Legendary Olympian Madeline Manning Mims has been an Olympic chaplain since 1988. She talks about the chaplain role on Keep the Flame Alive Podcast. Photo courtesy of Madeline Manning Mims.

Episode 160: Madeline Manning Mims, Olympic Chaplain

Release Date: October 29, 2020

Category: Gamesmakers

Legendary Olympian Madeline Manning Mims has the distinction of being America’s first (and currently still only) female athlete to win the gold medal in the 800m run, which she achieved at the Mexico City 1969 Olympics. She added a silver in the 4x400m relay at Munich 1972, competed at Montreal 1976, and was selected for the Moscow 1980 that stayed home due to the US boycott of those Games.

After her competitive career, Madeline found another calling: Chaplain. She’s been a volunteer chaplain at every Summer Olympics since Seoul 1988, being a presence of faith for athletes during the Games.

That’s right. There are chaplains and religious officials at the Olympics. What do they do? In part one of our interview with Madeline, she explains the role of an Olympic chaplain and the history of how they came to be at the Games.

Learn more about Madeline’s organization, the United States Council for Sports Chaplaincy here.

In our visit to TKFLASTAN, we hear from:

Plus, tons of news from Tokyo 2020 and possible new event formats for Paris 2024. TBach accepts the Seoul Peace Prize–and he’s got a few thoughts about protests at the Olympics.

***

Keep the Flame Alive: The Podcast for Fans of the Olympics and Paralympics with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown

Support the show:

Hang out with us online:

Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!