Para swimmer McKenzie Coan returns to the podcast to tell us all about her experiences at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. She surprised herself by winning a medal and made the most of her time in Paris, particularly when it came to the famous chocolate muffins!
Learn more about McKenzie at her website: http://mckenziecoan.com
Follow McKenzie on Insta, TikTok, and X.
With a year to go until the Olympic flame is rekindled (already?!) Milan-Cortina 2026 has unveiled its torch relay maps for the Olympics and Paralympics. We’ve got the details on that, as well as some sport scheduling news that affects a two-time medalist.
Also, the International Olympic Committee had an Executive Board meeting, so we have a lot of news on the future of the Youth Olympic Games, both the Dakar Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2026 and the next Winter Youth Olympic Games.
The IOC also has thoughts on international federations giving out prize money for medals at the Olympics (spoiler alert: They’re not thrilled). We break down what they’re really worried about.
TKFLASTANIs have also been really busy as of late! We hear from Erin Jackson, Luuka Jones, Jordan Gray and more!
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Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
TRANSCRIPT
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370-McKenzie Coan Paris 2024 Paralympics
Theme Music
Jill Jaracz: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keep the Flame Alive, the podcast for fans of the Olympics and Paralympics.
If you love the games, we are the show for you. Each week we share stories from athletes and people behind the scenes to help you have more fun watching the games. I’m your host, Jill Jaracz, joined as always by my lovely co host, Alison Brown. Alison, hello, how are you?
Alison Brown: I am so embarrassed about what happened to me at the doctor’s office the other day.
My feed is filled with amazing shots from, the Grand Slam of Curling. Oh, cool. So I was sitting in the waiting room just playing with my phone and, you know, Team Moet does some triple takeout and I’m like, Oh my goodness. What a shot. Everybody just turns and looks at me and I’m like, it’s just curling.
I’m fine. But curling will do that to you.
Jill Jaracz: Very nice. Very nice. it’s been a while since we’ve been on it feels like because we had Thanksgiving week here in the U. S. and now we’re catching up on a lot of news.
Alison Brown: We have lots of things to tell you, but not yet.
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Alison Brown: And we got to meet him in person in Atlanta for the first time. So that was fantastic.
Jill Jaracz: And it felt weird, like we. I felt like we had met him in person before.
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McKenzie Coan Interview
Jill Jaracz: Well today we are Hitting a little rewind and going back to Paris and we are talking with Paris swimmer Mackenzie Cohen Mackenzie is a seven time Paralympic medalist dating back to Rio 2016 in Paris She won silver in the 400 meter freestyle s7 class Which I saw, and it was awesome.
we spoke with Mackenzie about coming back to the pool after a difficult year, her experience in Paris, and her absolute and her thoughts on the chocolate muffin. Take a listen.
Jill: McKenzie Cohen, welcome back. We talked to you at Team USA Media Summit. I talked to you in the mix zone after your, your medal winning swim. I mean, like it’s a whirlwind to think that you’ve been doing this for four Paralympics now.
McKenzie Coan: Oh yes. Oh yes. Thank you for having me back. I’m super excited back with you guys.
I gotta tell ya, the last couple months, the last couple weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. And in the moment, it seemed like, oh my gosh, this is incredible, it’s gonna go on forever. And then somehow you blink, and it all went by and it’s all over. So, I think the moment that it hit me is when I got back, and um, I was talking to a couple of family friends.
And they said, how does it feel to have been to so many games now? And I actually had to stop for a second and think about it. I’m a four time Paralympian, and that’s the first time that I said it out loud. And all these emotions came flooding over me, and memories from all the way back in London in 2012, when I was only 16, getting to experience it for the first time.
And I really had to ask myself, What, what did these games mean to me? For my fourth time. And what, what does it mean to me to have done this four times? So I think I’m still trying to find those answers, but to be honest with you, it’s been completely surreal. It’s just been amazing. I’m soaking it all in now.
Jill: What is it? Cause we’ve talked with athletes who have done, you have the high and then there’s, you get home and then all the attention goes away. How has this one compared to others? Cause obviously you’ve experienced, you’ve gone through the cycle multiple times. So how does this, work? feel so far compared to other Paralympics?
McKenzie Coan: Yes. I got to tell you the, the wave is definitely a real thing. And, and coming back from this. I feel more emotionally and mentally prepared to handle it. And I think that’s just having the experience of it being my fourth games. I know when I got back the last couple of weeks, I’ve been very busy work wise.
So now I’m kind of having a moment to myself to have a break and I’m thinking a lot more about everything, but I kind of have the tools that I need to handle it. I journal a lot. I’m in contact with my sports psychologist. I can actually look back at past journals and see the way that I was feeling.
I write everything down. I can see the way that I was feeling. I can see the way that I was coping with it. And I know things that have worked in the past and I know the things that I could have done better with. So, I think having all that experience under my belt is a huge blessing this time. Because I know it’s going to come.
It always does after the games, but I think I’m better equipped to handle it now than I ever have been.
Alison: Does some of that also come just with age? I mean, you’re in your late 20s versus 16 years old and just more mature and, literally brain developed.
McKenzie Coan: Yes. No, absolutely. I’m definitely more mature than I was at 16 and even at 20.
And I think After coming back from Tokyo was a bit of a different feeling because I had lived at the training center in the bubble for a really long time, which was an incredible experience. I’m so grateful that I got to have that, but that was almost like readjusting to normal life. And, even in 2021, what was normal, but readjusting to having Just normal freedoms again that I did not have for a year.
Um, and I chose that obviously, but that was a completely different experience. So it feels a lot better. Now I’ve got the age under my belt. I’ve got the experience under my belt and I’m coming back from it, not having been through a, you know, Entire year of being a little bit more isolated than I ever have been.
So this time actually feels a little bit easier to be honest with you, but I think age and maturity is definitely played a huge role. So I’m definitely feeling like a veteran on the team, but there are some perks to that. Like what? You know what? I knew exactly what to expect going into this. And there’s some excitement about going into your first time.
Don’t get me wrong, but there’s also some anxiety and nervousness. To be honest with you, I felt none of that going into these games. I knew what I was gonna expect feelings wise when I walked into the village. I knew what the village was gonna be like. You know, roughly. Every one of them’s the same. But I knew the general vibe of everything.
And I know how to manage those pre race expectations, emotions, anxieties, and I just hope that I was able to kind of use that to make it easier for some of our rookies. I think that’s probably the biggest privilege of it. I don’t know everything, don’t get me wrong, I certainly do not. I learn things a lot, but I don’t have those same anxieties going into everything.
Jill: And it’s also different for today’s rookies than from when you were a rookie because the Paralympic movement has changed and well, it flowed and then ebbed and then now it, this was a big games again. So that totally changes how people go into it and what the next ones are going to be like, too.
McKenzie Coan: Absolutely. It’s different in a lot of ways. And that’s definitely one of them. When I went to my first games in London in 2012, the movement was still growing, obviously, but I would tell people about the Paralympics and a majority of them did not know what I was talking about. In today’s day and age, pretty much everybody knows what you’re talking about, which is a really exciting thing, but I think it adds this extra layer of pressure to it, maybe.
Yeah. For our rookies that I didn’t necessarily have back then, which I’m so glad the movement has grown, but I’m almost grateful for that in a sense. and then social media is a huge layer. That, you know, I was coming in, I had my little Facebook page at 16 and then a couple of years later, I guess I got an Instagram.
I didn’t have the total TikTok craze. I didn’t have the Instagram craze at that point. So it kind of allowed me to do my job and fly under the radar a little bit more, I guess. But everything they do is very much out in the opin, which is amazing, fantastic exposure. But it also adds an extra layer of pressure and maybe stress for them that I didn’t necessarily have to experience at that age.
Alison: What was new for you this time was you went to opining ceremony. I did. For the first time. So my first question is, why did you never go before? And why did it work out this time?
McKenzie Coan: I gotta tell you, I peaked at opining ceremony in Paris. I absolutely peaked. there’s really nowhere for me to go up in life after that.
Every single games that I’ve been to before Paris, I always had an event like day one or day two. And in Tokyo, it was more of a personal choice. I decided to stay back just for contact tracing and other reasons. I, I just didn’t want to have anxieties about that. So I actually could have attended in Tokyo, but many of us chose not to.
So this time I finally knew I don’t compete until day five. There’s no other pressing reasons why I would want to pull out of this. I’m going. And let me tell you, when I was standing in our Team USA crowd, about to march into the, makeshift arena that they had for us, I just looking around, I made me realize this is what games are all about.
This is what it’s all about right here. We all come from such different backgrounds. We all have such different lives. We’ve all had such different experiences. Maybe we play different sports, but we’re all here for one common reason. And that also goes for the rest of the world. It was just a really cool experience to stand with Team USA and march in there and say, we are here and we are ready for the games.
That’s what I’ve always imagined. It could be when other people would talk about it. And. I wondered if I would ever get the opportunity to do that. So it was very surreal and kind of emotional for me, to be honest, just cause I’ve waited so long to be able to do it.
Jill: And you got an amazing ceremonies to come into, like walking down the Champs Elysees.
McKenzie Coan: Amazing. You look around and that’s like a pinch me moment. I remember looking at our staff and I go, I will remember this for the rest of my life. Like this is going to be probably a top five moment of my life. I get to share with my family. Maybe if I have kids one day, I can tell them about it. It goes so far beyond the sports part of everything, which is great, but it goes so far beyond that. It was truly a pinch me, I’ve made it moment in my life.
Jill: Competitions. You had a pretty big schedule. how did it go versus the plan and how do you feel about your competitions?
McKenzie Coan: I feel really good execution wise. I think the last year emotionally, mentally, obviously physically, but the emotional mental stuff that I’ve been through. I look back a year ago up to that point, you know, I’m standing at the pool in Paris.
This is the first time we walked into the pool. I’m standing there. I’m looking at the pool. I’m looking at the aquatic center. It’s one of my favorite parts of the entire Games experience, right? And I kind of had, sorry, I get a little bit emotional still. Just this moment of a year ago, right now, I wasn’t so sure that I was ever going to swim again.
Yet, I’m here at Games right now. And in that moment, I kind of had to keep, keep myself together because I’m looking at, you know, we’ve got two more weeks of this, like 10 days of games in front of us. You, you’ve got to emotionally, mentally keep it together. You can’t be thinking about this right now, but it was just this moment that washed over me.
I’m like, okay, now it’s time to get refocused. And I went into competition with the 400 freestyle, my best event, my most important event being my first event. And that was day five of competition. The one out there had one of the best swims, one of the best 400s I’ve had in years in my prelims. And I had to keep things so in check because emotionally I couldn’t get too high and I knew if it didn’t go that great or what I pictured, I couldn’t get too low.
So I kept myself at a very base level. Execution wise, it was great. It was everything that I’ve been wanting to do, but I just haven’t quite been able because the illness and everything I’ve been through in the last year to pull it out. That was fantastic. So I came into that final with a lot of, I would say, control confidence.
Thank you And I went back out there and I told myself, you got to be aware of the field, but also if you’re able to do what you just did this morning, even just a little bit better too, there’s a big chance you’re going to be on that podium tonight. So I went out there execution wise, it was exactly what we had planned for.
And I’ll never forget on that last lap. Usually the only thing I’m thinking about is exactly what’s going on in that moment. But on that last lap, we were about 25 meters left to go and I couldn’t help it. But I knew that I was doing really well and I knew what was about to happin. After everything I’d been through in that last year.
And there was actually a moment I started to get a little choked up. I’m like, McKenzie, you are in the, you need to get to the wall first. We, we need to get to the wall. So when I hit the wall and I saw that I got second and made that podium, I think that’s when you see everything that I’ve been holding, I’ve been holding myself together so well for the last year, staying so focused and trying to be so resilient in what I was going through.
Just kind of washed over me. And then I got to the mixed zone and it was game over there, like just sobbing. But execution wise, that 400 could not have been better. And, going into the hundred free, I knew that it was going to be a very stacked field this time. And given the time constraints I had on me up to that point, I hadn’t even had a solid one year of training.
I knew it was going to be a battle. So making that final and coming out fifth was something I was really proud of personally. And then. You know, with the 50 fly and the 50 free, which had a lot of fun out there with that, but to be perfectly honest with you, I couldn’t have asked for a better games. It was, it has been such a long road for me.
And I think, yeah, I feel comfortable saying this now is really scary going into those games. We did everything we possibly could to get me as ready as I could have been. But to be honest with you, I was only at 75, 80 percent during those games. And so to, to walk away with a performance that I had, I couldn’t be any happier.
Jill: what do you do in the time between prelims and finals? you’ve got time and that’s enough time to let your mind get to you.
McKenzie Coan: Oh yes. It’s a mental battle over anything else because physically, You’re trained to go out there and do it. at the training center, I was out there with, our resident team coach, George Letterman.
I was out there with Patrick McCloskey, like these two incredible coaches who had us so physically prepared. I did that with six for six months out there at the training center, going into Paris. It’s out there for six months. We would do stuff off the blocks all the time, over and over and over again.
These crazy difficult distance sets and then, of course, the middle distance 400 sets. So I knew physically there was absolutely no reason why I couldn’t go out there and do it again that night, but it’s the mental stuff and you have to keep your mind from wondering. You have to keep your mind going to the mental stuff.
Well, I mean, I know I’m physically ready, but , what if X, Y, Z goes wrong? What if, what if this is not what it’s supposed to be? What if I just feel off pace, that’s where it gets dangerous. And, you know, I’ve been doing this for a really long time. I’d be lying if I sat here and said, every time I go to a major international competition, I’m able to hold it all together mentally in between prelims and finals and all goes to plan.
It’s just not how it works. So I think I do my best to go back and Myself and my sports psych like to talk about a productive mindset And that’s exactly what I take into every aspect of my training and competing. Is this productive or is this not productive for me? Am I going to sit here and be terrified about what’s going to happin?
Is this productive for me? It’s not. So I would rather go back, unpack my bag. I like to have control over my bag. It’s like a big thing for me. So I unpack my bag and then I repack it with everything that I think I could ever possibly need. And then I get into my bed, I recap what happined in the morning, and then I think about what I’m gonna do in that evening session, and then I go to sleep.
And I wake up, my bag’s already packed, and I go back to the pool. So, anything that’s productive for me that’s gonna make a difference is exactly what I try to keep it to, nothing more and nothing less.
Jill: Crowds at the pool were pretty crazy. I mean, every venue, they were crazy, but at the pool, it was unreal.
McKenzie Coan: Don’t even get me started. I, I could not believe it. It was day two competition, and I came to watch both prelims and finals that day. Day one was a little, uh, difficult for me. I was so tired from opining ceremony. I came in, I trained, and I went back to the village. I was watching everything on TV, but day two competition was really when I got to experience the crowds.
And I remember there’s a French swimmer that came up in one of the heats, the way the crowd erupted. And I looked around and I said, I’ve been to four games, but I feel like I’ve just never seen this level of absolute hype in a stance before. They had the fat heads. They had the French flags. They were going wild.
There’s one section in particular that I can’t get out of my mind. And we were in the athlete section, it was like. Directly across from us. Like we were looking at them like kind of off to the right this way. They would just go wild. And I absolutely loved it. And you know, when I was sitting there thinking, this is crazy to see the French people acting like this.
Can you imagine what it’s going to be like in four years in LA? When it’s our turn to host a, a home games, what those crowds are going to be like, so I’m watching this. It’s incredible. I love the way the French people reacted and it certainly took my mind to four years from now and what that could look like in LA.
Jill: It’s going to be nuts. And not just LA, but also in a giant stadium. Oh, yeah. With biggest crowds that they’ve ever had for swimming. And it’s just, it’s going to be crazy.
McKenzie Coan: The cool thing was when you came out to the athlete seating section, you know, you’re kind of behind the board, still like in the back.
And it was right by the separator between the comp pool and the warmup pool kind of team area. There were people in those seats all the way up in the corner of the arena. Like as far as you could possibly see, there was not a seat to be had. And I just remember looking at that even and going, this is something really special.
Like these people are wanting to come and watch us compete and are literally sitting in the very corner of the arena where you might have to look over like hunch over to watch the action in the pool. But they are there. They’re screaming, they’re cheering and they’re there to have that experience. And to be honest with you, that was such a cool feeling for me.
Just thinking about the movement and how far we have come. There’s people up in the nosebleeds in the corner watching us. That’s a good feeling.
Alison: even though you’re not French, obviously, and the crowd was very enthusiastic, is that helpful to you? Or because it’s so unusual, you know, obviously the other three and a half years, you don’t get that. Does that throw you off a little bit?
McKenzie Coan: For me, it doesn’t really throw me off. If anything, I kind of feed off of that energy.
I’m very much a Like the type of person when I come out to swim a race, I don’t know what it is, but I’m so laser focused, I guess, on what is happining in front of me. And, you know, it all goes back to that productive mindset. I look across the pool and I see the job that I have to get done. So the kind of crazy thing is I love it at the end of the race.
I eat that up when I finish and I hear a crowd going absolutely wild. But to be honest with you, I may not notice it at all when I come out there to swim. This games is a little bit different for me going out for that 400. I just felt really grateful and normally And it’s not anything to do with anyone else, but normally i’m so laser focused I don’t even wave when I come out i’m just looking at the pool already thinking about what i’m about to have to do But this time I don’t know what came over me I I had my I had my goggles on I had my caps on and I took my earphones off You And I was waving to the crowd and that might actually be the first time that I’ve ever noticed a crowd at a games before I swam and I don’t know what it was.
It was just this feeling of gratitude and despite everything. I’m here right now. So you might as well. You got to eat this up. It’s 1 2nd in my, you know, pre race strategy. You can afford to let go for 1 2nd and wave, but I’ve never done that before, but it was very, very cool. So, um, Typically I don’t notice it, but I eat it up when I finish and I can’t, I can’t get enough of it.
Jill: Your schedule was really nice and that you could go do opining and then afterwards you had a few days before closing to like, enjoy the game. So what would you do in between?
McKenzie Coan: I went around the whole village, which is something I’m not so sure I can say about all the other games.
I think in Rio, I probably saw most of the village, but definitely not in Tokyo. and that was for obviously like a multitude of reasons. And then in London, I think I saw pretty much the whole thing. So a little bit in Rio, the whole thing in London, definitely not in Tokyo. But with this Games, I went around the entire village.
There was not a singular part of the village that I did not see, which I was so proud of myself for coming out of my little McKenzie competition bubble. Everything and going around and enjoying myself at this village was so cool. Team USA is building. We had the best location that I think we’ve ever had.
So we were, you know, right next to the transportation mall. We were right near the cafeteria. We didn’t really have to go that far to get to everything, which was really nice. So I could go out and explore and still be close to everything. But I think one of the biggest things for me was pin trading. And in the last two games, I’ve kind of had a much busier schedule.
So the pin trading wasn’t as possible. I didn’t get as many as I wanted, but this games, I made it an absolute priority and I, my time management skills, they really came out at these games. I’m pretty proud of myself. And I just remember I would be outside of the cafeteria. This is, kind of embarrassing, but it’s kind of funny.
And, um, I would hold up my pins and go pins, pins for training outside of the cafeteria and everybody loved it. They would come over to me. I got so many pins and I did something a little bad. So, you know, Team USA gives us pins and processing, but it’s never enough. They never give us enough pins for the amount that at least I want to trade.
I went on Amazon about two weeks before we left for training camp. And I bought 100, 200 extra really generic American flag pins to bring with me. And so I had teammates running out of pins, and I had like 200 extra pins to go trade. And I did like this mix and match, so there were American, like different American flag ones.
Some had stars and things on them, so I had a variety. So people from other countries, maybe they came over to ask the U. S. swimmers who, you know, who has pins. I have like three different kinds of pins. So I got in on the pin trading game and, pin trading, it’s fun to get on, but also it’s kind of a good icebreaker to spark, conversation with someone from a different country.
And so I met people from all over that I wouldn’t have otherwise just because, you know, everybody’s busy and got to really talk to them, which was, was very cool. So pin trading was probably. My big experience next to seeing the entire village for sure.
Jill: What about the other village amenities? What were they like?
Because we have heard from past games, like there’s the disco, there’s whatever, you know, different, different things that the village has. So what did you find in the village that was cool and unusual?
McKenzie Coan: Yes, so I don’t know about unusual, you know, they had the arcades and everything, but there was one thing that I did that I haven’t been able to do at any other games, but I made this a priority myself.
My best friend on the team, Colleen Young, the first day that we got into the village, we went to the nail salon and we signed up for an appointment because let me tell you, those appointments go so quickly, we Never been able to do it at any other games. So we went and we made a nail salon appointments.
I got my nails done at the village. Probably not like the most fun or exotic thing, but to me, that was really cool because I just haven’t ever been able to do it before. And to be honest with you, I’ve never had a schedule that allowed me to go and do it before. So that was really nice. And then in Paris, they have these really cool, little pop up, grab and go food booths, if you will. And they had a Michelin star chef come in like every night and they would make different things for us all. And to be honest with you, I can’t really pronounce any of them and I couldn’t tell you exactly what I ate, but I think I ate some really cool things. I know that they were really good.
So that was certainly an experience that they had. That I have not seen at another games before. So it was really cool to be able to, to have that and try something different in a village for sure.
Jill: You had the chocolate muffin.
McKenzie Coan: Oh my goodness, the chocolate muffins. I don’t think I’m having a hard time with the post game blues, to be honest with you.
What I’m having a hard time with really deep down in my soul is the chocolate muffin withdrawal. That’s really difficult for me.
Alison: My sister is working on these, so I will send you the recipe that she has so far.
McKenzie Coan: Please, please, I, I am literally, I will be forever indebted to you and your family if you could send me that.
Because the way that I have thought about the chocolate muffins, the way that I have dreamed about the chocolate muffins, You should have seen me when I had my last chocolate muffin in the village. I was actually, I was sitting there, I don’t know if it was just the, Well, I’m about to leave all my friends and have to go home and we’ve had this amazing experience But I was sitting there and I got teary eyed in the cafeteria and I was sitting with that chocolate muffin And I just want to take it home with me.
I really did. So that’s been the difficult part is the withdrawal This is actually kind of funny the first chocolate muffin that I had in the village I don’t know how this happined. I got a dud. It had no chocolate fudginess in the middle It yeah, I don’t know what happined. So they I got one I ate it and I was like, dude It’s okay.
It’s literally a chocolate muffin. And everybody around me was like, what do you mean? Like, I don’t know. It’s just not what I pictured it to be. It’s not what I’ve heard. The hype. Isn’t living up. So I come back the next day. I’m like, you know what? I just feel like I can’t be the only one that just thinks that this is not good.
I don’t know what, there is something wrong with me. So I got another one and I bit into it and it had the chocolate fudgy center. And it’s like the heavens opined up and angels came down. And it was just this moment that I knew would stick with me for the rest of my days. And, uh, that was the beginning of the chocolate muffin craze.
But I got it done. The first time. I don’t know how it happined. That didn’t happin to me for the rest of the games. Didn’t happin to anyone around me. Just me. But, that’s been the hardest part. Coming home. Chocolate muffins.
Alison: Chef Tony will be horrified when he hears that a dud got out of his kitchen.
McKenzie Coan: I, I literally don’t know how it happined.
I don’t know. It was just one of those moments where I was deeply wrong. Because it was just a dud. But they were absolutely the best things. that I have ever had. They were so good. It was basically chocolate cake in muffin form, chocolate fudgy cake. If you get that recipe, I am begging you, I am begging you, please.
Alison: I have yet to taste her attempt, so I, I will sample before I distribute.
McKenzie Coan: Do you know that if it’s spot on, you could sell that for, you could sell that for so much money. Like these would go down. As I mean, people would flock from all over the world. Athletes from all over the world who are at games are going to show up at our doorstep.
Yeah. No, actually there may not be on your door.
Alison: I
McKenzie Coan: have a
Alison: pin. Can I have a muffin?
McKenzie Coan: I know. No, actually though. I’m so sorry about that. That was my chocolate muffin tangent for the day. It happins maybe like once or twice a day still. So I’m here. I’m managing. You’re so good. I want them out. They’re so good that I would have them literally if the recipe works out for it with everything.
If I get married one day, I would have them. At my law school graduation, I would have these things. They’re incredible. Oh, my
Jill: heart
McKenzie Coan: is a chocolate muffin.
It’s literally a chocolate muffin. I think I even posted a picture of me with a chocolate muffin on my Instagram and one of my little videos that that might have been the last one. I know which picture I posted. That was the last one with my chocolate muffin. That was before I started to actually. a little bit.
So I actually stuck some out to my family out of the village. I brought him over to the pool because they asked to to try them. So I brought my boyfriend one one day and then I brought one for the rest of my family the next day and their faces lit up. It is so real and my boyfriend actually asked if I could bring one back and I’m like you understand that I’m about to fly for like an entire day and I did not bring it back and he was dead serious so when I walked through the door in our apartment He goes, where’s the muffin?
And I started laughing because I’m like, there is like, what do you mean? Where’s the muffin? He goes, where’s my chocolate muffin? I don’t have it. And his face completely, just the saddest response I’ve ever seen. He was dead serious. And he was like, I would, I would have eaten it. You could just put it in a plastic bag, put it in the spot where like, it doesn’t work like that.
I don’t have any more. So the chocolate muffin craze. Has affected everybody that I know and love, me and my soul.
Alison: McKenzie Cohen, Paralympic medalist, often smuggler.
McKenzie Coan: The word is out. I’m in so much trouble.
Jill: Beyond the chocolate muffins, and the metal, and the pins, what’s your favorite souvenir?
McKenzie Coan: Oh, okay. this is a kind of Team USA staple in our kits. The Team USA bucket hat. For some reason, you know, I got a lot of cool t shirts and things.
We got this really neat poster, the Paralympic village with our medals, and that was very cool. I’m still working on getting that framed right now. So it hasn’t really been out a lot, but those are very cool. But the team has a bucket hat. Those are my jam. The way that I protect those bucket hats when I get them.
And I have to be very selective when I wear them. But you pull those things out on a vacation. You pull those things out on a hot summer day. They are a hit. The Team USA bucket hat. Always my favorite. The kits are great that we get. But those And, since Tokyo and this game, that has to be one of my favorite things I bring back.
It’s just so quirky. I love it. It’s definitely a McKenzie Cohen hat. How’d I get those bucket hats?
Jill: How is processing for you, the Team USA processing, because they have to tailor everything and you’re very short. Oh yes. So how, I mean, do they look and go, wow, we have to take up a lot of pant? Yeah,
McKenzie Coan: it’s so funny because I, I go with the extra, extra, extra small, just in the hopes that, you know, the height wise, we’re going to hit and everything.
And it’s still too long on me sometimes. I look at it and I go, where’s really nowhere else we can go from here. And I’m like, I totally understand the story of my life, but it’s kind of funny, our opining and closing ceremonies. Gear and get ups and everything, always spectacular, always amazing. But my very petite frame with the pants sometimes is a challenge.
And I always feel bad for the seamstress that I get. Because I look at her and I just go, You’re going to have your work cut out for you. And They certainly did for these games. I don’t know what it is, but there’s actually also an extra layer when I’m sitting in my wheelchair. They can’t be too baggy either because then it’ll get on the wheel, so you have to take them in height wise, you have to take them in, you know, bagginess wise to make them just right.
So, they certainly, I think they get nervous when they see me come in because they certainly have their work cut out for them. It takes a lot.
Alison: It’s not just the length of the bottom, right? Because otherwise the, the crotch will be at your knees.
McKenzie Coan: Exactly. Right. Right. It’s, I am like the whole problem package.
I tell ya, it takes a whole lot to make it just right. So I’m very, very grateful to every single one of them in athlete processing that worked so hard to make us look so good. Getting these amazing kits and getting to wear the red, white, and blue in the Team USA, it just, it never gets old, honestly. But it is a lot of work for me, for sure.
Jill: You also got to go to closing ceremonies. How was that? Cause you, you were in the rain. Oh, yes.
McKenzie Coan: It was absolutely fantastic though. You know, I love the way that at the end of the games, you know, no matter what, you’ve just been through the most intense 10 days of competition of, honestly, the most intense 10 days of your entire life.
And it’s just this really big celebration at the end and rain or shine, you know, it’s going to be a really good time. So I put on my, my NASCAR kind of closing ceremony, get up, which that jacket, I actually forgot about that. In addition to the bucket hat, that jacket for closing ceremonies, I feel like Ricky Bobby.
I think that it is one of the greatest things I have ever received at a games. It is hanging up in my closet. It is in pristine condition and it will stay that way, but I’m going to be very selective when I bring it out. I freaking love it. So I put all my Ricky Bobby get up. Uh, they were handing out ponchos and everything else.
So we were definitely prepared and it was a wonderful time. Closing is always fun, but I think there was an extra layer of Kind of specialness this time because, Paris is handing it over to L. A. Be in the stands and watch that kind of ceremonial moment and see our hype video and knowing it’s going to be our time the next time was really, really cool.
Knowing that everybody’s eyes were going to be on the United States, on L. A. come 2028 was a really proud feeling, I’ll say.
Alison: You’ve had some cool things since you came home.
McKenzie Coan: Oh yes. Oh yes. I’ve been a little nonstop since I’ve come home. I actually just got back from Singapore a couple of days ago. And the cool thing about that, I’ve been working nonstop in the best way. I love going out and I love speaking to others. I love sharing my story.
it’s just the greatest gift. I had just come back from. The teams event in Anaheim and I was finally having a little bit of time to to visit my family And I tried hard not to check my email. It’s like don’t be bad McKenzie Like enjoy your family time right now, and I was with my parents. I just checked my email for a second and I said opportunity Singapore There were some other things in the subject line, couldn’t even tell you what they were, but I clicked on that email and I saw this really incredible opportunity to go speak at the Singapore, disability sports council.
And it was coming up and I had to be there in like, 5 days. And I said, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity I have to go. So it turned out that my younger brother was able to go with me as my companion to that event. So we packed up. Went to Singapore and we had about six days there. It was a really incredible experience.
Yeah, I’ve done international speaking engagements before, but to be in a setting that was so personal and to be able to speak with Singapore athletes, their family, support staff, coaches, and share ideas about adapted sports, the Paralympic movement, and just things that they could do going forward. I learned a lot from it as well, that I brought back with me.
It was a very, very cool experience. And also to go around and see Singapore with my brother, that’s been a bucket list item for a long time. and I think it was really, really neat to be able to experience all that, especially coming out off a games and just having that opportunity was incredible.
Jill: What is the para movement like in Singapore versus what they want it to be?
McKenzie Coan: Yeah, you know, Singapore is very small, so there’s some disadvantages, some pros and cons, if you will, to that. One of the pros is everybody kind of knows everyone. So it’s easy for, let’s say kids coming up who have a disability, who don’t know about the movement.
It’s really easy to get them in contact with someone in the country who has experience, who maybe coaches the sports that they’re interested in. The, SCSD, the, the whole entire sports council there is so opin to helping anyone and everyone. And if they don’t know the answer, they’ll try to point them in the right direction.
So I say the size of their country really helps. I think also the access that they have to amazing facilities is really, really cool. You know, they’re hosting a couple different events there next year, and then going into 2026 as well. They’re hosting, the able bodied world championships.
They’re hosting Para swimming’s world championships. They’re hosting, I believe. Asian games there at some point as well. so there’s a lot of excitement there. There’s a lot of people who want to help one another, and it’s just cool to see the hype and the movement grow in there as well. They ask great questions.
We had some really great dialogue and I kind of got to share what it’s like from the U. S. side. So they had takeaways from that and they’re able to say, you know, Huh. Well, what she said might be something that could work here or from what she said, the way we’re doing it might fit better for us here in Singapore.
So it was just really incredible dialogue with them, be able to come up with ideas for their future of adaptive sports.
Alison: You don’t sound like a woman who’s retiring. Let me put it that way.
Jill: I do
Alison: have a lot of iron, you do have a lot of irons in the fire. So let, let’s start with just what does swimming look like for you going forward?
McKenzie Coan: definitely not retiring. you know, I, I realized I’m 28 years old.
I am certainly one of the, you know, Yeah, older, more veteran athletes on the team. Let’s just put it that way. I like that. More veteran seasoned athletes on this national team, but I’ve always told myself the moment that I’m not having fun with it anymore, the moment that I don’t. Enjoy what I do day in and day out.
Not that it’s easy, but the moment that I, I’m not enjoying it anymore, it’s time to hang it up because I would never want to look at swimming with this, you have to keep going, you can’t stop like this mindset of there, there’s no end. I just think I’m enjoying it. Basically. I’m still able to do it.
And I had a really, really rough road into Paris. There were some parts that. Were really, really difficult for me for a lot of reasons and the Bell’s palsy specifically that, that really was difficult. So I don’t know if I enjoyed the road to Paris as much as I’ve enjoyed other ones. It just seemed like thing after thing has gone wrong and, you know, that was really difficult for me.
So L. A. in itself is the opportunity of a lifetime to swim at a home games, just to even have the opportunity to swim at a home games. If I’m lucky enough to make that team. In front of a home crowd. That is something I would take with me for the rest of my life. That is something I would kick myself 10, 15, 20 years down the road.
If I didn’t continue on and at least give it a shot to try to get to those games would just be devastating to me. So I am definitely not walking away yet. I’m having a lot of fun still. I’m still physically able to do it and I’m definitely going to give. LA a go for sure. It’s going to look a little different this time because I am starting law school next year.
I’m getting in all my applications, but I have a game plan. I’ve got that productive mindset going. And I know that if I put my mind to it, I can absolutely do both. I actually think I operate my best when I have a lot going on. And I think law school will give me a break from swimming and swimming will give me a break from the law school stuff.
So we’re going to give L. A. a go.
Jill: What appeals to you about a career in the legal field?
McKenzie Coan: The opportunity to help others is huge for me. I remember when I was younger, I would be in the hospital every three months for treatments. And I do not know why, this is the most cliche thing ever, so forgive me, but I would watch Legally Blonde.
On, you know, loop in the hospital. And when I was really young, it was just this really cute movie that I really loved. But as I got older and understood more, I began to ask more questions about being a lawyer and what can lawyers do, how can they help people? And then as I entered high school and everything, I learned about, disability advocacy and, and, and rights and this and that.
And I decided from that point on that I wanted to be a disability rights lawyer. And I wanted to help other people who may not have a voice. I was very lucky when I was younger, my parents taught me how to advocate for myself from a very early age. And I think I got very good at that. And so I’ve asked myself, what skills or what gifts do I have that might make a difference or an impact in someone else’s life?
And when I think about that, this is the absolute best way that I can go about hopefully making those differences for others.
Alison: I don’t want to face her in a court.
McKenzie Coan: I want McKenzie on my
Alison: side.
McKenzie Coan: I can’t wait for the day that I roll into a courtroom in my hot pink wheelchair with my hot pink power suit on and I just throw down. It’s going to be like the same adrenaline rush as That’s like, that’s how I see it too. I need something that’s going to challenge me as well.
I don’t do well sitting still. I don’t, I don’t do well being, I’ve never been complacent. I just, I need to be challenged. I think this career will also help me with that for sure. ,
Alison: I do have to ask a question I don’t want to ask, but I’m going to ask it. It was a lot of controversy around the U.
- Paralympic swim team during Paris. What were you aware of? What were you told and how did that affect you or did it?
McKenzie Coan: It’s always difficult when, you know, you’re, you’re a part of this team and you’re at games together. I mean, man, we were probably together for a full month during the time of training camp and everything else.
Yeah. And, and that’s a difficult time for everyone. And it’s even harder when maybe there’s things going on behind the scenes. Maybe there’s things that you’re not aware of. But for me personally, the most important thing for me was being supportive of all my teammates, being there for everyone and, and trying to create the most healthy, supportive environment that I possibly could.
So I was not aware of a lot of things going on behind the scenes. And I was really there to support my teammates and create a healthy environment. I certainly hope that I contributed to that as a part of the team, but, moving forward, I hope that we can become a more united team and I hope that we take a more healthy and positive mindset into future meets because at the end of the day, I want to see Team USA be the most successful we possibly can, and then I want to see us create this healthy and good environment for everyone on this team, and I really hope that we can do that moving forward and be a part of something huge, because the next four years are a really big opportunity, and I think that we can absolutely get there and do that, but, a healthy, safe, happy environment where we can go out and do our jobs.
is what I’ve always wanted and strived for.
Jill: In your time in the Paralympics, because people who have non visible disabilities seem to have this trouble with being I guess, taking at face value, have you seen that or experienced that in, in any way? And when you think about having a career where you advocate for people with disabilities, how does the invisible disability play into how the general public perceives disability?
McKenzie Coan: Yeah. Visible, invisible disabilities can certainly always be tricky. Um, for me personally, I kind of look at it as I’ve Maybe had a little bit easier because I have a visible disability, you know, even if I’m not in my wheelchair, I walk my gates a little off, and, you know, having scoliosis and everything else kind of impacts that as well.
And I acknowledge it might be very difficult for people with invisible disabilities to kind of operate in everyday life sometimes, when they need accommodations and things, and people refuse those to them. Well, you don’t look like you need that. Why, why would you need that? You seem to get around just fine.
I can’t imagine what that is like, having to overcome statements like that, having to, advocate for yourself on a totally different level than, someone like me, who has a visible disability. I roll up and I say, hey, uh, you know, that staircase over there to get into the entrance of that place, yeah, um, it’s not really gonna work for me, as you can see.
so, there’s an extra layer of, Difficulty there for sure. And I think also, obviously not from my own experience, but I’m sure for athletes with invisible disabilities, you know, our classification system might be tricky to navigate sometimes. And I, I can’t imagine what they have to go through sometimes with medical documentation and everything else, just in everyday life, it’s hard to get people to listen sometimes.
So I imagine that there are difficulties and things with that, but. with our team, USA athletes, and I’ve been on the national team for 12 years, I’ve had the privilege of swimming with a lot of different people. And. with people airing out those frustrations or this and that, I try my best to listen and, and be understanding, but I’m, I’m almost very privileged in a way to have a visible disability and it’s just kind of cut and dry, so I can’t imagine what else goes into it with those invisible impairments.
Jill: I’m gonna end on a happy note. Okay. We have
Alison: a chocolate
McKenzie Coan: muffin.
Jill: I know. Because it was a tough situation. And you know, sometimes it affects you. It’s a big team. You know, Team USA has a big team. So does, how does stuff affect you if it does? And then are you the person that, you know, I didn’t know this was going on.
Huh? Because that’s possible too. I’m just going to eat another muffin.
McKenzie Coan: I love my muffins. it’s, it’s definitely with a large team. it’s great because. You have so many different personalities sometimes as well, and having been on this team for a very long time, it’s kind of like, you learn your roles sometimes, and mine is really to be there, be supportive, and be a cheerleader, and try to, it sounds cliche, but pick people up when they’re down, and I hate to see someone not enjoying, you know, games is a rollercoaster, but I hate to see someone not enjoying their time there, because, yes, you know, We’re there to do a job, but also, you’ve worked your butt off.
Like, don’t let something affect you so negatively that you’re gonna remember it for the rest of games, or you’re gonna let it taint your games. So, for my role, I really see it as someone who picks people up, hopefully lifts them up. And, puts a smile on their face and makes them remember that this is really awesome, what we’re here doing.
So let’s continue to move forward.
Jill: Which is nice because as the veteran of the team, it like, that just lends a better gravitas to everything.
McKenzie Coan: Yes, thank you. I, I definitely try. So, a lot of people did that for me back in the day. And I’m just happy to hopefully repay the favor to other people now,
Alison: we spoke to Bobby Boddy earlier today.
And as you’re talking about picking people up, I was like, Oh, I know a guy that is immediately what popped into my head. Like, Oh, you and Bobby should get together.
McKenzie Coan: That is absolutely fantastic. Oh my gosh. I love it. That was a 10 out of 10. That was amazing. I’m all about it. That was great. Thank you for this.
Jill: I would love them to go into processing together because he had the opposite problem where they were just like, He couldn’t put his arms down in his coat. They need the extra fabric from McKenzie’s uniform to
Alison: put
McKenzie Coan: into
Jill: Bobby’s jacket.
McKenzie Coan: We’re the perfect pair. Oh my god. Okay, LA 2028, send us a package deal to processing together.
And that’s, there we go. We just solved it. Right here, right now. This trio. Look at that. That is groundbreaking. This is why we love talking to you again, McKenzie. I love this. You guys are great. Excellent.
Jill: Oh, well, we got, we got to end on a high note. Well, you got to go to the Ravens game, which is nice. And I live in Cleveland, so that’s not, uh, well, Ravens.
But, you know, that, that was, had to be pretty cool.
McKenzie Coan: Thank you. Yes, it was, it was so cool. We got to do it back in 2021 after, uh, Tokyo. And I just remember thinking to myself, Oh, I hope I make it to another game. So I get to come down on this field again, because this is a pretty cool experience and there I was once again, down on the field, but you know, the Ravens have been so kind and so amazing and their support of not only me, but all Paralympians and Olympic athletes.
It’s just, it’s very cool to see. It’s definitely. Nice to be part of a community. It’s just the best feeling knowing that I have the support of all Baltimore, the Ravens and everyone. When I go behind those blocks, it just gives me a lot of strength. So it felt good to celebrate that this past weekend.
Jill: Excellent. And the silver medal, I think is the prettiest one. Thank you.
McKenzie Coan: Thank you. I look at it and. I love all metals equally. They’re all beautiful and I’m very grateful in each and every single one of them that I’ve had the honor to, to win has a special meaning behind it. And this one more than any other, probably at this point, I love them all, but I keep catching myself looking at it and I don’t normally do that, but there’s just something with this one.
It’s absolutely gorgeous. And everything that it took to get there just makes it that much sweeter. I’m very proud of it, but I will agree, the silver one is the prettiest. It’s beautiful. The
Jill: way that the iron and the silver just goes, it goes together very nicely. Yes.
McKenzie Coan: Thank you. I’m quite fond of it.
Jill: All right, McKenzie. Thank you so much for taking some time to talk with us. And of course, we will be in touch over the years and, keep watching you as you elwood your way through law school.
McKenzie Coan: We’ll be cheering for you. Awesome. Thank you so much guys. This is great. I had a blast.
Jill Jaracz: Thank you so much Mackenzie. You can find Mackenzie online. Her website is MackenzieCohen. com. She is Mackenzie Underscore Cohen on Tok and McKenzie Cohen on X, we will have links to all of those in the show notes.
Keep the Flame Alive Holiday Gift Guide
Jill Jaracz: Speaking of holiday gifts, you put together a fabulous holiday gift guide.
Alison Brown: Yes. So we will be, sharing all those links that I mentioned. We have a holiday gift guide for things like books and merchandise and all those good things.
Jill Jaracz: What kind of merchandise?
Alison Brown: T shirts, mugs, hats. Particularly things with Milan Cortina designs happening.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, excellent. Excellent. Because we are getting close to a year away from Milan Cortina. So better start beefing up your Milan Cortina fan gear now. And we’ve got the best place to do that. Check out our gift guide.
It is on our website, flamealivepod.
Milan-Cortina 2026 News
Jill Jaracz: Got a lot of news from Milan Cortina.
Alison Brown: They’ve been busy.
Jill Jaracz: They have announced the torch relays, so that was very exciting to see. , less exciting was the thought that the flame will be lit for the Olympic torch relay on November 26, 2025. That is less than a year away, people.
Alison Brown: Stop it. Is this long? It seems long.
Jill Jaracz: 63 days? That doesn’t seem so incredibly long to me. Okay.
Alison Brown: Maybe because it’s just going to be cold,
Jill Jaracz: but yes, it will be 63 days long. It’s going to travel across all 110 provinces of the country, traveling 12, 000 kilometers total. Uh, there will be 10, 001 torch bearers. And I will tell you that the news that is traveling across every province.
Made a listener Kurt very happy, which I loved because the torch relay did not go through every department in France. And part of that was because France, one of the departments to cough up. I don’t know how I’m very curious as to. Where the funding is coming for some of this, or else they are not having as elaborate city stops?
Alison Brown: Well, you’ve got, let’s just do the math. You have 110 provinces, 63 days. You’re doing multiple provinces in a day.
Jill Jaracz: Yes.
Alison Brown: So, it can be that people are sharing the cost, that it’s just running through, so it’s not terribly elaborate or expensive. They give them a glass of wine, some cheese, and off they go.
Maybe that’s just me.
Jill Jaracz: I think the biggest lesson in this for me was learning that Italy had 110 provinces. That is amazing for a small, small country.
Alison Brown: Okay, get this through your head now. everything in Italy is extra. There’s always more to do, to see, to be.
Jill Jaracz: Well, some of the highlights that will be extra will be, the arrival in Rome on December 4th.
So it’ll spend another, a week in Greece, like it usually does. Come to Rome on December 4th, be in Naples on Christmas day, Bari on New Year’s and Cortina on January 26th to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the opening of Cortina’s. 1956, the paralympic torch relay is going to happen in between the two games.
The flame lighting will be at Stoke Mandeville Hospital on the 23rd of February. in 2026, it’ll be a 12 day relay cover, 2000 kilometers in a route that goes mostly across northern Italy, and it will have 500 torch bearers. So this will also be a very exciting way of, you know, very get that burst of energy before the Paralympics start.
We also have hospitality packages available from On Location. They have a ticket inclusive overnight and hospitality packages. Not a ton of detail about what hospitality includes and what, what kind of cool opportunities they’ll have, like in Paris, where I think, you know, I saw this a fair amount. When I was at athletics, I would see like tour groups of people go down to the track.
I believe that was an On Location opportunity. One thing that. I did not notice when I ordered an on location travel package, I had a tough time with ordering that and picking the wrong events and things like that, but, I’m not sure they had. the option to get a souvenir ticket.
Alison Brown: There’s been a lot of discussion about the souvenir tickets because people are still receiving them or still lacking them. And that was one of the issues that the hospitality package, you could not get a souvenir ticket, or if you got a souvenir ticket, it had the wrong name on it.
Jill Jaracz: Oh yeah. So I didn’t know, I don’t know if I checked the box or if there was a box to check on getting a souvenir ticket.
And that’s a bummer because that was the, um, crown event in the going to Paris for contributor producer, Ben. so that’s, that’s a real bummer. And, uh, he has gotten his souvenir tickets. They’re very cool. They have the, one of the nice things is that they have a picture from that particular day and event on the ticket, which is, I think one reason why they took so long to get.
Your mileage is going to vary with the pictures because he got one, he got one for modern pentathlon and the picture was kind of a generic champion kind of picture thing. Whereas it would have been cool if they had done. A horse jump because that was the last horse jumping. So I don’t know it’s They look cool.
I’ve seen plenty of pictures online if you have thoughts on your souvenir tickets if you went let us know speaking of the sporting events, AFP reports that, Czech skier Esther Ledeska, who, wowed everyone at PyeongChang 2018 because she took gold in two very different events, alpine skiing and snowboarding.
And she followed that up with another gold medal in Beijing on parallel giant slalom. Uh, her two events have been scheduled at the same time. Oh, she’s not happy.
Alison Brown: I’m really surprised that they would. do that? Just have skiing and snowboarding overlapping like that.
Jill Jaracz: Okay. I’m not surprised, but I’m, it’s a bummer that she’s not going to be able to do that.
And she said, look, I’m from a small nation and I don’t have a ton of clout. It’s likely not going to get changed, which is a real bummer. But yeah, you would think that the federations and the organizers would work together, but more closely in that and maybe they do and just that kind of idea of who is competing doesn’t Fall into the conversation update to the volunteer program our team 26 They are looking for 18, 000 volunteers so far.
They have received almost 70, 000 applications 2 thirds of these are from people under 35 Which is very cool because it’s always fun to have young volunteers and it’s a great opportunity for them
We should do an over under Listeners, maybe we put this on the Facebook group, how many people are going to complain about not being able to not getting selected for volunteers because they were the perfect volunteer applicant.
Alison Brown: Oh, everyone who doesn’t get chosen.
Jill Jaracz: if you have applied, know that there is extreme competition for this, please, and understand that sometimes it’s just a numbers game.
, got an update from the IOC EB meeting that happened this week. Christophe Duby, the, IOC executive director, said that construction of the village in Cortina, the sliding track in Cortina, and the ice hockey arena in Milan are, quote, developing according to schedule.
Alison Brown: And from Christophe Duby, that is high praise.
And I don’t mean that sarcastically. I mean that he is very careful with what he says.
Jill Jaracz: Right. And if he
Alison Brown: says it’s developing according to schedule, it is properly on track.
Jill Jaracz: I hope so. I don’t, I also hope the quality is on track too. That’s a, that’s a different conversation to have.
International Olympic Committee News
Jill Jaracz: Yes, the IOC did have its executive board meeting this week. Several announcements coming out of there. First stuff is about Youth Olympic Games. We’ve got the next Summer Youth Olympic Games is going to be in Dakar in 2026. We’ve got dates for that. We’ll start on 31st of October and will be two weeks long.
There is going to be a refugee Olympic team for the first Olympic, for the first time at a youth Olympic games, because they’re in Africa, they’re going to focus the refugee team on African based athletes, team composition, selection criteria still to come, but that’s the initial talk about a refugee team.
We’ve got a sports program and athlete quotas. That’s all been confirmed. So they’re going to tailor stuff to Dakar, and it’s going to be a bit smaller than the last Summer Youth Olympic Games, which were in 2018, man, in Buenos Aires, and it just seems so long ago, and you forget how much the pandemic delayed this event.
they’re going to have to. Two different kinds of programs are going to have what they call a competition program and then an engagement program. And that’s so that they can get all 35 of the international federations involved. The competition program will have 25 sports. We’re talking athletics, swimming, archery, badminton, baseball 5, 3×3, boxing, breaking, road cycling.
Equestrian jumping, fencing, futsal, artistic gymnastics, beach handball, judo, coastal rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, street skateboarding, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, beach volleyball, beach wrestling, and wushu. So it’s going to be kind of a different program from a typical Olympics and testing out some different events.
Alison Brown: boxing? Yeah, no. As if boxing wasn’t problematic enough, let’s give them another platform to screw up?
Jill Jaracz: so we’re down to 151 events from 241 at the last game. So that’s a big cut. there’s going to be 72 events each for men and women and seven mixed gender. They are saying that this will have full gender equality and athlete quota and across sports disciplines and events.
So we’ll have to look at that once the program is all laid out and make sure that is accurate. But that is a huge step forward, if that is true.
This engagement program is a little different. It’s going to be like a showcase and they’re going to promote these sports through interactive activities on site and via digital platforms.
And the 10 sports that are in the engagement program are canoe, kayak, golf, hockey, karate. Modern pentathlon, shooting, sport climbing, surfing, tennis, and weightlifting. So I’m kind of surprised that surfing got put into a, engagement platform instead of a competition platform. Also surprised about sport climbing.
Alison Brown: Though that could be a location issue.
Jill Jaracz: It could be. It could be. Because it would be
Alison Brown: far away anyway. So why would we include it?
Jill Jaracz: To cars on the ocean.
Alison Brown: Oh. Maybe it’s not a good surfing ocean.
Jill Jaracz: Maybe it’s not. But, what good is a sport if you can’t do it? Do it in many places on the country around the world. So, uh, we’ll see about what this engagement platform does and how well it helps these sports get promoted. one other big thing, there will be no mixed NOC events. that’s supposed to simplify the structure and emphasize credible elite youth competitions, according to the IOC. They’re going to try to maximize existing venues and infrastructure as much as possible, do venue sharing across multiple sports, and really try to avoid major refurbishments.
It’s, it’s pretty obvious that budget is a huge issue here. And in order to make an event work in Africa, we’ve got to make some concessions on things. So we’ll, uh, see, it sounds like stuff is progressing, but we’re still a little less than two years away. So we’ll see how this goes. Also, looking ahead to the Youth Olympic Games 2028, which is a winter edition, the executive board of the IOC is recommending that, Dolomiti, Valtellina in northern Italy be the host.
they’ll be able to reuse seven of the 11 proposed venues, that Milan Cortina will have. Uh, the IOC vote on this will happen at the end of January at the next IOC session. But good to have a plan to reuse some of these venues right away.
Alison Brown: And good to have a plan for the Winter Youth Olympics because that was questionable after last year.
Jill Jaracz: Also something that came up is the topic of international federations paying prize money a la World Athletics paying the medalists 50 grand, or I’m sorry, paying the gold medalists 50 grand at Paris. IOC, still not thrilled with that idea. And, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said that compensation should come from National Olympic Committees and they know the best way to reward the athletes from their team.
The International Federation’s paying out they say shows a lack of fairness and would quote down the grade downgrade the games to an elitist event. So he noted that 91 NLCs and about 1, 000 athletes and teams won medals, and those are the people who would benefit from that. Most of those medalists are from well funded teams, like 65 percent of them were from 15 NLCs.
So prize money would create More inequality, and you’re going to have an Olympics that will only have competition from a few national Olympic committees.
Alison Brown: I totally disagree with his reasoning, though, especially when it comes to athletics. Because think about all those, uh, Caribbean nations like St. Lucia.
Right. That team did not have 50, 000 to award its gold medalists. So if you’re looking at athletics, especially, getting money from the International Federation can make a big difference to some of those small nations who really excel at athletics.
Jill Jaracz: I think the argument is. That the Federation paying an athlete directly means that the Federation has less money to pay an NOC to do programs or the, or the IOC sending money to the NOCs for programs that benefit more people instead of rewarding one person.
Alison Brown: I’m not necessarily a huge fan of the Federation’s paying, but I think his argument. Um, is, is specious at best. And it’s really just, the IOC doesn’t like that it’s not controlling all the cash.
And making those decisions for the federations. You know, if you want the federation to run the competition and be the arbiter of all those issues, because we’ve seen the IOC pass the buck to the federations on lots of controversial issues. You don’t get to have control over their purse strings as well.
Jill Jaracz: Unless they change the rules on purse strings. So, we’ll see what happens with that. Uh, Rich Perlman from the Sports Examiner noticed, or noted that uh, very few federations can afford to pay Olympians prize money. And I think that creates a different situation. argument for inequality, where why does athletics get so much money and is so popular?
You know, it’s just feeding the beast of, well, athletics is very popular sport, so therefore it gets more money, and therefore a small federation has less money to work with. And there’s inequality.
Alison Brown: I mean, there’s inequality among sports. When you have professional basketball players coming to the Olympics who are making millions of millions of dollars from their sport.
And then you have, you know, a kayaker who’s living on food stamps. We already have the inequality. So this inequality isn’t going to make that worse because the, the athletics athletes are already making money in the diamond league. I feel like they’re missing the, the real issue, which is the inequality when they’re fighting over control.
Good point.
TKFLASTAN News
Alison Brown: Welcome to Shookflushton.
Jill Jaracz: It is the time of the show where we check in with our team to keep the flame alive. These are past guests and listeners of the show who make up our citizenship of our very own country, Shookflushton. We’ve got some results first, first off the ISU speed skating world cup season is underway, which means our Erin Jackson is competing again. She is having a tough year so far. This is not great. Uh, the season started off in Asia. World cup one was in Nagano as she placed ninth in the first 500 meter race and won the second 500 meter race at the second world cup in Beijing.
She placed sixth in the first 500 meters and fourth in the second 500 meters. Part of this is, uh, health issues. And our friend Nick Sicardi reported on NBC Sports that she has been dealing with herniated discs in her lower back since Beijing 2022. Uh, she’s also having some other medical issue that was reported on olympics.
com, but doctors haven’t figured out what’s going on yet. And Erin said the situation is affecting her energy levels, which of course affects her skating abilities. So, hopefully, that will be resolved in a way that they can know how to, uh, treat what’s going on with her and she just has some clarity on what’s happening.
The World Cup is on break until the end of January when it moves to North America for races in Calgary and then Milwaukee. We know some of you are close to that, so if you go, let us know.
Alison Brown: Fencer Alexander Macialis won gold in the FIE Men’s Foil World Cup in Tunis. He and Nick Itkin were on the men’s team that week.
Finish second behind Italy. And Elyse Willoughby won her 12th USA BMX National Women’s Pro title. We have some people competing, foil fencers Leigh Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs will be competing this weekend at the Busan World Cup in Korea, while saber fencers Maya Chamberlain and Magda Skarabankowicz will be competing in Orléans, France.
Jill Jaracz: And Nordic combined skier Annika Malasinski starts her World Cup season this weekend in Lillehammer.
Alison Brown: And some more fencing news, Kat Holmes, Lee Kiefer, Garek Meinhardt, Elizabeth Tartakovsky, Ellen Geddes, and Jackie Dubrovich have all been named to the USA Fencing’s Athlete Council and will be serving through 2028.
Jill Jaracz: race walker Evan Dunphy is excited about World Athletics changing the race walk distances. Yet again, uh, the 20 kilometer walk is going to become a half marathon, which is 21. 0975 kilometers and the 35 kilometer walk is going to become a marathon. So that will be 42. 195 kilograms kilometers. This is to make the events more relatable because people understand half marathon and marathon distances and hopefully encourage more participation.
He, uh, said on X that he is genuinely excited about this and it’s, I think it’s nice that you’ve got a 42K, which is close to his personal goal. , premier race, the 50K
Alison Brown: sled hockey pair player, Monica Quimby was interviewed on the handy capable podcast,
Jill Jaracz: a swimmer, Bobby Fink, one male athlete of the year and male race of the year at the USA swimming.
at USA Swimming’s Golden Goggle Awards.
Alison Brown: And congratulations to paddler Luca Jones and decathlete Jordan Gray, who both got married last month.
Coming Soon
Jill Jaracz: And that is going to do it for this episode. We had some good stories from Mackenzie Cohen. Let us know your favorite Paris 2024 moments.
Alison Brown: And we do love hearing from you.
You can chat with us and other listeners on our Facebook group, Keep the Flame Alive Podcast. Email us at flamealivepod at gmail. com. And the voicemail and text line is always open at 208 352 6348. That’s 208 FLAME IT. If you need more Olympics and Paralympics in your life, and who doesn’t, sign up for our newsletter at flamealivepod.com. We’ll have a link to that in the show notes.
Jill Jaracz: And hey, we’ve moved the newsletter over to Substack. So if you are on Substacks and get a lot of newsletters from other people, search for us on the Substack app and subscribe there too. Um, and next week we will have some big show announcements coming and we’re trying something new for format wise for December.
So be sure to tune in to hear all about it. Thank you so much for listening and until next time, keep the flame alive.