Airdate: John Eales Reveals: Life After Sport

On Sunday Discovery will premiere a special, John Eales Reveals: Life After Sport in which the former rugby union player speaks with ex-sports stars about their periods of transition, including Grant Hackett, Layne Beachley, Andrew Ettingshausen.

The modern elite athlete is a super human; faster and stronger than any generation before. Pushing their bodies and brains far beyond the boundaries that limit the rest of us, they dedicate their lives to achieving success. However, no matter how great they are, they can’t stay super human forever.

John Eales AM is one of the great heroes of sport. A captain and a leader whose success reaches far beyond the rugby stadiums. In this special 60min documentary he sits down with some of sport’s luminaries, his peers, who have retired from sport or are planning for the day when they too will need to make the transition from elite athlete to everyday life. From Grant Hackett, Layne Beachley, Andrew Ettingshausen and Al Baxter, to Lauren Jackson, Matt Banting, Robbie Crowther, Keith Galloway and more, each journey is paved with varying challenges and the contrasts between these athlete’s careers are huge. Psychiatrist Dr Andrew Khoo shares insights into the psyche of elite athletes and how they are similar to front line soldiers.

Grant Hackett retired as one of the world’s greatest swimmers in 2008 and in the years that followed had to overcome some personal struggles. Fast forward to 2015 and he’s gearing up for what might be one of sport’s most spectacular comebacks as he trains for the world titles. It’s a very different story for Lauren Jackson. Revered as the greatest female basketball player of all time, her future is uncertain as a serious knee injury has kept her sidelined for the past two years. Although she is determined to finish on her own terms and get another season under her belt, she has been preparing for life after the game by completing a degree in Women’s Studies.

Through all of these extraordinary case studies, starting with the genesis of what actually makes a super athlete rise to the top, John Eales Reveals: Life After Sport, deconstructs the highs, lows, pitfalls, perils and science of elite athletes as they struggle to make the transition from normal human to superhuman and back again.

John Eales Reveals: Life After Sport includes interviews with: Grant Hackett (Olympic swimming champion), Layne Beachley (7 x world surfing champion), Lauren Jackson (professional basketball player), Al Baxter (former Australian Rugby player, now architect), Andrew Ettingshausen (former rugby league champion), Matt Banting (surfer), Robbie Crowther (National long jump champion), Phil Kearns (former Wallaby rugby player), Shane Webke (former rugby league champion), Keith Galloway (rugby league player, Wests Tigers), Andrew Mehrtens ( former All Blacks rugby player), Lawrie Fabian (personal development advisor, Queensland Academy of Sport), Michael Blucher (author, athlete life coach), Chris White (sports manager), Michael Caine (athlete manager), Dr Andrew Khoo (psychiatrist), Peter Moussa (physiotherapist, Wests Tigers) and Blake McLean (sports scientist, Wests Tigers).

Sunday 6th September at 7.30pm on Discovery.