It’s back-to-school time, so we wanted to hear what it’s like for an elite athlete to go back to college. Olympic luger Ashley Farquharson explains how she’s taking advantage of the Guild/Team USA partnership and getting her bachelor’s degree at Purdue Global.
Follow Ashley on Instagram and TikTok. She’s @far.quhar.son. On Facebook go to: facebook.com/farquadstarsquad.
Plus, Will Whiston, EVP at On Location, talks about the company’s hospitality packages for Milano-Cortina 2026. Learn about all the offerings and book your experiences at their website. Here’s a peak at what to expect from their spaces:
The clubhouse is back! Clubhouse 26 will be On Locations hospitality HQ during Milano-Cortina 2026.
The in-venue hospitality premium lounge is a place to relax during breaks in the action.
On Location’s private suites provide a gold medal experience.
If you go, let us know all about it (especially if you’re on the halfpipe)!
In other news, LA 2028 has some venue updates, Team Keep the Flame Alive is everywhere, we have an eyewitness report on that Paris 2024 France v. Argentina football match that ended in a fight, and we speculate about luge hooligans.
Like this episode? Have thoughts on the show? Comment/write us a review, and you may be our review of the week!
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
(Photo of Ashley Farquharson courtesy of Team USA; artwork of On Location hospitality courtesy of On Location)
TRANSCRIPT
Note: This is an uncorrected machine-generated transcript and may contain errors. Please check its accuracy against the audio. Do not quote from the transcript; use the audio as the record of note.
407-Back to School with Olympic Luger Ashley Farquharson
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. I am your host, Jill Jaracz, joined as always by my lovely co-host, Alison Brown.
Alison, hello, how are you?
Eyewitness report from the France v. Argentina football match at Paris 2024
Alison Brown: I am intrigued by the note you left. On our show sheet,
Jill Jaracz: so you know how you’re getting a ton of information from a lot of different places all at once, and you could barely sort out in your brain what you’re supposed to do in a given day, which was like every day at Paris, 2024.
Alison Brown: I was gonna say, that’s like every day of my life. But yes, especially at Paris 2024, we, we did not see.
Anything outside our little bubble, it’s like the world could have collapsed and we would have no clue because there was just so much going on all the time.
Jill Jaracz: And that would’ve, if the world had collapsed, I would’ve thought, okay, can I get to track cycling? That’s what I would’ve said.
Alison Brown: Does that mean that the bus will still run out to rowing?
Jill Jaracz: But okay. my sister-in-law went. Charlotte and she had told me some of the things she was going to, she had a whole bunch of tickets for stuff, and I knew she was seeing beach volleyball. That was cemented in my brain. and I knew she had. Soccer tickets, football tickets.
I just didn’t know what they were. And it was far out, you know, I, I just equated football in my brain to it is far away. ’cause all the venues were scattered except for the one that was kind of in Paris.
Alison Brown: Right. But even that was far from anything where we were going to be. Yes. Pretty
Jill Jaracz: much. It was kind of off by
Alison Brown: itself.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah. So we were all together on Saturday and we were talking about Paris and she said, oh yeah, this is kind of like when I was at my soccer match, it was France, Argentina, and I went, wait a second. You were at the France Argentina match where the fight broke out afterwards.
A year later. This is, I am comprehending
Alison Brown: what she saw. Yeah. And it was so funny because when Charlotte was in Paris, I remember you saying to me, oh, Charlotte’s doing this, but we never, you saw her, but I never saw her. Yeah, I, yeah, it was like this is all happening, you know, over here. And it’s the same thing, like I never managed to meet up with any of the listeners, even though we were at events together.
It was like we just couldn’t keep track of everything. So it doesn’t surprise me that this has taken a year to come to the fore.
Jill Jaracz: Not only was she at the match, she was in the enclave of Argentinian fans. Who were there and was somewhat near to the fight. As in on the video I saw on her phone, you could see faces of the players.
She was that close.
Alison Brown: Wow.
Jill Jaracz: And she said when this, the fight started breaking out and all these security people came and made a little. Wallace around the enclave of fans and she realized, oh, so while, while she’s videoing what’s going on too. So she’s got some of the fight on video and she realizes maybe I should leave.
Because this might not end well. And she goes to leave and the guards are blocking the stairways because they don’t want people to leave. And the fight spill out into the streets and into the trains and into everything. And she’s like, uh oh. And then Tried to talk with the security guard a little bit, and he realized pretty quickly she’s there by herself and is not part of the action.
And he is like, quick duck behind me. And yeah, because he, oh, what a nice man was supposed to let her, yes. He was not supposed to let her out. So she ducked behind him, skedaddled to the train station. And you know, they’re trying to pay and, and everybody in the train station’s like, just go through the gate.
Just go through the gate, get on the train, get outta here, get outta here. It was amazing.
Alison Brown: You know, so often that status of I am a poor little American woman of a certain age, and, and Charlotte is one of us in that situation, and yeah, they realize like, oh, you’re not supposed to be here. This is, yes, this is not for you.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. So yeah, I was just like, wait, what a second. We got no report and we talked about it on the show. That was one of the few things we did talk about in terms of soccer. But boy was that a story to find out?
Alison Brown: Well, I’m glad that the story we heard from Charlotte is a year later ’cause it was fine. Yes. And nothing happened.
And that in the end, that ended up not being as bad as it could have been. I mean, that could have been one of those infamous football riots.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. Yes. Very much so. Didn’t happen.
Alison Brown: And
Jill Jaracz: yes, and boy, boy, we’ll see what happens with the World Cup next year, because it’s, if they match up again, that could st.
I would not be surprised if, people held grudges. Yeah, so
Alison Brown: we’ll
Jill Jaracz: see.
Alison Brown: Let’s talk about much more well-behaved people.
Can you imagine luge fans like breaking out in a riot
Jill Jaracz: slide? No. They, you know what? You know what an unruly luge fan would do? They would jump over the barrier and slide down the track. That’s what they would start doing. Throw
Alison Brown: sleds at each other. I mean, this could get wild. Somebody was telling me about a luge cocktail that like, you light on fire.
Ooh, whoa. So yeah, so get those fly in
Jill Jaracz: and, I would think that the very serious issue with luge hooligans would be the gloves.
Alison Brown: Yeah. You got spiked gloves and you have spikes on the bobsled feet. Right sliding hooligans could really do some damage. Well,
Jill Jaracz: let’s just hope that doesn’t become an actual thing.
Can you imagine all those poor sliding sports? Like we don’t have enough problems. Now we got hooligans. Thanks Jill and Alison,
Alison Brown: we, we do what we can for the smaller sports. Let’s get more attention.
How Olympic Luger Ashley Farquharson balances elite sports with college
Jill Jaracz: Alright, we are today, it’s back to school time. Speaking of hooligans. Yes, exactly. It’s back to school time.
So we are talking, How elite athletes get some advanced schooling. today we’re speaking with Ashley Farson, who is a loser, and she’s a three time World Cup relay medalist at Beijing 2022. She finished 12th and. Singles and seventh in the team Relay. She is gearing up to qualify for Milan Cortina 2026, but she has also gone back to school.
She is a student at Purdue Global, which is part of the five-year partnership between Guild and Team USA’s Learning Network to provide free college education to team USA athletes. Ashley is partway through earning her bachelor’s degree in business and she told us all about it. Take a listen.
Ashley, thank you so much for joining us. It’s back to school. So what does back to school look like for you as an elite athlete?
Ashley Farquharson: As an athlete, back to school looks a little bit daunting and I’m gonna have to do a lot of juggling in the near future.
but it’s not a designated time period. It’s not like the August or Labor Day, it’s more like. In the summer, I’m gonna be adding more classes and taking on more of a workload. And then in the winter when we get back into the, routine travel and racing schedule, I’ll probably lay it down to one or maybe zero classes.
Alison Brown: I know going into Paris, a lot of our student athletes took that whole semester off that whole spring semester off.
Ashley Farquharson: I know, I just, I can’t decide because I know I’m not gonna be wanting to do school. But the thought of taking a term off and then like setting myself back on my graduation date is annoying.
And I also, but there’s a lot of other factors, like some, the last Olympics, the wifi was really terrible and I couldn’t. Hardly get on Google. just things like that would make it really hard. So there’s a lot of variables to consider, but luckily I still have a couple months.
Jill Jaracz: What did high school look for you look like for you as you got more involved with Luge, especially as you started traveling internationally, because you went to Youth Olympic games when you were like 16, right?
Ashley Farquharson: Yeah, I did in Norway. That was actually super fun. But once I started traveling more my school had a pretty strict attendance policy and they couldn’t keep me enrolled.
So what I would do was I would go to school for quarter one and then fully drop out for quarters two and three, and then re-enroll for quarter four. Which was, it was a lot of work, but it was the best option for me because I wanted to be in school as much as I could because online classes were so hard for me.
I had like no discipline. I would be like, why would I ever wanna do homework right now? I’m literally in Germany. Like, so I knew that that was what was gonna work the best. And then I could also have like a more normal high school experience when I was there. The only classes I took in, especially my last two years of high school, were semester long classes.
So I could take them quarters, one and four as opposed to one and two or three and four, and then core classes. And with my core classes, I would take quarters two and three online. So it was like I hadn’t missed anything. I would just jump right back in.
Jill Jaracz: Did you ever use summer school to catch up or get ahead?
I didn’t.
Ashley Farquharson: I would take some, classes in the summer, but it was more of a catch up thing. It was me. Like failing my last class and being like, oh, darn, guess I have to do it again. But in our world.
Because the only start facility in the US is in Lake Placid, and I grew up in Park City in the summer. We would have summer camps that were weeks long where we would come and pull starts every day. So I would kind of miss the same amount of school either way. And growing up in Park City, they actually had a winter school where they would go to school through like April through November and then have the winter off.
And that was also technically an option for me, but I would just also be gone a ton. So it didn’t really make sense. But yeah, I took some summer classes, but it was just because I was behind.
Alison Brown: Now were you in high school in Utah or New York? In Utah? I graduated from Park City High.
Jill Jaracz: When did you know you wanted to pursue an elite athlete career?
Ashley Farquharson: It actually, I’ve always been an athlete, but I was kind of caught up between luge and for a long time. And, I played softball all through high school and it was always so fun for me and I was considering I wasn’t good enough to go like D one or anything, but I was considering going to like a junior college or maybe a D three to play softball.
but then I made the Olympic like selection team for the 2018 Olympics, and I was like, it’s kind of way cooler. I’m gonna go with that.
And how old were you at that point? I was 17. but I still, softball was so fun. I was, and like I think about what my life would’ve been like if I had chosen to go to college, but my mom and my grandpa were both very much like, you could do whatever you want in college. We’ll always be there. And lucky enough for me, they were right.
But yeah, that’s kind of how I ended up on the luge team.
Jill Jaracz: Well, it’s, it’s interesting to have the, the dual sport element and the like, I could go to college and play sport, or I could do something else and perhaps go to the Olympics. When did you have to, pull the trigger and make the final decision were you actively looking into colleges at the time or not?
Not as much.
Ashley Farquharson: Uh, when I was a junior in high school, my softball coach was kind of like, you can totally make some videos and apply, and you would get in and. that’s something to think about. and I did think about it and I looked at a couple of Utah schools and I thought about it. And then, I don’t know, I spent so much time when I was a kid watching the Olympics and Park City is so like steeped in like Olympic spirit and winter sports and like just having the opportunity to start luge to begin with felt like something that I couldn’t really let go of.
So I. Mostly ended up choosing luge because I thought that I would like it more in the long run and I would have more fun and like, I don’t know, the college softball path felt like something that I would enjoy still, but also something that I felt like I was giving something up to pick that.
And when I thought about picking luge, I didn’t have that same feeling.
Alison Brown: I think it’s interesting that you said before that you are not disciplined about school, but obviously as an elite athlete you have to be very disciplined with all the things you do. So how does that. Translate, not translate between school and sport?
Ashley Farquharson: Well, when I was younger, I think I would do something and I would be good at it, and everyone would go, oh, you’re so good at that.
And I never really felt like I had to try to do anything. I would just do it and it would be, it would be enough to get me by. and then when I started not having such a structured school experience and I had to actually figure out how to manage my own time and carve out bits and pieces here and there throughout my day to do school, it was something I really struggled with and I did not wanna do it.
So it was just like a really big learning process, especially those last two years of high school. I think I’m much better now because my whole life revolves around more of a structure and when I like fall outta my routines and my habits, whether it’s school or training or recovery, it’s something that I feel immediately and I’m like, oh yeah, I gotta get back.
I gotta start going back to bed earlier. Or I have to like get my nutrition back. So I have, it’s just like every time I fall out of habit now. There’s a strict reminder about why I do that. but when I was in high school, I would be like, no, I’m not gonna do my math. And the worst thing that would happen was that I would just have to try again later.
So I guess my consequences weren’t really, enough for me to wanna learn from my actions back then.
Jill Jaracz: And that has to be hard because if you’re traveling around Europe. And it’s your first time going over there and you just wanna see everything and experience everything. And like, I’m not gonna be like, no, I don’t wanna
Ashley Farquharson: go walk around.
I have homework to do, like.
Alison Brown: What is it? Very normal for the age as well. Yeah. But you know, you’re not 16 anymore. And so, you know, maturity helps in these situations.
Jill Jaracz: Well, and you’ve been to all these tracks many times now, so mm-hmm. Has the novelty, has the novelty worn off about like, oh, hey, I am going to lavia again?
Ashley Farquharson: sometimes yes, but I would say mostly no. ’cause it’s, at this point it feels like almost homey. Because I’ve spent so much time in these places and I feel like, oh, like, oh, I can’t wait to go to that bakery or that coffee shop again. Like, oh, I missed it here. Which is pretty, it’s pretty cool.
Jill Jaracz: When did you start thinking about life after luge? Because that, you know, with, with the online college coming into play here.
Ashley Farquharson: So I’ve, like, right after I graduated high school, I started, um, I think it was that next summer. So like summer of 2018, I started taking classes online through Salt Lake Community College.
And just because it was like easy and very flexible and I. Fit my budget. So I was like, I’m just gonna start taking, like slowly knocking him down. and that was, that was really hard for me ’cause I was like, I don’t care. It wasn’t something that was a priority for me at the time and I was mostly doing it to just try and get it done and I had no sort of direction.
I was just like, okay, great. I guess I’ll go write another about me like, but. Now having the offer of free and being older and knowing more about what I wanna do after sport, it feels a lot easier. And like, it’s still hard at times, but it just, I have more focus and direction on what I’m actually doing.
So it’s just a more productive system. And my credits did transfer, so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world what I was doing. It was just.
Jill Jaracz: But that’s hard because in a way it sounds like you’re doing it because, well, this is what I’m supposed to do, even if you don’t know what you wanna do with it. And, and it’s kind of like, well, let me check this box.
And once you checked all the boxes, you’re like, oh, hey, I got this degree,
Ashley Farquharson: Yeah. So I think because I didn’t really have a clear. Idea of what I wanted or how to get there. I was just kind of in the moment, and at the time I was still going for my first Olympics and that was my main goal. and the older I get especially, and the more I can feel like how the sport wears on your body and the more time I need to spend recovering, I’m like, okay, I should probably start planning.
so that was also a catalyst, just like, I guess just being older and wiser and having more of an idea of what I want my future to look like.
Alison Brown: Is that something that veteran athletes talk to younger athletes about, about what happens next? Is that a subject that comes up among the athletes?
Ashley Farquharson: It’s talked about a lot, but I would say more so in like.
A team, USA setting like team USA has a lot of resources for athletes who are retiring and every time we have a convention or a so and so for all the athletes, there’ll be lots of like webinars or symposiums or something to do with like how to move on or how to get internships or how to, enhance your degree or use your status as an Olympian or a professional athlete to help you in like a business setting.
but among my teammates, it doesn’t really get talked about that much.
Jill Jaracz: That’s interesting because it’s kind of like, you’ve been around long enough that you’ve seen people retire. what happens in that moment when people retire and you’re like, oh, I saw you every day and now maybe I don’t see you as much.
Ashley Farquharson: it’s like a little bit bittersweet because most people retire to be with their family or because they’re not having fun anymore and they need a change.
but it is hard not seeing them. Like, my friend Brittany Arnt, uh, we actually started luge on the exact same day, in the same afterschool program. And she retired, two years ago. And I was like, what am I gonna do? we’ve been roommates for 11 years, but I still see her and we still talk and it’s so nice to see the athletes have retired, like start families and start businesses and really find their footing in like, regular life, so to speak.
Jill Jaracz: Right, because, not that many jobs in luge, I would imagine if you’re not Luging.
Ashley Farquharson: Yeah. There’s actually this funny poster in the women’s start house at the Park City Track, which has not been updated or renovated since the Olympics. There’s a poster that says, nice resume, but can you lose?
And then it’s like an ad for a job agency.
Jill Jaracz: What was the catalyst for choosing to go to school now?
Ashley Farquharson: it the, the cost. I think that, especially in today’s. World, the ability, or I guess opportunity to go to school for free is virtually unheard of. And I really couldn’t let that pass me by.
And when I had, um, I guess it was about this time last year and maybe in April or so, they sent out an email that’s like an email blast to every single athlete. And it’s usually just like boring, random updates. I usually just delete them. And then one of my teammates sent a message in our team group chat and was like so excited.
Like, I can’t believe this is real. I feel like I’m dreaming. Everybody has to go check their emails right now. And I was like, what could possibly be so exciting in the team USA monthly update? but then it was like, oh, we’re announcing this partnership. And I was like, oh yeah, that is cool. So I clicked the link and it’s like, make an account to view your available degrees and see like what you qualify for.
So I do, and I just sorted it by fully funded bachelor’s degrees and there was 30 options and I’m just scrolling through ’em. And then I see on all of the Purdue, majors, it says that the application is due today. I was like, oh, snap. Like, I guess I’m going to go then I’m just gonna do it. Free college.
Let’s go. so I’m like calling my mom. I’m like, should I be an engineer? She’s like, girl, no. Like,
like, pick something normal that you would like. so I, I picked a business admin. I applied. And then like two days later, I got an email from Guild and Purdue University saying that I was the first athlete to apply, which cracked me up. ’cause I was like, well, I thought I had to. And then now that I’m in the program, I know that they start a term literally every four weeks.
So it probably says due today, every single day, But now I’m in it and Im, uh, a year in, it’s going great.
Jill Jaracz: What do you think of being a boilermaker? It’s cool. I, I’m sitting in Indiana right now, so
Ashley Farquharson: hey. Oh my gosh.
Really? That’s funny. I think it’s fun. It was never something that had crossed my mind that I would ever be, you know, ’cause growing up in Utah. I mean, I guess probably growing up everywhere they want you to go to a state school so bad and there’s so much like college pride.
And so I always, especially before I started luge and whatnot, kind of pictured myself just going to the University of Utah, like all my friends were gonna do and like, going that route. So this, it’s like a total wild card, but so far it’s been great.
Alison Brown: What has doing this program done in terms of, the athlete’s life can be very, very small.
You know, you have a small group of people, you have a small, you know, you go to the same places. What has being in college at the same time, kind of done for your perspective?
Ashley Farquharson: I guess beyond just. Taking a lot of free time away. I would say it’s, like I spend a lot of time trying to decentralize athlete from my identity so that I don’t tie my results into my self worth. So it really helps with that, and it helps like shift my focus and give me something else to think about, especially in season when it feels like that’s your entire world and every single day you’re thinking about your next race and how to best set yourself up and how to train best and blah, blah, blah.
And then you’re like, oh, I actually have to write an essay. It’s not about anything to do with this. So in some ways it can be really helpful to just have something else to do and to think about. but of course the other side of that is like, I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m too busy. I cannot write an essay right now.
But I would say it’s a give and a take, but I mostly think that it’s helpful.
Jill Jaracz: What is your class schedule like?
Ashley Farquharson: you usually take two classes and they’re 10 week terms. And then once a week for an hour you have the option of attending a live seminar where you just meet with your professor with like, I dunno, 30 or so other students, and go over the weeks’ lesson and assignments and you can ask questions and whatnot.
But if you can’t go to one of those, they have prerecorded seminars that you can also watch. So it’s kind of whatever you want it to be.
Jill Jaracz: so what was it like adjusting to an online only program?
Ashley Farquharson: It was hard, but it always has been for me. I have a lot of experience with it, and so I think I just had to change my mindset going in.
And when I decided to apply the very first day they released it, I was just kinda like, I can’t give up on it this time and I have got to see this through. And I knew that I had some credits to transfer and that it would make it easier. but the Purdue Global program has. It’s like so chill. They have like really relaxed lay policies.
All the professors have been really cool and understanding in like one hour a week that I don’t even have to be there. Like the time requirement’s pretty limited. So that has made it really easy.
Alison Brown: So you grew up in Park City where everybody kind of knows what Luge is and now. You’re attending a school, where do your professors know what luge is?
Do your, your fellow students understand what you’re doing?
Ashley Farquharson: Yeah, I get like caught up on if I even wanna talk about it or not because sometimes, and like the first week of every class you have to, you’re, they always want you to write like a little intro and. Oh, this is me. This is where I live. This is my major. and I feel like I don’t wanna talk about it because it feels gloat.
Like, I’m like, oh yes, I’m an Olympian and I’m going to college for free. And like, but at the same time, it’s such a big part of my life and a lot of our discussion posts focus on, Personal stories or like relate this back to your life or talk about a time in your life when this happened and it’s like, well now we are in it no matter what.
sometimes, I mean, the truth comes out eventually all the time, and most people think it’s cool, but I would say it’s like 60 40 on people being like, oh, you do lose blah, blah, blah. And they have like a thousand questions, which I love. And then some people are like, okay.
Jill Jaracz: We, we feel that.
Alison Brown: We feel that. ’cause we hear, what do you talk about on the show when the games aren’t happening? That’s funny.
Jill Jaracz: Well, Ashley Sson, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us about school and about luge. we will be following along and hearing you from afar.
Ashley Farquharson: thank you.
Jill Jaracz: Thank you so much, Ashley. We will have Ashley back on to talk all things luge later this fall. In the meantime, you can follow her on Instagram And TikTok. . She is at far do Q dot Sun and Q is Q-U-H-A-R on Facebook. She is facebook.com/far. Quad stars quad.
we will have links to all of those in the show notes, I’m sure. Those are fun. Those are fun Follows.
Alison Brown: The sliding hooligans are all over the place on her photos. Hmm.
Will Whiston previews On Location’s Milano-Cortina 2026 experiences
Alison Brown: Italia.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, si. Uh, the news from Milano Cortina this week is really an interview. With Will Wiston from on location. If you remember, we talked with Will ahead of Paris 2024. If you did any of the on location packages, you will know what we’re talking about. They are the, uh, official hospitality provider for the Olympics.
Will is the executive vice president of On Location and he checked in with us to let us know what on location has planned for Milano Carina 2026, take a listen.
Will Wiston from on location. Welcome back to the show.
Will Whiston: Hi ladies. thank you for having me back. This is, I mean. I think I told you before, but the last time we did this before Paris was a blast. So I was waiting for the invite.
Jill Jaracz: Speaking of Paris, how did it go from your perspective? what did, your guest say?
what kind of things did you learn for future games?
Will Whiston: So, I mean, Paris was an incredible. An incredible moment for our organization, but importantly for our guests, which is what drives our whole team, and why we do it. but Paris, in terms of the reviews, in terms of the quality of execution and service, how we made it a seamless execution for what was, as we all know in incredible Olympics, we were really proud and thrilled to bring, to really bring it to life and make it that much better an experience in terms of those reviews.
if we consolidate all the feedback, one is we helped make sense of the Olympic ecosystem in Paris. We helped make sense of how you go, made it not daunting for the guest, to treat, even try to figure out how to go, how to build a, an experience that allowed someone to make sense of, as you ladies know, like there’s so many sporting events going on at the, at the exact same time.
How do you know? How do you not have FOMO saying, how am I missing out on this or missing out on that? How do you pick the right things to go to? people, our, our guests said that that was just a, an amazing addition to the Olympic experience being able to make it seamless and not stressful, and the service levels in terms of the culinary experience and bringing out the best of Paris.
Within the sports venue and outside of it, was the other main highlight that guests, raved about. And a lot of ’em said, we, we want to go to the future games with you. So we’re excited to do that for them.
Jill Jaracz: I will say that I did notice when I was waiting for different athletic sessions to start, I saw some of the track tours where people got to go down on the track and everyone looked so excited.
Did you see that Allison? I did.
Will Whiston: Those are my favorite moments. I mean, Olympics or otherwise, because I’ve been in this company for, um, longer than I’d like to admit, and maybe my age wouldn’t indicate it, but being at Super Bowls and other events, the best moments are those surprise and delight, those special moments that are priceless.
Literally, you can’t put a price on it and there isn’t a price. but seeing guests holding the baton, standing on the track on that purple track was just like, tho that’s why we do it.
Alison Brown: And speaking of future games, what do you have for Milano? Corina?
Will Whiston: Well, Milano, Corina, we’re just as excited for, if not more, because now we’ve done a summer games. This is like doing a, a new event for us. The Winter Olympics are a different, a different animal, a different level of excitement and a different, And affords different opportunities. it’s kind of like a new palette to work off of, especially in Milan. I mean, Paris, we had an incredible cultural underpinning that we could pull out. As we all know, Italy has the exact same, cultural UN underpinning, especially in the north. so the variety of locations up in the Dolomites in Cortina and, and Lavino.
And then what Milana Fords. Has allowed us to get really creative in that, in those experiences. also the, uh, and that’s from a cultural point of view, but also what some people don’t realize is for our winter games, there’s a lot more temporary venues, whether it’s skiing or snowboarding or otherwise, and outdoor venues where it’s build out, which affords us the opportunity to do things like what we did in Paris for beach volleyball.
Building a champagne bar on top of the venue and an overhang between the Eiffel Tower and the competition, which all of our guests said was something they’d never even dreamed of before. These temporary builds for these venues allows us to get creative like that and build those new experiences.
So that’s what I’m really excited for as well.
Alison Brown: One of the big challenges for Milan is those many, many venues that are very far apart. So how are you handling that in terms of putting different sites together in the packages?
Will Whiston: Yeah, I mean, what I’ve told my team and uh, and our mantra for a while is the best experience.
Is the simplest logistical experience for our guests. our guests range from, couples who want to go ’cause they’re Olympic, uh, fans to families. I mean, frankly, and this, we’ve sold in se over 70 countries at this point. So we have guests from everywhere.
But when you look at the US fan base, this is also a school holiday. So there’s a lot of families coming with us and making the most of it. And there’s of course the corporate element of it. But a lot of this is a vacation, combining a vacation with an Olympic experience. So how we’ve created a better, a more holistic experience is by creating waves.
So, you know, two days in Milano for competition, maybe see a preliminary stages of figure skating and short track, and then two days in Lavino, and then two days in Cortina, and then back to Milan. Um, so someone can see all of Northern Italy and see these variety of sports. That’s how we’ve, um, made the most sense of it in terms of a guest experience underpinning that we have hundreds of team members, hundreds of vehicles that are, um, gonna be well coordinated through our operations center, making sure that our guests have seamless, stops in each part of, of northern Italy.
I will say between Cortina and Lavino, what’s amazing is. This is where I think our guests are gonna see, just be in awe is one, the surroundings and the dolomites. I mean this Europe and some of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. It is not like there’s Marriotts and park Hyatts.
On the main street, these are all chalets and we’ve, we’ve sourced thousands of nights worth of rooms, um, at chalets and smaller bed and breakfast. So it’s gonna be a very authentic experience and I’m, I’m personally excited to see our guests, be amazed by this almost quaint and authentic experience.
And then walking through the village over to, you know, the finish line of downhill skiing.
Jill Jaracz: You talked about some temporary venues and having different, unique kind of build outs. What are, can you share some of those with us? what kind of environments are you planning?
Will Whiston: Yeah, so I mean obviously we have the weather element, a more so in the winter game. So everything needs cover, but it is allowed us.
I’ll give you two examples. So for downhill skiing, men’s and women’s we’re able to create hospitality experiences that are indoor, of course, warm comfort food, hot chocolate if you like, near the finish line, but also with the access and a guided walk up the slope so you can see multiple parts of the race.
We also have snow cats that can bring guests up. The slope to the sides. So again, I mean, if you’re there for a session of down, you can see some athletes at the finish line, which is where a lot of spectators are as you know. but then you can also change your vantage point and see it at, you know, the last turn or the middle of the, of the downhill, which you get to see the speed and just raw intensity of that.
The other one I’ll mention, which is I might be most excited for is, um, in halfpipe for snowboarding, where we’ve been able to be, again, afforded by the fact that this, the, these venues are, things develop for these purposes and we can make them somewhat bespoke. or some of our top guests will be able to go to the actually b.
Along the starting, gate. So people will be able to see the athletes getting prepared with their coaches, warming up. Also that moment where they’re standing there on their board, you know, just waiting, trying to be calm, and then see them go down the halfpipe from the top, not the bottom, from the top.
with the backdrop of the village, that’s gonna be, that’s one that I might have to, uh, go join a couple times.
Jill Jaracz: Because that hat pipe is huge. It is so impressive how big it is. You don’t realize how big it is on tv.
Will Whiston: You don’t appreciate that. And then we realize how big it is in person. You realize the speed they’re gathering to get that sort of hype.
It’s insane.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, okay. Will, I had this idea, I’ll lay it on you for 2030. Can they build a halfpipe that has a viewing room on the inside? So you see pe wouldn’t that be cool Allison? You see that is from inside the halfpipe.
Will Whiston: Inside the halfpipe,
Alison Brown: but it has to be covered in snow.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, well I mean like you, there’s gotta be technology to have clear ice.
Will Whiston: Yeah. I mean now that you mention, first off, we might have to do a brainstorming session with our whole team because I love this idea. Second off, I, we’ve gotta bring into these design meetings ’cause it’s great. I mean, for LA 28. That’s something we are exploring as well. I think people know now. I mean, we’ve known and been preparing for, for a while that swimming will be in, in SoFi Stadium.
Oh,
Jill Jaracz: that’s right. Yeah. Hall, can you watch sink or, well, I mean, watch artistic swimming from underneath.
Will Whiston: Well, and so when with the pool, I mean obviously the, the pool’s gonna be, the deck is gonna be at the first, and flush with the lowest row, the first row. Excuse me. so there are ground level suites beneath that.
So that, that would have field view. So I’d be lying to you if I said, we have not been asking, Hey, can we get some sort of clear view to look now who knows, I’m I’m, but those are the kind of things that get afforded by these incredible venues.
Alison Brown: Well, we do have a friend at Martha Pools who will likely be providing the pools for that event.
So we’ll see what we can do to hook you up. Well,
Will Whiston: the big thing is we do not want, and, and this is a principle that we really abide by, ’cause we, we throw out some crazy ideas, to our friends and, and in each of the organizing committees and with the I state. But we do really respect what, is the first principle, which is we cannot interrupt or distract the field of play.
so that’s why you mentioned before in Paris we had guests, down on the track between sessions basketball. We’ve endeavored to do something similar in and around sessions, but we really have to focus in spots where we know it doesn’t interrupt warmup competition or immediately post, um, session.
Jill Jaracz: We hear you. Okay. We have not talked about food. Yes. This is an important part of Italy. I would think,
Will Whiston: oh, it’s a, so how is,
Jill Jaracz: how is Italian cuisine getting in incorporated into these packages?
Will Whiston: Italian cuisine is the, I wouldn’t say the, the sport event itself always is the base. That’s why people are coming.
Right. The Italian culture and the service, meaning just the friendliness of Italy is a, a close second if not a tie. and, and that’s where, by the way, there’s different cuisine in different parts of Italy and these games are spread out enough to where Meese food is slightly different from what Cortina does near the Austrian border, where Lano near the Swiss border.
so we have, we are working with local caterers. Through and, and restaurants through each of those regions to bring authentic cuisine from each of those locations for those sporting events. the pasta and each and every one of those is incredible. I may have taste tested myself. I
Jill Jaracz: I was gonna ask, how hard was that trip?
Will Whiston: that was, uh, it didn’t feel like work, let’s put it that way, but it’s, uh, we really put that at to base and we have a team of hundreds in Milan. From Native Data League, also with Olympic experience. and that’s something that the whole organization as well as the organizing committee, the games take a lot of pride in.
So the food and beverage and then culinary experience is gonna be off the charts. And champagne was big in Paris and that was Prosecco.
Jill Jaracz: Can’t go wrong.
Alison Brown: I know if there’s Prosecco involved, I’m there. I did see at the beach volleyball those, the people on the, patio with the champagne, and I remember thinking, wait, how did they get there? So I, and of course it was, it was on location. It. It was a beautiful spot. So that is something to look forward to from Milan as well.
Some really special, well, yeah. Well, we’re on audio only
Will Whiston: here, I think. But if, if we gotta get you guys a picture, um, you’ve seen it, but give people a sense of what we’re talking about. It was right under the Eiffel Tower. and that was some of the highest reviewed experiences that we developed. But this all goes back to what our goal is and what our mission is and why we’re, why we’re doing what we’re doing in the Olympics is.
To simplify the experience, enhance the experience, make you feel part of the competition, and at the center of the world, which is what the Olympics are, the center of the world at that, for those two weeks. and to make sure that people are carefree and enjoying as authentically as possible and as close to, to the action as possible.
Our company’s logo is closer than ever. we’re bringing people as close to it in a way that they can. Have unforgettable moments. And that’s what our hundreds of thousands of guests in Paris, , all came back saying,
Jill Jaracz: are you doing the club thing again?
Will Whiston: Yes. Clubhouse. Clubhouse. So now it’s, we’re carrying forward.
And so for those listeners, maybe not as familiar, we. We created a new concept, which is, was Clubhouse 24 in Paris, right in the center of the competitions. a large fan hospitality with a viewing with a huge screen with Parisian lawn chairs, food and beverage experience, and also the Olympic Museum. transported there, literally transplanted in the middle of Paris so people could, see the history and feel the history of the Olympics.
that was a rave review. It was, opened by President Bach. he, he inaugurated that space. I believe the new president will also be doing the same in Milan with Clubhouse 26. Which we are deploying to three of the main clusters between Milan, Cortina and Lavino. Um, we’re carrying for the exact same spirit of location, which is extending the Olympic experience outside of the venue.
So when someone sessions over, um, at na, a sport, whether it’s ice hockey or otherwise, day’s not done, they’re Olympic, their incredible Olympic dream of a day is not done. and we’re also at the Olympic Museum in partnership with them. We’re bringing the same, Type of artifacts to the spaces to make this, um, unforgettable as well.
Alison Brown: Did the IOC ask you for anything in particular for, next year?
with any of the packages, did they say, we really wanna see you do X?
Will Whiston: Well, the IOC has been incredible partners, and that’s why, I mean, for everyone’s benefit, we do this in partnership.
We create these experiences in these programs and partnership with the International Olympic Committee. They’ve been incredible partners in that they really believe in and have seen. The power of making the Olympics, um, more accessible and more seamless to access, I should say. also the fact that, we’re able to help make it a much more official and secure experience, because we’re displacing and creating a better experience.
And maybe third parties like ticket brokers who are selling tickets and some additional elements. And I’ll take this moment to just remind everyone that, to be aware of those secondary market actors and that we are the only secure place, um, to get any sort of hospitality or travel packages. but back to your question, the IOC, they’ve really leaned in on one, pushing for these, special venue accesses We’ve spoken about.
Being able to bring that out more, whether it’s field of play access in and around an event, or venue adaptations to make it the best experience possible. They’re hyper-focused on bringing out local culture. ’cause while the Olympics is the Olympics, they’re believers in, why it rotates, They’ve also, I mean, clubhouse 26 is just an idea that we blossom together and now they really wanna take it to the next level. So we’ve seen them be fantastic partners on all fronts and give us the access, importantly, that makes it a totally differentiated experience from just a ticket.
Alison Brown: Well, if you ever get inspired to make a little experience for two,
Jill Jaracz: two
Alison Brown: American Podcast ladies.
Who would love a driver in some Prosecco, just throwing it out there. Will
Will Whiston: Rachel and I’ll talk.
Jill Jaracz: Oh man. What’s been selling? Well, what have people, which, which things are, you know, you gotta jump on before you miss out?
Will Whiston: first off, in terms of what we’ve seen in demand and interest, it’s been. Across the globe. I mean, we, our top selling in countries include obviously US and Canada, all Scandinavia, the uk, which we saw in Paris and it’s carrying through Milan, um, all the way to Australia and New Zealand, where, I mean, they have specialists in some of the, in, whether it’s freestyle skiing or aerials.
So we’ve seen incredible interest across the world. By the way, we launched a first ever deposit campaign right after Paris for those interested in Milan and who wanted to, you know, to be first in line. We had thousands upon thousands of people sign up for that. which there’s never been a program like that before for an Olympics.
And to see that for winter games right after summer games was just spectacular. And shows the interest in terms of the sports, you know. We have seen, you know, it’s, it’s the typical big, winter Olympic sports obviously always stand out in volume, whether it’s ice hockey, figure skating. Of course, we’re figure skating for a number of sessions.
There’s very limited availability now, and we’re does entering the most in demand period in Europe, in our opinion, starting in September. and of course the, the metal sessions in, um, skiing. I’ll say what’s been incredible is biathlon, in that region is something that’s received a lot of interest.
The opening ceremony at SAN has always the opening ceremony, something that locally is people take a lot of pride in. We have very limited availability in opening ceremony, which I think is gonna be unbelievable with the cultural aspect and the focus on the ceremony, that the organizing committee’s bringing.
so we’re seeing demand across the board. oh, and I’ve, sorry, I forgot, snowboarding, which I meant mentioned before, the halfpipe, that event is through the roof in terms of interest and that’s, that’s, and all, all these sports that I mentioned, or most of ’em at least. the dry ticket sales are almost sold out for the prime sessions, and we have seen.
Obviously the similar demand, so now is the time to jump on it.
Jill Jaracz: Well, we know where the party’s at in every sport. Now it’s worthy on location. Just find that sign. Just find the guy with that sign. Find that sign. I
Will Whiston: You find Jill and Allison.
Jill Jaracz: Well, you know we get lost all the time, so what do you, I know when you were, you find us.
Alison Brown: I know when Will was saying, he’s like, oh, we make sure everything is seamless. I’m like, Ugh. We could have used that. I could use that all the time.
Jill Jaracz: Oh, well, will thank you so much for joining us again. We’re really excited to see what you do for Milan, Corina, and hear all about it.
And we’re looking forward, I’m looking forward to seeing the participants get to do their thing on the, on, in the field of play or on the sidelines.
Will Whiston: Yep. Most of it’s gonna be an amazing Winter Olympics. as I said, it’s the first time. Back, in Europe in a long time. and it’s, Italy’s always been special.
Torino was special as a Winter Olympics, so Milano Cortina is gonna be that. And more so to both of you my friends, thank you for having me back and I look forward to being on again in the future. Hopefully might need to get you an invite to Milano Corina to get that invite back, but we’ll see.
Jill Jaracz: Alright, we’ll see.
You Will. Thanks so much.
Will Whiston: Thanks.
Jill Jaracz: Thank you so much. Will will have a link to on location’s offerings in the show notes. I’m still hoping about that in the halfpipe view, the halfpipe from in the halfpipe situation.
Alison Brown: I just wanna walk the halfpipe like I really wanna do that package. It’s like, take my glass of Prosecco and walk up and down the halfpipe.
Come on, come on. That sounds glorious.
Jill Jaracz: It would be, I mean, the experiences they do put together sound amazing.
Alison Brown: My birthday’s next month.
Jill Jaracz: Well, there you go. There you go.
LA 2028 News
Jill Jaracz: All right. We have a little bit of news from LA 2028. The organizing committee is hoping to change the diving venue. So in the original 2017 plan, they put diving in the 1932 pool in the exposition park zone.
However, over the last year, World Aquatics kindly said, Hey, the pool is not going to meet standards. it’s not wide enough. It’s not deep enough. The tithing towers are improperly oriented to the sun. ’cause this is an outdoor venue and there’s not enough clearance behind the towers anymore. So if they were gonna make this pool compliant with what world?
Aquatics now. requires in a venue, and I’m sure it was way different back in the day, back in the day being at least 84, if that was the same pool, but for sure 1932. The venue would’ve needed a complete reconstruction. It is also in the same zone as the LA Memorial Coliseum, which means they are also getting some reconstruction going on and they, it’s not big enough to have two Construc construction projects in that same footprint at the same time.
Alison Brown: And also, one of the things LA was really focusing on was no new construction. And even though this is an existing venue, they were gonna have to take it back to the studs. Start over. Yes. So they very smartly said, let’s see if there’s another pool in the neighborhood.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. And that is a a problem ’cause there wasn’t another pool in la So they went a little further afield.
They found one in Pasadena,
Alison Brown: which already has events.
Jill Jaracz: Yes, and it’s the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. So now they have to get written permission from LA City Government to move the venue out of LA and into Pasadena. So they think that, this move is going to give them. $8.2 million more in revenue. ’cause they’ll be able to sell more tickets than the other venue.
They will be able to save 12 million on infrastructure costs. Gonna cost 2.6 million more to run the venue in Pasadena than it would to run the 1932 pool. But they are still. 17.6 million in the black. And then they’re also
Alison Brown: saying it will reduce congestion at the other events in the exposition park zone.
Yes. Which I think is a little bit of. Lipstick on the pig. Like I think they’re trying to, that little fact made me feel like, oh, they’re really trying to sell it because the rest of it makes perfect sense. And we’ve moved a few things. The last time a new venue plan came out from la from one host city to a friend host city, they’re kind of referring to these multiple host cities.
Jill Jaracz: Mm-hmm.
Alison Brown: So, doesn’t seem like this is gonna be a fight. Nobody seems to be. I didn’t see a lot of chitchat in response to this proposal.
Jill Jaracz: No. And I bet part of the reason that it’s going to be easier to let that go is because, LA 2028 is still in discussions with the LA Department of Parks and Rec to make improvements to the 1932 pool.
That would have been part of the legacy of them hosting. So they may still, put some money into making that a better pool for the community, which. That’s all good. And yeah, I, I’m curious to know how much con congestion it would’ve caused. ’cause there are a bunch of sports in that zone. Is it? Now, you know, how much does operational stuff take?
Like we looked at when, when we were in Paris, just the amount of tents in between. Eiffel Tower and Sha de Mars, which were pretty close, but like there was a whole huge section that was off limits to the public because that was dressing rooms and doping controls and canteens and volunteer stuff and all of these other tents that you had to have to run the show.
So is it just too complex as well?
We also have a mountain biking venue now,
Alison Brown: so now I know where to find you on those days.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah. Well, you know, we haven’t seen mountain biking and it is on my list to see. I know, because I’m curious. Yeah, so well, okay, so maybe, I don’t know, because we’re talking about mountain biking, so this will be in a hilly area
Alison Brown: and LA certainly has a lot of hilly areas they could choose from.
Jill Jaracz: They could, they’ve chosen industry hills, and this will be in the city of industry zone in LA County. Uh, the course is gonna be next to the Pacific Palms Resort places naturally hilly. So they’re gonna use that and make a broader site improvement that will be part of games legacy. I just have, I’m just worried about getting on the wrong side of the mountain.
The other side of the mountain, not, not the movie. As I said that I’m just seeing myself wandering around, trying to find where I’m supposed to go and just getting lost are, are you still so hopelessly lost?
Alison Brown: Are you still traumatized from your Beijing mountain? Well, both of our Beijing Mountain situations, yeah.
That was,
Jill Jaracz: that was pretty rough.
Alison Brown: Yeah. I mean, I, granted this will be in English. Yeah. And our phones will work and all those things. Yeah.
Jill Jaracz: Yeah.
Alison Brown: Just bring a flare gun with you.
Jill Jaracz: Get that on the plane. Yeah. Right.
Alison Brown: Yeah. Get that past security. That’ll work.
Jill Jaracz: Anyway, the last cycling venue, anyway, we still have one more cycling venue announcement to come and that is the full road race route and finish venue as well as time trials information. So we will look for that soon.
Team Keep the Flame Alive News
Alison Brown: Welcome to sh Stan.
Jill Jaracz: It is the time of the show where we check in with our team, keep the flame alive. These are past guests and listeners of the show who make up our citizenship of our very own country. Sh Stan.
Alison Brown: We got a lot this week starting with para ice hockey player Monica Quimbee and Team USA beat Canada seven to one to win the first ever women’s para ice hockey world championships.
Brooke Nunamaker was part of the games officiating crew and Brad Berger was one of the supervisors, so all our friends were there enjoying what looked to be an amazing first world championships.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. pole vaulter. Katie Moon won the Diamond League final at Katie Hammer Thrower. Deanna Price and Sprinter, Kenny Bednar will all be repping Team USA at the World Athletics World Championships in Tokyo on September 13th through 21.
Like I realized, that’s finally. Here. I know. Just like, oh, it’s coming. It’s gonna be. And like, wait a second. That’s enough. It’s like next week, just about Anyway. Also going as part of Team Canada is race Walker. Evan Dunphy, who will be the top seed in the 35 kilometer race wok. This is uh, his seventh championships, and for the first time, he’s also going as a coach, coaching his Paris 2024 relay partner, Olivia Lunden.
Alison Brown: Para cyclist Samantha Bosco won silver in the C four individual road race and Grace Norman, usually a triathlete, but she won silver in the C four individual time trial at the UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships
Jill Jaracz: cyclist, Mandy Marquardt Run won gold in the. Gold in an American record in the Kilo time trial and bronze in the Kirin at the 2025 USA cycling Elite Track National Championships.
Alison Brown: Team Schuster won Curling’s 2025 Oslo Cup defeating Team Eden in the gold medal match. 7 2 2.
Jill Jaracz: wheelchair tennis players, Charlie Cooper and David Wagner are playing in the US Open this week. David lost in the first round, 3 6 3 6 to Gonzalo, Enrique Azarte and Charlie Cooper is playing in his first Men’s Grand Slam tournament.
Hold on, I have to refresh ’cause he is playing as we record. Not looking good. Oh my gosh. Okay, so he got the, short end of the draw and is playing. Hewitt, one of your faves and
Alison Brown: one of the best in the world.
Jill Jaracz: Yes. So, uh, right now as we speak, the score Isie Hewitt winning he took the first set six.
Oh. And now is winning three. One in the second.
Alison Brown: So Charlie got a game. Okay, good. I was worried about him getting blanked because this is Charlie’s first time with the, with the men. So he’s, he, I’m so excited for him, though. This is the beginning.
Jill Jaracz: so excited.
Alison Brown: Archer Casey Feld is competing at the 53rd Hyundai World Archery Championships in Guang Ju South Korea, September 5th through the 12th,
Jill Jaracz: Paris swimmers, Olivia Chambers and Jessica Long have been named to Team USA’s roster for the world Paris Swimming Championships.
Alison Brown: Greco Roman wrestler, Alejandro Sancho will be competing at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Sare, Croatia. From September 13th to the 21st,
Jill Jaracz: and congratulations to fencer Alexander Maci, who was elected to the FIE Hall of Fame
Alison Brown: well deserved.
Jill Jaracz: Whew, Shukla Stone has been busy
Alison Brown: and it’s only gonna get busier.
September’s got a lot of world championships and World Cups starting and yeah, lots of results coming through.
Jill Jaracz: Exactly. So be sure to follow along in our Facebook group. Keep the Flame Alive podcast. We will be chatting there. I’m excited ’cause after World Games, I hit the World Games let down like, oh, it got quiet.
Alison Brown: Nothing’s going on. Do I need to come over and shoot fireworks in the shape of a tree outside your house?
Jill Jaracz: Oh, I would love that ballroom
Alison Brown: dance. I will come over and I will ballroom dance in the driveway.
Review of the Week
Jill Jaracz: Well, we’ll see what they say about that. What else are they saying about the show?
Alison Brown: So, uh, lo Dandy on Apple Podcast left us a lovely review and part of it reads, who knew that two librarians could create such an amazing show about the Olympics and Paralympics? You won’t hear the same sport content you hear everywhere else.
Jill Jaracz: Aw, that’s sweet. Thank you Lo. If you would like to hear your name here, leave us a review on your podcast app of choice or check out all the other ways to get in touch with us in the episode details. follow us on social at Flame, a live pod, and uh, yeah, be part of our Facebook group. We have a ton of fun there.
It’s gonna be, uh, I cannot wait for Winter Sports stock to start there. Everyone is so fun. Sled hockey. Okay, that is gonna do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening,
Alison Brown: and until next time, keep the flame alive.