This is our last Paralympics-focused episode before the Paris 2024 Summer Games start! We're excited to bring you our remaining interviews from athletes we met at the Team USA Media Summit (with links to their Instagram accounts):

• Para triathlete Grace Norman
• Para shooter Marco DeLa Rosa
• Para cyclist Dennis Connors
• Goalball player Calahan Young
• Para powerlifter Bobby Body
• Runner Jaydin Blackwell
• Sitting volleyball player Kaleho Kanhelo Maclay

In Paris 2024 news, we talk about the swimmability of the Seine--someone's one-upped Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo by hopping in the water first!

We also have some hospitality house news--keep up to date with House Party!

If you're in Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee is hosting three Team Canada FanFests across the country. Learn more about them here, and if you go to one, let us know what it was like!

In news from Team Keep the Flame Alive, we have a bunch of event results and Paris 2024 team announcements. Plus, some TKFLASTANIs were at the nation's 4th of July party.

We'll be heading to Paris later this week and look forward to sharing the Games experience with you! There's still time to get your Paris viewing guide, Olympic and Paralympic travel journals, and merch!

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

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

***

Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.

Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support

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Para taekwondo was first on the Paralympic program at Tokyo 2020, and it's looking to make a big statement at Paris 2024. On this episode, we talk with American para taekwondo fighter Evan Medell, who competes in the K44 class of the men's 75+ kg weight class. At Tokyo, Evan broke his foot during his semifinal match against Asghar Aziziaghdam and lost that bout. However, he came back that same day and defeated Francisco Alejandro Pedroza Luna for the bronze medal (on a broken foot!). We talked with Evan about the sport, those fights at the 2020 Paralympics, and what he's looking forward to at Paris 2024.

Follow Evan on Instagram!

In Paris 2024 news, we learn that there's actually a plan B for marathon swimming, should the Seine be too polluted. Triathlon may follow the same plan--or become a duathlon (neither of which is an optimal choice).

In news from TKFLASTAN, we hear from:

• Artistic swimmers Jacqueline Simoneau, Daniella Ramirez and Megumi Field
• Sprinter Kenny Bednarek - find out more about foster care adoption at the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
• Author Andrew Maraniss - find Beyond the Game: Athletes Change the World - Maya Moore at our Bookshop.org affiliate site.
• Table tennis player Millie Tapper

Don't forget to enter our giveaway--sign up for our newsletter and share for entries to win a sweet swag pack!

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

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

***

Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.

Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support

Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod

Hang out with us online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod

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Newsletter: Sign up at https://mailchi.mp/ee507102fbf7/flamealivepod

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Team USA BMX cyclists join us to talk about what's in store for Paris 2024! We start with BMX freestyle and Olympian Hannah Roberts, who won silver at the sport's Olympic debut in Tokyo. Hannah tells us how BMX freestyle courses are built (keyword: janky) and attempts to explain the sport's judging.

Then we move over to BMX racing with Olympic legend Alise Willoughby and first-time Olympian Cam Wood. Alise will be heading to her fourth Olympics in Paris and looking for her second medal (she won silver at Rio 2016). Alise talks with us about how experience helps navigate competition. Cam tells us what to look for on the track at Paris 2024.

We also have the latest updates from Paris 2024, including some Canadian events during the Paralympics, which you can find out about here.The Canadian Cultural Center at the Canadian Embassy in Paris also has an exhibition called "Composition for an ensemble, or The Spirit of The Games" by Clive Holden, which is on display until September 8, 2024.

Canada will also be illuminating over 50 landmarks and buildings around the country on July 9 to celebrate the Paralympics. See the full list here (and send us pictures!)

We love talking uniforms, and Paris 2024 has released the medal bearers kit and medal trays from Louis Vuitton. See them at WWD.

In news from TKFLASTAN we hear from:

• Rugby sevens player Perry Baker
• USA Fencing
• Marketer Alexis Schaefer
• Author Warren Perrin

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

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

***

Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.

Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support

Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod

Hang out with us online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod

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Newsletter: Sign up at https://mailchi.mp/ee507102fbf7/flamealivepod

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In our look at the 100th anniversary of the very first Winter Olympic Games at Chamonix, France, Alison dives into the speed skating competition, which pitted two very different global styles against each other. Add an uncooperative Mother Nature, and you've got a doozy of an event!

Special thanks to listener Manu for his contributions to this episode.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

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

***

Keep the Flame Alive: Games History Moment with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown is released monthly. In 2024, these episodes explore the first Winter Olympic Games at Chamonix, France in 1924. Look for our regular episodes every week, with daily editions during the Olympics and Paralympics.

Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support

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Paralympian Samantha Bosco joins us today to discuss her story as a Paralympic track and road cyclist. Samantha won two bronze medals at the Rio Paralympics, in the C5 3km pursuit on the track and the C5 time trial on the road (C5 riders include those with movement affected at a low level in one arm, moderately affected in one leg, or the absence of all, or part of an arm).

Samantha had planned to compete in her second Paralympics at Tokyo 2020, but a month prior to the start of those Games, she crashed in a training ride, causing severe injuries including a skull fracture and brain contusion.

We talked with Samantha about her accident and her recovery--after a lot of work and therapy, Samantha returned to bike racing and has been a force to be reckoned with on the para cycling circuit, adding many wins to her resume, including three medals at the 2023 Parapan American Games. She is looking forward to competing at the Paralympics in Paris later this year.

Learn more about Samantha at her website, and follow her on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

Plus, news from Paris 2024 and TKFLASTAN -- so many of our past guests were at Olympic and Paralympic Trials this week! And Team Australia has its own Paris 2024 song.

Don't forget to register for our fabulous giveaway and the chance to win some Olympic and Paralympic swag! Register here by July 15

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

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

***

Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.

Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support

Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod

Hang out with us online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod

Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/flamealivepod

Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod

Newsletter: Sign up at https://mailchi.mp/ee507102fbf7/flamealivepod

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The U.S. Paralympic Swimming Trials are just around the corner, so we're talking with para swimmer Jamal Hill. Jamal is a freestyler, specializing in sprints. At Tokyo 2020, he competed in the 50m freestyle S9, where he won the bronze medal, and in the men's 100m freestyle S10 class, placing 6th. He was also part of Team USA's men's 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay and men's 4x100m medley 34 points relay.

We talked with Jamal about how he doesn't breathe (much) during his 50m, how he starts, and his foundation Swim Uphill, which is dedicated to teaching low and middle income people of color how to swim. Jamal's work has attracted the attention of the United Nations--he's part of the Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth program.

Follow Jamal on X, Facebook and Insta!

Don't go to Paris without your Keep the Flame Alive gear--how else will we find you in the crowds? We've got a new TeePublic store link for your merch needs.

Jill recaps her final night at the US Olympic Swimming Trials--how did the record-setting crowd react to tonight's races (including one women's 1500m freestyle, featuring Katie vs. Katie)?

Also, Mizuno has created some innovative kits for Team Japan's female athletes in certain sports--you'll hate the reason why.

LA 2028 has announced some venue changes, which includes a major shift in the Games' schedule. Plus, some sports are moving out of California.

In news from TKFLASTAN, we hear from

• Hammer thrower DeAnna Price
• Sprinter Kenny Bednarek
• Swimmer Bobby Finke
• Diver Andrew Capobianco
• B-boy Jeffro
• Ski historian, writer and podcaster Tom Kelly

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

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

***

Keep the Flame Alive: The Olympics and Paralympics Fan Podcast with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown. New episodes released every week and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. Also look for our monthly Games History Moment episodes in your feed.

Support the show: http://flamealivepod.com/support

Bookshop.org store: https://bookshop.org/shop/flamealivepod

Hang out with us online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamealivepod

Insta: http://www.instagram.com/flamealivepod

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/flamealivepod

Facebook Group: hhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/flamealivepod

Newsletter: Sign up at https://mailchi.mp/ee507102fbf7/flamealivepod

VM/Text: (208) FLAME-IT / (208) 352-6348