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PODCAST

Keep the Flame Alive

Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown

Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You’ve found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz, for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes, coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don’t find anywhere else. Tune in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We’re your cure for your Olympics Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

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All Episodes

42:34

The Science Behind Classification in Paralympic...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/09/26

Wheelchair rugby is a mixed-gender sport, but not many females play. One way to increase their numbers and playing time is to see if they're classified fairly. We talk to Dr. Thomas Rietveld, research associate in wheeled sports and technology at the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at the University of Loughborough, who worked with Dr. Vicky Tolfrey on a project for World Wheelchair Rugby to reassess the classification system for female players. We also talked to Dr. Rietveld

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01:23:33

Athletes for Hope with Jason Belinkie and Jenny Sichel

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/09/18

You know how Olympic and Paralympic athletes go around and speak at schools and do other types of education-related events? How do they get those gigs? Well, there are organizations who help with that. Athletes for Hope is one of those connecting organizations who work with athletes on causes that are near and dear to them and connect them to schools and non-profits so they can do speaking and other types of advocacy work. Today we’re talking with Jason Belinkie, chief executive officer of

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43:09

Sydney 2000: Better Than New: Triathlon, Women's Pole...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/09/11

All year long we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Games, and this month is the actual month of the Games' anniversary! The Sydney 2000 Olympics opened on September 15, 2000, and over the next 17 days, won over the world with its competitions and amazing hospitality. On this episode, we look at new sports and events on the Olympic program: Triathlon (new sport), women's pole vault (new event) and women's modern pentathlon (new event). All three had amazing debuts--what made them

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59:37

Back to School with Olympic Luger Ashley Farquharson

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/09/04

It's back-to-school time, so we wanted to hear what it's like for an elite athlete to go back to college. Olympic luger Ashley Farquharson explains how she's taking advantage of the Guild/Team USA partnership and getting her bachelor's degree at Purdue Global. Follow Ashley on Instagram and TikTok. She's @far.quhar.son. On Facebook go to: facebook.com/farquadstarsquad. Plus, Will Whiston, EVP at On Location, talks about the company's hospitality packages for Milano-Cortina 2026. Learn about all the

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01:14:36

Brooke Nunemaker and Brad Roethlisberger on...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/08/28

History is in the making this week with the first-ever women’s para ice hockey world championships. This is a big step forward toward inclusion in the Paralympics. To talk about the women’s game, we are talking with para ice hockey officials Brooke Nunemaker and Brad Roethlisberger, who have some great insight on the game. (c) 2025 Kiss & Cry Productions LLC

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01:24:18

World Games: Chengdu 2025 - Week 2

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/08/21

It's the final week of the World Games - Chengdu 2025! We're joined by John Moorhead, 2017 World Games athlete and current USA Fistball secretary, to get some insight as to how the athletes in Chengdu have enjoyed their time at the World Games. Jill and Alison also recap their week 2 watching, with thoughts on: Boules Breakdancing Cheerleading Gymnastics Drone Racing Flag Football Inline Skating Motosurf Billiards Racquetball Plus, we recap an amazingly short Closing Ceremony. It's been fun,

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01:24:00

World Games: Chengdu 2025 - Week 1

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/08/14

The 12th edition of the World Games, Chengdu 2025 is underway! We discuss what sports and events we and other listeners have been bingeing on our feeds. We start with the excellent Opening Ceremonies, which took a cue from Paris 2024. Sports we discuss include: Canoe Polo DanceSport Dragon Boat racing Finswimming (we have a lot of thoughts about freediving) Floorball Gymnastics (including thoughts on the new format) Orienteering Parkour Squash Tug of War Wakeboard Plus, our traditional Games

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41:01

Sydney 2000: Eventing, Para Sailing, and Wheelchair...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/08/07

It's our monthly look back at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics! This time, Jill looks at the Olympic equestrian eventing competition, including venue construction, difficult quarantine processes, and a vastly different competition format than you see in today's Olympic eventing. Check out the cross-country course and its amazing fences: https://app.crosscountryapp.com/sydney-2000/phase-d-lntt Then Alison takes to the harbor to discuss the first appearance of para sailing in the

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53:18

Book Club Claire on "Above & Beyond: Tim Mack, the...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/07/31

Book Club Claire is back for our summer reading selection: Above & Beyond: Tim Mack, the Pole Vault and the Quest for Olympic Gold by Bill Livingston. Tim Mack won the gold medal at the Athens 2004 Olympics (perhaps a surprise winner), and this book details his very long journey to the top of the podium and the unique training methods he developed that helped him achieve his goal. What did we think of the book? Listen to the show to find out! Our next selection is A Team of Their Own: How an

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01:11:05

2x Paralympian Noelle Lambert Talks Running Blades,...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/07/24

Today we are talking with 2x Paralympian Noelle Lambert who competes in the 100m and long jump. We get into the details of running blades (and how much they cost), how she improved her 100m between the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympics, and how she's training for LA 2028. Noelle is also the founder of the Born to Run Foundation, which raises money to provide sports prosthetic legs for amputees. Born to Run is having its next bi-annual golf fundraiser on September 22. Go to

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01:40:52

Keep the Flame Alive Celebrates the Big 400!

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/07/17

This week, Keep the Flame Alive is celebrating a big milestone: Our 400th regular episode! This episode is an online party with many citizens of TKFLASTAN (Team Keep the Flame Alive, which are our guests and listeners of the show), and we're thrilled to be joined by: Past guests Sean Colahan, Harry Blutstein, Rich Perelman, Roy Tomizawa and John Moorhead Listeners Ean, David, Mark, Patrick from Chicagoland, Meredith, Sarah and Tommy Producer Ben and Book Club Claire Like all great party

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58:52

Sydney 2000: The Cover-Up and the Comebacks

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/07/10

We travel back to 2000 for another look back at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics. This month Alison explores what's considered to be the biggest Paralympic scandal of all time, Spain's cheating in the Basketball ID tournament. Then Jill looks at the Olympic Road Cycling events, which feature inspirational legends, amazing comebacks, and Lance Armstrong. If you want a thoroughly depressing look at doping in cycling during this era, here's a handy infographic:

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39:27

The Surprising Early Legacy of the Paris 2024...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/07/03

It's been nearly a year since we said, "Bonjour!" to the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, so what's been happening in Paris since the cauldron went out? Let's take a look at the initial legacy of these Games! We look at the money, initial economic impact, audience figures, building legacies, and elements of the Games that are still impacting Paris. If you're interested in training in the sport climbing warm-up gym, check out Le B.O.S.E.. If you want to swim like an Olympian, the newly-built (and

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01:11:10

Wheelchair Tennis with Charlie Cooper

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/06/26

We're delving into the sport of wheelchair tennis with American Charlie Cooper, who's currently ranked #2 in the world for junior wheelchair singles. He talks with Alison about the sport and his plans to qualify for LA 2028. Plus, we also talk with Dr. Thomas Rietveld, a researcher at the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University in the UK. Dr. Rietveld's PhD thesis examined wheelchair tennis chairs, so he answers our burning questions about tennis chairs that we had

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01:11:44

Olympic Technology with Pascal Wattiaux

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/06/19

We're talking technology at the Olympics with Pascal Wattiaux, IT Consultant and former Director of Technology at the International Olympic Committee. He got his start with Olympics technology at Albertville 1992, and most recently he consulted with Paris 2024. He's seen massive amounts of change in technology used at the Olympics--and what it takes to deliver it. He tells all about the tech challenges of an Olympics–and there’s so much that you may have not realized. Follow Pascal on

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44:40

Thorpedo and the Experiment: Para Swimming, Swimming...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/06/12

It's our monthly look back at history--all year long we're looking at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics. This month Alison tackles the massive Para Swimming competition, which includes the Paralympics' all-time medal winner Trischa Zorn. Then we stay in the pool for the Olympic swimming competition, which is just epic, given Australians' love of swimming and their enthusiasm in the stands at Sydney 2000. There are so many stories that it was difficult to choose just one, but Alison looks at

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01:10:30

Dr. Michele K. Donnelly on Gender Equity at the LA28...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/06/05

In April, LA 2028 announced that it would be the first Olympics to have more quota spots for women than men. That’s a win for women’s sports, right? Not so fast. Our gender in sports expert Dr. Michele K. Donnelly returns to peel back the layers of LA 28’s press release and tell us how fair these gender numbers really are. Dr. Donnelly is an associate professor in Sport Management at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. Learn more about her work here. In Milano-Cortina 2026 news, the

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01:20:36

Olympians' Mental Health Update with Dr. Kristin Keim

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/05/29

We welcome back sports psychologist Dr. Kristin Keim to talk about the kinds of mental health issues Olympians, Paralympians and other elite athletes are facing in 2025. This includes finding your voice, what it's like to be an American athlete today, social media, cyberbullying, disordered eating, and more. As always, Kristin is frank about the pressures athletes face today and about the advice she gives her clients. It's definitely therapeutic to listen to her! Learn more about Kristin at her

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56:02

Rekindled: Samantha Schultz on Mental Health after...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/05/22

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month and Military Appreciation Month, we're rekindling our interview with Olympian Samantha Schultz, former modern pentathlete and member of the US Army World Class Athlete Program. Samantha realized her goal of becoming an Olympian--but then after Tokyo 2020, she discovered underlying mental health issues, including an eating disorder, that turned her life upside down. In early 2024, Samantha shared her journey with us and how she's working toward better

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31:12

Sydney 2000: Olympic Football and Women's...

Keep the Flame Alive ·

2025/05/15

We're headed back to Sydney 2000 for another episode in our history series on these Games. It was the first time women were allowed to compete in Olympic weightlifting, and not surprisingly, there was controversy. It was also the first time for women's Paralympic powerlifting, which spawned some legends in Paralympic history. Jill's got the scoop on these events. Then Alison explores the Olympic football competitions, where underdogs prevailed on both the women's and the men's side. Which Davids

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