INTRODUCTION
Fury (Jamie Reed) recently spoke to the Gladiators Zone during a break in the filming of the brand new NBC series. Here is what she had to say to our correspondents...
INTERVIEW
Q: "What's your sporting background?"
Fury: "At High School, I did Softball in the Spring, Swimming in the Winter and Volleyball in the Fall. But in my junior year, they got a weight-training coach so I started competing in Powerlifting. I did maybe three different competitions for that whilst I was in High School. I'm 150lbs now, but I was 174lbs in college. I used to squat 320lbs and benched 175lbs. I also represented Cornell University at Pole Vault and Softball and have a Championship for each one. Now I compete in Figure Competitions, so you really have to make sure your training is on schedule."
Q: "Tell us about your athletic family."
Fury: "I started doing Pole Vaulting because my younger sister Nikole McEwen did it. She was 17th in the world at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Osaka in August. She's jumping almost 15 feet now. I tried to get her on the show with me, but she's training for the Olympics right now, so maybe next year! My other sister competes in Heptathlons and is also a very good pole vaulter and volleyball player."
Q: "Have you had to cope with any injuries through your sporting achievements?"
Fury: "I was 22 years old when I started Pole-Vaulting and at that age you know you can get hurt, which makes it a totally different ball-game. I had stress-fractures in both my shins through Vaulting. I think we all [the team] have been through a number of injuries and we all know the signs, but we also know how to deal with them."
Q: "Considering your involvement in figure fitness, how important is healthy eating to you?"
Fury: "I don't necessarily diet all-year-round, but I don't eat crap. I take care of myself. I'm looking at the long haul. I don't put things into my body that are going to be a detriment to me twenty years down the road. When I'm sixty years old, I want to be playing with my grandkids. I don't want to be sick and decrepit!"
Q: "Did you know anyone else on the team before you joined?"
Fury: "I knew of everyone. Last year someone told me that my physique reminded them of Valerie's (Siren) and I was so excited because her body's amazing and she looks unbelievable. She's somebody that I really looked up to, so that was a big, big compliment!"
Q: "When did you know that the part was right for you?"
Fury: "After the auditions, the producers gave us three days to send a video back that we were supposed to make for the audition process. I was coming home from work in New York City, and disappointed because my girlfriends were less than helpful making my AG video. I don't usually carry a purse, but I was because the video camera was in there. I sat down on the train and went to get my library book out of my backpack and this guy suddenly snatches my purse and runs off the train with it, with my tape for American Gladiators in it! I chased him off the train, down the platform and down two flights of stairs. He turned to cross the road, ran across two lanes of traffic and almost got hit by a car. By this point I was furious and had chased him a block and a half down the street screaming at him that he'd better be able to out-run me! I was starting to catch him and then all of a sudden he drops my purse and keeps on running. I couldn't believe what I just did and just thought to myself: 'I am a real American Gladiator! This guy can't have seen the cape I was wearing! The part is perfect for me because I'm a super-hero in my spare time!' Ironically, I there was only about $7 in my purse, and $400 in the backpack I left sitting on the train with my hockey skates! "
Q: "How did you find training with the other girl Gladiators?"
Fury: "We got to go on a seven-day training camp, where we practiced a few of the games. We did the rings, we did the Joust and a much narrower Gauntlet. Training was that fine line between 'not-enough-to-hurt-your opponent' but not losing! We're all just really, really competitive. You don't want to beat the other person because now they're your girlfriends – but at the same time, you don't want to lose. It was a lot easier to pound on the stuntman!"
Q: "Did you ever think you would achieve such status as being an American Gladiator?"
Fury: "You know, it's funny. Some friends from High School came to visit me at the filming so I brought my year book and, you know how everyone gets a 'Most Likely to Be'? I'm in there as 'Most Likely to Be on American Gladiators'. I actually thought it was a valid career choice and I was right!"
Q: "What is your favourite event?"
Fury: "I don't know about favourite, but the Earthquake was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. Wrestling is very hard to practice for, especially if you're not a wrestler! You don't notice the movement [of the board] so much, but there are so many scenarios that could come up and so many ways it could go wrong!"
Q: "What do you think about the water element to the new show?"
Fury: "I love it! I love it, but I don't want to go in it! It's actually not that cold and it's the last thing on your mind when competing. I was born to do this. I just can't help myself but to be competitive."
Q: "Have you got a message for all your new fans?"
Fury: "Good things happen to good people. If you train hard and you take care of your body, things will fall into place. If something doesn't, then maybe that thing wasn't meant to be but something else may come from it."
