Keep the Flame Alive

More great competition from the Paris 2024 Paralympics today, as Jill had an adventure (and some sore obliques) learning how to play sitting volleyball. She made the trip out to Versailles to catch some of the para equestrian team competition, then headed to para swimming and miraculously didn't get lost in the venue. Meanwhile, Alison went to the Stade de France for para athletics and then got wa...

It's been a rainy Day 8 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, but that did not dampen our spirits, even if it soaked our socks. Jill spent the day at the Eiffel Tower/Champs de Mars stadium complex, in part to see TKFLASTANI Liana Mutia compete in para judo, but also to catch some more blind football. Meanwhile, Alison had a team sports day with wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball. Sports on tod...

Day 7 of the Paris 2024 Paralympics was pretty magical for your two favorite Paralympics podcasters. Alison spent the day at the hallowed ground of Roland Garros for wheelchair tennis and got clay in more places than she thought was possible. Jill saw a TKFLASTANI destroy a world record at the Stade de France, then ended her day with medal rounds of wheelchair fencing foil, with the Paralympic leg...

Can you spend an entire day in Paris Arena Sud at the Paris 2024 Paralympics? Alison lives to tell the tale of one location, three sports: boccia, goalball and para table tennis. Jill gets a taste of blind football before dashing over to the Team USA House to interview TKFLASTANIs and then head to watch Brian Bell and the US Men's wheelchair basketball team try to advance to the bracket stage. Spo...

Day 5 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics brings some highs and lows–and Alison got stuck on the low end of the spectrum. We also learned about Nike's efforts to develop more inclusive clothing and footwear, and Jill had a splash and dash to and from the splash and dash. Nike has an initiative to develop athletes' careers post-competitive career, as well as hire more people with disabilities. To that en...

Team Keep the Flame Alive collects more gold today, as Matt Stutzman competes in Para Archery. Alison's got all of the details of his amazingly close matches, plus an encounter that made her day better than wheelchair rugby can. Plus, she has a sensory experience that was like any other. Meanwhile, Jill saw most of TKFLASTANI Brian Bell and Team USA's men's wheelchair basketball team. Then she hea...

Another day in Paris, another load of World and Paralympic Records going down! Jill went to Wheelchair Rugby…and let's just say there may be a podcast fight over who covers the final. Meanwhile, Alison braved the chill of the Grand Palais to see TKFLASTAN bring home a medal in Para Taekwondo. Plus, an email from a TKFLASTANI upended evening plans for all the right reasons. Sports on today's progra...

The fantastic sporting action at the Paris 2024 Paralympics continues on, but the lovely weather doesn't. Jill managed a lot of venue issues, including rain at Invalides during the para archery competition. Alison got to the velodrome for a toasty day of para cycling track. Sports on today's agenda: Boccia Goalball Para Archery Para Athletics Para Badminton Para Cycling Track Para Rowing Para Swim...

It's the first full day of competition from Paris 2024, as the Paralympics get off to a great start. Jill went to para track cycling to see TKFLASTANI Samantha Bosco, and Alison had the best day of her life at wheelchair rugby. In the evening, Alison headed over to para swimming for Olivia Chambers' first final, while Jill wandered around Paris Arena Sud and eventually watched TKFLASTANI Melissa T...

The Paris 2024 Paralympics are officially open! We attended the Opening Ceremonies...and we have opinions on the show, which in a first-ever moment for the Paralympics, took the Opening Ceremonies out of the stadium and put it in the heart of the city (in a temporary stadium, but let's not get too in the weeds with that detail).   The ceremony covered a lot of ground over a long span of time, and...

It's one day to go until the Paris 2024 Paralympics! We are back in Paris, which means we have more (mis)adventures to share with you. We're in a new hotel, we have a new Main Press Center, and we've been to some interesting events. Alison saw a sneak preview of the Opening Ceremonies and has a full report. Meanwhile, Jill checked off another Olympic swimming pool with a visit to the Georges Valle...

We're just a few days away from the start of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics, and we have one more member of Team TKFLASTAN to introduce to you! Daniel Romanchuk is a two-time Paralympic medalist in wheelchair racing, both on the track and on the road. Racing since he was four years old, Daniel came onto the Paralympic stage at Rio 2016, where he competed in the Men's T54 class in the 100m, 400m...

The flame is out and we say au revoir to the Paris 2024 Olympics. First, there were still some competitions to wrap up: Jill made the journey out to Versailles to see the women's modern pentathlon finals, and Alison saw TKFLASTANI Ben Hallock and Team USA go for the bronze at water polo. Plus, the Marathon Pour Tous looked like a great time for some, but perhaps not for others. And we look at the...

It's the penultimate day of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, but we're still going strong with incredible competitions. Jill went to weightlifting and discovered way more than you see on TV. Then she headed to the final night of artistic swimming to cheer on TKFLASTAN in their duet competitions. Alison made it to the men's breaking competition--what does she think of Paris 2024's new sport? Sports...

Hip hop meets the Olympic stage today, as breaking gets underway, and B-girl Talash from the Refugee Team makes a big splash in the opening battle with a field of play protest. Our TKFLASTANI Sunny pulls a tough draw in the round robin competition. Jill's there to see how she does. Plus, Alison nerves get tested by "Moulin Rouge" during the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition, and she wonders why ball...

We're heading into the home stretch of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, but some sports are just getting underway. Alison ventures back into the icebox that is the Grand Palais for taekwondo, while Jill watches the crystals fly at rhythmic gymnastics and discovers that the velodrome is really a sauna (on purpose). There's some controversy on the track, and a number of medalists in multiple sports s...

Another round of sports gets underway at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and Jill and Alison are here for it. Alison spends the day at the pool for diving and artistic swimming. Meanwhile, it's Jill's turn to visit la pharmacie before heading to the Stade de France to see TKFLASTANI Katie Moon compete in the women's pole vault finals. Also, the US figure skaters who won the Team Figure Skating event at B...

The Paris 2024 Olympics continue to make history, and today was no exception, as we've got the first 5-peat champion in Olympic history. Plus, Jill ventures out to the skate park and Alison heads to sport climbing. Will these newer Olympic sports capture our hearts? Sports on today's program include: Artistic Swimming Athletics Basketball Beach Volleyball Boxing Canoe Sprint Diving Equestrian Foot...

It's Day 10 of the Paris 2024 Olympics, and we're both struggling with colds. Alison checks out the wrestling competition and comes to a realization about fighting sports. Jill and Contributor Ben saw the city's archeological archives in the morning, then Jill saw the tail end of the 3×3 competition–and had a moment with an IOC member. The day's competition includes: Artistic Gymnastics Artistic S...

We've hit the last day of swimming, which always means a turning point in the Summer Olympics. For us, that meant Alison had a tough transportation day, and Jill explored the canoe slalom venue, which of course means new toilets to report on. Then she headed to Ireland House to check out some of the hospitality house scene. Was it worth it? Plus, TKFLASTAN gets a world record! The sports on today'...

It's Super Saturday here at Paris 2024, with so many swimming and athletics  finals (and some rain). Jill ventured out to Colombes to check out the hockey competition, which is in the original 1924 Olympic stadium, then went to the Stade de France for a big night in athletics. Meanwhile, Alison got to see some heart-stopping artistic gymnastics apparatus finals, thrilling swimming races, and more...

It's  Day 7 of the Paris 2024 Olympics, and Olympic fatigue is starting to settle in. Alison battles a sore throat, but finds another pharmacie and rallies to go to trampoline and 3X3 basketball. Meanwhile,  Jill gets into the pin trading game and sees a France podium sweep in BMX. It's her first visit to the velodrome/BMX racing park, which, of course, means a new toilet to visit! The Sports on t...

The heat is still on here in Paris–and it's brutal. We're sticking to indoor sports for the time being, but that doesn't mean we can avoid the oppressive heat while we wander around venues. Alison went on the hunt for a pharmacie to find a sore throat remedy and lingered in the coolness of the badminton venue. Meanwhile, Jill scored some Paris Media Center condoms and had a real lunch before disco...

It was a scorcher of a day both weather-wise and on the playing field….and some TKFLASTANIs got burned. Both Jill and Alison had issues with the extremely hot weather here–Jill wandered around the Urban Park concept at Place de la Concorde trying to find the media center, and Alison burned her backside at Beach Volleyball. Other than that, it was a great day of competition, with France's hero of t...

It's Day 4 of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, and the heat is on–literally! Broiling temps outside meant it was an indoors day for us–but did we still sweat through our clothes? Of course! Jill was at badminton for group play, then squeezed into the top of the press tribune for the women's team artistic gymnastics final, where she had to perform some of her own gymnastics just to watch the competi...