Chloe Kim, Dina Asher-Smith, and Haley Rosen discuss the joys and hardships that come with being a female athlete.
This past weekend, the Cut hosted a special live “How I Get It Done” panel at SXSW in honor of our new sports section, Keep It Moving. Editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples sat down with three top female athletes to learn about their lives on and off the field: Chloe Kim, an American snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist; Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in history; and Haley Rosen, a former pro soccer player and the CEO and founder of Just Women’s Sports. Discussing everything from their daily habits to what their performance blackout periods look like and life after competing, the panelists highlighted the best, and hardest, parts of being a female athlete today. Below, read each woman’s standout quote from the discussion.
Chloe Kim, American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist
On how she celebrates wins and losses: “I’m a big shopper, so the minute I win, I’m going straight to buy something. Sometimes I do that when I lose, too, for a little pick-me-up retail therapy; that’s very real. But I will say, celebrating for me means so much more than just that. It reminds me why I do it. And then when things don’t necessarily go as planned, just picking up the pieces and figuring out what went wrong. Sometimes in my sport, it could be nothing at all. Sometimes it could be a bad weather day or I wasn’t feeling well or whatever it is, but I’ve learned to try not to punish myself too much, even though it’s hard to do at times. I’m really trying to be kind to myself and just remind myself that it’s okay and there’s a billion more contests I can compete in.”
About Kim: She is an American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became, at the age of 17, the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal At the 2022 Olympics, she became the first female to win back-to-back gold medals in half-pipe snowboarding. She has been featured on the Forbes “30 under 30” list and Time’s “100” list and on the cover of Time, Shape magazine, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, and ESPN: The Magazine.
Dina Asher-Smith, world and European champion athlete
On the power of believing in yourself: “When you’re a sprinter, confidence is such an essential part of the job. From a very young age, we are told to just believe. I’m a firm believer in being slightly delusional, which sounds a bit strange, but my thing is if I believe and it doesn’t happen, you can try again. But if you don’t believe, especially in a sport where we are measured in milliseconds and thousandths of a second, any self-doubt can physically manifest itself in you holding back. And if you lose a race by a hundredth of a second, if you were just more aggressive at a certain part and you were pushing through, you might have got that. So for me, I just choose to believe. That’s all I do.”
About Asher-Smith: She is a sprinter and the fastest British woman in history. She currently holds British records in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes and the 4x100 meter relay and was selected for the 2013 World Championships team, making her the youngest-ever athlete on the British senior team. At the age of 28, she has won two Olympic medals, four world-championship medals, five European-championship medals, and many other honors. She has been featured on the covers of Vogue, GQ, and Grazia and walked on the runway in Paris Fashion Week.
Haley Rosen, CEO & Founder of Just Women’s Sports
On advice she would give her younger self: “When I started Just Women’s Sports, I was a people pleaser. I think a lot of women are, and it’s hard to say no and hard to push back. As I’ve gotten older and had more time in this role, I’ve gotten pretty comfortable being direct. Just cut through and find a way to say it. You don’t need to be mean, but just be direct and honest. It has served me a lot better today, and I wish I would’ve been doing that four years ago.”
About Rosen: A former pro soccer player, she founded (JWS), a digital-media brand dedicated exclusively to women’s sports, in 2020. JWS is now a leading voice and multimedia platform for women’s sports, reaching up to 80 million people per month. She’s been named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list, Entrepreneur’s “100 Women Of Influence,” Sports Business Journal’s “Power Players,” and Business Insider’s “24 Execs Shaping Sports Media.”
