The Mettleset Podcast

In this special two-part episode, we’re diving deep into the incredible story of The Alpine Run Project—a transformative trail running initiative designed to empower young people from inner cities in the UK through nature, community, and sport. In this, Part 1 of 2, we chat with John McAvoy the founder of The Alpine Run Project and a Nike-sponsored athlete. John’s own journey from a notorious arme...

In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome Noemi Romero, Spain’s champion trampoline gymnast and first-time Olympian who recently competed at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.  Noemi’s story is a remarkable journey of resilience, hard work, and triumph. From discovering her passion for trampoline gymnastics at just six years old to making history as one of the first Spanish trampoline gymnasts...

Hello Everyone, Today's topic is a sport that some of you may or may not be familiar with: Pickleball.  And my guest is none other than one of the world’s top players, Megan Fudge.  With roots in Europe, the American has had a meteoric rise in the sport, since she started it four years ago going from insurance advisor to now being ranked #1 in the world.  I caught up with Megan in D...

Today’s guest is the youngest athlete I’ve had on the podcast. At just 8 years-old Zarah Ann Gladys was also the youngest competitor at the World Skateboarding Tour 2024 from Arada , which took place earlier this year in Dubai.   The event, which covered  both park and street skateboarding disciplines, saw skateboarders from all over the world compete to improve their Olympic World...

Hello everyone.  Today’s guest is one of the region’s most prominent sports journalists.  She and I met years ago while I was working in public relations, managing the communications for Yas Marina Circuit for the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and Reem was working as a journalist with Sport 360.   Since that time, Reem’s career has flourished. She is a sports...

The Mettleset is back, We have an amazing array of guests lined up, and kicking off this new era is a guest who is simply remarkable.  Moroj Adil is Saudi Arabia’s first pro cyclist and you’d be forgiven for not knowing her name yet as she only started cycling two years ago. Yes, that is right, from not knowing how to ride a bike, to being on the Liv Alula Jayco Continental team, her story is...

This is the fourth episode in a series to commemorate International Women’s Day because for us, every day is International Women’s Day, as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.   We’ve taken some of the best moments from the 50+ episodes that we’ve recorded to share with you tales of joy, mettle, courage  and wisdom from an ama...

This is the third episode in a series to commemorate International Women’s Day because for us, every day is International Women’s Day, as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.   We’ve taken some of the best moments from the 50+ episodes that we’ve recorded to share with you tales of joy, mettle, courage  and wisdom from an amaz...

This is the second episode in the Women of Wisdom, a series to commemorate International Women’s Day. For us, every day is International Women’s Day, as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.   We’ve taken some of the best moments from the 50+ episodes that we’ve recorded to share with you tales of joy, mettle, courage  and wisd...

This is a very special edition of The  Mettleset Podcast, the first of a series, with episodes going live daily next week as well.  For us, everyday is International Women’s Day as we work to help create a more welcoming, equitable and just sports industry for all athletes.  Since our first episode went live in October 2022, we’ve had the opportunity to speak with an amazing array o...

Today’s episode is a  continuation of our discussion on female athlete health with Dr Kate Jordan, a sports and exercise medicine physician at based in Dubai. The first part of this REWIND episode came out last week, and you can access it directly from here: EP55: Part 1 Female athlete health: Sports and Exercise Medicine doctor Kate Jordan on common injuries, LEA and right fuelling for perfo...

Concussions, shoulder troubles, ACL tears, low bone density, Low Energy Availability, menopause … Sports, and injuries from it, tend to impact female athletes in a different way to their male counterparts.  Yet, it is only now that awareness and medical research has ramped up around the gender differences in sports medicine.  Joining us on today’s show to discuss some of the most pressin...

It is sport event season in the Middle East and one event that we’re super excited to see roll into Abu Dhabi for its second edition is The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open which is taking place 3-11 February at the International Tennis Center, Zayed Sports City.  In today’s episode, we speak to one of the unsung heroines of the event, Vickie Gunnarss, Senior Director, Global Partnerships and Business...

Hi Guys, If you’ve arrived at Part 2 of our chat with Ishtar Azzawi, the founder of Baghdad Skate Girls, after listening to Part 1,  fabulous. We hope you enjoyed it! If not, we urge you to head to Part 1 of this episode to listen to the inspiring origin story of a skateboarding community exclusively for women in Iraq.  This instalment dives into Ishtar’s professional sporting career in...

Ishtar Azzawi calls this her planting season. It’s fitting because this jiu-jitsu champ, and our guest, who has represented her country Iraq in the sport while living abroad all her life had always felt that her true calling had gone unanswered. So, last year, she decided to pack her life in the UAE and head home to Baghdad.  The planting season symbolises more than just a departure from the...

Welcome to 2024 and perhaps one of our most important episodes. This is the story of the Gaza Sunbirds, a Palestinian para-cycling team located in Gaza, as told by Karim Ali, the team’s UK-based International Coordinator. While we wished that sharing this story would have been under better and peaceful circumstances, we’re here to tell you that this is a story of hope and true resilience. A story...

Hi Guys, Remember the first time you heard about the sport dressage? Did you have to google it or are you reaching for your phone right now? You’re not alone! Even in a country where we are based - the UAE-  and a region where equestrian traditions date back centuries, dressage (and we’ve just dropped a hint here), is only just growing in popularity. So, what do you find when you google dress...

As you just heard, The Mettleset is launching a new podcast, The Just Bikes Podcast - hosted by Dawn and friends.  As the name suggests, the podcast is all about bikes. From ultra- to adventure, the pain cave to the peloton and lots of type-two fun, The Just Bikes Podcast will feature a host of guests from all over the world to talk about all things cycling and cycling culture.  Follow u...

This is Part Two of two of our chat with 15 year-old Emirati snowboarder Amenah Al Muhairi, and her mum Maya!  If you haven’t checked out Part One, you may want to pause and go back and do that now! It’s a great chat about Amenah’s start in sports, her and her family’s approach to training as well as wise words from Amenah herself.  In this - Part Two, we’re chatting through Amenah’s fut...

This episode follows UAE National Day 🇦🇪, when everyone living in the UAE celebrates the independence of the country, 52 years ago. This is a young country with a rich history and a vibrancy that is hard to beat. That’s why it's a pleasure today to have a rising Emirati star - and our youngest guest ever -, 15 year-old snowboarder Amenah Al Muhairi as our guest.  Yes, you heard that correctly...

Today’s guest is the most successful female sailor in Olympic history, Hannah Mills, OBE.  Among Hannah’s many accolades are a Silver in the 2012 London Olympics, a Gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics and another gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  That’s certainly not where it started or ended for Hannah with multiple gold, silver and bronze medals to her name from the World Championships, Worl...

When we sat down with Nadhira Al Harthy for this episode in early October, we knew that we were going to discuss her journey to become the first Omani woman to summit Mount Everest. We also knew we’d discuss how she became the first Arab woman to climb Ama Dablam, one of the most beautiful and technical peaks in Nepal.  What we didn’t know, and as she announced on our show, is that she has be...

Thanks for listening. As we mentioned, here are some resources and information below.  Remember, your voice matters! 🇵🇸 Relief Efforts  Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)- https://www.pcrf.net Emirates Red Crescent - https://www.emiratesrc.ae International Committee of the Red Cross - https://www.icrc.org/en   Share Your voice, If you live in Canada, Australia, the UK or the US...

Hi Guys, Our show today is as power-packed as our guest when the gun goes off on a run track. Aziza Sbaity, who has earned the title of the Fastest Woman in Lebanese History, joined us for a chat right after her first track and field training session of the season - as she starts her prep to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Aziza has come out of a very busy first half of the year, winning gold...

Today’s guest is one of the next generation of Saudi Arabian sports leaders.  Jude Jamjoon is the Co-Founder and President of Jeddah Tribe and to call this a Tri Club, would be accurate but it would miss the fact that it is also an event series and really at its core, a robust community that offers training, mentorship, support & encouragement for triathletes of all levels, including thos...