Content warning: This episodes contains discussions of eating disorders.
During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, our listeners had a ton of questions about ski jumping (particularly with that suit controversy). We talked with Blake Hughes, former USA Nordic Women's Ski Jumping Team Director and Head Coach of USA Nordic Sport, to sort it all out.
We're excited to have British Paralympic bronze medalist Louise Sugden on the show this week to help us learn about the sport of para powerlifting and what it's like trying to find clothes that fit when you're jacked. Plus, Paris 2024 has more details about ticket sales!
Book Club Claire is back for a not-so-marathon discussion about TKFLASTANI marathoner Abdi Abdirahman's book Abdi's World: The Black Cactus on Life, Running, and Fun." And plants. We also talk plants.
It's time for another Lightning Round episode with some of our TKFLASTANIs - and this time, we're keeping it in the world of athletics. Runner Madeline Manninng Mims talks with us about being a Tigerbelle and just how hard training could be. Race walker Evan Dunfee shares where you can get the best doughnuts in Canada. And marathoner Abdi Abdirahman shares the secret to getting good pins for his Olympic pin collection.
Theater collaborators Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald have brought the Olympics to the stage in the new musical "The Magnificent Seven," which tells the story of the women's team artistic gymnastics competition during the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. How did they bring this show to the stage, and just what is "sports blue"? Find out on this episode!
It’s time for movie club! Film Buff Fran is back with the official film of the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics “One Light One World,” directed by Joe Jay Jalbert and R. Douglas Copsey. Which athlete had the most Aqua Net in their hair?
We are so excited to have author David Maraniss on today’s show to talk about his new book Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe.
Path Lit by Lightning came out this week, and we talked with him about the book and Thorpe, who won the pentathlon and decathlon at Stockholm 1912, but had his medals stripped because it was later discovered that he had been a professional athlete.
Big changes are coming to the sport of modern pentathlon for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Team GB Olympian Jo Muir breaks down what they are and how the sport will look. Also, what's hotter? Tokyo at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics or the United Kingdom in summer 2022?
It is two years to go until the Paris 2024 Olympics begin! To celebrate, we're talking with George Hirthler, author of The Idealist, a historical novel about this founder of the modern Olympic Movement. We talk with George about the baron's life and his thoughts on physical education within the French school system, along with his struggles to have it implemented. We also discuss his attitude toward amateurism and whether women should participate in the Games (Pierre's philosophy might surprise you).
We've been mesmerized by the last week of the World Games (and not just by how many American Idol contestants have come from Alabama), so we've got more of the action from Birmingham 2022, including thoughts on the artistic gymnastics disciplines we wish were in the Olympics, feed replay beefs and what could possibly be the deal with the mascot of the 2025 World Games. Our 2022 World Games Week 2 thoughts -- and your calls on this week's episode!
The 2022 World Games are underway, and we are glued to the feeds! Today we talk about the sports we've been watching and how the World Games has made us love multi-sport events all over again.
The 2022 World Games kicks off today in Birmingham, Alabama. Why should we care about a non-Olympic or Paralympic event? The International Olympic Committee is connected to this, and we've got some details on their relationship. We're also joined by World Games medalist John Moorhead, who won bronze in American Football at the 2017 World Games in Wrocław, Poland. John tells us about his experiences and having football in a multi-sport event.
We talk a lot about more nations getting involved with sports, or smaller nations having more presence at an Olympics or Paralympics. For a nation to be at the Games, they need to have a national governing body in the sport – but what does it take to start one? On this episode we’re talking with skeleton athlete Shannon Galea, who has dual citizenship with Canada and Malta, and who founded the Maltese Bobsled and Skeleton Federation with hopes of qualifying for the Olympics.
Book Club Claire is back for another session of book club! This time we've got our first Paralympics-related selection: "Driven to Ride: The True Story of an Elite Athlete Who Rebuilt His Leg, His Life, and His Career" by two-time Paralympic Snowboarder Mike Schultz. In the genre of athlete memoir, how does this one rate with us?
Nordic Combined is the only sport on the current Olympic program that is only open to men. Many athletes are working to change that, including Team USA’s Annika Malacinski. We talk with Annika about how the sport works, which surprisingly involves a lot of body measurements (see: ski jumping suit scandal at Beijing), and we learn about one of the best winner's prizes ever. Also, how you can help the women in their effort to get onto the Olympic program.