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The Price You Pay
Host Natalie Cook, Olympic gold medalist and five-time Olympian, shares the inspiring and untold stories of athletes who face financial obstacles in their pursuit of becoming Olympian's and Paralympian’s.
Discover the sacrifices, challenges, and unwavering determination behind their pursuit of greatness.
Be inspired by their resilience and determination to turn their dreams into reality.
The Price You Pay
13: Molly McGill's BMX to Track Cycling Journey
Today, we sit down with the ultimate “Bike athlete” Molly McGill. Ranked #2 in the world in BMX at age 15, she is now 22yrs old on the Australian Women’s Track Cycling team training for the World Championships in Denmark this October.
Hailing from Brisbane, Qld, Molly remembers that even at 5yrs old, she would ride up and down her big bitumen driveway all day,” which drew her to a local “come and try” session that locked her in to a BMX career that saw her training 6-days of week on her way to qualifying for Worlds back in 2016.
But if it wasn’t for the NextGen scholarship provided by five-time world champion and London 2012 Olympian Caroline Buchanan, she never would have been able to make the trip to Columbia.
It’s pretty amazing to see athlete’s like Caroline giving back and now Nat Cook’s fundraising efforts that provide grants for young athletes like Molly, who is now pursuing her Olympic dream in track cycling.
Molly’s Mom Kate and Dad David are joining the conversation today which is an excellent demonstration of the support they’ve given her throughout her athletic pursuits.
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My name is TalikaT Clancy and I'm a proud Wiliwili woman, and I wish to acknowledge the land on which the Price you Pay podcast is being recorded Minnijin Country. We pay homage to the tradition of storytelling when we share athlete journeys and we extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Nat Cook:I'm Nat Cook, five-time Olympian and gold medalist. Welcome to season two of the Price you Pay podcast, where we explore the hidden costs and barriers young athletes face in their pursuit of sporting greatness. Come with us as we delve into the lives of young athletes and their families to better understand what it truly takes to reach their dreams.
Sarah Maxwell :Today we sit down with the ultimate bike athlete, molly McGill, ranked number two in the world in BMX at age 15.
Sarah Maxwell :She is now 22 years old and on the Australian women's track cycling team training for the world championships in Denmark this October.
Sarah Maxwell :Hailing from Brisbane, queensland, Molly remembers that even at five years old, she would ride up and down her big bitumen driveway all day, which drew her to a local come and try session that locked her in to a BMX career that saw her training six days a week on her way to qualifying for the Worlds back in 2016.
Sarah Maxwell :But if it wasn't for the next-gen scholarship provided by five-time world champion and London 2012 Olympian, caroline Buchanan, she never would have been able to make that trip to Columbia, and I hear that Molly's really into traveling, especially some up and downs that she likes at the theme park. So I'm glad she got to go to Columbia and many more countries and I thought it was really amazing to see athletes like Caroline giving back and now Nat Cook's fundraising efforts that provide grants for young athletes like Molly pursuing those Olympic dreams in track cycling now. So Molly's mom, kate, and Dave David are joining the conversation today with an excellent representation of what I see as a support that they've given you, molly, throughout your athletic pursuit. So welcome to all of you, thank you.
Sarah Maxwell :All right. So are you OK, dad, that the first question goes to Molly? Because, dad, before we press the button, dad was eager. Okay, but Molly's going first, dad, because it's kind of about her, right.
Dad David McGill:I'll settle down a bit now.
Sarah Maxwell :Okay, dad's settled because you get the second question, David. All right, so I really want to explore this transition from world BMX rider to track cycling, but I all I often think it's more interesting to start with who you are today. What's your training like? So tell us a little bit about this forearm elbow injury and how you're recovering and doing your rehab, Molly?
Molly McGill:Yeah, so last year in May I was having some issues with my forearm. At first it was kind of just a see how it goes kind of thing. I was heading to America for four weeks just before this injury kind of came on. So we had to quickly sort out and figure out what it was. It originally just started off as like a bone stress injury, you know, in the bone. They thought it was a bit bit of a unique one and they weren't too sure where this had come from. So, um, yeah, just gave it some rest time.
Molly McGill:I still went away to America and race, but obviously just um kept it minimal with when I didn't have to, you know, overdo what I didn't. It was just I was specifically there just to race. And yeah, I eventually, when we come home, I kind of was still dealing with these issues. I had time off, I was resting. Eventually the stress, the bone stress, kind of healed itself and I was still getting symptoms. So again they were like like what's going on? It was a bit of an odd one, um, but we kind of worked out that it was more to do with the nerves in my forearm. Um, I'm obviously the starter. I'm a starter um, in the team sprints, so I do a lot of gate starts and, yeah, I think it kind of was just an injury that came from that a bit of overuse, a lot of things that were kind of unknown really, and it was, yeah, more something we just picked up.
Sarah Maxwell :So yeah, pretty much so that's a good opportunity to quickly explain track cycling. When you say gate starter, I just all of a sudden thought can you explain? Do you mean that you actually had contact with the gate? Can you explain? Do you mean that you actually had contact with the gate? Can you explain track?
Molly McGill:cycling in a um track cycling gate start, basically your bike goes into the gate and like two kind of calipers kind of pinch the back tire, um the wheel, sorry, and um, yeah, you get the countdown and then it releases you and then I have two girls above me on the track who come out at the same time but they're handheld like from a coach or someone, so the coach just lets them go where I come out of the gate. So I think anyone that is a starter would know how much I think you don't really realise until you are in that position how much force you're actually generating through your upper body and that kind of thing. So yeah, it can be quite tough on the body and it's quite an exhausting actual effort to do. So yeah, I think it just kind of came from there really, and we worked out that it was the nerves that were going on and it was a bit of a nerve entrapment and some compartment stuff happening which was a little bit hard to diagnose because you can't necessarily look at a nerve on a scan.
Molly McGill:I mean, I had MRI CTs, I had cortisone injection and everything kind of. We couldn't really work out what it was, but yeah, so it was more just symptomatic and I ended up seeing a surgeon in Brisbane and, yeah, I pretty much just had to wait it out. I had Nations Cup in Adelaide in February and then I had Oceania Championships in New Zealand in February and they were kind of key events for me to race at, so I had to just put it off until then. And then, yeah, pretty much once I got home from New Zealand it was um, I had to get surgery then so I could give myself enough time between now and october to um, give myself the best chance to, yeah, hopefully qualify for the world championships later this year sorry, david, I have more questions for her now.
Sarah Maxwell :You're gonna have to wait. It's too much for me because I have this visual molly of you like a bull at the gate and trying to picture you taking time off to rest. So molly, how does the bull go when she's been told she had to rest?
Molly McGill:yeah, I think it. For me it's felt like a really long journey because it was may last year and I feel like since then I haven't properly been able to execute, execute a full training like program, because I've had to manage it in the gym and manage it at the track, so I haven't actually had the chance to like fully commit to a full training block for a long time. So it has been tough. Um, I mean, I've definitely taken away some important things from it and, um, I mean, that's just what you have to do at the end of the day. It's super important and it's never going to fix itself without time.
Molly McGill:So, but yeah, after surgery it was a little bit hard. I didn't think that it would really affect me too much mentally because, you know, I knew that it was something that I had to get done. And then I actually had surgery on the 1st of March, which was when our national championships were also happening. So I was getting my surgery done, sitting at home watching it on the tv, and part of me was a little bit like, oh no, like I feel like I'm behind the eight ball now and like I've got such a long way to go. So that was a little bit tough, but, um, everything seems to be moving really well at the moment now. So, um, yeah, it's more just about easing back into things and just doing everything properly and, yeah, just putting in those one percenters and making sure it all works out.
Kate McGill:So yeah, Just to add, she drove us crazy. I'm bored. I'm bored, okay.
Sarah Maxwell :I felt it. I just felt that that period was going to be a growth experience for Molly. Going to be a growth experience for Molly, but I did. I was actually reflecting on how I'm so glad I asked you about that because, as a 22 year old, I'm seeing how wisdom and experience comes in and how different that is from the eight year old that we talked about before pressing the button, the eight year old who won a world championship and almost feels like did I do that, you know? And now having to have this maturity and training and hold back, and all the different things that you're going through are what going to make you know, are what going to make you into these next steps. So, dad, come on, it's your time. I want to know about toddler Molly and her sporty ways, like how did she even end up in BMX? Because it sounds like she was good at a lot of sports um yeah, but it's so long ago.
Dad David McGill:But, um, yeah, she tried a lot of sports from a young age. Um, I suppose, with my wife and I are both pretty sporty and into our sports and that and we were younger and that. So when you have kids, it's like, oh yeah, I'm gonna pretty sporty and into our sports and that and we were younger and that. So when you have kids, it's like, oh yeah, I'm going to get the kids into sport and they really can't do anything for the first five years or so of their life. So I was just waiting for this five years to pass and then planning it and so, yeah, once she got to five, I tried little athletics, gymnastics, tennis, just she had a go at everything. And she had one of her older cousins was into dancing, so we took her to dancing. That lasted about 17 minutes.
Sarah Maxwell :I was going to say I just can't imagine that one.
Dad David McGill:Bunged on a turn and tears and everything, and so that was the end of that career. And we were living on acreage at the time and we had a really long bitumen driveway and Molly was always out on the bike just riding the bike and, you know, trying to do wheelies, and that I was just driving around one day and I saw a sign for the local come and try day at the local BMX club. So I said to Kate oh, let's give her a go, she likes riding the bike and stuff. So we took her down there and she was just on a probably a pink Barbie bike from Kmart. So we turned up there, went down the start hill and over the first jump and she went straight over the handlebars.
Dad David McGill:I think that's the start of a lot of kids' careers. But she came back up to us and she was. She was like I don't want to do this anymore. But by the end of the day we'd bought her a proper race bike and just a cheap secondhand one that someone happened to be selling there and yeah, and it just started from there. And that was when she was six.
Dad David McGill:So she just did a few local race meets and then they announced that the world titles were going to be in Adelaide and she was old enough to race them. So we took her there and she was successful there and she just showed a lot of eagerness, I suppose, and um to to keep going with it. So we did everything we could for her. We sort of said to her you know, as long as you keep working hard, we'll give you every opportunity we can. I feel like if, if you find something that your kids like in sport or something you I think you need to give them every opportunity to be successful, so to really enjoy it, um, so, yeah, so we put a lot of time into it when she was younger and she just kept improving and improving and um, yeah, the older you got, the more events there were to go to and yeah, so it was a very busy year upbringing well, I think a lot of careers probably died on a barbie kmart bike so and possibly your resilience shone through once you got through that, um.
Sarah Maxwell :So in that same vein, kate, as we're starting to get this picture of molly growing up and all that was put into it, and how athletic and sporty you all were as a family, what was it like when, all of a sudden, this sporty girl, though, is going to be traveling the world for BMX like she's young. So how do you even manage that as a family?
Kate McGill:I think, probably in the beginning, um, we were just excited because we had an opportunity to, you know, give Molly um a chance to show her wares as well as see the world, um, and I don't think at that point we really knew where we'd end up. So, you know, you go to your first event, um, interstate or internationally, think, oh, this is great. But here we are, she's 22 and but she's got more countries on a passport than you know anyone. I know her age, you know. So it felt normal to a degree, not in the beginning, but it was just this really gradual transition and it became normal to travel and we did travel with her, admittedly, oh, you did okay.
Kate McGill:Early on, so it probably wasn't so scary. She got to an age where only one of us would travel with her. She was a bit older, more about finances than anything else.
Sarah Maxwell :I was going to ask you how did you decide that Kate, when she went to Columbia, for example, getting that scholarship, seemed to really help? How did you guys decide, as a family, who was going to travel with her, even financially?
Kate McGill:I don't really know. I used to say more often than not for David to go, purely because when you take bikes overseas you have to pull them apart and stuff like that. And while Molly was reasonably good at it, she was still young there was always people in the BMX community that would help, so you weren't ever stuck. But I just felt more confident with David going with her to help with bikes and if you know, she got a flat tyre and all that sort of stuff. He could help her in that.
Kate McGill:And they've always had a really close relationship. So they were very good when they, you know, talked about the sport or she came back upset or anything happened. You know she was really good at communicating that to him as well. So you know, I was happy to sometimes forego that, and Molly and I did do one trip together to Oklahoma. Okay. Grand Nationals, Okay. So yeah, it was just whatever was happening at the time. We just sort of made it. Yeah, Made it work.
Sarah Maxwell :Yeah. So, molly, you've had this really interesting experience, having been really young. Like at age eight, there's a World Championships in Adelaide. You go there, you know not even having ridden your bike up and down the bitumen that that many years yet, and then you win a silver medal at the world at 15. Tell me the difference in how that first world championship win was and then this next world championships at 15 um, yeah, I think there was a huge difference.
Molly McGill:I mean, when I was eight years old and I went to a world championships, like I didn't even really understand the like how big of a deal that was, I think, and in Adelaide, and I couldn't even understand that Adelaide was just a different state, like I remember thinking, oh, we must be in a different country or something like I didn't even, I didn't, I didn't understand.
Molly McGill:And I think when I was eight years old, basically at a world championships, you go out the back and all the riders are in an area where only riders can go. So I was eight years old, my parents dropped me off to this like back staging area and I didn't know a single person. I was in this pit with a couple adults from Australia that looked after us and other kids and and I was just like, okay, this is a bit daunting, I guess it was really. I was like what is even going on? And mum and dad couldn't even come and see me. So I just I think I almost missed my first race. Like I was like eight years old, had no idea really what was happening.
Dad David McGill:We're late.
Sarah Maxwell :Is that? Did that become a thing? Did you get being late? Is that normal?
Dad David McGill:yeah, yeah, it was for david, it's normal okay you're a new okay, fair
Molly McGill:enough, um, and so, yeah, I just I got through the motos, I got through the semi-final and I was in the final, and that was just before I went up.
Molly McGill:I remember mum and dad were over at this like big fence that had a couple of cracks through it, and they're yelling out to me Molly, molly, and I'm like what the heck? I went over there and I think dad's word of advice was just just go for it. And it was the first time that, uh, like a world championships had like a bigger start hill. So a lot of kids were like coming down this start hill and crashing on the first jump, like it was common. Like every second race there were just kids crashing and dad said to me if anything happens, if anyone crashes, don't look, just keep going. And so it was actually funny because if you watch the video, I come out of lane two and, um, one of the New Zealand girls who's one of my good friends to this day, bailey, she actually came out and crashed on the first jump and I've just looked straight over at her and had the biggest look didn't listen to dad.
Sarah Maxwell :Good job.
Molly McGill:I totally forgot that part. And then I was like looked forward and kept going and I was, I was in front and I was just I remember being eight years old and walking to myself and being like, okay, calm down, calm. Because I was so just like, oh my god, I'm winning. I'm winning, kind of, and I was like calm down, like you need to get through this race. I didn't want to get too excited and make any kind of mistake, so I just, yeah, um, that's amazing to hear you you're remembering of that.
Sarah Maxwell :Yeah.
Molly McGill:I specifically remember the race and how it went and that. So I think, yeah, to answer your question, the difference like I had no expectations as an eight-year-old when a world championship and then, yeah, when I was 16 years old or 15 years old in Colombia, um, completely different, like having such a successful BMX career and in between that time I had six national championships under my belt, so the pressure was was it was completely different and there was people that I felt like I kind of owed a good um, a good result to and to myself as well.
Molly McGill:But you know family and people that have supported me like, yeah, it's completely different feeling yeah, it's interesting how you hear the.
Sarah Maxwell :I'm just real, I didn't even connect my daughter being eight. Now it's like just dropping how incredible. That is even more so now. But then the 15 year old who feels, like you say, the weight of expectation or wanting to fulfill for others and then to nail it, and with a silver, yeah, but with that carry it a little further, because you then shared with me that you kind of have this like olympic dream. You don't, kind of you have this olympic dream and yet you're not allowed to compete at the olympics till you're 18. So how does that feel as a 15, 16 year old having not even being able to go to the olympics at that time of being so successful?
Molly McGill:yeah, I think, um, at that age, obviously, olympics is always the dream there's obviously riders in the elite category that, well, you know, had those positions, had those spots that are obviously better than you. You know, um, age racing and elite racing is completely different, completely different start hills and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, it's just that whole next step up, um, but I mean, yeah, it was always something that I wanted to do, like from from, since I can remember it was every time at school I was asked what do you want to be when you grow up?
Sarah Maxwell :it was always, it was always an Olympian so, yeah and so, with that sort of talk, me through the transition. So how do you, having done it for so long, how do you, having done it for so long, how do you decide to retire? I don't know if you use that language, but retire from it at age what? 17? Did you finish 17,? Yep, okay, so you retired at 17. What next? Did you still have the Olympic dream floating around? And how do you end up at track cycling?
Molly McGill:Yeah. So I think for a little bit towards the end of my BMX career, I was kind of just a little bit exhausted, um, I'd done a lot in my 10, 11 years of racing. So, um, and I think I just maybe lost that passion a little bit and I wanted to try something else. I felt like a lot of my life was obviously dedicated to BMX and growing up I obviously um had to miss out on, you know, just kid things like going to birthday parties and and but even doing other sports with school and stuff like that I, because I would make a team for touch football or rugby league or something like that and I'd get, you know, to that next level. And then I couldn't go because I had BMX commitments so.
Molly McGill:I think I got to a point where I just wanted to, you know, see what else was out there for me and, um, my, this family we're um big NRL supporters. So I really wanted to have a go at rugby league. Something that I was really interested in at this time when I was finishing up BMX was when the women's NRL was starting up, so it was kind of the perfect time, if that was what I wanted to do, to give it a go. So, yeah, once I decided that I was going to step away from BMX, I went over to rugby league and I played that for two or three years. This was during COVID and all that kind of stuff.
Molly McGill:I had a lot of setbacks when I went over to rugby league. Looking back on it now, I had a lot of injury, I had a lot of just things that didn't go my way. I started training at West Brisbane with like the A grade women's team and I did a full pre-season with them, played the first trial game of the season you know, made the A grade team as a 17 year old and then they decided to change the rule the first week of the competition that you had to be 18 years old to to play an a grade competition. So that was just one of the first setbacks. So I had to go back and just play like junior rugby league and play under 18s with the girls, um, and then I had a couple injuries foot injuries, knee injuries, um, covid happened and, yeah, I eventually found my way at Burley Bears, um, and ended up playing a season out with them, which I really enjoyed and I liked.
Molly McGill:I played the full season out with the team. And then in the last game of the season I got pretty injured. I got absolutely smacked by one of the other forwards from the other team and I ended up having like a grade two or grade three cork in my thigh, which I think to this day was probably the most painful injury I've ever had. Yeah, right, so I had broken my finger the week before and that was all taped up and yeah, and then. So I basically sat out for the semi-final and the grand final with Burleigh, even though I'd played all year. The girls ended up winning, which was really good.
Molly McGill:But I didn't actually get a run on the field that day, which was quite disappointing. But I just felt like there were so many setbacks in football and I don't know, maybe that was, you know, my sign from the universe that this is the kind of thing. But I definitely had full intention to keep playing with rugby league until the Tokyo Olympics happened. It was out of season and I remember watching it and thinking, you know, I think it just brought back that passion for that Olympic dream and obviously the Olympic sport. Um, and I just said to mum and dad you know, I really I miss that. That's what I, that's always what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. And yeah, we just kind of had a conversation about whether or not I'd go back to BMX or try something new. And, yeah, the idea of cycling just came up and everything just fell into place from there.
Sarah Maxwell :I think we had the conversation and that weekend I went to like a come and try day at cycling, cycling and yeah, it just went on from there, really, so interesting to hear how you had to go through that to discover that root desire around the olympics. Do you remember what or who you saw? Why this olympic dream um?
Molly McGill:I think, just as a kid that was, that was just like the top of the sport, you know, if you were at the olympics. I think, just as a kid, that was just like the top of the sport, you know, if you were at the Olympics I always just thought, you know, that's just the coolest thing ever.
Sarah Maxwell :Did you see someone Like did you know Caroline, or what happened?
Molly McGill:Yeah, I always knew of Caroline before she actually kind of came into my world and supported me on a whole other level, like I obviously knew of Caroline and I was just a big fan of the Olympics. I think us as a family just we love the Olympics and and that, and even seeing Anamir's and the cycling and and all those kind of things, it was, yeah, really inspiring and I can't. I can't remember a specific moment, but I do know that it was something that I looked forward to every four years and yeah, it was just that young looked forward to every four years.
Dad David McGill:And yeah, it was just yeah. I'm sure that young fellow that won the Logan Awards with you.
Molly McGill:Oh yeah, that's right.
Dad David McGill:You realise that it's not that far away really, At the.
Molly McGill:Tokyo Olympics. One of the. He's a decathlete, his name's Ashley Maloney. He got bronze at the last Olympics and only a couple of years before that, him and I both won an award together at the Logan Sports Awards. He won the men, I won the women, and to see him a couple of years later getting a bronze medal was kind of like a moment of like that could be me.
Sarah Maxwell :Yeah, it's close, yeah, super close.
Molly McGill:So, yeah, that was probably the main thing. That kind of brought back that passion where I was like, yeah, this is what I want to do.
Sarah Maxwell :And I can hear how you were sort of like baked in the Olympic dream. You know the whole family really loves it too. So and then, like you say, having somebody that you know that close is really impactful is really impactful. Yeah, and in terms of closeness, kate, as her mom, what did you observe as she was navigating, like she she mentioned being maybe a bit tired and exhausted around BMX and this whole transition and change what, what? Did you kind of observe in your daughter um.
Kate McGill:So I guess she had such a full-on childhood. She was a pretty serious kid really for her age and she did love BMX, but she was busy, she was very busy and I guess the older she got it was very up and down so she had lots of success. So in those times great highs, you know, because she was achieving, doing well. But you know, when there's a bit of a lull between comp and it's just the day-in, day-out training, it was hard. Like she used to finish school I'd take her straight from home. She trained with a coach on the Gold Coast, so that's a fair drive from home. She trained with a coach on the Gold Coast, so that's a fair drive from home. That was a couple of times, two to three times a week. So she was doing homework in the car. It took her dinner and I used to heat it up in the canteen at the track so that she could eat on the way home and then she'd be asleep by the time we got in the door. So it was wow and david went and worked in the mines for three years, oh wow, which was really hard on him because he's so family orientated and he hated it, but he did. That was a sacrifice to help um, but it meant a little bit of a single mom there for a bit. Um and you know, jack obviously had commitments as well. He did footy and different things, you know, during his time.
Kate McGill:So it was busy. It was a busy childhood, so I think it had. It had its highs and lows but you know, it was a real. I think she looks back on her childhood as great Like it was fun, it was authentic. But I could definitely tell as she got into those teen years she went through stages of I don't know if this is what I want to do, and then she'd be like I'm okay, and so I could feel like that was coming um. At some point. As she was getting a little bit older, I thought, and she spoke to us a couple of times about it and we kept saying, well, it's up to you and you know you have to be happy with it. And then you know she changed mine because she won something the week after or whatever. So she loved like.
Kate McGill:She loved winning like she's that you know she changed mine because she won something the week after or whatever, so she loved like she loved winning, like she's that you know.
Sarah Maxwell :So like yeah got it. It's like you can't get away from yeah the high of winning.
Kate McGill:So, yeah, probably at that point, you know, we just encouraged her to do what she thought was right for her because you know, as parents, you want them. She was so successful and you were like, oh, I hope she's doing the right thing. You know, as parents, you want them. She was so successful and you were like, oh, I hope she's doing the right thing. You know, is she throwing this career away? But there was no point, you know, if she was not happy and not loving it and she'd stop loving it.
Sarah Maxwell :So we had to just, we support you, no matter what Good job, parents, because sometimes it is hard to see because you're exactly right, you don't want it to be some whimsical decision and that you might spread and all these kind of worries. But way to support her, because sometimes I mean, I'm sure you all couldn't have really scripted this as much as people like us think, oh, it's a bike's a bike. I, I'm getting that. A bike is not a bike. These just like Barbiebie bike. It's not a bmx bike and a track cycling bike. Is it quite different, molly? Yeah, yeah, it's just. Even after you corked that leg, did that affect? Like I'm like this is a very important part of your body, is it not? With track cycling your quads, it took me a while to recover from that.
Molly McGill:Like it was, it was pretty painful, but, um, I mean, I've had no issues with it now, thankfully so yeah.
Sarah Maxwell :So, dad, you're back in david, so we're talking financially now that we've just discovered, you know, three years at the mines, like how difficult that would have been for you and the family. Um, how has the the journey been different with track cycling versus bmx? And now that molly's older, how does the financial burden work? How does it go in your family? How's this going?
Dad David McGill:um, I think with bmx, I think the big, the major difference between them is bmx. She was a junior and now she's sort of stepped up into the elite ranks. There's a little bit more support in that with the track cycling, but as a junior in the BMX it was all just mum and dad funded 100%. And, like I said earlier, we made the decision to support Molly with. As long as she worked hard, we would support her as much as we can, give her as many opportunities as we could.
Dad David McGill:So that was the decision that we made as a family. It was probably a bigger sacrifice than what we thought because she just kept going and going, but in saying that I wouldn't have it any other way. It was like a great upbringing as a family and I think the lessons that you learn from sport and I think the lessons that you learn from sport, like you know, some people are we're a sporting family, so you know we learn a lot of our lessons from sport. Some people, as Molly said, some people are book families and we're not that.
Sarah Maxwell :They could go to book. Week we're in Columbia.
Dad David McGill:Yeah. So we're just yeah, yeah, learn a lot of lessons from sport and we wouldn't have had it any other way and, um, yeah, it was tough at times and definitely those three years working away it was just awful, which is what you do. It's done now and I feel like all those sacrifices we all made as a family, it's's sort of Molly's getting the rewards from that, but yeah, so she was lucky enough to get into the QAS, which they obviously fund her a lot with equipment and coaching and gym and all that. So you know we don't really have that burden anymore, but there's still all the with her cycling and training and that she doesn't really have the ability to work all the time and you know how much an athlete eats. That's a major burden on her at the moment.
Sarah Maxwell :Yeah, that's right. And it's like it's sprint. Is it sprint? Like it's a sprint? Yeah, power.
Dad David McGill:Yeah, and then there's just other little things that pop up and that, and there's still nominations for races and stuff like that. And then when she goes away, there's money for her to eat over there. Sure, she's just had this surgery which we've helped to pay for the surgery and and stuff like that. So yeah, I think, yeah, the major difference is one's sort of a junior sport, and now now she's sort of stepped up to that level which is better free yeah, financially a little a bit better, so yeah, and on that molly, what is, where does it sit?
Sarah Maxwell :winning, being a recipient of the green and gold grant, like where did that come into your journey? You know, like you say a little, there's seems like more support, more infrastructure around you with track cycling, what? Where do you need cash these days and how did that grant work for you?
Molly McGill:Yeah, I think the grant came at a really good time for me. I'm still fairly new to track cycling even today. I only started in 2022. So I was obviously, you know, the cycling community is great. They've been great to me since I started and a lot of borrowed things and hand-me-down things and that really to get me started.
Molly McGill:The QAS obviously support me a lot with my training and that. But I was still, you know, riding a lot of the stuff that was supplied by the QAS, which is just your basic kind of wheels and all those kind of things for training. More specifically, so, yeah, the grant came at a really good time for me and it was was able to help me, um, get more equipment and stuff like that that I was, you know, borrowing at the time really. So I got myself a good set of wheels for training and, um, new race shoes and new road shoes. I was at the time I was paying off a road bike. I just I had a old, like an old dodgy road bike that I'd kind of just been getting me through when I first started. So it kind of got to a point where I needed a better one. So I was, yeah, every fortnight when I was getting paid, I was putting money on a road bike and paying it off bit by bit, and mum and dad were helping me with that as well.
Sarah Maxwell :But then yeah, so once that grant came along, that kind of helped speed up the process a little bit more for me. So, yeah, it was, it was really great, yeah. Yeah, that's a good thing. That you're reminding us of is, again, it's ironic and jokey that we started with the Kmart bike, but equipment quality makes a massive difference, you know, depending on what sport you're in, but most sports with a piece of equipment, it really matters, it makes a huge difference. So, yeah, good call bringing that up.
Sarah Maxwell :And I don't know if a lot of people realize that things are on loan and which is great, but they need to be paid off, just like a house. You know they, there is money to be paid out there. So thank you for sharing that. And, molly, I just want you to sort of take us home, because it's been a really enlightening conversation with you all. So thank you, cause you've been in the journey for a long time and there's still a dream you know like, and I know that the cycling, like Australian women's cycling, is in a rebuilding phase and so you may be getting inspired by Paris. But talk me through where your vision is and what you would, what that little girl still wants for the next Olympics. Talk to me.
Molly McGill:Yeah. So I think between now and then, as a team of young women, I think our goal is to, you know, be racing at all of the major events there's just. The rest of our Australian team are great, they're doing awesome. The men, the endurance riders, they're getting sent everywhere. So it feels like to us that that's kind of where we want to be. We want to be going to the Nations Cups, we want to be going to the World Championships. You know we want to be going to the Nations Cups. We want to be going to the World Championships. You know we want to be going to the next Commonwealth Games. Fingers crossed all goes well there. But, yeah, definitely Los Angeles. I think between now and then, there's more than enough time for the Australian women to rebuild and be back at the top of the track cycling. But yeah, I think it's really exciting and we're in a great position now with our coach, carly McCulloch, and all the support that we have around us to make that happen. So, yeah, awesome.
Sarah Maxwell :Love it and I just got that team sport, but individual like is it because, in a way, you've grown up as an individual athlete? Um, do you feel how do those two relate to each other?
Molly McGill:molly team versus yeah, um, I think obviously I grew up completely as an individual athlete, like that is bmx is all individual. Going over to rugby league, team sport um, I think it made me realize how much I do miss being independent with my own career path and my own results and those kind of things. Um, yes, we have one event that is a team event and it is quite important in cycling, um, but it's also very specific. I mean, I'm a starter and I've I've got two other girls beside me that have their job to do so, as much as we all work together as a team, we all have super specific roles that we need to, you know, make sure we're doing the best at to get that overall outcome.
Molly McGill:But I do love that team sprint. It's probably my favourite event at the moment. I really do enjoy, you know, the accolades with the girls Like it's super exciting. But, yeah, definitely also the individual stuff, something that I love as well. So, yeah, I find mine between both of them. I do love both. But, yeah, I do like enjoy being an individual athlete also love it.
Sarah Maxwell :It's almost like full circle. We started with you as the bull at the gate, yeah, and you've been through. You've done the hard, hard yards with your like neural pain, surgery and rehab, and so it's been so nice getting to know you, you all and sharing your journey. I don't know if I made it up, but I felt like dad's voice was getting emotional, just remembering you know how special it is. It was it. Did I take it out, kate? Was it real?
Sarah Maxwell :yeah okay, I was thinking I'm feeling it too, but is it real? So I'm glad it was real and I think sometimes we don't realize how special it really is. So it's sometimes nice to retell the stories and there's a lot left for you guys. Imagine you all in LA.
Kate McGill:That'll be wild don't worry, he's been looking at everything.
Sarah Maxwell :La for the last couple of years. So I'm not worried, kate. I have no doubt. I have no doubt. Thank you so much, molly. Great to meet you all and I look forward to our next conversation.
Nat Cook:Thank you thank you for joining us on another episode of the Price you Pay podcast.
Nat Cook:We hope we have inspired you with this insider's look of the challenges faced by aspiring athletes, the highs and lows of playing sport at such an elite level and what's possible when you are so devoted to your craft.
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