Keep the Flame Alive

We jump right in to competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics! Our Day 2 coverage includes 3x3, archery mixed doubles, men's road cycling, sabre and epee fencing, women's football, handball, hockey, judo, softball, taekwondo, volleyball, a TKFLASTAN update from table tennis, and the first medal of the Games over at the shooting venue. Who's done great commentary? Which announcer has said some really...

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are officially open! We talk about the highlights and low moments of this incredibly unique Opening Ceremonies. Plus, scores and updates from Day -1 -- Jill already has a new officiating role she'd like to do! Join in the fun - viewing guide, fantasy league, brackets and more at http://flamealivepod.com/tokyo Text us/Leave us a VM! 208-FLAME-IT (208) 352-6348.   Thanks so m...

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are almost here (we hope)! We sit down with contributors Book Club Claire and Superfan Sarah to talk about what we think will happen during the Olympics. Are you ready for Tokyo 2020? Check out all of the fun you can have with us on our Tokyo page . Viewing Guide! Bingo! Fantasy Leagues and more! Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive! ***  ...

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Atlanta 1996, so we are talking about the legacy of those Games from the city planning perspective. We're joined by Randal Roark and Michael Dobbins, who along with Leon Eplan wrote the new book Atlanta's Olympic Resurgence: How the 1996 Games Revived a Struggling City . During the Games, Randal was the director of planning and design for the Corporation for Oly...

One week from Tokyo 2020! Today we're learning about Greco-Roman wrestling from SPC Alejandro Sancho of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. Alejandro will be competing for Team USA at Tokyo 2020 in the 67kg weight class. We talk about how to distinguish Greco-Roman from freestyle wrestling and what it's like to drop someone on their head. Alejandro is slated to compete on August 4, so be su...

We're on the shooting range with SPC Tim Sherry of Team USA and the US Army Marksmanship Unit . Tim walks us through the sport of 3 Position Rifle, including how to shoot in wind and rain, dealing with your feet falling asleep during competition, how puberty affects your shooting, the cost of a rifle, and why the new Olympic mixed rifle event will be exciting to watch. Follow Tim on Facebook , Ins...

Women's gymnastics is one of the most popular Olympic events, but the way the sport evolved made it ripe for abuse and overtraining. Sports scholar and former international gymnast Georgia Cervin joins us to talk about her book, Degrees of Difficulty: How Women's Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell From Grace . We talk about the beginnings of the sport as a display of feminity and how Cold War...

On this episode we look at great and unique Olympic moments with Jeremy Fuchs, author of the new book "Total Olympics: Every Obscure, Hilarious, Dramatic and Inspiring Tale Worth Knowing." We talk Olympic legends, how the Nazis used the 1936 Winter Olympics as a dress rehearsal for the Berlin Summer Olympics, and the infamous plunge for distance event. Jeremy's book is the perfect gift for the Oly...

Abdi Abdirahman knows how to run for a long time. He's the only American distance runner to have qualified for 5 Olympics, 3 Games at 10000m and 2 at the marathon distance. He'll be running the marathon at Tokyo 2020, so we and Book Club Claire talked with him about how both of these races work and what's up with the controversial Nike Vaporfly road shoes. Abdi has also written a book about his li...

What do pimples have to do with table tennis? Australian Olympian and Paralympian Melissa Tapper explains all -- and what she says about the sport will have you glued to the screen during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Follow Milly on Facebook , Twitter and Insta , and check out her website for more info. In news from TKFLASTAN, we have updates from: Lauren Gibbs Marnie McBean (check out Xander's Podcas...

As Americans, we're used to Team USA being a major force at any Olympics, but what's it like to represent a small country? Today we're talking with swimmer Felicity Passon, who will compete for the Seychelles at the Olympics. Felicity tells us about the few resources she has access too, how her National Olympic Committee is trying to improve sport within the country, and how she hopes to make it b...

Rugby coach Ben Ryan led the Fiji men's rugby sevens team to the country's first-ever gold medal, which they earned at the sport's Olympic debut at Rio 2016. We talked with Ben about how the sport works -- and got some sunscreen tips. Follow Ben on Twitter and Insta and check out his website . Season 2 of The Ben Ryan Podcast starts in July, so check it out. What are our TKFLASTANIs up to this wee...

Today we're on the shooting range with Paralympian McKenna Geer. McKenna is a Paralympic bronze medalist in the sport of rifle shooting. At Rio she competed in the R4 - Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 and earned 24th place and the R5 – Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2, where she took home the bronze medal. We talked with McKenna about how rifle works on the Paralympic side of the sport. Follow McKen...

The Shot Diva is here! 3x Olympian and Rio 2016 gold medal shot putter Michelle Carter joins us this week to talk about shot put technique, her strategies for managing her ADHD and dyslexia, her Olympic experiences and how looking her best helps her achieve her best. Follow Michelle on Instagram and Facebook , and check out her website for more information on her You Throw Girl sports confidence c...

Film Buff Fran is back for another edition of Movie Club! On this episode we discuss "Foxcatcher," the 2014 film on the tragic story of wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz, who coached and trained at John du Pont's Foxcatcher Farms. Steve Carell stars as du Pont, Channing Tatum plays Mark Schultz, and Mark Ruffalo plays Dave Schultz in this highly-nominated film. Did we think as highly of it? In our c...

We're on the shooting range this week with Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher. Ginny won gold in the 10m air rifle, and she also competes in three-position 50m small-bore rifle. Ginny talks with us about the physical and mental demands of shooting, the funky shooting jacket and shoes, and how she travels with her rifles.   Follow Ginny on Facebook , Insta , Twitter and TikTok and check...

Para Dressage Paralympian Sydney Collier joins us this week to explain how her sport works. From searching hundreds of horses to find one with the perfect walk, to the importance of fitness in equestrian sports, Sydney's gotten us excited to watch her event at Tokyo 2020. Follow Sydney, her horse All In One--owned by her sponsor Georgina Bloomberg--and her service dog Logan on Twitter and Insta ....

American flyweight boxer Ginny Fuchs joins us to tell us more about how boxing works. Ginny is also coping with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and as May is Mental Health Awareness Month, she tells us how OCD manifests for her and what sort of treatments she goes through to better manage it. Follow Ginny on Facebook , Insta and Twitter , and check out her website, Ginnyfuchs.com . Book Club...

Book Club Claire is BACK for our discussion of Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John du Pont's Madness, and the quest for Olympic Gold by Mark Schultz with David Thomas. Bonus! The dulcet tones of Jason Bryant also join us to give some context to the story and what was going on in the wrestling community at the time.  Read Claire's blog Light the Cauldron and follow her on Twitte...

Connor Fields, reigning Olympic gold medalist in BMX racing, joins us to explain just how BMX is more organized chaos and less demolition derby. And he shares some interesting details about the BMX course we'll be watching at Tokyo 2020. Follow Connor on Twitter , Insta and Facebook , and check out his website . What are our TKFLASTANIs up to this week? We've got news from: Modern pentathlete Sama...

Canadian Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee is back to tell us how race walking works. Really -- we actually get into the sport this week (though don't count out novela talk)! Evan talks about the mechanics of the sport, the discrepancy between TV cameras and judges' human eyes, and possible career opportunities once he ends his pro racing career. Oh, a little Rule 50 chat, just for fun. You can foll...

When Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee joined us to talk about his sport, little did we know we were in for some maranovela talk! In part 1 of our interview with Evan, we talk about the marathon and race walks' move to Sapporo and his opinions about the switch. Plus, the controversy over his race place at Rio 2016 and how Canadians embraced their best race walker. Follow Evan on Twitter and Insta ,...

Legendary softball outfielder Laura Berg is the most decorated softball Olympian, winning 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and having played at every Olympic softball tournament ever held. She's now head coach at Oregon State University and is extending her Olympic streak as a member of Team USA's coaching staff for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked with her about the game and building a team.   Fol...

Big news from Tokyo 2020 this week: No overseas fans welcome at this summer's Olympics. We talk with TKFLASTANI Ken Hanscom about the ticketing situation and what fans are feeling now that they can't go to the Games. We're also talking equestrian eventing with 6x Olympian Phillip Dutton. Remember him from one of our Atlanta moments earlier this year? He's still competing and hopes to make Tokyo hi...

3x3 basketball is one of the new sports on the Olympic program, and NY Harlem/Team USA player Dominique Jones joins us to tell us how it works. Mark your calendars now to watch this during Tokyo 2020. We predict it'll be one of the most exciting additions to the Olympics. Jill also reports back from her Tokyo test event - i.e., the International Olympic Committee's recent marathon Session meeting....