The Rise of a History Maker | Crushed: The Kat Matthews Story | Episode 1

Who knows what her future brings. She might be the toughest woman in the entire field. Loves to be that underdog. And she is absolutely lethal. She just continues to impress. Has had just an incredible season, no question about it. As Kat Matthews from the Euro team will cross the line. She puts a lot of effort in. She's definitely a fierce competitor. About to see the first sub-8 time from any woman in history. She's fast. I would say she's a threat. She's just getting started. Come across the line in an incredible sub-8 time. 7.31.57. Kat Matthews has made history. Kat Matthews will send a message to everyone in long distance and to the world that it is possible to defy the impossible. This is Montgomery County 911. Yes, he's down. Please hurry. Father, are you there? I was a really active kid at school. I did loads of team sports. Played hockey every weekend. That was my social life as a kid as well. It's always been sports and friends through school. I took a gap year when travelling. I went to Australia and New Zealand and ate a load of food and drank a lot of water. And came back and realised that I needed to get a grip on myself. I sought my health out a little bit before I went to university where I had planned to study physiotherapy. I would like a road bike at university to get around. So that was my introduction into cycling. Then I had a bike at uni where I think we bought it from the bike shop for 200 quid or something. Out the other side of uni I worked. And then it was after that I joined the army as a physio. And that's where my first job was at Headley Court, which is a big rehab centre. Where there was a swimming pool, loads of fitness suites. And again I was just like, OK, now I'm in somewhere, settled, really cool job. Like dream job. Now what else can I do? And I think I'm always searching for like, OK, what's next, what's next? And getting onto the Watt bikes and doing some swimming was a thing that I was like, this is cool and I can go and try a triathlon. That's where I started triathlon. And I just rocked up and gave it a go. I was still on this bike that I'd bought for like 200 quid from the bike shop. I sort of have come through the entire sport at all the distances. I'd only ever done a standard distance at that point. The reason Mark and I met is because I had seen that the army did a training camp in Cyprus for triathlon. One of the reasons why I started doing triathlon was I thought, oh sweet, I can get two weeks out of work to go and do a training camp in Cyprus. And so I got good enough just so I could go on this training camp and that's how I met Mark. And we first met, I was asking for phone numbers at the airport to make a WhatsApp group. And apparently I walked up to her and said, what's your number? And she gave me her number and I just walked off and didn't say anything else. And so I met him when I was like rubbish. Like I was in the slowest group on this 16 kilo bike. Crap bike. It was like some 1995 Giant or something. And I had absolutely no idea. No clue, no kit, nothing. And her bike broke on the flight and I stayed up to fix her bike overnight. She was clearly driven, like she was clearly very, very, very talented. She was brand new to the sport and already like outriding most people going. And I liked her obviously. Thoughtful, intelligent. She really, those two things go together really well in that she thinks about everything she's doing. Driven, obviously. Being very bright and knowing what you want together. Like you can be balanced and successful. To me, the year starts at the end of 2021. I had a really good block of training. Had a really good start to the season. Everything was like, whoa. And I remember joking with my coach Bjorn Giesemann. Like, I think my power meter must be wrong. I'm getting such great training value numbers that I don't believe it. Kat is coached by me since beginning 2020. As an athlete, I would say absolutely inspiring. I think the most inspirational part of Kat is her mindset. So Kat deals with pressure really quite well. So actual high level pressure that you and me would think would be the worst pressure, Kat's actually pretty good with. If we take a look back on the 22 season, there was success. It was a great year. She's kicked off in Lanzarote with the best data she's ever put out. The bike numbers there were pretty disgusting. You could see that she, yeah, just put on a different mindset. And she won that. Outriding Anne Haag by six minutes was gold dust, right? We're going to roll into St. George. St. George, I actually led this swim pack for the first time. I looked around, I was like, whoa, I'm with Daniela. Anne was there as well, again, a bit annoyed. Like, I thought that we'd be in front. The realisation that this was the world champs, I felt really great on the bike, like immediately. It was like a fun training ride. She was out on the run already and Mark was telling me that she's struggling a lot. My glute had started hurting. It started hurting so bad that I was actually worried that I wouldn't be able to run. Like, it was like damaging, hurting. She was struggling and it looked like Anne Haag was going to make the move up to second place. I said to Mark, like, you know what? Anne Haag's going to make the move up to second place. I said to Mark, like, I'm not doing so well. He was like, dead set, DNF done. Like, that was it. You could see that she put on a different situation and it was clear to her that she needs to go full gas now to save the second place. The reason I was there was because it's the world champs and I'm still in a podium position. Nothing else matters. Just, like, you're still fighting for podium in the world champs. Like, that was just, like, constant in my mind. Did quite well, got second standing. And then she had a month to turn around before sub-eight. I think Kat Matthews loves to be that underdog. She didn't get a selection for the sub-eight hour race until the last minute when there was an injury. So, Nicola, you chose heads, correct? It'll be tails for you. Longevity is one of the greatest factors you can have in sport because if you can be at the top of the game for 10, 15, and in Nicola Spiric's case, 20 plus years, that's absolutely phenomenal. She's done it all. It's tails. So, we'll stay on the left. Okay. Kat Matthews is really hungry and one of those competitive athletes doesn't come in with big, kind of, you know, bragging rights, but she gets the job done on a regular basis and she is absolutely lethal when she gets onto the bike course. Her performance curve in the last year was really incredible. I remember, like, saying after the race, I felt like I had a good race. I mean, in the end, I was super fit and she came pretty close that she got second. She will definitely, she's very motivated. Got into sub-8 knowing it was four weeks after St. George. And fatigue-wise, like, I knew that that was going to be, like, I had to enjoy the success because I've been working for it for six months. Do not go anywhere. You are about to see the first sub-8 time from any woman in history. Robust, powerful, fast. And Robbie, as we look back on Kat's race, I mean, just superb. Fought off Nicola Spirig, one of her idols in the sport, and did the job. Then she goes there and wins the entire thing with the fastest time we've ever seen a woman go on the course. And they're there, they're ecstatic. Look at the pacing team on the corner. Yes. Here she goes. Kat Matthews will send a message to everyone in long distance and to the world that it is possible to defy the impossible and come across the line in an incredible sub-8 time. 7.31.57. Kat Matthews has made history. What a moment for the Brit. 27.49am Hello? Yes, this is 9-1-1. We got a call from your number. Do you have an emergency? Yeah, I'm sure people are calling it in right now. Somebody got hit by a bicycle on their way to Egypt. Okay, are you with the patient? Yeah, there's too many people on their phone, too. Okay, give me one second. I'm going to add on EMS just in case, since you are there with the patient, in case they need any information, okay? Yes, ma'am.