Book Club Claire is back for a lively discussion of A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold and Beyond, by Abhinav Bindra, India's first individual Olympic gold medalist who competed in the sport of air rifle. Does it hit the bulls-eye as a good read, or does it miss the mark?
Houry Gebeshian not only became Armenia's first female Olympic artistic gymnast, she also got a move named after her at the Rio 2016 Olympics! We talk about how she developed the Gebeshian, an uneven bars mount, as well as how she came to represent Armenia, and what it's like to be an Olympian from a country that doesn't have a lot of resources.
In our efforts to learn more about how para sports work, we talk with 1996 and 2000 Paralympian John Register about the mechanics of running blades (aka running legs).
September 25, 2000 is known to Olympics fans as Magic Monday, where athletics fans got to see nine finals, including Cathy Freeman and Michael Johnson winning the 400m races. Nick Zaccardi, long-time Olympics editor at NBC Sports, joins us to talk about what made Magic Monday legendary.
What's it like to become the first Olympian for your country in the sport of skeleton? Israeli athlete AJ Edelman tells us about his experiences in the sport of skeleton and his current work in building up Israel's bobsled and skeleton team in hopes of competing at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
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.
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. We definitely need some Oreos and a nap after this.
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.
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.
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!