Olympics.com Podcast

We went behind-the-scenes at the first ever Youth Olympic breaking individual finals. We spoke to Bumblebee, Shigekix, and Emma after they won their medals. Don’t forget the team event will be streamed on OlympicChannel.com today. Plus, we have all the usual headlines and tips on who to watch.

The 18-year-old cancer survivor playing 3x3 basketball at the Youth Olympic Games.

Yusra nearly drowned in the Aegean Sea when she fled Syria and became a refugee. She steadied a boat with her sister - saving the lives of the people on board. She went on to compete at Rio 2016 and won her swimming heat. We talked to her about her Instagram feed and practical ways people can help refugees.

Kirsty Coventry, Senegal and the Youth Olympic Games

We open our daily podcast from Buenos Aires with a bang as USA's Missy Franklin. She opens up about her body issues when she was a teenager. There’s some sage advice on how to perform under the glare of the world afrom the five-time Olympic champion. Plus, we speak to Paris 2024 boss and three-time Olympic champion Tony Estanguet on why he has a vested interest in the athletes' performance here in...

The start of Buenos Aires 2018 is almost here.  Over 4,000 elite sporting teenagers are descending on Argentina for the Youth Olympic Games.   Former Youth Olympians include snowboarder Chloe Kim, diving’s Tom Daley and Spain’s badminton Olympic champion Carolina Marin.  We’ve spoken to four athletes who we think you need to know about. At 18, Kanak Jha is already USA’s top men...

The 23-time Olympic champion, Michael Phelps, opened up to the Olympic Channel Podcast about his struggles with mental health. “Being able to be open, to be honest (and) being your authentic self… that’s kind of the equation for success.” Phelps was third place in what was billed as the ‘Race of the Century’. The man who beat him to second place was three-time Olympic champ Pieter van den Hoogenba...

Sarah Storey has won more Paralympic gold medals than any other British woman. She won 14, in both swimming and cycling, across her ground-breaking career. During Rio 2016, she took the decision to breastfeed during competition. She thinks that it’s possible to be a breastfeeding mother and be on the top of your game. After Serena Williams’ coach advised her to stop breastfeeding, Storey also says...

Rhythmic gymnast Marta Pagnini is an Olympic bronze medallist from Italy who is totally confident with her body. She wants to promote a positive message. “I’m confident with my body and I shouldn’t be judged for my body, I should be judged for my performance as an athlete. And from what I do as a woman, not for my body.” SUBSCRIBE for the best interviews around the Olympics every Wednesday. LINKS:...

Sweden’s Rio silver medallist Nilla Fischer thinks we’re a long way from seeing a big, male star ‘come out’ in the sport. But the first openly gay referee in the English game, Ryan Atkin, believes homophobia is on the decline in football. We want to know what the men can learn from the women’s game about LGBTQ+ inclusivity. SUBSCRIBE for the best interviews around the Olympics every Wednesday. LIN...

Imagine you’re single. Your date turns out to be an Olympic figure skater. Six months later, you propose. She says yes. Liam Cross went from knowing nothing about figure skating to being physically sick before the Olympic Games in PyeongChang because he was so nervous about his wife’s performance. Together With Bruno Massot, Alonja Savchenko took gold in the pairs from PyeongChang 2018 for Germany...

Heptathlete Rebecca Wardell is on a mission to cycle through most of Europe and Asia before hopping on a plane and finishing her journey through New Zealand. After injury forced her hopes for a second Olympic appearance six weeks before London 2012, she’s now embarking on a trip to meet as many Olympians as possible and raise money for charity to get more women into sport. She says, “It’s definite...

Four-time Olympic medallist, coach, and NBC commentator Ato Boldon remembers Usain Bolt’s incredible world record breaking performance at Beijing 2008. The Trinidad and Tobago sprint legend has been at the stadium every time Jamaica’s Bolt has broken a record. He says that moment was simply iconic. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of a race that won’t be forgotten, we spoke to Boldon about Bol...

Less than three months after winning Olympic gold in cross-country skiing at PyeongChang 2018, Kikkan Randall was diagnosed with breast cancer. The 35-year-old American is receiving treatment and the prognosis is good. But she’s had to shave her hair off. Hair that she used to dye pink to stand out from the crowd. We talk about the colour pink, the dreaded moment she took ‘the call’ and making the...

Courage is easy to talk about but hard to practise. How can we find the courage to speak out for the right thing? And do you have the courage to face your fears? Greek gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias won gold on the rings at Rio 2016. His journey to that moment was difficult. He was bullied as a child for being short and lost his father two weeks before he became world champion in 2015. We also tal...

Figure skater Denis Ten died suddenly on 19 July 2018. There was an immediate outpour of emotion after the Sochi 2014 bronze medallist was reportedly attacked and stabbed in Kazakhstan. The Olympic Channel Podcast spoke to Olympic gold medallist Aljona Savchenko. She was friends with Ten and gives a moving a tribute. Plus, we dug into our archives to find an interview with Denis Ten that we did be...

The sun beats down hard on the Madrid street and it’s hot. The ice here is normally in drinks to cool down. The Spanish capital doesn’t seem like a natural first choice for Winter Olympians. That was until Javier Fernandez slowly worked his way to becoming one of the world’s leading figure skaters. He is a two-time world champion and took home a bronze medal from PyeongChang 2018. As a young man,...

The swimmer won Olympic gold in 2004 with Michael Phelps and just a few years later he was jobless and living in his car. Klete Keller experienced the highs of beating Olympic swimming legends like Ian Thorpe but, after his winning career was finished, he sunk into a deep depression. Keller lost his marriage and his job over the course of 24 hours. His life fell apart and he spent 10 months living...

What happens when you are expected to stand on the podium as an Olympic medallist – but you finish fourth? Swimmer Katinka Hosszu was favourite for gold in 2012. (Interview starts at 03:05) During the race, she realised that she was in third position and the person in first couldn’t be caught. She started to be mentally distracted. The Hungarian finished the race and looked up at the board to chec...

It’s time to start thinking about the new Olympic cycle for figure skating. So, we asked two Olympic champions what they think Yuzuru Hanyu and Evgenia Medvedeva should do next. Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko (interview starts at 02:56) says that Hanyu is ‘from a different planet’. And hints that the Japanese double Olympic champion could be capable of doing the quad axel. Plushenko also says that if M...

If you have a look at Yusra Mardini’s Instagram feed – there are clues about what she does: pictures of swimming training and plenty of selfies. She’s clearly an international standard athlete. But her story runs deep – after fleeing Syria and swimming for 10km alongside a boat of displaced people looking for a new start, she ended up in Germany training for the Olympics. She refuses to be defined...

Everywhere Luka Doncic has gone – he’s won. From the Eurobasket with Slovenia to the Euroleague with Real Madrid, the 19-year-old is hot property for the NBA Draft. But what makes him so special? And could we see Slovenia finally compete and even challenge at the Olympic Games? We speak to ESPN’s Senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski about why basketball dealmakers are so interested. Plus, we hear...

Physical trauma is, on the surface, much harder to stomach than any emotional pain. Imagine choosing between sparring a few rounds with a boxer compared to being called a few names. The choice seems easy. But, as an elite boxer watches cuts and bruises heal after a big fight, they say it's the emotional scars that can last a lifetime. Olympic bronze medallist boxer David Price has faced the worst...

When two-time Olympic silver medallist figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva announced that she was leaving her coach to join Brian Orser in Canada, it was a surprise. We managed to grab a word with the two-time world champion about anime, meeting EXO, and her thoughts on PyeongChang. But she also gave us the lowdown on what she thinks of moving to Canada. ***LINKS*** EXO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

It’s not every day that you receive an invitation to visit the home of one of the biggest skateboarders around. So the Olympic Channel Podcast naturally leapt at the chance to speak to Nyjah Huston at his apartment in Los Angeles. Why on earth are we concerned about skateboarding? Well, the sport is going to be at Tokyo 2020. And if you have any doubts as to why skateboarding should be at the Olym...