Yes, you could weave participating in a strenous and competitve and (dangerous ?) sport into the dialogue, "implying" or "suggesting" how it is that an athlete drives himself to do better all the time and how it is that an athlete has to be self motivated and to find extra energy from somewhere to carry on and break records, and how it is that an athlete is able to face physical and mental challenges that would daunt other people and to have lightning responses to situations and so on, so as to implant the idea in the frame of reference of the interviewer that an athlete is accustomed to challenges and risk and pushing it in a real and practical way, whereas spectators, can only observe but not be like this. Try it. This could be a key to triggering in the interviewer's response an affinity, especially if the interviewer participates in some sport whether it is tennis or rowing or something else.