Welcome to Strong Girl Talk, where we dive into the latest in sports science, performance, and well-being—all with a focus on women and girls in sport. This week while Sasha is in Tokyo for the World Athletics Championships and Molly interviews Vanessa Coulbeck, Strong Girl Publishing Author of The Mirror Diaries series, about self-compassion, body image, and how we can use fiction as a vehicle for change.
Before we dive in, do us a huge favor and make sure you give the podcast 5 stars and click follow:
About Vanessa Coulbeck:
Vanessa is a PhD candidate focusing on body image and physical activity promotion for young girls. She currently serves as the Director of Research Project Management for The ReThinkSport Project—a groundbreaking national research initiative working to change knowledge, innovate sport practices, evolve sport access, and improve sport participation in youth sports, particularly among girls—as well as other national initiatives at the Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre, housed at the University of Toronto, and will be pursuing her doctorate beginning in the fall. She is also a dynamic leader in youth empowerment and social impact initiatives in Toronto and worldwide, and is In fact, the founder of a physical activity tech startup focused on connecting individuals and building communities through movement. The first book in her series, The Mirror Diaries, is out January 11 and available for preorder here.
Get the Limited Edition Sweatshirt (for a Limited Time!)
Sports Highlights:
World Mountain Bike Championships wrapped up. Our main highlight is 🇨🇦 U23 Champion, Isabella Holmgren, who won both the XCC and XCO as defending champion in this event. Great to see Jenny Rissveds win the XCO women’s event, and a Swiss woman, Alessandra Keller, win the XCC in her home country. Jen Jackson, 🇨🇦 rider, was third in the XCC. This weekend is the last world cup stop in Lenzerheide; Swiss rider, Nino Schurter says goodbye to a historic career.
Canada got through to the semi-final at the Women’s 15’s World Cup of Rugby, beating out the Australians. They will face New Zealand in the semi-final this weekend.
At a USOpen Press Conference with Aryna Sabalenka there was an announcement about a modern day Battle of the Sexes - Sabalenka vs Kyrgios. Not sure how we feel about this, we know the match will be entertaining with these two characters on court together.
Sasha will do a big write up about the World Athletics Track and Field Championships. But for now you can follow her action on Instagram and read last week’s newsletter.
A few new preorders have dropped on Strong Girl Publishing, don’t miss out!
Remember you can follow Molly and Sasha on Social Media including:
Molly - @mollyjhurford @stronggirlpublishing
Sasha - @SGollishRuns @Yellow_Running_Shoes
Listen, Subscribe, Rate + Review on Substack | Spotify | iTunes | YouTube
