One week from Tokyo 2020! Today we're learning about Greco-Roman wrestling from SPC Alejandro Sancho of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. Alejandro will be competing for Team USA at Tokyo 2020 in the 67kg weight class. We talk about how to distinguish Greco-Roman from freestyle wrestling and what it's like to drop someone on their head.
We're on the shooting range with SPC Tim Sherry of Team USA and the US Army Marksmanship Unit. Tim walks us through the sport of 3 Position Rifle, including how to shoot in wind and rain, dealing with your feet falling asleep during competition, how puberty affects your shooting, the cost of a rifle, and why the new Olympic mixed rifle event will be exciting to watch.
Women's gymnastics is one of the most popular Olympic events, but the way the sport evolved made it ripe for abuse and overtraining. Sports scholar and former international gymnast Georgia Cervin joins us to talk about her book, "Degrees of Difficulty: How Women’s Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell From Grace" Just how did such a popular sport become such a welcome environment for abuse, and can today's gymnastic stars change their sport for the better?
Abdi Abdirahman knows how to run for a long time. He's the only American distance runner to have qualified for 5 Olympics, 3 Games at 10000m and 2 at the marathon distance. He'll be running the marathon at Tokyo 2020, so we and Book Club Claire talked with him about how both of these races work and what's up with the controversial Nike Vaporfly road shoes.
What do pimples have to do with table tennis? Australian Olympian and Paralympian Melissa Tapper explains all -- and what she says about the sport will have you glued to the screen during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
As Americans, we're used to Team USA being a major force at any Olympics, but what's it like to represent a small country? Today we're talking with swimmer Felicity Passon, who will compete for the Seychelles at the Olympics. Felicity tells us about the few resources she has access too, how her National Olympic Committee is trying to improve sport within the country, and how she hopes to make it better for the next generation of athletes. Plus, we have a big announcement!
Rugby coach Ben Ryan led the Fiji men’s rugby sevens team to the country’s first-ever gold medal, which they earned at the sport’s Olympic debut at Rio 2016. We talked with Ben about how the sport works -- and got some sunscreen tips.
The Shot Diva is here! 3x Olympian and Rio 2016 gold medal shot putter Michelle Carter joins us this week to talk about shot put technique, her strategies for managing her ADHD and dyslexia, her Olympic experiences and how looking her best helps her achieve her best.
We're on the shooting range this week with Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher. Ginny won gold in the 10m air rifle, and she also competes in three-position 50m small-bore rifle. Ginny talks with us about the physical and mental demands of shooting, the funky shooting jacket and shoes, and how she travels with her rifles. Plus, a look at Atlanta's football stadiums and lots of Tokyo 2020 news. Hope you're ready to Cheer-io!
American flyweight boxer Ginny Fuchs joins us to tell us more about how Olympic boxing works. Ginny also copes with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and as May is Mental Health Awareness Month, she tells us how OCD manifests for her and the work she does to better manage it. Plus, Book Club Claire chats with rugby coach and author Ben Ryan on our latest Book Club pick, "Sevens Heaven: The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji's Olympic Dream." Also, Tokyo 2020 announced the winners of its recipe contest!
Book Club Claire is BACK for our discussion of "Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John du Pont's Madness, and the quest for Olympic Gold" by Mark Schultz with David Thomas. Bonus! The dulcet tones of Jason Bryant also joins us to give context to the story and how it affected the wrestling community. Plus, we've got new Tokyo 2020 Playbooks, news on the torch relay, an Atlanta 1996 story and the International Olympic Committee's announcement about its virtual sports event.
Connor Fields, reigning Olympic gold medalist in BMX racing, joins us to explain just how BMX is more organized chaos and less demolition derby. And he shares some interesting details about the BMX course we'll be watching at Tokyo 2020.
Canadian Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee is back to tell us how race walking works and optimal post-professional career choices for race walkers. Plus, it's 100 Days to Tokyo 2020!
When Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee joined us to talk about his sport, little did we know we were in for some maranovela talk! In part 1 of our interview with Evan, we talk about the marathon and race walks' move to Sapporo and his opinions about the switch. Plus, the controversy over his race place at Rio 2016 and how Canadians embraced their best race walker.
Legendary softball outfielder Laura Berg is the most decorated softball Olympian, winning 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and having played at every Olympic softball tournament ever held. She’s now head coach at Oregon State University and is extending her Olympic streak as a member of Team USA's coaching staff for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked with her about the game and building a team.