Helle Frederiksen - Hella Good

·1 hr 10 min·4 clips

Helle Frederiksen says she wanted to show her "nakedness or vulnerability" in the autobiography.

1. Witsup women in triathlon features Hella Frederiksen discussing her retirement, autobiography, coaching, and life after elite racing. 2. Hella Frederiksen joins as a Danish triathlete, recent author, and coach, while the host frames the conversation through their meeting in Bahrain and shared age of 40. 3. The episode asks what happens when an elite athlete retires, writes an autobiography, and tries to turn performance lessons into everyday life. 4. Frederiksen says she retired in August 2019 and started writing in September, with the Danish book taking about half a year. 5. She describes writing with a journalist, then dealing with translation, proofreading, editing, publishing, and printing for the English version. 6. Frederiksen says the English book has reached readers well beyond English-speaking countries, which surprised her in a positive way. 7. She explains that the book was first approached in 2014, but she felt she was still in the middle of her career then. 8. She says the 2019 timing worked because the process forced her to evaluate her career and confirm the retirement decision. 9. Frederiksen says the book includes stories she had "on purpose forgot" because she was ashamed of them. 10. She says those passages are meant to show vulnerability, mistakes, and the human side behind podium results. 11. Frederiksen describes a recurring lesson in the book: when pressure and challenges feel overwhelming, hiding is never the answer. 12. She says that sometimes the right move is to ask for more time before racing, stepping onto a podium, or taking on a task. 13. She says readers may recognize similar feelings in work situations, health situations, or moments when they want to run away. 14. Frederiksen says the autobiography gives tools for noticing bad decisions, poor self-talk, and moments when she did not follow her gut. 15. She says the feedback has shown the book helps not only triathletes but also people dealing with family problems, illness, and other challenges. 16. She says the prologue was designed to throw readers into the middle of the career before moving backward through the story. 17. The interview is conversational, personal, and interwoven with jokes about pronunciation, aging, birthdays, and snoring at home. 18. Frederiksen speaks plainly and reflectively, with the host steering between biography, parenting, marriage, coaching, and race memories. 19. People interested in triathlon careers, retirement, and honest athlete memoirs. 20. People wanting only race results and no personal backstory.

As heard by us

A warm, loose sports chat that values personality as much as results.

Wits Up opens in a loose, personal register, with a sleep-deprived host greeting Danish superstar Hella Fredrickson on a punny note. The draw is the easy, unguarded feel: it comes across as a real conversation with an athlete who has built something beyond racing, from a book to…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For a warm sports chat with puppy chaos, book talk, and coaching perspective.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from WITSUP women in triathlon