We’re on the shooting range with Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher. Ginny won gold in the 10m air rifle, and she made a splash, not just for winning gold, but winning the first gold medal of the Olympics, which meant suddenly, the U.S. media was very, very interested in shooting sports. Ginny also competes in three-position 50m small-bore rifle. Ginny talks with us about the physical and mental demands of shooting, as well as the funky shooting uniform that includes a stiff, heavy jacket and shoes. Also, ever try getting a rifle on a plane? Ginny tells us how she does it time after time.
Follow Ginny Thrasher on Facebook, Insta, Twitter and TikTok and check out her website.
What are our TKFLASTANIs up to this week? We’ve got news from:
- Figure skater Meagan Duhamel
- Gymnast Chellsie Memmel
- Swimmer Mallory Comerford
- Luger Shiva Keshavan
- Montreal’s Olympic Park
- Para Discus Thrower Ness Murby
Throughout 2021 we’re revisiting great stories from Atlanta 1996! For our Atlanta 1996 moment this week, Alison talks about the regionality of the football tournament in light of the Tokyo 2020 marathon and race walks being held in Sapporo.
We also lots of news on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, including a new para avatar role-playing game, sustainability measures at the Games, General Mills Canada’s Cheer-ios promotion, Australia’s Opening and Closing Ceremonies uniform and more!
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
Photo courtesy of Ginny Thrasher.
TRANSCRIPT
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Episode 189: Ginny Thrasher
Ginny Thrasher: [00:00:00] I think one of the challenges our sport faces is you
S in and truly we’re doing that mid
Theme Music
Jill Jaracz: Hello. Fans of shook Stan and welcome to another episode of keep the flame alive. The podcast, four fans of the Olympics and Paralympics. I am your host. Jill. Jarris joined as always by my lovely co-host Allison brown, Allison. Hello, how are you?
Alison Brown: Hello. [00:01:00] It is summer-ish here.
So I have been getting out and doing things
Jill Jaracz: like
Alison Brown: actually seeing people
Jill Jaracz: what’s that like,
Alison Brown: it’s a little odd. It’s like, oh my goodness. That’s what the other half of your face looks like. I forgot.
Jill Jaracz: I hear you.
Alison Brown: But now I have to remember that when I make a face, people can see it.
Jill Jaracz: Mm. Yes.
Alison Brown: So, you know, you gotta watch those expressions all of a sudden again.
Jill Jaracz: Right. And you gotta wear pants and
Alison Brown: yeah,
Jill Jaracz: lots of things. Gotta get
Alison Brown: shoes, shoes. Oh my goodness. Hate shoes.
Jill Jaracz: Well, get used to ’em again, but it’s gonna be sandal weather. How are, how are sandals?
Alison Brown: They’re still shoes.
Jill Jaracz: All right.
Alison Brown: I need sports with no shoes, but we are not talking sports with no shoes today.
Jill Jaracz: That is true.
Ginny Thrasher interview
We have we’re talking sports that have very specialized shoes. Actually, our guest today is shooter G Thrasher Ginny won the first gold medal awarded at [00:02:00] the Rio 2016 Olympics in the 10 meter air rifle event. She also competes in three position, 50 meter, small bore rifle. She joined us to tell us how those two events work.
Take a listen.
Alison Brown: First off,
Jill Jaracz: Jenny. Thank you so much for joining us.
Ginny Thrasher: Thanks for having me.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah, you’re welcome. So you shoot air rifle. We were so excited to read Ana bin rose book and just the sport itself sounds so fascinating. So let’s, let’s talk about it and what, what the elements are because it’s one of those short sports that a lot of Olympics fans don’t necessarily tune into cuz they don’t understand it.
So you’re, you’re shooting a, an air rifle. What, what is an air rifle?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah, our sport is so niche and I think people really don’t understand it, but actually it’s incredible because it’s such a mental sport. So there’s a lot of physical components and obviously one of the physical components is the actual [00:03:00] equipment you’re using.
So like your air rifle. So an air rifle shoots a pellet A1 seven, seven caliber pellet, and it uses compressed air to propel that pellet forward 10 meters into a target that is very small. So to give you a reference, the bold dye, the center of the target is the same size as the period at the end of a sentence in time through Roman font, size 12.
So that’s how small, what we’re aiming for is, and that’s why we have all this equipment. And, you know, we look kinda silly when we’re doing it honestly, but it actually turns it into such a mental sport because it’s not, who can that incredibly small target once who can do it 60 times in a row when you’re halfway across the world competing in the biggest match of your life.
Right.
Alison Brown: My first immediate thought is whose idea was [00:04:00] this? Like, that’s, , you know, that’s so you can’t see the target. You can’t like, I’m not even sure what I’m asking. It’s like, how did this even come to be? And I’m not sure how much, you know, on that.
Ginny Thrasher: Oh, I actually know a little bit for sure. So. Shooting is actually one of the original sports in the modern Olympic games.
So if you think about, you know, in the early 19 hundreds, when the Olympics started up, not like the ancient wrestling type, but in modern game shooting was a huge sport. And as we’ve kinda come into the century where we are now, there’s been a lot of goals to make shooting more accessible. So as you know, policies change around the world, and of course every different country has different laws and cultures.
So what happened was they [00:05:00] used to shoot, you know, big Bo guns, three, you know, and all of these that now the state
sport.
I’m pretty confident on that fact, actually. So 1984 air rifle entered the sport and that’s kinda when it became more of a precision shooting, equipment kind matters, uh, and a smaller target. So obviously when they were shooting big Bo guns in the early 19 hundreds and the, um, the technology just wasn’t as advanced, they had a lot bigger targets, right?
And so now as technology improves and as athletes across the world in every sport improve their skills and their training techniques, they’ve kind of had to go to, uh, very high standards. And the one way to do that is to [00:06:00] reduce the size of the target. And people are like, wow, that’s easy. All you do is line your scope up on the center.
Well, we don’t have any magnification. We don’t have any support. We don’t have any magnification. So I think people think it’s a very easy sport because they can’t see us moving. Right. Even if you’ve never Ram track and you see you saying bull sprinting, you understand the difficulty of what he’s doing.
I think one of the challenges, our sport faces is you look at it and maybe you compare it to, you know, shooting tins in your backyard. And I don’t think people really truly understand the level we’re doing it at and how actually difficult that is.
Jill Jaracz: So when you can’t see the target, how do you aim?
Ginny Thrasher: that’s a good question.
So the target looks [00:07:00] like a black circle, right? So it’s down ranged as a black circle. And our sites are called pee or aperture sites, which means I’m looking through the rear site, which is essentially just a big circle you look through. And then you look into the front site, which has an aperture, AKA, a smaller circle.
So you’re just lining up circles within circles. So you line up the bullseye, the black circle, 10 meters away into your front aperture, and you line up that front aperture into your rear site. And once all three circles are aligned, you know, you are aiming center and you can pull the trigger
Jill Jaracz: before competition.
Do you have to like C your rifle to make sure your sites are all lined up correctly?
Ginny Thrasher: Yes, actually. So similar to any other gun, you have to it in to make sure because if someone else were to pick up my gun, you know, they have different eyes and have different would [00:08:00] onto the cheek. And for me, day to day, as your hydration changes, you know, things just change a little bit.
So every Olympic competition actually has a sighting in period. And typically they’re about 15 minutes and the point is to warm up your body and your mind, and to adjust your equipment and your, your sight as needed. So during these 15 minutes, you can take as many shots as you want. And while you’re taking those shots, the, you know, the score doesn’t count, you’re taking those shots so that when the map starts, you can shoot at the center, right?
So when the starts, you have a block time, so an air rifle, you have an hour and 15 minutes for 60. So you can spend that however you want. You can get them all done in 15 minutes and then go sit down. You can go very slowly. You can take breaks and come offline and talk to your coat. So it’s actually kinda a, a lot of [00:09:00] strategy there.
And then the other event I shoot is actually small board rifle, which is a 22 caliber rifle, shoots a bullet and it shoots at 50 meters. And that one’s actually outdoors, which provides a great challenge sometimes with the wind and the Mirage, different lighting conditions. So when you’re, uh, shooting there, it really does become more of a strategy thing, uh, with the wind too.
Jill Jaracz: That makes sense. Okay. How does hydration affect your sites or your sighting ability?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah. So hydration affects your eyesight and how you see things. So that affects your sighting and also hydration affects your muscles and how, um, you know, long they get basically. So as you stretch and warm up, you know, it affects how they lengthen and that affects our, uh, kind, crazy looking positions we have.
So I think so many things actually affect, uh, your shooting from [00:10:00] the humidity and the air to your hydration, to, you know, how full the moon is that day. And part of shooting is being able to adapt, right? And it’s not about who’s best shooter the day before it’s so who’s the best shooter that day, who can mentally and physically adapt to those changing conditions.
Jill Jaracz: Holy cow, that is. It’s in that’s one thing that’s really interesting about shooting. I’m a big by Athlon fan. So it, every it’s that’s what makes it exciting is because on any given day, a whole handful of people could win. You know, when we go and we watch a hundred meters, likely you saying bolt’s gonna win this, you know, that’s what, the way it’s been since like 2008, but for these kind of sports, the tension and, and having that tension build out over 75 minutes is, is really kind of fascinating.
Ginny Thrasher: So of the main sports people in thes, like [00:11:00] gymnast swimming, you know, there’s a huge level of consistency. You know, you have to train to become the best in the world, but once you hit that, you know, there is a physical dominance where as in my sport, that consistency just doesn’t exist because so much of it.
Mental. And that is one of the things that makes it great. Veryt Rio were real that those girls had a fair shot at winning. And if you had run the match 10 times in a row, you can very well have 10 different winners. So, and, and I don’t say that to like, you know, diminish myself because it’s not true. Like on that day in Rio, when it counted, I won, I did that. I pulled the trigger.
[00:12:00] That being said, there is a little bit of timing and other things involved that I think makes it so rewarding when you do actually win.
Jill Jaracz: Interesting. Okay. So let’s, let’s talk about the gear for a little bit. How much does your gun weigh?
Ginny Thrasher: So the guns actually weigh about 12 pounds. So there is a weight limit.
So air rifle, it’s 0.5 kilograms for women and 6.5 kilograms for men. And so basically you can have anything lighter than that, but you wanna have heavy as you can handle because that anchors you down the, and makes easier to not as much and hold more still on the target. So you have as much as you handle, but if you have too much and, and I’m five foot one, I don’t really, you know, I’m, I’m a petite person.
Uh, I don’t really weigh a lot. [00:13:00] So it takes a lot of practice and training. People are often surprised that we do a lot of weight training and, uh, a lot of time outside of the range, working on our sport. So I do that to give me the, the stamina and endurance, because 12 pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re holding 12 pounds up for an hour and 15 minutes straight, it can actually be very strenuous
Alison Brown: and not be able to shake at all.
You can’t have even the slightest switch.
Ginny Thrasher: Exactly.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. So I, I also like the money stuff. How much does arrival cost?
Ginny Thrasher: they come to pretty petty
Jill Jaracz: yeah. We with Kim rowdy and Kim Rowdy’s like, yeah, our sport’s really expensive.
Ginny Thrasher: It is very expensive. And that, I actually think is one of the unfortunate things about this sport that I wish I could change because there’s such a high barrier to entry that I think it makes it [00:14:00] hard for people to.
Understand the sport, because they’ve never tried it. Whereas, you know, with a lot of sports like volleyball, right? What do you need a pair of shoes and a volleyball, uh, whereas in our sport you need a rifle that can cost, you know, three to $5,000. Uh, the price of ammo, our custom made suits, which are about two to $3,000.
Uh, you know, and that’s in addition to the coaching, the range time, all the travel to different venues and stuff. So I’m very fortunate right now because I’m well supported both by my national governing body USA shooting and a few sponsors, which really helped me. But, um, it’s difficult, especially when you’re in high school and the, the best thing our sport has actually is the NCAA system.
So the fact that a lot of athletes can go make that investment in high school and then kind of. I don’t wanna say, like, get that money [00:15:00] back in college, but a lot of them do get athletic scholarships to shoot in college. And I think that makes it a little more palatable for sure.
Alison Brown: Do you have multiple guns at once?
Ginny Thrasher: I do. So I have my air rifle and then my 22 caliber. So the ones I compete with and then actually at this level, I have backup rifles just in case anything were to ever happen. So for instance, when I go to the Olympic, I will pick a backup gun because guns break. And are you gonna let four years of hard work go because you were unprepared and a gun broke the day before the match?
Nope. You’re gonna have a backup and you’re it. And shoot. So I, uh, I haven’t always been in that position to access to those resources, but do now. And I’m very thankful.
Jill Jaracz: How do you travel with it? What’s what’s that process like, cuz that’s gotta be fun.
Ginny Thrasher: It’s [00:16:00] tough, honestly. So I’d and so I have the gun case and that’s where I put the guns and it’s, it’s very difficult to pack the guns. So they’re safe and secure. And then I have the gear bag, which is basically a gigantic suitcase and that is they can weigh pretty heavy. I would say 50 to 70 pounds depending how much ammo I’m carrying at the time.
And. Then I also have a suitcase in addition that has all of my clothes and toiletries and things like that. So I have these three bags and I have to strap them together and I’m going into the airport, you know, and I’m just like completely weigh down by these. And then you get to the check. And the first thing you have to do is declare that you have a firearm so that, uh, they [00:17:00] can safely transport it.
And sometimes that really easily. And sometimes that does not just on, you know, know the rules for carrying a firearm. If you’re foreign, you need special visa. Definitely. So it can definitely be complex. We get to the airport very early and I would say at my home airport now, you know, they know me cause I, I travel quite frequently.
So. Uh, I walk into the airport. It’s like, oh, Hey Jenny, where are you going today? You know,
Jill Jaracz: just do the weight, lifting for the stamina during the match. You also do it so you can transport everything through the airport, right?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah. I definitely get my workout on travel days.
Jill Jaracz: So ammunition, you mentioned for air rifle, it’s app pellet, and then the 50 meter rifle. It’s a 22 caliber. So how much [00:18:00] do you go through in a competition
Ginny Thrasher: in a competition for air rifle?
We shoot 60 shots in the match plus cider, and normally you’re taking, you know, 12 to 20 ciders. In small board, we actually shoot a little bit more. So we shoot 120 shots, but it’s actually over the course of three positions. So I know it’s just a complicated sport, but, um, I promise it’s worth learning about, so in small we shoot 40 shots in the knee position and then 40 shots in the pro.
Okay. The lying down position and then 40 shots in the standing position. So it’s a 20 record shots, but you have CIS three different times. So probably 15 cider each of those times. So add on another 45 shots.
Jill Jaracz: Now in the small board rifle, are your targets at, is this target at the same position and you just move your body into different positions?
Ginny Thrasher: Yes it’s.
Jill Jaracz: OK. Do you know what is [00:19:00] the history of that event? And, um, cause it’s kind of curious, like I kind of get just the, this is the way it is. We shoot prone, we shoot kneeling. We shoot standing, but. Why is that important in, in shooting? Or how did that evolve?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah, so actually prone rifle shooting was kind of the beginning of it back in the early 19 hundreds, they would shoot prone matches.
And that’s a great sport because it’s very accessible to shooters of a lot of different ages. And actually until 2016 it was event in the Olympics and then they took it out. So what was happening was pro basically, I don’t wanna say it became too easy, but you know, there has to be an evolution of the sport to keep it challenging, to keep it interesting.
So they made it into a three position sport, uh, with prone standing and kneeling so that, uh, there were more variables almost to keep it challenging for sure. And I think it [00:20:00] really is because a lot of people have a position that’s kind of their Keystone position. It’s the position they’re really, really good at.
And then maybe in another position, they struggle more. And I think that it almost makes it more fair and it always gives you something to work on because you always kinda have a position that you’re working on, even if that position changes. So I used to struggle a lot with kneeling actually, and I’ve working a lot on it over the last few years, and now kneeling is really a strength of mine, but now I’m struggling with pro you know, so I think, um, there’s a constant journey that has to be embraced.
And I think when I was in high school and I had started shooting this, it was very much like, okay, one day all reached perfection and all my positions will be amazing and I’ll never have to work on anything again. And I think as I’ve, uh, matured as an athlete, and I kinda can see the big picture now I realize that that’s just not true, [00:21:00] but that struggle that you go through is a part of what makes it an amazing sport.
And that’s what makes it gratifying and fulfilling over your, you know, 10, 15 year career.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. So I, I know we’re gonna bounce back and forth, but for, for the three position kneeling, do you choose your knee? Does it base, does it, is it based on which arm you shoot with? How does that work?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah, so the main factor there is actually I Dom, so you can be a lefthanded person, but you can be right.
Eye dominant. So that’s called cross dominance. So basically whichever eye is better because your vision is so important to your shooting, right? So, whatever I is better is kind, which way you shoot. So I’m righthand, but more importantly, I’m right. Eye dominant. So all of my positions are right eye. So that means for kneeling [00:22:00] kind of my right knee is on the ground and my left knee is propped up and that’s the one my other arm with the gun sits on.
So, um, there are lefties in the sport who are left eye dominant. I would say it’s harder typically for them to reach the highest rank, just because a it’s not as common, but B you know, all your equipment is shifted. So sometimes it’s hard to get that right equipment when you’re starting out. And also, I think it’s hard for a lot of coaches at the lower level, too.
Shift their thinking, a lot of the shooting positions are different angles and different things. And I sometimes coaches get to the point of they, they just know what looks right. And then when you put that into a lefthanded position and your arms are reversed and your legs are reversed, the coaches don’t always know what looks.
Right. So I think its a little harder for
Jill Jaracz: interesting. So kneeling, uh, you mentioned you’ve gotten better on kneeling. Does that have something to do with little pillow you [00:23:00] invented
Ginny Thrasher: yeah. So the kneeling role actually is honestly, it’s an accomplishment I’m really proud of. So I was a senior in college and I was struggling in the nailing position because I would fall off of the nailing role.
The nailing role is this cylindrical. Bag, almost like a bean bag and it’s filled with, you can fill it with anything, but like either like cork or rice or plastic pellets, anything beanbag, material, whatever that kinda shifts and forms. So I would sit down on the kneeling roll and I’d be shooting. And between like the weight of the gun and my position, I would be falling to one side, every 20 shots or so.
And I said, there has to be a better way. So I actually created a prototype using zip bags. So I took three zip bags and I put the kneeling roll, filling into these bags. And [00:24:00] one was on the left side of the knee. One was on the right one was in the center. And my theory was as my weight is on the kneeling roll because there’s compartments in there.
They there’s nowhere for that filling for those being to go. Right. There’s nowhere for them to, and I can’t bed. So that worked really well. And I thought you can’t this.
And I said, Hey, I wanna, you know, I wanna create that. What do you think? And he was like, let’s do it. So he sent me a prototype and we went back and forth. So we partnered together on it and I actually ended up getting it patented, which is really cool because most people can’t say, you know, they’re professional athlete and they hold a, so I do with that now and [00:25:00] white and
seeing other athletes. Something that I specifically created.
Alison Brown: Oh, please tell me it’s called the Thrasher. Stacher
Jill Jaracz: can we close? Yeah. Down. You’ve got lot of stuff going on. There’s a lot of gear. We start with advisor, right? Does everybody wear advisor? What, what is the purpose of it?
Ginny Thrasher: I would say the majority of people wear advisor. It’s not required. The reason you wear advisor is if there’s really bright, light shining overhead.
So if you’re in a stadium and there’s really bright light, um, it can affect how you see the target. So if you wear advisor, then the bright [00:26:00] lights don’t bother you. so kinda simple that one.
Jill Jaracz: And then I guess if you’re outside in the sunshine also.
Ginny Thrasher: Exactly exactly.
Jill Jaracz: Then some people have little blinders over different parts of their gun.
What what’s up with that?
Ginny Thrasher: Yep. So those are called blinders and they’re basically the ones on the side of your face. They’re they kinda function the same horse blinders. They keep you focused. You know, you’re not distracted by looking at the audience. Those actually were made illegal after the 2016 Olympics, um, in an effort to make the sport more spectator friendly so that cameras can actually see our face and kinda see the reactions and everything.
So create a little less of like a close off experience. So those are now illegal are, but we also have blinders.[00:27:00]
And you don’t have a blinder, then you can almost like see double sometimes. But if you close that left eye, then you can see clearly. But over the course of an hour, 15 minutes, your, um, muscles on the left side of your face get tired. And when they get tired, then other muscles compensate and basically your, the movement on the target opens up.
So the blinder over that eye that you’re not looking through just serves so that you can relax the muscles on your face and keep both eyes open.
Jill Jaracz: Earplugs
Ginny Thrasher: earplugs are for two reasons. Um, one is the noise of the. So if you shoot 200 shots every day over time, you’re gonna lose your hearing. Uh, cause when you’re right on the gun, it’s a lot louder than when you’re in the stands.
Actually three reasons. The second reason is to block out distractions. If there’s people screaming or cheering [00:28:00] or calling your name or there’s loud music, it kind of helps you stay focused. And the third reason that a lot of people actually dunno about is balance. So when you wear earplugs, it actually pressurizes the air in your inner ear.
So the liquid in your inner ear that kind of tells your brain whether you’re balanced or whether you’re falling, can’t move around as much. So it can actually help with sway and balance.
Alison Brown: I did not know that. I know as you’re talking about all this, I’m getting dizzy and I think it’s because I’m all of a sudden kind of focusing on how my head feels and I’m realizing this sport is impossible.
Ginny Thrasher: You know, it is so complex and it is so it it’s amazing because of that, but people really don’t understand it. And I’m kinda on a mission right now with my social media and with my Instagram. And I’m actually on talk, trying to, [00:29:00] uh, relate to the younger generation. I say that as a very old and wide 20 year old , but , but I’m on a mission truly to advance the sport.
And I think the reason the sport isn’t popular isn’t because it’s not a great sport cause its a great and very challenging sport it’s because people don’t understand it and whether, you know, whether or not people kinda see my social media and they’re like, oh my goodness, I wanna try that. You know, that’s okay if they wanna try it or not, but if they can say, wow, I respect that as a sport, because nobody comments on Simone, viles, Instagram, or TikTok posts and say, Hey gymnastics, isn’t a real sport.
You’re not a real athlete. Nobody says that. But they say that to me all the time. And I just, you know, it, it’s sad cause it’s coming from a place that ignorance. And that’s [00:30:00] why I love, love, love talking about my sport and sharing my sport because anyone who’s ever tried, it goes, how cool is this?
Jill Jaracz: it is it.
I have not tried air rifle, but, but target shooting is very fun. I will say that. Um,
Ginny Thrasher: yeah.
Jill Jaracz: Uh, gosh. Okay. So, uh, the, the coat and the pants.
Ginny Thrasher: Yes. So those have a few different reasons. The biggest one is stability. So, you know, people ask the question, well, couldn’t you just shoot without them. And it’s like, yes, we could shoot without them.
But things would to, right. The target would have to be bigger. Um, we would have to take less shots. The guns would have to weigh less. So basically if you took away the jacket and pants, there would be a whole domino effect of changes to the sport. You know, they also help with injury prevention. So we’re holding that 12 pound gun and the positions [00:31:00] that make us the most stable are not natural positions, right.
We’re all twisted and our spines crooked. And then you put the weight on top of. And it can very easily cause injury. So a lot of what that gun does is alleviate some of the pressures that cause injury, which can be very helpful for sure. Other reasons for it. It helps us to stay in position longer. So there’s a few things like on the elbow pad, there’s like grippy material and stuff.
So that just, you know, it can help us from slipping and it protects our elbow, like our hard points of contact from, you know, getting all torn up. So I know they look funny, they look like straight jackets, honestly, but once you’re, you know, in the sport, it kind of becomes very evident why they’re needed to compete at a high level.
And I think it also creates kinda consistency and equality [00:32:00] in a lot of ways. I know people kind of see them that they’re like. Well, yeah, it creates the quality. It makes your sport too easy and it’s like, no, no. It creates a space where anyone can shoot the sport and it becomes a lot less about natural talent and a lot more about how much work you’ve put into it.
You know, what’s your mental game right now. So it kind of makes it into a more cerebral sport because if you didn’t have the pants, you would be so just trying to hit the, and else would matter that it would almost become easier in a lot of ways where this way it kind of helps perfection be in sight, which makes it a lot more difficult mentally.
Jill Jaracz: Do you also have a glove?
Ginny Thrasher: We do. So on our left hand, we have a glove and that is purely for comfort.
Jill Jaracz: the jackets have pockets.
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah. There’s one pocket in the jacket [00:33:00] and it’s purely utilitarian, right? So a lot of the guns have different screws that need to be adjusted and different parts. So the just holds your wrenches that change the screws, you know, and you can put whatever you want in there.
So some people have Aker in there, you know? So I, yeah, I just wrenches there
Jill Jaracz: snacks. I would think extra weight,
Ginny Thrasher: weigh
Jill Jaracz: particular about shoes and socks.
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah. So the shoes in particular are very interesting. So we have boots that are specially designed shooting boots, and they come up very high onto your ankle to add some stiffness there. And then the SOS are very, very flat. So if you think about. Shoe, like, do you remember those, uh, shoes that were rounded?
[00:34:00] And the whole premise of them was like, you rock on them and you burn more calories, you
Jill Jaracz: know? Yeah. Yeah.
Ginny Thrasher: So our shoes are the complete, right. We as, so we don’t, so we have a lot less better balance. Um, they also have these kind of squared off toes, um, like a toe box. And that is for the kneeling position so that when you’re kneeling on your foot, You’re not falling to one side or the other.
So those are kind very, um, specialized. And I just wanna point out that every single piece of our equipment has very strict rules. You know, the stiffness of the jacket, the thickness of the jacket, how much flexes in the boots, you know, the height of our gun, the weight of our gun, you know, a bunch of things like that are all checked before every competition, because it’s not about who has the shiniest equipment that better, you know, it’s, your equipment [00:35:00] still has to be within the rules of play.
So even like our undergarments, so, you know, you wear spandex underneath your suit, but that has thickness and requirements. And there’s also requirements for taping. Like we can’t go tape parts of our back and our arms to provide more stability. There’s absolutely no taping allowed.
Jill Jaracz: oh man. So if like you wrenched your back or something, or like this was an AASS book, he had a lot of back issues.
So he mm-hmm you can’t, you can’t like use that kinesiology tape. Is that what that’s called? Not
Ginny Thrasher: during competition.
Jill Jaracz: Oh my
Ginny Thrasher: gosh. Not during competition. Mm-hmm
Jill Jaracz: wow. When you’re shooting, you shoot. And then you set the rifle on a stand next to you. Why is the stand there? Why don’t you just hold the gun? Well, the gun’s heavy, so you wouldn’t necessarily wanna hold it, but
Ginny Thrasher: why
Jill Jaracz: not put it on a block at the block?
Yeah,
Ginny Thrasher: there’s two reasons. Um, one is to rest [00:36:00] between shots. So yeah, if you were to hold that all hour and 15 minutes, uh, you’d get very tired. So you wanna rest. So when you put it on the stand, you can keep the, the back part of the gun in your shoulder. So that eliminates a variable. If you were to completely set the gun down every time when you pick it up, there would be a lot more variables of like how it fits you.
Um, the other reason is to reload. So when you go after you shoot, you have to put another bullet or another pellet in the gun, right. And it’s difficult depending who you are. But for me, I have very short arms and also depending on the design of your gun to reach that chamber. So I couldn’t just keep it up in my arms in position and reload.
I physically have to put it on the stand so that I can reach the chamber and be able to shoot the next shot.
Jill Jaracz: When [00:37:00] you approach a match. Do you have the same strategy every time? Like you, you have 75 minutes to, to get your shots done. Do you decide this is my game plan for this match? Or do you just have one game plan that you go over, go for match to match in?
Like, I’m gonna take, I’m gonna wait a few minutes. I’m gonna take my shot slowly. I’m gonna take ’em all at the same time. Or how do you approach the strategic element of that?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah, I think there are a few things that stay consistent in my plan match to match, but really it comes down to adaptability in the moment and reacting to changing conditions.
So I would say typically for me, I start a little slower in my first 10 shot, just because, you know, maybe I’m nervous. Maybe that’s what I need is to be a little slower and more deliberate until I can really find my rhythm. [00:38:00] I know for me, if I rush those first 10 shots, they’re not gonna go well, I need.
And very well slowly in those shots,
you, that flows taking breaks and coming off the line, I’ve tried in the past to have kinda planned breaks, you know, at 20 shots, I’m gonna take a break and go talk to my coach. And, uh, for me, that doesn’t really work. So I take breaks when I need breaks and I have 10 years of experience in shooting. So I kind of know now, like when I need to come offline, when I need to just sit there for 30 seconds and take moment to myself and some matches, I shoot 60 shots.
I don’t take a single break. I just keep going some matches. I take, you know, five breaks in 60 shots. So it’s really kind of what I need that day.
Jill Jaracz: What is the difference between this [00:39:00] first round of shooting versus the final rounds?
Ginny Thrasher: That’s a great question. So in the first round, we all shoot 60 shots, anyone in the shoot, 60 shots for the qualification, and then the top eight athletes from that round go into the final.
So kinda similar to like in track and field, if you’re doing a sprint, you know, you have your like semifinal and then your final. So we just have everybody shoot at once. And then the top a athletes go the final. When you start the final, it starts back at zero. So you can qualify in the qualification, but you can’t win in the qualification.
Cause everything starts at zero. And then those top athletes, when they’re in the final round, it’s really kinda cause it’s a knockout final elimination match. You shoot a few shots. And then they say eighth place, you know, ever has the lowest [00:40:00] score sit down and then you shoot a few more shots and seventh, and you like until, you know, you’re the man standing and you won.
Alison Brown: That sounds like the worst game of musical chairs ever
Jill Jaracz: do. Is it number of shots consistent? Do you know? Or is it just random?
Ginny Thrasher: Uh, yeah. There’s 20 shots. Yeah. It’s complicated because as you go further, so, you know, I think it’s 12 shots before you kick out eighth place and then every two shots, someone sits down wow. After that.
Alison Brown: So you can’t be a slow starter.
You can’t work your way to better shooting.
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah. It’s difficult in a lot of ways because 20 shots really isn’t that. But it also is, right. So if you have a bad, first few shots, you can’t give up because if you give up, [00:41:00] then you’re definitely outta it. But if you also dig yourself too big of a hole, well, it gets kind difficult to, to get outta it.
But at the same time, crazy things happen. So in the finals is kind of when, you know, you kind of have to just stay in the present moment and keep going and keep trying. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen like the speed skater who won because everybody else in the Olympic final oh, yeah. Fell and crashed.
Alison Brown: Right? The short track
Ginny Thrasher: sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes that can happen in shooting, you know, maybe not to that extreme, but you know, you really have to just keep on tracking because you don’t know and you can’t control. What happens
Jill Jaracz: then? Is that the same for the three position?
Ginny Thrasher: So the finals similar concept is knockout elimination, final, a little different shots, [00:42:00] knee
shots,
shoot out. Then they knock out two people and then one more shot, knock out another one more shot, knock out another. So everybody gets to shoot a little bit longer, but it’s that knockout elimination final.
Jill Jaracz: How do you improve as a shooter?
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah, there’s lots of different ways to improve as a shooter because it’s such a complicated sport.
So you have kinda physical waste, you know, lifting outside the range, um, your positions, which is kind like where your feet are, when you’re in, how the gun fits you. Then there’s technical ways to improve. So like that’s how you approach the target, what your site picture looks like when you pull the trigger, things like that.
And then mental ways, you know, kinda having that mental toughness and mental strength to be a pressure [00:43:00] player, which as we know, that’s not born, you’re not born a great mentally tough athlete. You create that. So those are kinda like how I like to think of, of different ways to improve and how I like to break down my, my skills.
So one of the best parts about shooting is the longevity. You know, it’s not like some sports where, you know, at 20 you’re kicked out and you can’t do it any longer, your body breaks down or whatever. This is a sport where you can do it for a really long time and actually a lot of athletes peak later in their careers.
So for a fun example of this, when I was in the Rio Olympics, I was one of the eight athletes to compete in the final, right. So I was actually the youngest at 19 years old to be in that eight person final, the average age of those eight women, the average age of the eight [00:44:00] top women in the world on that day was 31.
Closing Music: Wow.
Ginny Thrasher: Yeah. And I think that just really illustrates the fact that this sport has longevity and experience counts for something. And so I think a lot of the, the people who are in high school and kinda ask me how to improve, it’s kind of like, well, You need to shoot more, you need to gain more experience, right?
More rounds, down, range, more competitions, every weekend, a competition, you know, and as you get to the higher and higher levels, it becomes less about how many rounds did you put down range today and more of like, what was the quality, what are you working on? And I think that transition is often hard for, for people, but that’s kinda when I got college, the difference between high school, Jenny and college, Jenny was kind of just time in the range when I [00:45:00] was in school.
You know, I could maybe shoot three or four days a week. And when I got to, you know, for maybe two to three hours, and when I got to college, all of a sudden I could shoot. Five days a week for three to four hours a day and have all these other methods of training, weight lifting, you know, being on the team, things like that.
And I now had some of the best coaching in the country. So I think all of those resources kind compounded to see what was really a crazy freshman year, you know, from going the summer before my freshman year of college, to being on my first international team, to going to college, to becoming the most successful freshman shooter in history, by winning, uh, both NCAA championship and the team championship to qualify for the Olympics and then winning the Olympics.
Right. So kinda a crazy year, but the compound [00:46:00] effect of all those resources. And I think, you know, obviously my hard work, you, you can’t get anywhere in a sport without hard work, kind of led to that.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. What’s going on with qualifications for Tokyo because COVID has messed up a lot of things.
Ginny Thrasher: Yes, they have.
So this quad, we have a two part trial system. So what that means is we’re supposed to have a match. And then a few months later, we have another match and you add up all the scores from the two and whoever is in first and second place will go the right. So that’s the qualification system. So we had our first and after the first match, I was sitting in the first and then our second match was supposed to be the end of March 20.
Well, that did not happen naturally. So our second was delayed, [00:47:00] you know, from March until may and until and February. Now, the second at the end of. So currently we have not our, but I very diligently. And
to be honest with you, the delay has been really good for me in a lot of ways. I think for me personally, I know I will be shooting through Tokyo and through Paris and maybe even till LA. So it’s one of those things of, I’m not shooting just for the Olympics. I’m shooting to try to become the best version of myself that I can be.
And whether the Olympics happens this year or next year or whatever. Doesn’t really matter that doesn’t stop me from achieving my goals. So I do [00:48:00] feel a lot of Onge in
sport’s life
to reflect, to get back to basics, to work on my base positions and my technique. Very confident
everyone in the world.
Jill Jaracz: Excellent. Well, we will be rooting for you, Jenny.
Ginny Thrasher: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Jill Jaracz: Thank you so much. Jenny followed Jenny unsocial. She is at Jenny Thrasher on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. And you can check out her website, Jenny thrasher.com. She is very active and has a ton of really great videos on Instagram, for sure.
Alison Brown: Um, and we’ve talked a lot about traveling with equipment. She did a whole video on [00:49:00] how she has to pack her rifle.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, nice.
Alison Brown: And it was a lot of fun because she, uh, some of the things she talked to us about, but there was additional steps.
Jill Jaracz: Oh.
Alison Brown: And bits that were, she does it with a great sense of humor.
Jill Jaracz: Okay.
I will definit, which
Alison Brown: I think you need.
Thank you, patrons!
Jill Jaracz: Yes. Oh man. I will definitely check that out. All right. We’d like to take a second to thank all of our Patreon patrons. Our show has, uh, some enormous expenses and especially coming up, leading up to Beijing 2022, where we will have a presence on the ground in Beijing and, uh, our Patreon patrons help make that possible for us.
If you’d like to, uh, join the Patreon crowd. Find us at patreon.com/flame live pod. We will be having a special episode for those at the bronze donor level and above. They get access to a special patron only show, and we will be taping our next one coming up. It’s going to be with a shooter McKenna gear [00:50:00] because she works at the us O C museum.
And she told us all about that. And that’s gonna be got
Alison Brown: you tidbits about the museum that we are so excited
Jill Jaracz: about and just thinking about it makes me wanna cry.
Alison Brown: Oh, don’t start again.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. I won’t anyway, but find us at patreon.com/flame live pod. If you would like to support the show as well.
TKFLASTAN News
Alison Brown: Welcome to shook Stan.
Jill Jaracz: It is time to check in with our team. Keep the flame alive. These are people who have been guests on our show. Allison. Good news for Megan D Hamel.
Alison Brown: I know Megan D Hamel and Dylan Moscovitch will be skating together for stars on ice. Uh, the tour of Canada that will start in October and tickets go on sale, May 20th.
Jill Jaracz: Very exciting. I’m glad that she’s got a partner and that they can get routines together so quickly.
Alison Brown: Well, they’ve been doing this a long time. Both of them, Dylan is a Canadian champion, so they, they know what they’re doing.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. Uh, gymnast [00:51:00] Chelsea memo is entered in the us classic. This is her first meet in nine years.
She will be part of the first senior session that is going to be this Saturday, the 22nd and her, uh, session kicks off at 1:00 PM Eastern. And, uh, we’ll be on the peacock app, which is NBC’s app. The second senior session will be at 7:00 PM Eastern on, uh, an NBCSN. I’m so excited to watch Chelsea compete again.
Alison Brown: I know we’ve been watching her routines develop on both her YouTube channel and on Instagram mm-hmm . So I she’s been nailing them all week,
Jill Jaracz: right?
Alison Brown: So I’m hoping this good week of practice will lead into a, a good competition. The nerves must be unbelievable though.
Jill Jaracz: I know. And she was saying on, uh, one of her recent YouTube videos, how she is hoping she remembers how to compete, which I thought was really interesting, like at practice and practice and you develop routines and you’re just [00:52:00] working on building up skills and getting over hurdles and problem areas.
But like what happens when you’re in the competition arena? That’s, that’s a totally different feeling, you know? I hope she does. Well, I hope she doesn’t fall off anything.
Alison Brown: Oh, don’t even say that.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. I’m gonna not, I’m gonna shut up now. Well, Chelsea, we hope you do well. We will be rooting for you.
Alison Brown: Shefa Kevan is on the selection panel for the go sports foundation that will award scholarships to athletes in India,
Jill Jaracz: which is very cool, uh, at the tier pro swim series in Indianapolis last week mall, Erford made the finals for the a hundred meter freestyle and she placed eighth in her final.
She was also scheduled to do the a hundred meter butterfly, but she did not start in that event.
Alison Brown: Uh, Montreal’s nomad block now has a bouldering center at the Olympic park Esplanade, and it has 30 linear meters of walls and climbing routes for all levels. And everyone will find a challenge on the climbing wall.
Jill Jaracz: I’m excited, you know, [00:53:00] Montreal tries really hard. The, the park Olympique staff tries really hard to make that park a good legacy and something fun for people to do so. It’s nice to see that they have yet another feature there. And then finally, congratulations to nest Mey, who became a father on April 16th and has a lovely little daughter.
Alison Brown: We love more shook list on babies.
Atlanta 1996 History Moment: The football tournaments
Jill Jaracz: That sound means it’s time for an Atlanta moment. It is the 25th anniversary of the Atlanta, 1996 Olympics. So every week we are looking back at some of the stories from these games, Allison, it is your week. What do you have for me?
Alison Brown: It is my week. So one of the things we’ve been talking a lot about with Tokyo is that the marathon is taking place all the way in Sapporo.
And I came across the football, the football slash soccer tournament, uh, for both men and women in Atlanta. And it was regional.
Closing Music: Oh
Alison Brown: right. We think of, we think of regional Olympics [00:54:00] as a new thing, you know, having it here, having it there. But the soccer tournament went as far as RFK stadium in Washington, DC.
which is over 640 miles, the orange bowl in Miami, which, which is 665 miles. There were a couple that were closer. There was a Sanford stadium in Athens, Georgia, and Legion field in Birmingham, Alabama, which were in like the two hour driving range. Mm-hmm but Toko Zepo is Tokyo ISAP PRA is just a little over 700 miles.
Jill Jaracz: Wow. Okay.
Alison Brown: So going from Atlanta to Miami, just about the same distance.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. All right.
Alison Brown: So not such a strange thing to have gone farfield, but I was thinking RFK stadium was that’s far away mentally, you know, going from Atlanta to DC feels very far.
Jill Jaracz: Be well, when you say mentally, because there is a totally different [00:55:00] cultural shift as well.
I mean, right. And
Alison Brown: Atlanta to Miami, the, the, the same thing. Yes. It’s like you are in a, a whole other world.
Jill Jaracz: Right? Right.
Alison Brown: So the distance, not that bad and Tokyo Zepo has a bullet train, which I can guarantee you. Amtrak DC to Atlanta is not a bullet train
Jill Jaracz: would take much longer
Alison Brown: I have done it and it is long.
Thankfully I had a sleeping car
Jill Jaracz: it’s at least two days. Right.
Alison Brown: I took a train from New York to middle Florida.
Jill Jaracz: Okay.
Alison Brown: And it was 24 hours.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, okay. Which again? So
Alison Brown: yeah,
Jill Jaracz: for Amtrak, not bad,
Alison Brown: not bad though. We did have to stop for several animal crossings.
Jill Jaracz: incredible.[00:56:00]
Tokyo 2020 News
Oh, lots of Tokyo, 2020 news. We are 100 days out from the Paralympics and that meant that the Paralympic symbol, the three Atos was unveiled at the Tokyo metropolitan government building. Oh man, tons of stuff around that hundred day, uh, out announcement, the international Paralympic committee announced their first video game is called the Pegasus dream tour.
And it will be available at the end of June, but it’s an avatar role playing game and you’ll be able to play, uh, Bacha football, five aside athletics and wheelchair basketball online, and there’s gonna be online tournaments and you can interact with the other avatars in the game. And it sounds really cool and it will be available in Japanese, English, French, German, and Spanish.
You can find out more at Pegasus dash dream dot. The other big announcement was for us Paralympians. And that is Toyota. [00:57:00] Us is going to give a one time, $3,000 stipend to all eligible team USA, Paralympic athletes who are in training and in contention to represent the us at both Tokyo and Beijing, which
Alison Brown: such a huge boon to those athletes.
Jill Jaracz: Right. I wanted to cry for them. It just like you think about how expensive it is to train and Paralympians have so many more expenses that we don’t think of, that they have to accommodate their disabilities while they train. And this is just a huge load off for them. So. So that is, uh, excellent news. Uh, the Olympic flame has gone through Hiroshima this week.
They had the relay at the Hiroshima peace Memorial, and it was started by 74 year old Taka, Yuki Sai, and his late brother, uh, Yosi Nori lit the cauldron in 1964.
Alison Brown: Yeah, I remember we talked [00:58:00] about that story when we read the book.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. In
Alison Brown: 1964 and how he was born the day the bomb fell
Jill Jaracz: mm-hmm
Alison Brown: on Hiroshima. So he had been chosen to light the cauldron.
So what an amazing callback. Right to the long tradition of the Olympics in Japan.
Jill Jaracz: Right. And it’s, it’s really nice that, uh, Tai, uh, was able to participate. Not every, again, we’re having more people who have dropped out. There was Shoji TOSA who is 104 year old survivor of the bomb was also scheduled to take part, but he withdrew as a precautionary measure against COVID and also novelist Canani Minto, who is a writer of crime fiction.
Also decided not to take part per, inside the games. Uh, the Kyodo news report that, uh, Tokyo is going to cut the number of officials there again. So there’s going to be less than 90,000 officials going to the games and Paralympic staff is going to be cut by [00:59:00] 25%. So again, with all the concerns that the public has about the Olympics and Paralympics being super spreaders, they are doing what they can to cut the people.
Their number of people down to a minimum at sea B said that by the time the Olympics rolls around the, the people in the Olympic village, there’ll be about 80% vaccinated. And they’re at about 75% right now. So
Alison Brown: now he’s not talking about the athletes though. He’s talking about the people who are working in the village,
Jill Jaracz: you know, I’m not sure this is an inside the games article, and they just kept saying the village will be.
80% in the Tokyo 20, 20 village will be vaccinated.
Alison Brown: Oh yeah. He’s saying residents. So he’s saying the athletes as well. Right.
Jill Jaracz: So that’s
Alison Brown: interesting.
Jill Jaracz: Right. So, and I think, you know, there’s going to be many countries who just are having problems, getting vaccinated and getting their athletes vaccinated, of course, because they’re in whatever place in the country, but those countries are probably also countries with small delegations.
Alison Brown: Right. So it’s not a big [01:00:00] deal to put the 10 people that are going to the head of the line
Jill Jaracz: that, or it’s not, you know, if they don’t get vaccinated,
Alison Brown: That’s
Jill Jaracz: that’s that’s understandable. Yes, exactly. So we’ll see what happens, but, uh, hopefully the pace of vaccinations continues. A nice bit of news is that, uh, Tokyo announced that all energy required for operations at the Olympics and Paralympics will come from 100% renewable sources.
They’re going to use wood, biomass power to produce electricity, and also solar power,
Alison Brown: you know, before the pandemic, one of the big stories from Tokyo was how sustainable it was trying to be. The metals had all come from old cell phones.
Jill Jaracz: Mm-hmm
Alison Brown: and the podiums had all come from recycled plastic. And I’m sorry that that story has gotten lost,
Jill Jaracz: right?
Alison Brown: I mean, it’s appropriate that it’s gotten lost, but I’m sorry that’s gotten lost because those were some really [01:01:00] interesting creative efforts that the Tokyo organizing committee was making to make an event like this more eco-friendly.
Jill Jaracz: Exactly. So we’ll see. And, and we all know that after the games we’re gonna have four years, how much the Tokyo games cost and how much over budget they are and how many stadiums and buildings they built.
Cuz this is really the last kind of the, the Tokyo is really that last Olympics in the big building era, I would say right before agenda 2020, and this big push towards more sustainable venues. So the nice bit about Tokyo really working towards being more eco-friendly is that, that paves away for future games to also be sustainable.
Last week, we, we reported that 280 doctors applied for 200 slots to be certified.
Alison Brown: Oh no, we were wrong.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah. So [01:02:00] the Kyodo news reported that the deadline hit and a total of 395 doctors. Applied for these 200 slots. Again, we’re still talking about healthcare needs in Japan for COVID, but these are certified sports doctors and they probably wouldn’t be treating COVID patients.
Anyway, this is awesome. General mills
Alison Brown: yet again, the Canadians,
Jill Jaracz: right? General mills, Canada announced its cheer Canada program for, uh, that’s part of their Cheerios cereal packaging. And what it is is the cheer is on the front of the box and the EOS is on the side of the box and you cut the cheer out and you write a message on the back and you send it in and they’re gonna send all of those to the Canadian athletes to cheer them on at the games, especially because fans can’t be there this year.
Alison Brown: I just wanna have them so that, you know, because they were talking about how, even in the stadium, you [01:03:00] can’t yell, you can’t sing.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, right. You could hold up your cheer,
Alison Brown: you hold up your cheer sign from your Cheerios box.
Jill Jaracz: That would be awesome.
Alison Brown: So I’m gonna do, I I’m hoping some Canadian will send me some Cheerios so I can sit on my couch and wave my cheer sign.
Jill Jaracz: I love that idea. Also, Australia released its opening and closing ceremonies kit, which you would think it’s, you know, oh, it’s green and yellow and there’s some Navy in it. There’s shorts, polo shirts. Uh, men have ties. Women have scars. Women also had the option of having a, like a shipped dress. That’s that’s I think is kind of cute with, uh,
Alison Brown: it has pockets,
Jill Jaracz: pockets, and color blocking.
So it’s dark green on the bottom. And then there’s a little. Color Stripe of yellow and white. And they also have a blazer that goes over it in a nice little scarf. And you think, oh, these are kind of plain. The, the blazers are tan, Ecker, beige. They look kind of [01:04:00] boring, except for the fact that on the inside is the names of all 320 Australian Olympic gold medalists.
Alison Brown: I did not see the inside. It’s in the lining of the jacket.
Jill Jaracz: Yes.
Alison Brown: Wow.
Jill Jaracz: And that makes it, that detail makes it,
Alison Brown: I’d be sitting there. Just flashing my jacket open all the time, but not in, I don’t mean that in a creepy way. I I’d have to dress on underneath. Wouldn’t be flashing anybody. No. Oh God, sorry for the mental image.
Oh, the to wash that out of your brain,
Jill Jaracz: but that’s a really cool, really cool. So well, nice touch. And then finally, uh, various countries are going to have their own Olympic festivals during Tokyo to make up for the fact that overseas fans aren’t allowed. So, uh, this includes so far it’s Lithuania, Czech Republic, [01:05:00] France, Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, and Slovenia are going to have festivals and Lithuania.
It’s gonna be in the art zone in the town of Nita. So they’re gonna have big screens, so you can watch the Olympics. You can do live chance with the team in Tokyo, meet athletes in person and try out Olympic sports. So that is, and
Alison Brown: I would expect that Colorado Springs and like Placid are planning to do something similar hope if the COVID rules allow, I would hope I would think
Jill Jaracz: that they would.
I hope so because you know, they can’t take as many staff. So, you know, there’s gotta be people back home and, and are left behind in Colorado Springs to make so looking at you, us O P C make something fun.
Alison Brown: Or, you know, we’ll just have to make something fun happen.
Jill Jaracz: Very true. I’m already coming up with how to decorate the house for the Olympic.
Alison Brown: We will definitely have some watch alongs and live chats and things going on. So let us know what kind of things you [01:06:00] would would like to do while we’re all stuck at home. Not being able to go.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. I definitely
Alison Brown: watch in the Olympics together.
Jill Jaracz: Definitely want to hear your ideas about that. That is going to do it for this week.
Get in touch!
Let us know what you think about air rifle.
Alison Brown: Email us@flamealivepodgmail.com or call or text us at (208) 352-6348. That’s 2 0 8. Flame it where flame alive pod on Twitter and Insta and keep the flame alive podcast group on Facebook.
Jill Jaracz: Join us next week for a movie club, will Fox catcher the movie be better than the book we will find out when film club Fran joins us.
So as we go out to music by Archdale, thank you so much for listening. And until next time,
Closing Music: the flame alive, pre off, what.[01:07:00]
Sometimes you a take me back to,to
Alison Brown: that sounds like the worst game of musical chairs [01:08:00] [01:09:00] [01:10:00] ever.