12 - (Charles Austin): So went and talked to him, and he ended up having me go to the gym, and him and all the coaches watched me do some stuff on the court. He offered me a full scholarship right then and there for basketball.

0:15:26 - (C): Nice.

0:15:27 - (Charles Austin): But I didn't want to be so far away from home, so I was like, hey, coach, can I go and think about it? Because I also had a visit to Texas state, and so got home and came to Texas state, southwest Texas at the time, came here driving down ocarina Springs, it was like, man, this is where I'm going to come. It was 2 hours, two and a half hours away from home compared to eight or nine. And it was just really nice.

0:15:52 - (Charles Austin): Pretty. So I came to school here on a $450 in books a semester. The first year I jumped 7ft the first year, set the school record. And how kids sit around and talk and come to find out I'm a country boy. I didn't know much about the scholarship thing, and so we're all talking and a couple of high jumpers and talking about scholarships and all of that, and they were like, hey, what kind of scholarships you are?

0:16:25 - (Charles Austin): And I'm like, why? And so they all start telling about their scholarships. Oh, I get a check for $1,100 after all my school expenses and this and that, and I'm looking. You can jump six six on a grade day and barely make it. Other guy told me about their scholarships, and I'm just sitting there. And so they're like, what do you get? And I told them $450 a semester in books. And they all, are you kidding?

0:17:04 - (Charles Austin): And so after going over that, I really didn't train or anything, that next year he raised me up to $750 a semester in Brooks. And so I would skip practice and I would go play basketball with the basketball team. And funny thing, I still improved. I jumped seven one and three quarters that year. And just being rebellious and trying to show the coach, oh, I'm this and I deserve this or that. I wouldn't go to class.

0:17:38 - (Charles Austin): I just being a little badass and one paying attention to my grades and none like that. Even though coming out of high school, I had really good grades, great grades, matter of fact. And so after the season were over, we had to sit down and talk, the coach and I, and he was like, look at here. I gave you what I feel you deserve. If you want more, you work for it, and I'll put you in summer school because your grade doesn't reflect what you're capable of doing. I saw your grades coming out of high school, and you're not trying.

0:18:18 - (Charles Austin): And I was like, yeah, I know I'm not. And I told him why? He's like, you don't have any control over that. What you have control over is yourself. And so I was like, okay, put me in summer school. So I went to summer school that year, got my grades back up. That fall, I decided to. That was my first year I actually worked out. And that fall, I just went at it and ended up jumping 75 and a quarter. Pretty consistent.

0:18:46 - (Charles Austin): Got second at the outdoor NCAA championships behind Hollis Conway. I jumped seven, five and a quarter. He jumped seven nine and three. Oh, that just hurt. That pissed me off.

0:19:01 - (C): Up until this point, would you say you had really encountered adversity or setback or had it really just come pretty naturally?

0:19:10 - (Charles Austin): No, I think high jumping was just like I say, I was always really solid in sports. I don't care what sports it was. And the only setback was my mindset. That was my setback because I let that affect who I was and what I was supposed to be doing. I lost focus. So that was the setback. The setback was caused by myself, because if I would have focused those first two years, I would have been farther ahead.

0:19:41 - (Charles Austin): You see what I mean? So it's the process. We all go through things and have that self correction.

0:19:52 - (C): I appreciate that. At this stage of your career, what would you say your wildest dreams were? Athletically or beyond how big were you thinking?

0:20:00 - (Charles Austin): I didn't think. Not until later on. Like I say, after getting second behind Hollis at the NCAA championships, more than anything, that embarrassed me because I felt he toyed with me getting second. Cool. But he jumped seven, nine and three quarters. And I was sitting there watching. So that really is what got the fire burning because I've always been extremely competitive, probably till fall. But that really pissed me off. And.

0:20:38 - (Charles Austin): Okay, and so that next summer, and that next fall, I really put some time in. And that next year, I won NCS with seven, eight and a. And that's when I won NCS with seven, eight and a. Oh, no. I jumped seven, eight and a half at conference. And then after that, at the NCAA championship, I won with seven, seven and three quarters. So after that, it was like, okay, I have what it takes to beat on the world stage.

0:21:09 - (Charles Austin): And so that's when I committed to high jump after that year. And I gave someone give it my all and see what can happen.

0:21:20 - (C): Yeah, for a lot of listeners, we may watch the track and field at the Olympics and maybe even in World cup years and things like that, but it's not like football or basketball. There's no track draft. So as a senior coming out, what were you thinking in terms of your future in the sport at that stage of your career?

0:21:40 - (Charles Austin): Hollis and I became really good friends. And also my roommate Gordon McKee, who was a long jumper, those two were already competing on the world stage and they were making good money. A couple of meet during that time, that was good money, jumping over a stick and jumping in the sand. And so they would tell me about it. And so it was like, man, I want to get to that point. And they were getting all the free gear from Nike and these other companies.

0:22:11 - (Charles Austin): So that was my focus. Okay, they'll pay me to jump over stick. Let's get it. Let's see what happens. And so that piqued my curiosity. Then, more than anything, it was an outlet for me to compete. I like competing. I like seeing how I stack up against another person. I don't care what it is. If I decide to do it, I want to see how I stack up against another person, and I want to beat that person. And that's what's fun to me, competing.

0:22:45 - (Charles Austin): And I can say I don't care in what. I just like that it's just who I am. And I just wanted to compete. How Hollis jumped seven, nine and a quarter and beat me during my junior year, that stuck with me. And it's okay. I need to return that favor. I need to return that favor. I didn't like that. And that next year I broke his american record. Jumped 710 and a half and a month or so after that, I won the outdoor world championships in Japan, Tokyo and equaled the championship record.

0:23:22 - (Charles Austin): So that's what I wanted from there is okay. I want the world record. I want to make Olympics. I want to win the Olympics. I want it all because I can't make it happen now. I know I can do this. I can win NCS. And then my first year after that, my next year after that, I win world championship. I'm going to just smash everybody.

0:23:46 - (C): Yeah, it's amazing to me. I spent two years at the University of Arizona working with the women's gymnastics team. We had several girls who had been highly successful as junior competitors and were in the running for the olympic team. And in that sport, you're programmed for that oftentimes in the womb, like these girls at two and three are starting to chase their Olympic dreams. Your started much, much later.

0:24:10 - (C): How do you think that influenced you differently as a competitor? Kind of being a late bloomer and late to this world stage, but enjoying this massive success relatively quickly.

0:24:21 - (Charles Austin): Of course, if I would have started earlier, I would have more than likely improved. But I think starting so late and it's being something that I didn't grow up wanting to do that took a lot of pressure off me. I just was out there having fun. I didn't grow up with placing all these expectations on me. So just to get to where I was at, man, I'm good. I like this. And so when I would go and compete, I didn't care. It was more, I want to beat this guy, right? Just for the hell of it. I just want to beat these guys.

0:25:07 - (Charles Austin): Whatever comes after that, great.

0:25:12 - (Toby Brooks): You have to love this mentality, and it's something I think could serve us all well in our own pursuits of success. Charles acknowledges that the overall outcome wasn't really the spark that lit his competitive fires. It was the day by day and even jump by jump competition with his nearest competitors. In Charles'case, he chose to surround himself with some of the best jumpers in the world, which helped him improve by striving to beat them every day or every practice or every event. It's a simple but incredibly effective approach.

0:25:43 - (Toby Brooks): Too often, if we focus on the outcome, we get overwhelmed or discouraged. It can be difficult to navigate a task that looks like it just has too many steps, so instead we can break it down. Maybe it's competing with a friend or even a rival. Maybe it's competing with ourselves. Every day we wake up with the mindset of trying to be better than we were yesterday. Regardless of the specific application, the approach served Charles well, eventually propelling him to the grandest stage and the brightest lights the sport of track and field had to offer the Olympic Games.

0:26:16 - (Toby Brooks): Not without having to battle through a nagging, painful knee injury that left him unable to perform his best. It would prove to be one of the most difficult times of his life.

0:26:26 - (Charles Austin): I never really focused on the money part of it. Yes, of course, winning world championships and Olympics, I was like, oh, that'll be cool. But I didn't have any pressure. I never felt any pressure whatsoever because like I said, it was just something that was presented to me and I decided to try it out and it was going really good. So let me have fun with this until I figure out what the hell I want to do with my life.

0:27:00 - (Charles Austin): It was always looked at as a means to an end. It wasn't, oh, I grew up. I want to be this gold medalist. I want to be this world champion, the high jump. I never had that pressure until I was already there. When I saw that I had the ability, not the potential. Once I saw, man, I can really do this. That's when I started, okay, I want to win the Olympics because at that point, like I say, I knew I could do it.

0:27:36 - (Charles Austin): It wasn't, oh, I think I can. I hope I can. I dream to be an Olympian or win the Olympics. Man, I can really do this. Having that mindset, I feel that played a major role in my improvement.

0:27:52 - (Toby Brooks): Sure.

0:27:53 - (C): Mentioned the Olympics and you're a three time Olympian and that's easy to see now, but in the moment, you don't know that you're going to be a one time or a two time or a three time Olympian. You know that you made the team the first time. How would you summarize that first experience, your first Olympic Games?

0:28:10 - (Charles Austin): I hate it.

0:28:13 - (C): Tell me more.

0:28:16 - (Charles Austin): It still rubs me raw to this day. I suffered my senior year at Texas State is when I initially tore my patellar tendon and first meet of the year in Arkansas, Jonesboro. We had an indoor meet and I jumped the personal best, seven, six and a half. And when I hit the mat, my knee was on fire and I tried to stand up and I couldn't even walk. I had to sit back down. Man, what is going on? Went back to school and they were like, oh, you have jumpers knee.

0:28:50 - (Charles Austin): Okay, whatever that is, because I've never been heard before. And so all year I just jumped through the pain. Jumped through the pain. That was in 90. 1991 came even at the US championships to make the world championship team. I could only take two jumps. I took two jumps, made the team 72 and a half, I think, and 75 and three quarters. I would talk like I couldn't jump very much. And after that I stayed home, rehab, and my first meet back after nationals was in New York.

0:29:29 - (Charles Austin): And I know hide it, I know hide it. Couldn't even jump a height. Got on a plane, flew to London for the World University games and got there and finished like fourth where I jumped seven, four and a quarter. And I'm just pissed after, but man, are you kidding me? And that next meet I stayed in and went to Switzerland. Stayed there for a week and a half or so before Zurich. And at Zurich I came out and jumped 710 and a half, which shocked everyone. But I knew if my knee felt good I could do it.

0:30:12 - (Charles Austin): It was more just my body holding up. Won the world championships that year and couldn't compete after world championships because the knee was so sore. So at that point, like I say, man, I can win the Olympics no problem if this thing is not hurting. 92 roll around and oh my God, my knee was killing me. I wasn't going to jump at the olympic trials because it was hurting so bad. The night before the qualification round, decided to jump to two jumps, made the final and I was like, man, I can't jump. My knee is hurting.

0:30:53 - (Charles Austin): Went to sleep the next night, man, who knows if I'm going to ever be in this position again with my knee hurting so much. So I decided to jump and got focused. Took three jumps, made the olympic team 72757. So stayed at home, rehab did the rehab, decided, okay, I'm just going to go to the Olympics because I might not be here again. I just want to see what it's like and just have that experience just in case I do make it again. The knee gets better.

0:31:33 - (D): Hi, again. On the second Sunday of the Barcelona games. And ahead, it's track and field. In the men's high jump, Americans Hollis Conway and Charles Austin, the defending world champion, are among the gold medal contenders. This is Charles Austin. He was the Tokyo world champion from last summer and he's the american outdoor record holder. His first attempt at seven two and a half and he's over easily with just a little brush on the way down.

0:31:56 - (D): He's been having constant knee trouble since last summer's world championships. Even some contemplation of surgery, little hop in the run up there and then he runs very quickly, five steps in, straight up in the air and a little brush on the way down. Tom, for the first time since 1968, when Dick Fosbury and Ed Carruthers struck gold and silver, the US has a real chance at two medals in the men's high jump. I'd go so far as to say that Hollis Conway is the co favorite here in Barcelona.

0:32:25 - (D): His US teammate Charles Austin has been battling injuries this summer, but they both made their opening heights easily. Charles Austin up for his first attempt at seven five and three quarters. And he's over with a little brush, just like on his opening height at seven two and a half. So that knee doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. Let's take a look at his technique over the bar. He's got great leaping ability and he has incorporated a run up that allows for his hips to be right over the bar when he's right.

0:32:52 - (D): And that is what happened on that jump. He's capable of going very, very high. He's had close misses at 8ft a half inch last summer in Zurich. Charles Austin is so modest that he almost apologized to the rest of the athletes in the field last summer in Tokyo when he became world champion. He is sincerely humble and he's in the thick of things here with the bar at seven, eight. He has a neoprene sleeve on his knee. Now we'll see what happens.

0:33:19 - (D): Oh, and that's a terrible attempt. He just backed right into the bar. He's got to be in a lot of pain. He's had a lot of different ways to strap and keep that knee warm and I'm real concerned about his ability to keep going in this competition if his knee doesn't start feeling better.

0:33:34 - (Charles Austin): So I went there first jump knee, felt pretty good. Jumps, opening height. But I'm already in a, already was in a bad mental state because I knew I wasn't at my best and it took me seven, nine and three quarters to win the world championships in 91. So I'm thinking, man, this is the Olympics. They're going to jump high and my knee is not hurting. So I put all of this negativity in my head thinking, Charles, you're not at your best. You're not even at 80%. If you were at 80, 85, you still could win this thing.

0:34:17 - (Charles Austin): And so jumped the first height, no problem. Knee wasn't hurting. Went to 75 and three quarters the next height. Yeah, it was 75 and three quarters made that height. And I'm just pouting and feeling sorrowful for myself. And I'm sitting there watching all the other jumpers. Everybody had miss except me and Ralph's son. And I'm like, man, they're not going to jump high. But I already messed my head up thinking negative.

0:34:54 - (Charles Austin): Soto one was seven eight. If I would have had the right mindset, I would have jumped seven eight, no problem. Because the need was I could tolerate it. Yeah, it would have hurt me afterward, but I knew I could jump 78. But in my head, put that funk in my head and thinking all these negative thoughts, it burns me because I know I did that to myself. They didn't beat me. Charles, you beat yourself weeks prior.

0:35:30 - (Charles Austin): And so that still to this day, I think about that and what I did to myself. Basically, I was a failure. I did. I failed. I was a failure. And so anytime I think about 1992, it's not good. I'm blessed. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy. I'm very blessed because a lot of people don't get that opportunity. But God gave me that talent in that ability, and I sold myself short because of the way I was thinking and failing like I did that mental failure.

0:36:10 - (Charles Austin): That's hard for me. When I do that, I don't feel good about myself. But I know at the same time I got to stay focused and understand that, hey, that's part of my journey. So that sticks with me to this day. Like I say, anytime I put myself in a position where I fail at something, I'm not a happy camper. I'm not really pleased with myself.

0:36:35 - (C): Yeah, that competitive mindset certainly has served you well, but it's a double edged sword. And we were talking off camera before the start of the show, and one of the genesis of this show was Michael Phelps's documentary, Weight of Gold, where he talks about the days, the weeks and months that follow an olympic games. And for a lot of athletes, it's a really dark season. Sounds like you had unfinished business, though.

0:36:58 - (C): What was your mindset coming out of the 92 games? Were you really focused on getting back there and doing what you felt like you were capable of doing, or was it a different mentality?

0:37:10 - (Charles Austin): No. Like I say, I was more determined than ever to get my knee back healthy and jump to my potential.

0:37:20 - (Toby Brooks): For many athletes, simply making a single Olympics team to represent your country is a crowning achievement on a lifetime of focus, commitment, and grueling determination. And while Charles was thankful for the opportunity, he was disappointed in knowing he was capable of winning gold. The injury, perhaps even nagging doubt kept him from that dream. In 1992, undeterred, he left Barcelona with a freshly fueled competitive fire to get back to that stage and capture the gold in Atlanta in 96, he was undone.

0:37:52 - (Toby Brooks): But that aching knee that had undermined his performance for the better part of two seasons on the world stage would have more to say about those plans ultimately threatening to end his career.

0:38:03 - (Charles Austin): But things even went worse than I thought. The knee got even worse and was giving me more trouble and spoke with four different doctors. And after they looked at my MRI, they were like, Charles, your career is over. Have your patella tendon is done. You have damaged this thing to the point where it can rupture with you just walking. It's like, we advise you not even to walk too much and get this looked at as soon as possible, because if it tears, if it ruptures, you have no chance whatsoever. And they were like, we don't give you much of a chance now.

0:38:47 - (Charles Austin): So now I'm really pissed and mad and hurt and just really upset because at that point, I was enjoying the high jump. I wanted to be the best high jumper. Now it's, oh, shit, it's gone. It's gone. And now it's like, why the hell did I start liking this and now can't do it? So I'm pissed. And so ended up having surgery with Dr. De Lee here in San Antonio and where he removed right at half of my patellar tendon.

0:39:25 - (Charles Austin): And he was like, charles, I've never seen anything like this before. I don't know if the remaining tendon is going to be strong enough to sustain that kind of force, even enough for you to jump 7ft. I don't know. I can't tell you. I did what I could do, and I felt was best. There you go. And I chose to do all of my rehab on my own here at home, using resistance bands, just being creative. I didn't know what the hell I just did. What I felt was good.

0:40:02 - (Charles Austin): I don't know where it came from. Just like high jumping. I don't know where it came from. I don't know what the hell was in my head to say, charles, go and buy all of these resistance bands and step on them. Put them on your couch. Time to this and do these. I didn't know. I'm just, okay, this came to my head. I'll try it. And that's all I was doing. No one said do this. I was just making it up as I go.

0:40:32 - (Charles Austin): And had surgery. What? July 7, 1993. That December, I jumped 610 from five steps. Wow. I was done. I was like, shit, I got this, I got this.

0:40:49 - (Toby Brooks): Put yourself in this position. You're a young, fresh on the scene, world class athlete who wins a world championship in 1991 and just missed out on olympic gold in 1992. You resolved to regroup, return and capture the medal that you know in your heart you were capable of winning in a flight of sweet redemption in 1996. But Charles knee is injured. Tendonitis has turned into tendonosis. Inflammation transformed to degradation.

0:41:18 - (Toby Brooks): For high jumper, that patellar tendon is one of the most important structures in the whole body. The incredible forces generated by the quadriceps all converge on the patella or the kneecap, which is then connected to the tibia or the shin bone via that tough fibrous tendon. It's technically a ligament, but it delivers that force to allow Charles to soar almost 8ft in the air. After struggling through for years, he eventually finds a specialist willing to do surgery, who then removes about half the structure.

0:41:48 - (Toby Brooks): Charles'career is in jeopardy, his dreams far less certain. But from this undoing purpose emerges. A duty left undone comes to light. By rehabilitating himself with innovative workouts, he learns critical skills that not only help him in the moment, but eventually will be used to help others. The pain and the uncertainty of his setback paved the way for a career helping others. But he wasn't done competing just yet, not by a long shot.

0:42:18 - (Charles Austin): That was 93. 94. Came back, jumped seven, seven and a quarter, the eleven highest jump in the world. 95, I jumped seven eight, the fifth highest jump in the world. And during that time, I still felt a little soreness, but nothing to alarm me. So that fall of 95, oh, I went at it like a madman. I was like, two things going to happen. I'm going to injure myself to the point where I would never high jump again or I'm going to win the Olympics.

0:42:55 - (Charles Austin): I trained like a madman that year because 92, like I say, 92 weighed real heavy on me, even to this day. But back then, it weighed heavy and, okay, the Olympics are here in the US. No other person is going to take the gold medal home with them. That's going to stay here with me. I gave you the one in 92 because I sold myself. Sure, I did that. I sold myself, sure, with my mindset going into the Olympics, but it's not going to happen this time.

0:43:33 - (Charles Austin): Like I say, that fall, I went at it and I opened up that year indoors. I jumped seven, nine and a quarter and I was like, oh, I'm done. They're not going to beat me unless something major happened. I get hurt, they're not going to beat me because the knee wasn't bothering me at all. My mindset had changed completely to I was in kill mode. Then.

0:44:03 - (E): Charles Austin of the United States, a last gasp effort to win this gold medal. Oh, my goodness. From a competitive point of view, that has to go down as one of the greatest jumps ever. A new olympic record for Charles Austin. And the crowd now chanting for Charles Austin.

0:44:49 - (Charles Austin): And so it wasn't a surprise. Winning the Olympics wasn't a surprise. Actually, the goal was for me to. I wanted to break the world record because I knew I was healthy. For the first time in my career, I was healthy. Nothing hurt me. So I went in wanting to break the world record. That's what my mindset was at. That's what I was thinking. That wasn't a surprise.

0:45:20 - (C): So at this point in your career, you've traveled all over the world, but the 96 games, being here on american soil, Atlanta, that is a track and field team of destiny. That's like the all star team. That's probably the first games I shared with you via text. I was in classes during that time. I had an exercise physics class with a former Olympian and he pretty much shut everything down for two weeks so that we could watch the games.

0:45:45 - (C): And so your dreams come true. You clear that height, you set the US olympic record. What was that moment? Did you know in that instant that you had captured the gold medal?

0:45:58 - (Charles Austin): Like I say, I didn't go in thinking about winning the gold medal. I went in honestly. My focus was the world record. I had no doubt I was going to win because like I say, I was healthy. Nothing hurt me and nothing bothered me. And so I knew it was like, oh, for them to beat me, they're going to have to jump out of their mind. But whatever they're capable of jumping, I will be able to jump that and more so after, before the final that night, before they give us the high progression, I picked out every height I was going to jump and my plan was to at 79 and a quarter.

0:46:45 - (Charles Austin): Be clean, clear every height on my first attempt and my legs will feel really fresh and I'll break the world record. I've missed my first two jumps at seven, nine and a quarter and just being stupid over it and just relaxing too soon. Damn it. I wasted too. I'm tired. My legs are in my legs and so that's why I passed. A lot of people thought it was gamesmanship and all of that, but it was like, just go to the next height. Let me sit here and relax for a second and we'll go to the next height. 710 and I didn't think, oh, it was an olympic record and all of that. Oh, I was going to have to jump that olympic record to win.

0:47:33 - (Charles Austin): My mindset was just go to the next height, let me sit here and relax my legs and gather myself, get my focus and put myself back in a position to break the world record. That was my mindset the whole time. And so we go to 710 and it was like, particle went first. And if you miss, it's over. It's over with. And he missed. Okay. Cause I had jumped 710 and a half before. Way back in 91 when I was hurt, my knee was hurting.

0:48:09 - (Charles Austin): So 710, I was like, shit, I'm not hurt. I jumped that, no problem. So once they called my name, it really wasn't all that great a jump. It was more of just power and strength. Do whatever the hell you need to do to get over this. So that's all it was a power strength based jump to put myself back in position to attempt to break the world record. Right. And so I made that which put me back in winning position and participate. Passed his last two jump to the next height, and he was like, are you going to jump?

0:48:50 - (Charles Austin): I was like, hell no, I'm not jumping at that. My next jump is going to be at breaking the world record. I don't care if you make it or not. And I was hoping he would because that would keep me focused, that would give me that adrenaline that I need because we had been out there for a long time. But I knew as long as the competition was going, that's what I need. That will give me that energy and that excitement.

0:49:18 - (Charles Austin): Because now I'm up against the wall again. I'm presented with a challenge, which that's what I like. And so he missed his last two jumps and I was like, shit, I'm tired now. I had won. My first jump at the world record was decent, but after that my legs were shot. I'm really excited. I'm very thankful and blessed that God gave me the ability and gave me that win. But like I say, I'm still a little disappointed that I missed those jumps. Being careless at seven, nine and a quarter.

0:49:58 - (C): Yeah. So it might not have been a lifelong dream, but certainly years go into this moment and you're on the podium and they're playing the anthem and you're telling me that you're pissed off, then I'm still pissed. That is the mindset of a champion.

0:50:18 - (Charles Austin): Ladies and gentlemen, on the podium, I'm thinking about two things. One is you missed those damn two jumps at seven, nine and a quarter and killed your legs. And the other thing, I was thinking about my two kids, my two boys. I wanted them at the meet, but they were not there. So that's what I was thinking about on the podium. Don't get me wrong. Still to this day, I guess afterwards, after I saw the video, it's like, man, that was cool, being on the podium playing the national anthem. But that was later on, while it was going on, my mindset was not on that.

0:51:03 - (Charles Austin): I was pissed. I was pissed. And it's funny because everybody thinks I got a little teary eyed. Everybody thinks it was because I won. I was just happy I won. I won. The Olympics didn't have anything to do with that. I was pissed. I was mad at myself. I was mad at myself and I was mad because my kids weren't there to see me perform at my best. And I'm just sitting there. Know, I remember Steve Smith afterwards, after they played the national anthem and he's Charles, what's wrong, man? You should be happy.

0:51:38 - (Charles Austin): Cheering what's wrong? And I'm like, nothing, man. We were on the podium. I was like, I'm good, man. You should be happy. But I couldn't be happy because, like I say, I know what I did. I know what, like I say, missing those two jumps, mental breakdown, mental breakdown after on the podium. And after that, not until, I guess, years and years that I was able to sit back after I retired, I could sit back and enjoy watching the video. And my mind doesn't go back to what I was feeling and thinking on the podium.

0:52:26 - (Charles Austin): That didn't happen until I was years removed from track and field after I retired.

0:52:32 - (C): Sure, it's been a consistent theme on this show that high achievers and that champion's mindset, you can't allow yourself to lose focus. And if you're there seeing the sights of Atlanta and taking in everything there is to take in of the Olympic Games, you're not zeroed in on the task at hand. And so it's a double edged sword where you have to be locked in, but at the same time, you don't know necessarily that you're going to get this opportunity again. So when did the thought of making another run? Four years of discipline and nutrition and training and injury and rehab.

0:53:09 - (C): That's not a decision made lightly. Talk me through the days and the months following the 96 games and your decision to ramp it up again in 2000.

0:53:20 - (Charles Austin): Being hurt for all those years I was trying to chase those years that I missed. Make up for those years that I missed because those were prime years that I wasn't able to jump at my best. So me trying to get back to that level even though I knew I was older, I won the Olympics at 28, so those prime years from 20 to 26, I wasn't able to take advantage of it. So I was still chasing after that. So it was easy.

0:54:00 - (Charles Austin): Like I say, thinking about that, it wasn't hard. It was for two reasons. I was still trying to make up for those years. And second, I still didn't know what I wanted to do in my life. And they were paying me to jump over a stick. That was my mindset. You got to pay me to jump over a stick, no problem, I guess. Train. I grew up, like I say, being 5480 pounds as a freshman and people making fun of how skinny I was.

0:54:39 - (Charles Austin): Now my body, I get to train and my body start to develop and had these muscles and nobody was making fun of my body then. So it was, hey, Matt, I get to go out and I get to train all day long. I get to figure out who I am as a person. And I coached and trained myself throughout my entire professional career. I didn't have the luxury of having endorsements and this team of individuals to help me, so everything was all on me.

0:55:20 - (Charles Austin): So that kept me focused. That kept me focused. And like I say, chasing after those years, trying to make up for those years, I was injured, so it was easy. Plus, like I say, I didn't know what the hell I wanted to do with my life afterwards. So I'll keep doing this here. One thing I do know, I win some major championships, I set some records, I create that name recognition for myself. I can put that on top of my business management degree.

0:56:00 - (Charles Austin): And after I do retire, that is going to help open some doors for me. So it was like, okay, get another championship, get another record. And once I get to that point where it's time to start high jumping, I'm good. I got my ace card, I'm good, I got my degree, and now, okay, I want to do this. I can give my 100% and I could get a nice job. I can have opportunities. That's all it was, man. Like I say, I've never put pressure on myself for high jumping.

0:56:43 - (Charles Austin): I think that's why I did so well. That's why I was able to have the career that I had. Not having the endorsements and the pressure, not having a team just, you need to do this. It was just me. I go out by myself and I'm enjoying myself. I'm out. I'm doing my own thing. I'm in my own head. I'm thinking about life, and I'm committing 100% to myself. And that made me happy. And so it was, it wasn't pressure whatsoever.

0:57:19 - (C): So you go into the 2000 games, the defending olympic champion, and as high jumpers go, you're a vet at this point in your career. So how was the mental approach different going into those games? Did you know that this was going to be it? Did you approach it any differently?

0:57:34 - (Charles Austin): Yeah, most definitely. It was tough. I had been in the game since 1990, and now I'm what, one at 28? Now I'm 32. And as we get older, we just don't have the fire like before. Mentally I did, but the body was different. It was tough. It was tough. I started the year off not so well. It was a struggle. But by the time the Olympics rolled around, things were starting to come back in form, started jumping pretty good.

0:58:11 - (Charles Austin): And I tell you, at the olympic trials, what was so crazy, I did. This is probably my favorite meet. One of my favorite meets, because during the final of the olympic trials in 2000, we're warming up. I couldn't even jump six six in the beginning, everybody scissoring over 6ft. Scissoring over six six. And I didn't clear six six one time. My legs felt heavy. I was sluggish, and I'm just sitting there.

0:58:46 - (Charles Austin): This is not good. And I was predicted to get third, and that pissed me off. Rankings came out, like two, three weeks prior, and that pissed me off. And now I'm at the finals. And came with clear six six. This is not good. And they put the bar up to 610, and everyone just started flopping, getting their warm up jumps in and sitting there on the bench. Things just, everything started feeling good. I scissored 610 while everybody else, and that freaked all of them and freaked them completely out. I took three jumps in one. I jumped 727-5771 to meet after seven seven.

0:59:34 - (Charles Austin): I was so tired, my legs, I couldn't have jumped any higher. And making the team, I was really excited, and it was like, man, I'm going to have to put in some work. And so I just went back, started training, and went over to Europe, had a couple of meets, and things started going pretty good. Right before the Olympics, I went to Japan, and I jumped seven, seven and three quarters real easy. I was like, I'm good.

1:00:02 - (Charles Austin): I got it, I got it. I'm good. Get to the Olympics. Sydney. Before I left for Japan, my new shoes came in that I was supposed to wear at the Olympics. And so I looked at them, and everything was good. I had been getting these shoes for years now and never had any problems. So I get to the Olympics the day of the qualification round, put all my stuff in the bag and go to the arena to compete in the qualification round.

1:00:40 - (Charles Austin): Get in there, go through the warm up, and then it's time to jump. I put on the first pair of shoes. I couldn't even get my foot in them. And I'm like, damn, are you this nervous? I look at the shoe. Eleven and a half. I was like, what the hell is going on? I tried to put it back on my foot. Couldn't even get in the shoe. Grabbed another new pair out of my bag. And the funny thing, in Japan, I took a pair of my old shoes and kept my new ones because I was going to use one pair for the qualification round and the second pair for the final.

1:01:25 - (Charles Austin): And my old shoes, which I used in Japan, was in my room. So I take the next pair out, looked at them. Eleven and a half. I could barely put my feet in. My toes was crunched up against the front. I'm like, what in the hell? So I took the first jump and made it, but it hurt so bad. It hurt so bad when I jumped. Oh, my goodness. It hurt really bad. And so I went to the next height, seven four or whatever, and running up to the bar, I couldn't even jump. I just stepped on the mat.

1:02:15 - (Charles Austin): I was like, man, I can't jump in these things. And so I, what in the hell? And so Ben, challenger from London, he was with the same company I was with, and you have to jump in whoever you put on the paper. And so he was out of the competition. I was like, hey, Ben, let me wear your shoes after I win this thing. I'll take good care because I'll pay you. And he's like, all right, you better pay me. I'm like, I'm good for it, man.

1:02:48 - (Charles Austin): So he gave me his shoes. I wore size eleven and a half. He wore size 14. So I go to, I think it was 75, and three quarters was the height to get to the final. I had two jumps left, and the first one, I pulled it off of my calf, I think. And the last jump, I went over it, but I brushed it. I hit the mat and stood up, and I'm in the final. Took one step off the mat, everybody. The audience, the crowd was like, oh, I turned around.

1:03:26 - (Charles Austin): The bar was falling. Final me big. Like I say, mental let down. I could have tried those shoes on, but my thing, like I say, I got so many, and I've never had a problem with my shoes ever. And I always wore new shoes for the US championships and any major championship. So that was a little heartbreaking. But, okay, whatever. Life goes on. Plus, at that point, it was over. To be honest with you, I didn't have physically.

1:04:04 - (Charles Austin): I wasn't there. When it's like, I've come to an end now, it's really. I need to start paying attention. What I'm going to do after this is all over, right? I'm 32 years old, turned 33 later in the year. I can't be a kid anymore. Jumping over a stick. I got to get serious. Life is getting ready to happen. That's where I was. So it hurt. Of course I would have wanted to win at that point. I was so tired. And mentally, it's like, man, I'm done.

1:04:42 - (Charles Austin): I don't have anything left. Let me just hang in there and give myself a little time to figure this out, because I'm done. Yeah.

1:04:54 - (C): So, at this point, something that's been central to your identity for more than a decade now is pretty suddenly over, and you're on to the next thing. You mentioned, your bachelor's degree in business. And this idea or this promise of entrepreneurial pursuits and leveraging your athletic success into a business career starts to materialize. So talk me through that transition from competitive, world class athlete to now aspiring and new entrepreneur.

1:05:25 - (Charles Austin): Right? The way I got into sports performance training, just like high jumping, it just fell into my lap. I went to a spurs Utah jazz basketball game, and I met John Starks after the game. A mutual friend. We had a mutual friend. And we were just sitting there talking. He was talking to the friend, and people were talking to me, Charles, blah, blah, blah. And so finally, John and Russ came over to me, and John was looking. He was like, man, I know you.

1:06:01 - (Charles Austin): I was, hey, what is your name? And I told him, charles. And he's like, charles what? Austin? He's like, you're the high. Yeah. Give me your number, man. I want to talk to. And so I was like, okay, that's interesting. So I gave him my number, and that may June, he called me, and he's like, hey, man, I want you to train me. I feel I still got a little bit left in the tank. I need somebody who knows what they're doing to train me.

1:06:35 - (Charles Austin): And you are high jumping. Basketball and high jump similar. Will you train me?

1:06:42 - (E): The next lead remains at three. We're down to 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Sparks. Yes. What a move by Starks, who was able to sky to the basket. The Bulls call for time. Starks, with the move of the night to give the Knicks a five point lead with 47 seconds remaining in the fourth. Here it is. BJ Armstrong expects help. Now he's looking around. He gets picked off. No help comes. And Starks goes so big. And look who was at the top.

1:07:33 - (E): None other than Michael Jordan, and he couldn't do anything about it. What a spectacular move.

1:07:42 - (Toby Brooks): John Starks burst on the NBA scene in 1990 as a high flying shooting guard with the New York Knicks. To this day, he's perhaps best known for what is now simply known as the dunk, a thunderous, onehanded facial delivered over both Michael Jordan and Horace Grant against the Chicago Bulls in game two of the 1993 NBA Eastern Conference playoffs. By the time Charles career is winding down in 2000, 2001, Stark's career is similarly nearing its end as a member of the Utah Jazz.

1:08:13 - (Toby Brooks): No longer as explosive as he once was, he connects with and eventually reaches out to Charles for training. And just like that, Charles Austin, the gold medalist and self made athlete, becomes Charles Austin sports performance coach.

1:08:29 - (Charles Austin): And so I was like, oh, that could be interesting. So I talked to my wife and got her opinion, like, hey, Starks wants me to train him, but I have the outdoor world championships this later in the summer. I have a world champions. I have everything I need from the sport. And like I say, it's over. Really, it's over for me. What do you think? And she's like, go and train him. So I started flying back and forth to Oklahoma, training him, and it went great with him.

1:09:09 - (Charles Austin): Unbelievable. He hadn't dunked a basketball in six or seven years. Now he was dunking from a vertical, because I just trained him like I would train myself. The year before he went into camp, Carl Malone called him fat. I went to their preseason training camp with them in Boise, Idaho, and John and I, we went to the track and did our workout, and then we went to the weight room, and we were getting ready to lift, and next thing you know, I was around the corner, and Carl comes in.

1:09:44 - (Charles Austin): Yo, man, I looked at your test. I was like, it's no way in hell it'll be, right? Cause John is at 6% body fat. Last year, because Carl was like, I look at everybody test to see who was coming back serious this year to win. And last year you were a doughboy and you were fat and just killing John. Who the hell have you been training with? And John was like, charles. And at that time, I came around the corner and Carl's like, charles Austin.

1:10:17 - (Charles Austin): Yeah, man, how you doing? He's like, man, I followed your career. I know all about your career. And I knew John had to be working with somebody serious because he's at six or 7% body fat. He was fat last year, so it was cool. And so that was my first venture into personal training.

1:10:40 - (C): He's got one of the most iconic dunks of the can hear Marv Alberts calling it. And to think that he couldn't even dunk. I had no idea. This is a fantastic story.

1:10:49 - (Charles Austin): He did that dunk against Chicago, but once I got to him, he wasn't able to jump or do much of anything, but he'll let you know. And he went into the season that year in unbelievable shape. It got to the point where even after games, he wouldn't even be tired. We'll go back to and do a full workout after the game. He'll, hey, man, let's go get a workout in. We'll go to the track, go to the way road.

1:11:15 - (Charles Austin): And he was like, man, I'm never tired now. I used to think playing 30, 2030 minutes, that used to kill me. He's like, now, Charles, my body is not really ready to go until the end of the third quarter. Next thing, no, the game is over. And now I'm wired. I'm full of energy. And so, okay, I'll start training. And so after 2001, once again talked to my wife about opening up a little studio. And she's, okay, you don't have any clients, whatever.

1:11:48 - (Charles Austin): And so two weeks later, I had my studio open and had clients coming in and getting great results and doing really well. And so it's like, shit, okay, I guess this is the next thing that I'll do. And I open up. At the time, my studio was 800. Did that for a while and doing unbelievably well in that space. Unbelievable. And got this wild hair one day to go to the bank and apply for a loan. Went and applied for a loan, and in 2007, I broke ground on my performance center.

1:12:29 - (Charles Austin): 12,000 sqft performance center sit on 1.7 acres. You got air, basketball court, tennis court, batting cage, football field, outdoor 100 meters, track, and, okay, this is what's next. And just committed to it. And I opened it up and I broke ground in August of seven. Had it open February of eight. So I've been doing that for all these years. And then 2012 I'm sleep and I have this dream about being on this piece of fitness equipment and I wake up, what the hell is that? I don't have that in my gym.

1:13:14 - (Charles Austin): And world is like, man, go back to sleep. Went, finally fell back to sleep. I'm dreaming I'm back on this thing again. Wake up, grab my iPhone, type everything in, go back to sleep. Didn't dream about it again. Next morning had my first client, ran over to Lowe's, bought some stuff, came back, had another client, ran back over to Lowe's by 03:00 that day I had my first prototype of the total bodyboard built and using it with clients.

1:13:46 - (Toby Brooks): That's cool.

1:13:48 - (Charles Austin): Used that model for a number of years, built another wood model, try to clean it up a little bit and unbelievable. Now it's wow, this thing, this really worked. Talked to a couple of my clients who invested in it and brought it to life. And now I sit between clients. I sit and make cold calls to different people, universities, teams. Hey, this is Charles Austin. And once they hear the name they're willing to talk to and it has gone well. We got three NBA championship teams using it. Cleveland. The first person to buy one was Randall Cunningham, NFL player. He bought the first one.

1:14:37 - (Charles Austin): Wow. After that, Cleveland Cavaliers came in and got three. And that year they bought theirs. They used it as part of their pregame warm up on the court, on all of their away games. And then at home they had one in the training room that they would use as part of their pregame warm up. But every game, away game, they had the total bodyboard on the court.

1:15:05 - (Toby Brooks): That's cool.

1:15:07 - (Charles Austin): And they went, even made it to, that was the year they made it to the NBA championship and won. And I met them in San Francisco, in Oakland. I went and I got video of them having the total bodyboard on the court at the NBA final. Went on to win and unbelievable. But we got the Lakers, Cavaliers, Miami Heat, the Vikings, Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, University of Alabama, VCU, Cal Berkeley. Unbelievable.

1:15:42 - (C): Charles, as you're talking, I'm amazed by a couple of things. First of all, you're prouder and happier to talk about your entrepreneurial pursuits than you were sharing about standing on the podium with an Olympic gold medal. I think that's freaking awesome. I'll definitely drop the links in the show description for both your business so high sports as well as total bodyboard. You were also honored along the way. You were inducted in the USA Track and Field hall of Fame in 2012. You've been inducted in the Texas hall of Fame.

1:16:14 - (C): Looking back on this career, and obviously it didn't go exactly according to plan, you had some setback and adversity.

1:16:21 - (Toby Brooks): What do you think those, if you.

1:16:25 - (C): Want to call them failures or that adversity, those injuries, what do you think they taught you that fettered success wouldn't.

1:16:31 - (Charles Austin): Have those forced me to look at myself and who I am and as a person and what I want to become. And I always understood that's a part of life. That's what is going to help me to grow, to get better. You have to fail. There's going to be a lot of failing along the way. And even though I didn't like it and it bothers me, but it helps me to become more focused and dig deeper in myself because I'm harder on myself than anyone can ever be, because I don't like to fail. And of course, you do stupid things and you get off track, but I never lose focus.

1:17:23 - (Charles Austin): Those things help me to grow. And it's like my self correction and my constant way to continue to challenge myself to be a better person and get better, even though it really hurts me when that happens. But at the same time, it's. Damn it, Charles did it again. Get your shit together. It's a constant battle. I understand that's with everyone. That's part of life. But if you use it correctly and you don't just beat yourself up and you can look at things and those things can help you become who you want to be.

1:18:08 - (C): I asked this one of all my guests, I'm a huge fan of music, and I think a lot of times it can convey emotions that words can't. And so whether it's what I'm listening to when I train or what I put on when I'm studying, whatever, music is a huge part of my life. If we were to watch a montage of your life, what song would you pick to play in the background and why?

1:18:29 - (Charles Austin): Let me think. Jeez, I don't know. A song because it's so different. I haven't heard a song that matches my life, to be honest with you. I haven't heard one song that matches my journey. It's a song out there that scarface. That helps me when I'm in a funk some. It may sound one way, but for me, it helps me to check myself.

1:19:02 - (C): South Texas roots are showing right now.

1:19:04 - (Charles Austin): That helps me. Yeah, that helps me out a lot.

1:19:08 - (C): It's been an amazing career and quite a journey. Three olympic games and gold medals and national championships, world championships. Now, business success.

1:19:18 - (Toby Brooks): What for Charles Austin remains undone right now.

1:19:24 - (Charles Austin): The goal is to be more successful in my entrepreneurial life than I was in my athletic life. Athletics, high jump. That was easy for me. I knew in my heart and in my soul what I could accomplish. I know what God, the talent that I was blessed with that God gave me. So that was just a matter of me focusing. I didn't have a team. I didn't have all these sponsors, but it was still. It was just about me focusing and taking time out to learn and become better student and learning, and that's in focus.

1:20:07 - (Charles Austin): But this entrepreneurial thing, I'm in a salesman. This is tough. This is really hard. And it's challenging. It's frustrating. But I'm learning. I'm learning of something that I didn't know if I would ever be presented with. But it's cool. It's just so much fun. It's stressful to create something, be it opening up a sports performance center. Now the total bodyboard. Try to get those successful. It's a challenge.

1:20:52 - (Charles Austin): In your head, you're like, man, I got this great product, but that's you. Now you got to convince the masses. You need to buy this thing. Becoming a better salesman. I'm one of those. I'm an introvert. I like being alone. I don't like being around a lot of people. My first motivational speech after I won world championships in 91 was at an elementary school, 28 kids and four teachers, and I fainted. I was so nerd. When I go and do speeches, still to this day, my wife goes with me.

1:21:27 - (Charles Austin): And while I'm talking, she has to be somewhere where once I start getting a little Charles, I'll look at her and I can get back. I move her through it a lot easier. So now I'm having to talk to a lot of people all the time, and I'm having to sail and I'm having to learn about marketing. I'm having to learn how business works. And that's fun. It's fun. It's stretchful, but it's a challenge. It's another way to compete.

1:22:02 - (Charles Austin): I like man because that competitor never dies. So this has been a blessing to be able to compete in a different arena now. Yeah. Love it.

1:22:14 - (C): I skipped over the bullet point in my notes. You're also the author of head games, life's greatest Challenge. I ordered a copy earlier today when I saw that. Congrats on that, Charles. It's been fantastic. I'm really thankful for your time. I know you're a busy guy and I don't take this lightly. I sincerely appreciate you stopping by the show and sharing your story.

1:22:33 - (Charles Austin): Thanks, man. I really enjoyed it and I appreciate you wanting me to be on. I'm Charles Austin, 1996 Olympiad gold medalist, Olympiad record holder, and I'm undone.

1:22:53 - (Toby Brooks): I'm incredibly thankful to Charles for taking the time to meet with me, and I hope you enjoyed his story of success, high achievement, and his relentless pursuit.

1:23:01 - (C): Of getting better every day.

1:23:03 - (Toby Brooks): For more info on today's episode, be sure to check it out on the web. Simply go to undonepodcast.com ep 79 to see the notes, links and images related to today's guest, Charles Austin. I know there are great stories out there to be told and I'm always on the lookout. So if you or someone you know has a story that we can all be inspired by, tell me about it. Simply surf on over to undonepodcast.com. Click the Contact tab in the top menu and drop me a note.

1:23:31 - (C): Coming up, I've got some incredible new.

1:23:32 - (Toby Brooks): Guests, including fitness influencer Jody Dolo, entrepreneur Jeff Horn, and elite endurance athlete turned author Patrick Holcomb. So stay tuned. This and more coming up on becoming undone. Becoming Undone is a nitro hype creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for becoming undone, contact me@undonepodcast.com

1:24:06 - (Toby Brooks): follow the show on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn at becoming Undone Pod and follow me at Tobyjbrooks on X Instagram and TikTok. Check out my link tree at Linktr ee backslash tobyjbrooks. Listen, subscribe and leave me a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Till next time, everybody. Keep getting better.