Flame Bearers

Charlie Guest, is a 2x Olympic skier, psych student, and an advocate for gender equity in sports. After breaking her back in 2014, Charlie went on to become the first British woman to ever win an Alpine European Cup (2019) and later went on to rack up 3 titles. Charlie opens up about her passion for skiing and the systemic inequalities she’s encountered. Specifically, Charlie recounts the infuriat...

In this episode, we sprint into the life of Jodie Williams, a 3x Olympian from Great Britain, beginning with her early days as an unstoppable young athlete. Jodie recalls her first taste of victory, winning races at school sports days and even being pitted against older boys in a heptathlon when “no one could beat me.” That moment fueled a drive that would guide her to track and field, where she q...

Celina Toth traded in her gymnastics leotard for her swimsuit at age 12, where she quickly rose up the ranks, and consistently maintained her spot on the Canadian National Team since 2008. "I was the oldest diver to ever qualify for their first Olympics in Canada at 28...a testament to my character, that I was never giving up." A 4x World Cup Finalist and CAN Fund recipient, Celina made quite the...

Chahat Arora is a Indian national record holder in breast stroke who has been one of the most consistent swimmers for her country over the past decade. That said, for Chahat swimming is "more about being happy than being successful. If I'm happy doing what I love, that's good enough for me right now." In today's conversation, Chahat shares how she grounds herself and develops goals for self improv...

We heard you loud & clear: you want more athlete's stories, so we responded. Today, we launch Flame Bearers: UNEDITED, a new video and podcast series celebrating the journeys of elite women athletes from around the world at all phases of their journeys: seeking their first international qualifications, a the pinnacle of their careers, and after retirement. In this largely UNEDITED series, we'l...

Asmaa is a 2x Olympic judoka and 6x African Champion who came to judo when most athletes are retiring. Now at 41, Asmaa has decided to say goodbye to the mat on her terms and focus on her next chapter. But first, let's hear how she got to where she is today. She's a Parisian firefighter (the only one in her community), founder, psychologist, daily ice-bath lover, and so much more. Throughout it al...

Debinha (Deb) and Bia Zaneratto are two of the greatest soccer legends in the game. Both grew up playing with the boys, and in Deb's case often playing with whatever the neighborhood kids could grab that resembled a ball. Bia had her first opportunity to play with girls at 13. In this conversation we sit down with Deb and Bia together, as they both play for the Kansas City Current in the National...

Tezna grew up thinking that maybe one day, she could be a Paralympic swimmer. At 12, she became South Africa's para national champ. When Tezna got in an accident one week before the Rio Paralympic Trials, she took a step away from sports to reset. Years later, she decided to pick up track and field "to stay fit," and within the year, she became a 3x African Record and South African Paralympian com...

Taylor has been in the pool since age 4, when her mom (a swim coach) and older sister (also a swimmer) first introduced her to the water. A D1 recruit at Loyola University Maryland, Taylor was gearing up to make a splash at the collegiate level. She was then diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition characterized by joint pain, loose joints, and hypermobility. According to Taylor, this pe...

Alejandra is the Dominican Republic's first female Paralympic swimmer, a Parapan American silver medalist, engineer, dog mom, and as she shares, "a 4’3” tall girl promoting inclusion." When not swimming (which she does 4-5 hours a day), Alejandra works for the International Paralympic Committee, making sport more accessible for all. As if that's not enough, she's also writing her masters thesis. W...

Manasi Joshi has won 10 gold, 9 silver and 15 bronze medals at level 1 international tournaments. She's a former World Champion (SL3), an engineer, an Arjuna award winner, Aspen Fellow, and has spoken at Harvard. As Manasi approaches the Paris Paralympics, she's feeling "stronger than ever." That said, she's pauses to flag HOW she hopes journalists and the media should talk about her, or rather ho...

Bonus Content from The Unlocked Foundation's 'Celebrate Her' event in Paris. The UNLOCKED Foundation is a women-founded, nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women to take brave steps toward closing the wealth gap in their own lives. In honor of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Flame Bearers Founder & CEO Jamie Mittelman joined The Unlocked Foundation at the Dior Flagship store in Paris to d...

Anastasia is a 3x World Champion and a 2X Paralympian on a mission to change how people 'see' the visually impaired. To truly see them as they are, not stereotypes. When asked to describe a blind person, Anastasia offers that "most people think of a man walking around like a zombie, big dark glasses, and a cane, but that's not how visual impairment is for me." Anastasia is a bubbly, stylish, world...

Growing up, Claire was drawn to creative and artistic pursuits: piano and trumpet, drawing, reading. At 17, her life changed when she started experiencing mobility issues. Two years later she was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological condition characterized by involuntary muscle contractions and spasms. Claire found boccia at a local club, and credits Great Britain's coaches with inviting her to...

As a young gymnast, Bryony saw kids jumping up and down on the trampoline and decided, "I want to try that! It looks like so much fun!" Three Olympic medals later, including her sparkling new gold from Paris, and she clearly hasn't stopped having fun. As World & European Trampoline Champion, Bryony has all of the accolades one could dream of, but as she shares, her journey has always been about so...

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers Ariana came across rugby in high school school and at first, she "had no idea what rugby was, but it reminded [her] of capture the flag." She was looking for a sport outside of track that she could compete in throughout college, and credits the upperclass girls on her high school team for encouraging her to join t...

Taky Marie-Divine Kouamé is a World Champion and 9x French Champion track cyclist, a photographer, an entrepreneur, and so much more. As Marie-Divine shares, "doing other things keeps me sane. It's not a distraction. It makes me a better athlete." She recently worked with our co-host Maé-Bérénice Méité on an exciting documentary series following French athletes to the Games. As we head into the...

Jackie first started with dance and gymnastics, but quickly found out those weren't her sports. She had a cousin who fenced, so she gave it a try... 21 years later, she's at her second Olympics. A first generation American, Jersey girl, and World # 10 in Women's Foil (fencing), Jackie is committed to being a role model for the younger athletes on the team and all girls in sport. She shares how her...

At the age of 5, Farida dreamt of becoming a professional swimmer. Flash forward to 2011 and Farida was crowned World Junior Champion in the 50M butterfly in Lima, Peru, placing Egypt for the first time in history among the medaling countries. And from there, the accolades kept coming: -3X African Female Swimmer of the Year (2013, 2015 and 2017) -6X Arab Female Athlete of the Year (2011, 2012, 201...

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers This interview was conducted with the help of a translator (why at times, we address the question to an interpreter). At 5 years old, Kokona's parents brought her to a local skatepark and she immediately "wanted to be like the cool skateboarders" she saw there. Flash forward to today, and she's a World champion an...

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers Giancarla wanted to be a soccer player when she was younger and got into track to stay in shape in the off season. That said, her love of soccer has stuck with her and in Tokyo 2021, she tried to hop onto the USWNT player bus to meet the players -- security nixed that. In today's episode, Giancarla talks about int...

Regina tried "almost every other sport" growing up, and then she found rowing at age 13. "It felt like home" she shares. Besides the feeling she loved of "pushing off the oar" and gliding through the water, Regina "saw other women who looked like [her]." A World Silver Medalist in the Women's Eight and 2x Olympian who just missed a medal in Tokyo (4th place), Regina and team are chasing the podium...

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers In Tokyo2020, Chelsea was Guyana's first-ever table tennis Olympian and her nation's flagbearer, so as she heads into her second Olympics, she's coming in with high hopes...and a lot of eyes on her. That said, her path to Paris has focused on "re-finding the joy of table tennis." After Tokyo, things changed. Peopl...

Marta was the "little Chinese" girl, but when she found track, she was better than everyone (including the guys), so she became "the fast girl." According to Marta, running was what made her different and special. "When you find something that you can hold onto, you're going to show off your superpower." For Marta, that was running. Marta grew up speaking Portuguese, with a Portuguese name, eating...

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers Marzieh, the daughter of two Afghan parents, grew up as a refugee in Iran. "They treated us differently" she shares, which eventually led her family to move back home to Afghanistan. In her home country, Marzieh joined the Taekwondo national team and quickly climbed the ranks, where she remained until the 2021 Tal...