Jodie Ounsley: The impact of strong, powerful role models

S14 EP 1

Today’s guest is Jodie Ounsley – a professional rugby player and Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport, who will also be a Gladiator in the new series that returns to the BBC later this year.

Jodie is a powerful role model for women and girls and talks openly about her deafness and how it’s impacted her life on and off the pitch.  

She explains how she’s unintentionally been training for Gladiators all her life and how she’s preparing for the public profile that comes with becoming ‘Fury’ in the new series.

Jodie began her sporting career as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion before representing the UK in athletics at the Deaf Olympics. Five times Coal Carrying Champion, she then moved on to rugby where she’s represented England at 7s and now plays for the Exeter Chiefs in the Premier 15s.

 Alongside her success in sport, Jodie was awarded the Young Deaf Sports Personality of the Year and was also included in the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2023 which recognised 30 outstanding women in sport. 

Jodie’s videos on TikTok, where she shares her life as a young woman living with hearing loss, have been viewed almost 5 million times. 

Thank you to Sport England for support The Game Changers podcast through the National Lottery.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here.

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production