WomeninSport | Womanity

This week on Womanity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks to Crista Cullen, Olympic gold-medal field hockey player, businesswoman, conservation innovator, and proud daughter of both Kenya and the United Kingdom. Crista’s story is one of dual identities, grit, reinvention, and a deep commitment to contributing to the world beyond sport. Crista shares insights from her sixteen-year Olympic journey that began with failure, missing qualification for Athens, evolved through the ups and downs of Beijing and London, before culminating triumphantly in Rio 2016, where Great Britain’s women’s team seized gold against all odds. Crista unpacks the power of shared culture, athlete-driven ownership, and unity of purpose, revealing how the squad built a high-performance environment anchored in trust, human connection, honest challenge, and collective responsibility. She draws striking parallels between elite sport, corporate leadership, and conservation, discussing how principles like accountability, inclusivity, and pressure simulation translate across sectors. She stresses the importance of creating cultures people genuinely buy into, not top-down mandates plastered on office walls, but values co-created by every voice in the room. Crista also shares the rarely discussed emotional terrain of athlete retirement. After leaving the sport once at her peak in 2012 and again post-Rio, she speaks candidly about identity loss, purpose rediscovery, and the courage to start again. Her return for Rio, after three years away from competitive hockey, is a compelling story of humility, determination, passion, teamwork, and how genuinely wanting to do something for yourself rather than fulfilling other people’s expectations drives your excellence. Now firmly rooted back in Kenya, Crista leads transformative work in conservation finance and community-led environmental solutions. Through the Tofauti Foundation, she merges her worlds of sport and conservation to drive innovative, sustainable models that challenge old dependency-based NGO approaches. She shares a powerful gender-centred success story from coastal Kenya, where repurposed aquaculture infrastructure and a partnership with “Crabs Alive” has enabled more than 200 women to develop sustainable livelihoods through mangrove crab farming, reducing overharvesting and generating stable income for families. This model demonstrates what becomes possible when women are trusted as partners and leaders. Crista closes the conversation with a message of grounded optimism: everyone faces bumps in the road, including those who appear successful. What matters is perseverance, curiosity, courage to challenge norms, and the belief that every detour still keeps you moving forward. Tune in for more.

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November 20, 2025

Crista Cullen – Gold Olympian, Businesswoman & Conservationist – Co-creation

This week on Womanity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks to Crista Cullen, Olympic gold-medal field hockey player, businesswoman, conservation innovator, and proud daughter of both Kenya and the United Kingdom. Crista’...

This week on Womanity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks to Simoné Kruger, South Africa’s golden discus thrower, world record holder, 2025 Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability and 2025 Junior Spors Star of the year. At just 20 years old, Simoné has already etched her name into the history books with gold medal victories at the 2024 Summer Paralympics and the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships for discus in the F38 category. In this inspiring conversation, she reflects on the immense dedication behind these triumphs – from early training sessions with her sister and grandfather, to being coached full-time by her father, and the collective support of her family who fuel her pursuit of excellence. Simoné opens up about the discipline required to compete at the highest level with cerebral palsy, explaining how she has adapted her training to work with her body’s limitations while perfecting a technique that continues to shatter world records. She shares insights into the mental strength it takes to recover from setbacks, the vital role of consistency, and her unwavering faith – encapsulated in her personal motto: “Do your best, and God will do the rest.” Beyond the medals, Simoné speaks candidly about the challenges para-athletes face, including limited sponsorship and financial barriers that prevent many talented young athletes with disabilities from even entering the sporting arena. She advocates passionately for more inclusivity, awareness, and support to unlock opportunities for women in para-sport. Balancing her athletic career with studies in sports science at Stellenbosch University, Simoné is already preparing for life beyond competition; with aspirations in biokinetics, coaching, or even athlete classification, ensuring she remains connected to the world of sport she loves. This episode is a powerful reminder of resilience, purpose, and possibility. And while Simoné has already achieved remarkable milestones, her journey is just beginning, there is so much more to come from this exceptional young athlete. Tune in for more…

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September 12, 2025

Simoné Kruger – Gold Paralympic & World Para-Athletics Champion – Do Your Best

This week on Womanity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks to Simoné Kruger, South Africa’s golden discus thrower, world record holder, 2025 Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability and 2025 Junior Spors Star of the ye...

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Crista Cullen – Gold Olympian, Businesswoman & Conservationist – Co-creation

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Simoné Kruger – Gold Paralympic & World Para-Athletics Champion – Do Your Best

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Crista Cullen – Gold Olympian, Businesswoman & Conservationist – Co-creation

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Simoné Kruger – Gold Paralympic & World Para-Athletics Champion – Do Your Best

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