Keep the Flame Alive

This week we're talking about how Olympians, Paralympians and elite athletes develop their personal brand. Athlete branding expert Vickie Saunders, president of The Brand Builders , a company that specializes in educating and training individuals and organizations about branding, takes us through how elite athletes figure out how to create a brand that's authentic to them. Follow Vickie on Insta ,...

We are back from vacation just in time to celebrate Tessa Gobbo Day. There's so much to catch up on that this week's show turned into one big update. First up, we talk about all of the Olympic and Paralympic movies we've seen during the break. The IOC Executive Board met, so there's some news from TBach and company. TKFLASTAN's been hoppin', so we've got tons of news from our Team Keep the Flame A...

It's Labor Day weekend in the US, so we're taking a holiday this week. Never fear, we have new content for you (and even Alison) -- a Lightning Round featuring TKFLASTANIS Joe Maloy, Dr. Claudia Reardon and Andrew Rock. Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!

We're marking one year to go to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics with a look at how the sport of wheelchair basketball developed. David Davis, author of the new book Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from WWII Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation , joins us to talk about the fascinating history of this sport. Follow David on Twitter and get updates and...

Film Buff Fran is back for another edition of our movie club! We've got a double-feature this time, looking at two biopics on 1972 Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine. "Without Limits" stars Billy Crudup as the confident athlete, while "Prefontaine" stars Jared Leto in the same role. Which movie was more accurate? Which actor was the better Pre? Listen to find out! Our next movie will be an Indian fi...

If 2020 was a normal year, we would've just said good-bye to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics--and many athletes would be making big decisions about their futures. Since many athletes retire after an Olympics, w e wanted to look at how elite athletes transition out of competitive life. To help us understand this topic, we talked with Leslie Klein, an Olympian who most recently was the Director of Athlete C...

On the track, a relay team can make or break its race based on the quality of its baton handoffs. 2004 Olympic relay gold medalist and current Bethel University head track coach Andrew Rock walks us through the process of handing off the baton. And, we announce our virtual Closing Ceremonies meetup. You can follow Andrew's teams on social @ bethelxctf and visit their website . As we mentioned on t...

Book Club Claire is back to discuss 1964: The Greatest Year in the History of Japan: How the Tokyo Olympics Symbolized Japan's Miraculous Rise from the Ashes by Roy Tomizawa. Also, we have found our nickname for John Coates--and we can't even take credit for it. Our next book is A Shot at History by Abhinav Bindra with Rohit Brijnath. There are a couple of versions - we'll be reading the updated 2...

We report back on what went down in the International Olympic Committee's 136th Session, which is the big gathering of all IOC members. We've got an announcement from TBach, news from Tokyo 2020, plus reports from all of the other Games on the docket. Today is also one year to go until Tokyo 2020 (in 2021), so the Tokyo Organizing Committee had a recognition celebration. It was a little more sombe...

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Moscow 1980 Olympics, which may be better known for the 66-country boycott of them. Our TKFLASTANI archivist Teri Hedgpeth joins us to talk about the boycott and a new exhibit she put together for the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee that honors the US athletes who were affected by it. Follow Teri on LinkedIn ! We are working on a side project abou...

We welcome back our TKFLASTANI travel expert Ken Hanscom, COO of Ticket Manager, who tells us the latest on how to make plans to travel to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021. Follow Ken on  Twitter and Insta . Follow Ticket Manager on Twitter. We also have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT about our plans to celebrate one year to Tokyo 2020 on July 24! Look for more details on our Insta , Twitter , Facebook Page an...

This week is Canada Day and American Independence Day, so we're celebrating with a Lightning Round episode. This one features our TKFLASTANI archery official Hannah Brown, travel/tickets expert Ken Hanscom and 1976 Olympic luger Maura Grogan.   Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!     *** Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts...

We need to cool off, so we're hitting the ice -- the curling ice, that is. On this episode we talk with Derek Leung, a graduate student pursuing a research master's in geology at the University of Edinburgh. His focus is on the damage evolution of curling stones, so we wanted to hear what he's discovered about the rocks themselves. Derek has a YouTube channel called Minerals Rock! where you can se...

Simone Biles and Michael Phelps are among the Olympians who have ADHD. But what is that disorder, and how does it affect elite athletes? Dr. Claudia Reardon, Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and co-chair of the International Olympic Committee's working group "Mental Health in Elite Athletes," joins us to talk about...

We welcome back 4x canoe sprint Olympian András Törő, and in this episode we talk about his Olympic experiences at Rome 1960, where he won a bronze medal; Tokyo 1964, where he defected; Munich 1972, which suffered a terrorist attack, and Montreal 1976. Also, we follow up on the latest developments in the IOC's and USOPC's efforts to acknowledge athletes' opinions and desires when it comes to makin...

It's been a tough week in America--and in cities around the world that are rising up against racism and social injustice. In hundreds of cities, people are banding together to make a statement about the brutal killing of George Floyd and to demand change. Because of the situation going on in the world, we wanted to take some time and look at protests that have occurred on the Olympic stage through...

It's a holiday week here in the US, so we've got a Lightning Round episode for you. Past guests Marnie McBean, Kelly Claes and Karolos Grohmann face up to the slow roll of our lightning round questions. Follow our guests: Marnie: Twitter | Insta | Website Kelly: Twitter | Insta | Website Karolos: Twitter Also, here's Marnie's amazing Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremonies uniform . This is a national t...

*** Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.   Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod   Hang out with us online: Face...

It's week 2 of canoe! On this episode, 4x Olympian Andras Törő tells us details about the Canoe Sprint discipline that will help us watch it better at the Olympics. Andras is pretty amazing. Competing for Hungary, Andras won a silver medal in the Men's 1000m C2 event (that's doubles) at the Rome 1960 Olympics. [check out this video of his event - his boat's in the middle. Was Hungary robbed?]He co...

We're back! Same fun Olympics podcast, but a brand new name! We're still getting things transitioned over to the new name -- you'll see a new website soon, and the back catalog will get reconfigured as well. We have all new social media handles--new accounts actually, so please follow us and help others find us . It's the same across Insta , Twitter and Facebook --@flamealivepod . Our Facebook Gro...

New name, same great Olympics and Paralympics podcast!   Keep the Flame Alive covers all aspects of the Games. During the Games, we have daily recap episodes, and when the Games aren't on, we keep the flame alive through interviews with athletes and people behind the scenes. We cover how sports work, different roles within the Olympic and Paralympic movements, history, books, movies and more!   Ad...

It's our last episode of Olympic Fever (but don't worry, we're not going anywhere--we're just changing our name)! This week, we're having a Movie Club meeting, so that means a visit from Film Buff Fran. Fran joins us to discuss "Miracle," the story of the 1980 US men's ice hockey team, also known as the "Miracle on Ice." Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!    ...

Book Club Claire is back to discuss " Games of Deception: The True Story of the First U.S. Olympic Basketball Team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany " by Andrew Maraniss . We also hear from author Roy Tomizawa about his book "1964," which is our next selection. We wonder which Team Olympic Fever Quarantine House we should stay in, and we have some gymnastics qualification updates for Tokyo...

We're catching up with more members of Team Olympic Fever to see how they're faring in the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we're chatting with our karate Olympic hopeful Tom Scott and video journalist Sean Colahan. Plus, we talk about the Olympic flame's current location, and we have a new self-isolation Olympic sport we think should be up for consideration in the Olympic program. Follow Tom Scott: Faceb...

Today we're learning what the Olympics are like from a National Governing Body (NGB) point of view. Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Weightlifting joins us to talk about what his NGB does for its elite, Olympic-bound athletes, as well as for its clubs, coaches and other athlete members. We also talk about drug testing in the wake of COVID-19 and how that's especially important to the sport of weightliftin...