We weren’t able to get to the shooting competitions at Paris 2024, so we’re excited to have silver medalist SSG Sagen Maddalena on this episode to tell us what the Olympics were like at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.
Sagen is a two-time Olympian and member of the US Army Marksmanship Unit. Sagen grew up in California, learned how to shoot at her 4-H club, and discovered she was pretty good at it. When she went to college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she competed on the university’s shooting team. After college she joined the Army and was assigned to the US Army Marksmanship Unit and is on its International Team as a shooter and instructor.
Sagen competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the women’s 50m rifle-3 positions, where she placed 5th. That result fueled her fire to get to onto the podium, so she continued training and competed and qualified for more events at Paris 2024. In the Mixed Team 10m air rifle, she placed 18th. In the women’s 10m air rifle, she took 4th. She achieved her goal in her repeat event, the women’s 50m rifle-3positions, earning a silver medal. We talked with Sagen about her career in shooting and what the Games were like in Chateauroux.
Paris 2024 fueled Sagen’s drive for gold at LA 2028. Follow her journey to the next Summer Olympics on Instagram and learn more about the US Army Marksmanship Unit here.
In news from Milan-Cortina 2026, the latest version of the daily Olympics schedule is out. Find it here, and plan your trip and/or viewing now (note: it is subject to change, so maybe don’t set your plans in stone).
In news from TKFLASTAN, we hear from:
- Wheelchair racer Daniel Romanchuk
- Curler John Shuster
- Wheelchair curler Steve Emt
- Fencer Kat Holmes
We’ll be at Olympin this weekend! If you’re in Atlanta, please stop by and say hello!
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
TRANSCRIPT
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366-Sagen Maddalena
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 have 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 Jaris, joined as always by my lovely co host, Alison Brown. Alison, hello, how are you?
Alison Brown: I’m okay. I’m here. We’re doing a show.
Yay.
Olympin Show is this Weekend!
Alison Brown: And we’re going to see each other this weekend.
This is very exciting. Yes. So we are headed to Olympian in Atlanta. So with all the Olympic collectors of pins and memorabilia. and that’ll be a lot of fun.
Jill Jaracz: I will. I’m very excited to see so many people. I have a pile of stuff to be packed. As do I. So it’s going to be a fun weekend.
Atlanta has so many Olympic fans and of course being a former host city, there’s still Olympic stuff around and hopefully we will get to see some of it here and there. So hopefully.
Alison Brown: I have not been there before, so this will be a first for me.
Jill Jaracz: so if you go, we are going to be at the the Marriott Hotel in Buckhead, Marriott, Atlanta, Buckhead, and we will have a link to the show page in the show notes.
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Sagen Maddalena Interview
Jill Jaracz: We have a good guest today.
Alison Brown: This was fun.
Jill Jaracz: This was really fun. We are talking with two time Olympian and member of the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit Staff Sergeant Sagen Maddalena. Sagen grew up in California. She went to college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where she competed in NCAA shooting. After college, she joined the army and was assigned to the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit and is on its international team as a shooter and instructor.
Sagen competed at Tokyo 2020 in the women’s 50 meter three rifle three positions. We talked about that with Tim Sherry and one of the biggest things with Tim Sherry was the revelation that his feet fell asleep when in the kneeling position, which got me and we talked about that with Sagen as well.
At Tokyo, Sagen placed 5th in that event, and then she also competed at Paris 2024, because she had the drive to keep going. She competed in three events, took 18th in the 10 meter air rifle mixed team, 4th in the women’s 10 meter air rifle, and then she got silver. In the women’s 50 meter rifle, three positions.
So we talked to Sagen about her career in shooting and what the games were like in Chatereau because we could not be there in person. Take a listen.
Jill: Sagen, thank you so much for joining us. One of the things that is interesting to us about, your role and how you got into shooting was that 4 H was, uh, Elemental and fundamental to your introduction to the sport.
We’ve got listeners who are really big into 4 H. So talk a little bit about , how you got into the sport through that route.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Sure thing. So, being young and homeschooled, I didn’t necessarily have that opportunity to play sports. however, I was in the, in 4 H with, uh, livestock and baking cakes, going to the fair every, every summer.
And there was an opportunity to. use 4 H to learn rifle marksmanship through a junior 22 program and my parents, uh, allowed me to give it a go. I had to be a certain age. I think I was 13 or 14 years old, uh, before I was able to, try that avenue in the 4 H program. And once I did, it just clicked.
I really enjoyed it. Not only, I mean, the big thing is they taught the safety, like gun safety, how to handle a firearm, how to. properly, work through that style of equipment and it’s a vital thing, especially for, you know, teenagers to know how to handle the firearms. But also what really got me was the competition aspect.
I was finally able to compete with other kids my age. And, even with, as a female, I was able to compete with the guys. And so it really helped kind of drive that competition mindset that I had. And, uh, you know, initially, you know, I’m young and it taught me things like keeping records like journaling.
It taught me through 4 H how to practice and all that preparation work now looking back after being an Olympian is how important that that was at a young age to learn those vital things as an athlete, preparation, practice, keeping records.
Jill: When did you realize that the Olympics was a possibility for you?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I realized the Olympics was a possibility right before I went to college. For me myself before, like growing up, I heard about the Olympics. Sometimes we watched a little bit on TV. It wasn’t necessarily a big thing in my family.
besides, you know, watching track and field and sometimes a little bit of swimming, but little I had no idea about rifle sports or marksmanship at the time. So it wasn’t just before it was when I went to college that my coach at the time had mentioned the Olympic route that the possibilities of going to the Olympics in the sport that I was in, and so I learned it at a later date, and it didn’t actually mentally hit that.
Oh, I can actually do this until I was probably almost out of college. that’s when I got the belief that, okay, I can go to, to the Olympics. but then the, the reality didn’t set in until I was actually at the Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo of, Hey, this is the real deal. this is what the Olympics were like.
So I didn’t have that big dream or spark until I was there at the village. If you can believe it, I mean it, I guess I took a different route of getting to the Olympics.
Jill: But it’s interesting that they weren’t a thing really like in your family and you’d watch them when they were on. What did they mean to you just even in the abstract of the concept?
Without having the, shooting element be real to you.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: The Olympics, what it meant to me and what it still means to be as a togetherness of the whole, bringing the whole world together and the athletes and, and everyone of different shapes and sizes and mentalities who are all striving for the best that they can be.
And it’s, it’s taking out the. I don’t know the selfishness and becoming selfless. you’re there with, the whole world on one stage. And it’s, it’s very, it’s a humbling experience, to be in that, that setting and, I know I kind of went off to, to be in there at the time, but before that, it was the same type of thing that, that came to my attention was that togetherness of the world being in one area competing at the same time.
Jill: Tokyo and France were very different. Obviously, and even for you shooting it at Chateauroux, which was a ways from Paris, that was also different experience from other Olympians. So how was Tokyo and France different for you?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Okay. Yes. So Tokyo one being my first Olympics, you’ll never have another first Olympics as it as an Olympian, as an Olympic athlete, you’ll never have another first Olympic experience.
And that, that really, really resonated with me. So it being during COVID, , not having spectators being kind of shut in into one area, didn’t really affect me in a negative way because I was just, yeah. Thrilled to be there. Just that on that Olympic high of, of, Hey, I’m here. I’m at the highest point, you know, in my career at the time.
However, it didn’t really set in of the Olympics until I was in, Paris, in France. Where you had the, the spectators and you had that Olympic actual Olympic feel and the crowd, the noise, the standing room only type of energy going through the building. And it’s, it was completely different.
It was like a 180 degree turn between, both Tokyo and, and Paris. but they all were, they were both unique. I mean, they were both a hundred percent, the Olympics, just in a different capacity.
Alison: Did you feel isolated out in Chateau or did it feel integrated with other competitors, other sports?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: so the isolation, if I would have set my mind on the fact that we were isolated, then yeah, I guess I could have had that feeling, but I didn’t because I was there just to work.
I was there to do my job and do the, do it to the best of my ability. So I didn’t realize the separation. Oh, or at least I didn’t allow myself to realize the separation, if that makes sense, it was, you know, it definitely away from the other venues was unable, was not able to go see other sports. And we had several different villages with the athletes from different countries staying in those villages.
So we weren’t all tied to one area. So it had a feeling of almost a World Cup type feel. when it came to the to the village area now taking a look at the venue itself So the sport venue in the range that had a hundred percent in Olympic field. They had it set up. They had the spectator area area The seating area, the noise, the energy, there were plenty of spectators.
It wasn’t like, Oh, we’re in an isolated area. No one’s going to show up. There were plenty of people, showing up to watch the events. So the venue feel was definitely Olympic like, and not didn’t have that separate feel.
Jill: Was that then helpful in terms of getting the job done that you didn’t have a distraction of so many other athletes from different sports and all these other different things around you?
You just had your venue and your particular village and you could focus.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I would say it would be hard to answer that question truly because I, I don’t know how it would have been being around all the other sports. But I can say I prepared myself for that kind of that, that job mentality, that mindset going into it to where it’s not, it’s not the fun.
That’s not a good word for it, but the, that Olympic go, we made it feel. That was gonna happen after I was done competing, you know, leading up to it at the games. It was all go time. It was all all work. I didn’t want to let my guard down, with how hard I had prepared for the games. So you know, if, looking into it, I would have still been able to focus and do my job, even with a different field, being around different athletes in different sports.
I think I still could have kept that same mentality.
Alison: I’m curious a little bit about the, cause you keep saying job and it is in fact your job. You are in the military. what is helpful and what is not helpful about you’re doing military training and then you’re doing also athlete marksmanship training.
I mean, because obviously shooting in those two situations are very, very different, even though the skills are still the same, but you’ve got to do some different kind of training.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Sure. So, so between being in the army, a soldier in the army and an athlete in the army, uh, it’s soldier first, athlete second.
However, the fundamentals of marksmanship are still the same, and that is so vital as an athlete is to embrace those fundamentals, not get fancy. That’s why I like to tell a lot of the, a lot of the athletes I’m around. And even the soldiers is, you know, you start getting fancy and then you start getting comfortable, like stick with the fundamentals, train the fundamentals day in day out over and over and over again, you can never train them too much, , to be confident in those fundamentals.
So it’s the same in the, setting of being a soldier in the army is, is you have to be very good at your improficient at your job. And so they, they co mingle. I mean, they’re, they go together being an athlete and also being a soldier. It, it helps keep me on task. It helps with my discipline.
you know, not taking days off where I don’t need to take those days off. You know, being in the military, it really pushes you to be all that you can be. which helps on the athletic side too. and also with, the unit that I am in, the United States Army Marksmanship Unit, call it the AMU in short.
It’s specifically my, job profile is to be an instructor and also a shooter. so training and, um, preparing myself for these competitions, I’m allowed a lot of, preparation time for that. It’s not like I’m juggling two things at the same time. it is my job to be that top level athlete. And be that ambassador for the army in that sense.
Alison: Do you ever have to worry about turning off your soldier brain when you’re in an event like the Olympics, which obviously has an incredible security aspect to it?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, that’s a, it’s a good question. yeah, you’re always aware of your surroundings. That’s the best way I can put it is just, you’re just always aware of your surroundings and.
And have a have that trust in the security that that’s around you. in those venues and it was there, there were great volunteers there and, uh, security guards and the whole place didn’t have that feel of. Uh, it wasn’t chaos. It was very well put together. that’s as much as I could say with that question.
Jill: Because you talked about the mental aspect. What are some of the techniques you use to keep mentally sharp, especially because shooting is such a mental sport, and it takes a lot of strength and stamina, both physically and mentally, to be good at it.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, absolutely. So the mental side, that is years and years and years of training. The mental stamina, the confidence. visualization, the scenarios in your head, learning to work with doubts.
There’s just so much training that is not seen on the outside that is vital to a performance on that stage. because now the, the technical part and the fundamentals of shooting a good shot and shooting a well performed match. Is also vital, but the mental strength to allow your body to perform that, that’s the key there is allowing that training to take place through the mental preparation. I was nervous. I’m not gonna lie. I was totally human. the entire time, especially. The day of and the day before leading up to competitions, uh, but with the training and the preparation, I was able to, work through those nerves and use them to help focus and I mean, this is true, I’ve told everyone this, that a listen, I mean, The nerves really came out afterwards, and that’s that’s when I got sick to my stomach and it was was after all the competition was done and the medals were given out because you were just all of a sudden, all of that was just let you just let loose.
Right? And then you were able to take a step back and come out of competition mode after it felt like four years of just go, go, go. but yeah, that, that mental piece is, is so strong and I could talk about that all day,
Alison: How has that processing of all that after effect been over the past couple months?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Well, the process of coming down off of the Olympics has been a struggle, a new one that I’ve never had before.
, Tokyo was different. I achieved my goal in Tokyo and, and actually that’s when the flame was lit inside of me to go back to the Olympics. Like I was saying earlier about having that Olympic drive didn’t start. Until I was at the Olympics, even though I knew of the Olympics beforehand, that that fire wasn’t lit in my belly until I was there at the games in 2021.
so then going into France and preparing in such a different way for France than I had for Paris, just in experience and in confidence. That coming off of the France, the games in France has been, it’s been a learning curve and I’m not, I’m not out of it yet. Still trying to reevaluate, my purpose as an athlete and my purpose as a soldier and just have that why and that drive it’s there.
I just have to find how, cause it, it’s going to continue to mold and, and evolve as I get older and more experienced as an athlete, it does for everybody. That drive does. And so that’s what I’m going through now, uh, in my post Olympic stage.
Alison: What were the, your expectations going into Paris?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Okay. My expectations going into Paris, my goal was to medal in both the air rifle and the small board event. realistically, my ability in air rifle was, yeah, I could make a final, but looking at past results, I hadn’t been a medalist in many air rifle events.
So just looking at legit facts, making the final at the Olympics was a huge, achievement for me. And I think I could have, well, I know, well, don’t know, cause. It already happened, but if my mindset had been just a little tweaked, a little different to the, to a point where, yeah, I, I can take bronze, silver, gold and air rifle.
I might’ve been able to get past that, that fourth place finish and been up in the, in the medalist. I mean, even coming in fourth in air rifle, it’s a huge achievement. not put myself down on that at all. and it was really close to being in the medals and definitely have a, a strong drive for, for LA to, to that mindset to be, you know, not just medalist, but at the top of the podium kind of mindset, you know, I have to stay.
realistic. It’s a very tough sport. There’s a lot of great athletes out there, and we’re talking about, just less than millimeter difference, differences and scores. But then also to go on with your question on expectations for small board in 22 that that was in that event, that one I had more of the experience.
And so with that experience came a little bit more confidence. and I It’s like, I knew, not in a cocky way, I just knew my ability that I could make that final, and I could perform. At my very best in metal in that final it was still I mean just a a huge surprise and achievement to metal but I had that expectation in my head before I mean years before I went
Jill: Put a pin in the air rifle because I I do want to talk about the small boar Yeah, because you got you had to do a shoot off to get into the final two
What goes through your mind when you realize you have a shoot off going on?
Plus, you have a crowd and an announcer hyping everything up.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah. Next shot. That was what’s going was going. Those were the words in my head. Next shot. Just do your job. Next shot. And that just put me in the moment. And that was, that’s an important thing as an athlete is you have to, wherever you are, be all there type mentality.
And that was what I did is I just knew I had to perform well, shoot a good shot. Yeah. And control what I could control and that was just myself, not the other athlete,
Jill: I also have a small, uh, three position question. We talked with Tim Sherry ahead of Tokyo. Do your feet fall asleep when you kneel?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: If I haven’t trained it for a little bit, yes.
But it’s an endurance, uh, endurance thing. So I still have feeling in my feet, especially after just a 20 shot. So the, the match format that we did in, in France, there was no tingling in the feet, but I’ve definitely experienced it plenty of times in training. not a fun time.
Jill: No, that’s what we thought when we heard, when he told us that.
It was like, oh, that’s gotta be hard to work with sometimes.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, yeah.
Jill: How was it balancing three events in Paris? First, because you only had the one in Tokyo, but now we’re, rounding out our card a little bit. Yeah.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, so in Tokyo, you know, priority was the 50 meter rifle. So the 22, however, I, so, so that was my priority, but I still balanced air rifle in my training just to make sure I wasn’t hammering one event over and over and over again.
I needed to be well rounded leading up to the Tokyo games. The difference with France in Paris was the priority of air rifle was higher than it was in Tokyo. And so I was still training small board just as religiously and just as intense, but then I added in that air rifle training and had to balance the two to where, you know, I have a routine.
I can’t go into it too much or we’d be here all day, but there is a routine that I follow that allows the time in both guns, to work pretty well. So I can train them both, both throughout the week and be prepared. And, you know, the one thing, I think I said it earlier, but it’s important, especially with two events is when you’re training on one event, that’s, I am training that one event wherever I am, be all there type mentality.
That way I don’t muddle the waters between the two guns and, that would take away some of that training value.
Jill: Back to the air rifle in Paris. Getting into the final you mentioned a little bit about I don’t want to call it a mental blip But what are you telling yourself? Versus what is yourself trying to tell you in order for you to get to what you want to achieve? Does that make sense?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Oh, yeah. No that that definitely makes sense What do I tell myself versus what I’m what is what’s going on in my mind versus what I’m controlling in my mind Right, right in France and air rifle, what I was controlling in my mind was do the process, do the work, stick to the routine , and trust your hold. I was trained up as, as well as I could be leading up to that match. And, really, it was just, I didn’t have to do, I did not have to perform spectacular.
I did not have to shoot a world record or an Olympic record. All I had to do was, was perform as I had throughout the year. And that’s what I did. And it really, you know, was like, I, I literally put everything on the table that day. I didn’t do any extra cause I couldn’t, I didn’t do anything less.
Because I was disciplined enough to follow my process and I finished, I ran through that match just smooth. It went smooth as butter. Now it did not feel smooth as butter on the outside. It looked fine. On the inside was a literal firecracker show going on heartbeat and nerves and shakes, but the discipline of still shooting a good shot, even though I was on edge, that just attests to the preparation and the training leading up.
And I finished that. So I finished that competition. I had about 15 minutes to spare. You get an hour and 15 minutes. So 75 seconds, 75 minutes, to shoot your 60 record shots. And I went through pretty smooth, about a minute a shot, finished with 15 minutes left. And I think I was in 10th place. When I got off the line, now this, the objective that the actual score was, you know, just a touch lower than what, what I’ve been doing it in training, but it was right, right where it needed to be when I mean touch.
I mean, you’re talking like tense, right? And so at that point it was, well, now it’s the waiting game to see what everyone else does. And I kept my score just, it stayed the same, but on the scoreboard was jumping between like 6th and 12th and 15th and 10th and 8th. And they take the top eight for the final and talk about just a nervous wreck, just sitting there waiting, waiting for them to say stop.
And like, did I make it? Did I make it? Did I make it? You know? And, uh, that was, probably the most exciting part of Air Rifle was, the waiting game to see if I made the final. And, uh, when I did, man, my, I had a coach come up and we just were like yelling, like, yeah, I made it. Uh, and then it was prep time for the final.
So I had to get serious again, but
Alison: How much do you get to enjoy that? before you have to switch, how does that timing work?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Okay. With the Olympic games, I had a night pretty much. So our Olympic qualification was on one day and the very next morning was the Olympic finals.
That’s where the medals were taking place. The qualification shorted the, shortened the field from all of the countries down to the top eight shooters. and then those top eight shooters came in the next day for the final to figure out who was one, two, and three. And so what I ended up doing was I allowed, not very much time of, yeah, made the final to, okay, it’s getting mindset, need to have a good meal, good night’s sleep, stick to the routine.
So I’m ready for the next day. It’s like, work’s not done. We still got a final. and then shot that air rifle final and, and came up a little bit short. And it was, that was a weird set of emotions because It’s, yeah, came up a little short. Was, was proud of my performance. Proud of how I did. I was a little bit evaluating in my head what I could have done better, but I knew it was over, uh, so I didn’t need to evaluate it too much at the time.
and then went through the, all of the reporters and one of ’em brought up the fact that, oh, you’re so close to making a medal. And how does it feel to, you know, the U. S. hasn’t earned a medal yet? And I was like, okay, well, just that, just wait till small war, buddy. Uh, I guess that doesn’t really answer your question.
I had more of a. energy release after Smallbore than I did after Air Rifle. And I think because once Smallbore was done, all of my events were done. And that’s when I was finally able to just take a step back and be like, all right, my quad is over, you know?
Alison: And that’s a nice way to end your quad.
Jill: Yeah.
Alison: Not
Jill: bad. What is that like, suddenly balancing a bunch of reporters, where there’s not usually a ton of focus on shooting sports?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I just try to stay honest and true to them, answer their questions as best as I could. joke around with them a little bit, because I get pretty, uh, introverted when people are talking to me, so I awkwardly make jokes.
on the outside it looked like a lot of reporters, but really I would talk with two or three, that was about it. wasn’t too overwhelming,
Jill: How were the facilities? Because that’s the National Shooting Center. Had you shot there before?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: that was my first time in Chattaroo. The facilities were great. Well maintained, You know, the ranges were world world class, especially, you know, the target systems, the, the volunteers, it’s just a great setup.
it was a little bit warm on a couple of days. The AC maybe not so great, but Hey, it was France. Can’t really complain. Uh, and also I train in, uh, Columbus, Georgia all the time. So actually it was not hot at all compared to home. so, so yeah, overall great facilities, in the, The town around, around the venue.
So Chattaroo itself were very inviting for all the athletes, all of the restaurants and the stores. you knew the Olympics were going on.
Jill: were you aware of how shooting was going viral around the world with different shooters?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, yeah, in the end, people mentioned it, and I got a good chuckle out of it.
that’s about all I can say.
Jill: Well, no, because I mean, seriously, it’s funny that people go, Oh, wow, look at this. I’ve never seen this before. And then if you like, well, if you watch a little bit of shooting, everyone looks badass. Come on. You know, because they’re all sort of like, It’s so focused and they all have that drive.
You see it in your eyes, it’s just that drive and determination and you may not know how you look on your, on the outside, but like, it’s really, it’s cool.
Alison: Okay. Okay. Yeah. And intimidating.
Jill: Yeah.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Good one. I’ve been told that before.
Alison: I mean, you see somebody standing there with a weapon who knows how to use it. That’s a little intimidating.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah. Yeah. It’s crazy though, with, with all of us, it’s like, oh, it’s, it’s just a sport. And we were all raised being, um, you know, safe practices and, care for your equipment. And that’s, that’s it.
for us, it’s, it’s our sport, we don’t think about it as handling weapons or. Or it being a, any safety concern because we’re also vigilant with the practice of it and with the handling of our equipment. And also you’ve got great volunteers and range officers who keep an eye out because I mean it is, sport mode and you get, you get pretty focused. So you have people on the outside just watching and maintaining. but yeah, for me, it’s, it’s just a sport,
Jill: when you were done, did you get to enjoy French food at all?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Cause that
Jill: was one of the things you were looking forward to.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: okay, I did get one day and it was before it all started.
We, we were set up in Chattaroo about a week and a half before the events started, week, week and a half. And so during that time, I got good training in, but I also made a point of getting away from the venue and getting away from the village. Going for a walk, stretching my legs, and being around the community itself, being around the locals, because that’s something I enjoy doing is, is kind of immersing myself with the locals, and I found a, uh, I found two things.
One day I was like, oh, I’m going to go for a jog. And then I ended up stopping at this, sweet shop or metaphor shop. And, uh, that was a bad idea because I ended up walking back cause I was like eating and Claire’s and all that, this is so good. And then I got done. I’m like, I am a mile and a half and I am not jogging back.
So, that was the first experience. And the second one is I got to about downtown and I was just looking around. I, I wasn’t necessarily looking through Google maps or anything. I just like to, Poke your head in the window and see what they got, and I found this cat cafe. And this lady had these cats running around and she served tea and coffee and everything.
I went back like three times. It was my favorite place. I went in and got my cat fix and would lay down on the floor, play with the cats and then go back, back to the village. So yeah.
Alison: That sounds like lovely work life balance.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: It is. It is. One of the days I was missing my own cats and my dog back home and I went over there and I’m like, keep it together.
Keep it together. Just hang out with the
Jill: cats.
Alison: Well, Jill will tell you, everywhere we went in Paris, I was like, people won’t let me pet their dogs. I need to play with some dogs. It’s the worst being away from your babies, right? Yeah, it is. It is. What are some cool things you’ve gotten to do since you got back?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I have, so since I got back, one, I’ve been able to take some time off, and that’s pretty cool for me. I am a obsessive trainer and preparer, so being able to take some time off has been a good test of my patience. so there’s that, but also getting home, I was able to see my family. I found out I hadn’t seen my parents in three years, or been home in three years.
So, that’s a good thing. Go back home and, and see my, uh, see my family, the people I grew up with, they hosted a great, great parade and I got to spend some time with the community, talking with the kids and the schools. And that’s one of the things that I really enjoy about, being in an Olympic athlete from a small town is I can go back and I can show to these kids that, hey.
Yeah, you don’t have to be an Olympic athlete, but if you have something you want to do or become, it’s totally possible. Just because you’re from a small town doesn’t mean small opportunities. Like, there’s ways to get out and spread your wings. And, you know, I’m an example of that type of talk.
And so that’s, I do enjoy being able to do that and spread knowledge to those kids. who might not know about those opportunities that they have. so doing that, I got to do that back in California and just taking some time off here here at home. on the East coast, , getting some fishing in, catching up on yard work, you know, the stuff you don’t think about when you’re so obsessed in the sport.
Jill: so if you are prepared, did you prepare to take time off?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I did prepare to take time off. I knew that I was going to put what I would say the guns up. I wasn’t going to train. I knew that was going to happen. And for, for a little bit of time, uh, several months, it’s turning out to be all start up again, looking at next March is when it’s going to be go time.
So, but I did prepare for it. I did plan for it and I knew I would not be shooting some of these. I kind of important national matches coming up in the next couple of months. So I’ll be a spectator would be different.
Alison: Was that thinking in terms of needing a physical break, a mental break or both?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: It was a mental break.
Definitely needed that mental break. It’s been a, if you think about it, a seven year push because we had Tokyo and then it was three years to Paris. We didn’t have that, that break here. And so it was that seven year push and I knew I was going to need some time before I made another four year push for LA.
Alison: I keep saying this to people we’re talking to, you’re not a woman who sounds like she’s retiring. You sound like LA is where we’re going. What does that look like in terms of you’re taking this break, but getting back into it and having to think of that again?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, it’s for me. It’s important to remember, remember the why.
So the reason that I’ve been athlete, the reason I’m pushing for the Olympics so that I have , that foundation to build off of in the years leading up to 2028. And that is a very important thing that I’m prioritizing at this moment instead of training. Because if you think about it, you can, um, If you do something mindlessly without that drive and desire, you can be good at it, but it’s really hard to be great.
And so that’s, that’s why I’m taking this time to remind myself. why I’m here why I’m doing this it’s not like I don’t have a purpose or a reason like I do But it’s it’s strengthening that over these next couple of months
Alison: and hanging out with the cats and dog
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yes, absolutely.
Jill: Of course talk with us a little bit about your role with the US at US marksmanship team and Separating out kind of competition from teaching and and what you do as an instructor.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Okay. Yes. So with my instructor role You There are several places, uh, the instructor role fits in, in the, uh, the army marksmanship unit for myself.
It is one being a, coach and a mentor to the team around me. And that, that’s a hard thing because I’m also an athlete and a competitor and they are my competitors, but I know that if I make them better, it’s only going to make me better. and I’m going to need that push just as much as they might need it.
my biggest thing is I really don’t want to mess him up like I want to teach them as best as I can and try and give them the knowledge that I’ve gained over the years as best as I can. And that’s what I’m doing these next couple months instead of training myself and training those around me to progress their ability.
And then, uh, outside of our unit, uh, there’s teaching, kind of basic marksmanship skills to other soldiers in their, units within the army. so that They’re prepared for whatever they might might see in their job. And then there’s also helping out with schools, R. O. T. C.
Different junior teams because it’s a national sport. I mean, it’s it’s in the community. Schools still have air rifle programs, and there’s small, small teams with 22 programs. And that’s something that the A. M. U. Will do. We’ll send out, Some of our soldiers to go down and and teach them the how to be a competitor some of the basic rifle marksmanship fundamentals in sport To help progress those schools and those athletes as well.
Alison: This just popped into my head Are you allowed to for events and things wear your metal and your uniform?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I’m the metal very much. In fact, people have to tell me to wear it when we’re doing the the media stuff. I’m like, God, I have to wear it. It’s heavy. but, but as for the uniform, it really depends on, on the event.
So if it’s a marketing event, or an event where we are, we’re helping recruiters out and we really want to show that, the strength of the army and, and the opportunities that it provides, then I will wear the uniform. whether that’s fatigues or, or something in those lines.
And then there’s also sometimes where I use or where the Olympic uniform or, an Olympic uniform in a way, like a sense, like the polo or, or the metal outfit or the media outfit, it really just depends on what’s going to grab the attention of the audience, the best and what the mission is for that day, whether it’s really looking at recruiting or whether it’s, progressing those, those juniors, in their path to.
Kind of their type of Olympics,
Alison: Yeah, because I’m thinking, wait, the metal would be not in uniform, because that would be like extra jewelry, but it’s an Olympic medal, for goodness sakes, is that an exception made for that?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Hey, if I’m told to, I’ll wear it, but we’ll just go with that. Okay,
Jill: what is heavier, the metal or your shooting jacket?
It’s
SSG Sagen Maddelena: the jacket.
Jill: I have a question. When you’re working with kids at the high school and the junior ROTC level,
and I’m trying to remember how I thought about this initially, understanding mentally what they’re capable of, cause they’re young and you know, how, as you progress, just having maturity you do is different from what they have and, understanding where their levels are at and what they’re capable of understanding and capable of doing at their at.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Mm hmm. So for me, it’s allowing them to see somebody that they can look up to. Whether that’s myself, my teammates who are out coaching with me or instructing, that’s very important to myself of being something that the juniors can look up to in professionalism, in our performance, in our competitive edge, in our sportsmanship, how we communicate with others.
and that’s what I remember as a kid is looking up to people like that. And so I’m just trying to, to remember what it was like when I was younger and how I saw someone, and it, I learned better from the people I looked up to than I did from someone who was just out. You know, I’m just saying, Hey, do this, you know, uh, say this, but do what I say, don’t do what I do type of mentality or teaching.
Jill: How has age helped you as an Olympian from one Olympian, one Olympics to the next?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Well, I get sore a lot faster. Oh, talk about age. I’m, I’m old for my sport. I’m not going to lie. There are a lot of. Teenagers who aren’t even legal drinking age who are out there kicking butt. good for them, man. Like, I think for the younger generation, they don’t have that expectation of, Oh, you know, I’m supposed to shoot this.
They don’t know the scores they’re supposed to shoot. They just shoot as good as they can, you know, and that works pretty well for them. The more mature that that I’ve become and the more experience I’ve had, the more I have to remind myself the way I shoot one day doesn’t dictate the score the next day.
I still have to do the process. I still have to have that, non judgemental way of shooting that young kid mindset in a mature adult body. if that makes sense. It’s kind of hard to explain. I can’t, I guess the biggest thing is the older you get, the more you can get in your own way. And I’m trying to reduce that as much as possible.
On the mental side, on the physical side. Yeah, a lot more ice baths and massage sessions and, curling up in the fetal position because your back hurts, uh, stages than when you’re younger.
Alison: I’m sorry, I can relate. Yeah. Olympic athletes, they’re just like us, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Jill: because you, you didn’t go to opening ceremonies up in Paris and you weren’t.
Didn’t go to closing ceremonies either.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, I did not.
Jill: Okay, did they do anything special for you? Or could did you dress up in your opening ceremonies uniform at all?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: they didn’t even give me an opening or closing ceremony, you know, so yeah I think it was a little mess up, but that’s alright.
I have way too much stuff in my closet. So I’m not I’m not hatin
Alison: I am I’m upset for you, wait a second
Jill: You know, you, you’re, how many, how many NASCAR looks do you have in your closet? Really?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: too many, but they’re all kind of in these vacuum sealed bags. So I never get them out. But did they do
Alison: anything special for you?
Did you have a, did you all get together and watch it? Were you, or were you just focused on your competition?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: for the opening ceremony, those of us who were at the village that, that night, we got together, our, uh, team leader set up a TV. We had, uh, a couple ladies, from the main village, from the main hub, come up, took the train up.
Uh, they brought us a nice, we had a nice little rug and, and some bean bags. And we sat back in our boarding school classroom and watched the, uh, watched the boat go down the river. And then what was great was about eight o’clock. I could be like, all right, time for bed. See y’all. , and so I, I bounced out pretty quick.
as for closing ceremonies, I had the option to stay and they, they gave me the option, even after I said, no, you know, I’m going to go home early. I still had the option to stay, but I, I made the choice to go home because I knew how Exhausted I was and would be after I was done competing and the best place to recover would be at home.
So I chose, that’s why I chose to, to get back to the states instead of staying for the, uh, the closing ceremonies. And as for the clothes and stuff, like they did make a very big effort to try and get everyone, the correct stuff, the right sizes and all the gear. It’s just hard when you’re out of a venue three hours away from the main hub and you’re not even going through the main village, you know, it’s just hard to do.
And so they did a great job mitigating that as best as possible.
Alison: So you didn’t get to go through the normal processing for Team USA?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I did not. No.
Jill: Did you get to do that in Tokyo? No. No.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: because of COVID, no, we had our, they brought the suit, the suitcases were in the room waiting for us when we got there, which was like Christmas to me.
I was like, Oh my goodness, look at all this stuff.
Alison: What is this? What is
Jill: this?
Alison: Yeah. Yeah. Did you get to eat the chocolate muffin? No, I did not.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: I did not on purpose. No, I wasn’t feeling it the day I, I did go to the main village. I had two days there. It was the day after the Olympic final finished up that very next day. We got in a, in a van at like six in the morning and, drove down to Paris and got connected with NBC.
and we did the whole Media day with NBC and the getting pictures of the metal and interviews then got shipped to the athlete house, USA athlete house. That was pretty cool. Pretty legit did the night there. By the time I got to my room. You know, it was pretty late. I just passed out. And the next day I just sat in bed and just watched Netflix.
I was so, I was so drained after that. I went to the, went to the food hall a couple times. But I was not in a adventurous mode.
Jill: How surreal is it to go through the NBC interview experience?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Oh, it was. It was pretty darn surreal. , being in the green room and, getting your hair done. They’re like, hey, you want to put makeup on?
I’m like, does it look like I wear makeup? No, but do my hair. and anyways, no, it was great. Hanging out with the ladies there and, and the people behind the scene. That was the cool part for me. And then, uh, going through the interview process and, Just being like, okay, how many bloopers do I get?
Because you know I’m going to need them. Like, is this live or is this recorded? but no, it was great. It was a great time. It was exhausting. I’m not going to lie, especially for, for myself. but was a great time.
Jill: Well, Sagen, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us. we were sad to not be able to get to go to shooting because we were there and just it was such a haul for us. And so hopefully for L. A. We’ll be able to get a closer venue.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah, come check it out.
Jill: It’s a cool sport.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Yeah. Yeah It’s like watching paint dry, but in a really different capacity
Jill: What kind of capacity are we talking about?
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Well, you’ve got guns and firearms and and targets, but it’s just really slow and methodical So it’s not like you’re you’re watching these bikes go by in a blur You know,
Jill: so you’re saying bring the knitting.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Yeah. I
Jill: would
SSG Sagen Maddelena: think the noise would be just the click, click, click.
we wouldn’t hear it. You’re good.
Jill: All
SSG Sagen Maddelena: right. Excellent. We got our earplugs stuffed into our brain. Yeah.
Jill: Excellent. Thank you so much.
SSG Sagen Maddelena: No, you’re welcome. Thanks for having me on your show and just to be able to share my story and, um, how I’ve come up through the, through 4 H and through the army and been able to achieve some dreams.
It’s, uh, it’s been a great ride. So, thank you.
Jill Jaracz: Thank you so much, Sagen. You can follow Sagen on Instagram at Sagen Maddalena and you can find out more about the U. S. Army’s Marksmanship Unit at goarmy. com slash army marksmanship. unit. They are at goarmy on social. Thank you so much for to them for reaching out and connecting us with Sagen. we’ve worked with the U. S. World Class Athlete Program before, and it’s a lot, it’s a lot of fun to learn about the programs that the Armed Forces has. Because we hear about it in other countries, but You often forget that, that we have soldiers around and we have several soldiers and former soldiers on Shukla Stan.
Milan-Cortina 2026 News
Alison Brown: Buongiorno
Jill Jaracz: I’m now paying attention to what your face and your gestures are like for Italy. I’m now
Alison Brown: paying attention to what I do with my face and my gestures when I speak Italian.
Jill Jaracz: Now, if you haven’t seen it, we put a little video from, uh, last week’s show up in our Facebook group to show you how, uh, I think it’s adorable.
How you get into the foreign languages we try to learn in order to, be good hosts in other countries.
Alison Brown: I wonder if I made the French face the whole time I was in Paris trying to speak French. Which is why they all looked at me strangely. I
Jill Jaracz: don’t know. Anyway, news from Milan Cortina, 2026, the daily competition schedule for the Olympics is out.
This is version six. So be on the lookout. It is subject to change. We will have a link to that in the show notes. It’s kind of cool because they break out the sports by zones. There are four zones like the Milano zone and the different mountain zones and Cortina zone. If you’d like to plan your trip or viewing around medals, opening weekend is going to have 13 medal events.
The midweek of opening week will have 38. Middle weekend is going to have 32. The midweek of the last week will have 34 and the final weekend will have 14 medal events. So it’s pretty evenly spaced. That’s a lot of medal events. It is. It really is.
Alison Brown: I mean, I realize, you know, with, with skiing, you’ll have men and women, you have different, and with, speed skating, you have all the different distances, but still, that feels like a lot for winter Olympics.
Jill Jaracz: I know they’re big, they’re getting big. it’s getting more real every minute.
TKFLASTAN News
Alison Brown: Welcome to Shook Falistan.
Jill Jaracz: Now is the time of the show where we talk with our team, Keep the Flame Alive. These are past guests and listeners of the show who have, , become citizens of our very own country, Shook Falistan.
Alison Brown: Daniel Romanchuk won the men’s wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon.
Jill Jaracz: Jon Schuster and his team won bronze at the Pan Continental Curling Championships.
Alison Brown: Steve Emt is competing with Team USA at the Wheelchair Curling World B Championships in Loha, Finland this week.
The team currently are atop the round robin standings at seven and one.
Jill Jaracz: Whoa, go Steve. And Kat Holmes has been elected as the fencing representative on the Team USA Athletes Commission. Congratulations, Jon. That’s going to do it for this episode. Let us know what you think of the U. S. Army Marksmanship Program
and our interview with Staff
Alison Brown: we love hearing from you. You can chat with us and other listeners on our Facebook group.
Keep The Flame Alive Podcast. Email us at Flame Alive pod@gmail.com, and the voicemail and text line is always open at 2 0 8 3 5 2 6 3 4 8. That’s 2 0 8.