On this episode of Keep the Flame Alive, we have conversations with Olympic speed skater Erin Jackson and Olympic short track skater Corinne Stoddard that we had at the Team USA Media Summit.

Follow Erin and Corinne on social:

Erin:

https://www.twitter.com/@ErinJackson480

https://www.instagram.com/@speedyj

https://www.facebook.com/ErinJackson480/

https://www.youtube.com/US%20Speedskating

https://sites.google.com/site/jacksonerin5032/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinjackson480

https://www.tiktok.com/@ErinJacksonSkates

Corinne:

https://www.instagram.com/c0rie815/

https://www.tiktok.com/@fastbutunstable

https://www.facebook.com/share/1B8epkSqbg

Alison reports back from a Milano Cortina 2026 talk on branding, where she learned about the thinking that went into the look of these Winter Olympics.

We have plenty of news about Milano Cortina, including the torch relay ceremony, the victory ceremony uniforms, woes about the ice hockey stadium, results from the speed skating test event, the Cortina Athletes Village, and woes about the construction delays of a gondola from Cortina to Tofane. Read more about the gondola here:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/28/sport/olympics-2026-cortina-ticket-sales-cap-intl

Plus, LA 2028 has a new sponsor, and SLC 2034 has a new name! And we travel to TKFLASTAN to get the latest from Team Keep the Flame Alive.

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: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

***

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

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

Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod

Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

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

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

Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe

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

Book Club Claire joins us for a discussion of Seth Berkman's 2019 book A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History, about the 2018 Winter Olympic Korean women's unified ice hockey team. This story happened during the podcast's lifetime. What did we remember? What was new news? Did we fall for the IOC's unification propaganda?

Plus, our Milano Cortina 2026 sliding novela comes to a close and the torch is lit!

In other Games news: LA 2028 opened an intent form for those interested in volunteering. Learn more here: https://la28.org/en/volunteer.html

***KEEP OUR FLAME ALIVE:*** Support our fundraiser to bring you the most fun coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics from Milano Cortina 2026. Learn more and give here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/

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

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

Note: Links to products are affiliate links. We earn commissions through purchases made through them, which helps to fund the show.

***

***

Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

***

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

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

Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod

Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

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

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

Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe

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

In our penultimate episode of our Sydney 2000 Games history series, Jill takes a look at the Olympic rowing competition, specifically the women's coxless pairs race, which featured Missy Schwen-Ryan and Karen Kraft from the USA racing for the gold that eluded them at Atlanta 1996, even though Schwen-Ryan was missing something.

Watch that race here: https://youtu.be/xYPyReaxjyY?si=-jCqJHlMQJUw60sL

Then Alison tries to decipher the fever dream that was the Olympics Closing Ceremony, which you can watch in its full glory here: https://youtu.be/TlOTGzPZvfw?si=FuaWrkkvGG5UwLqQ

***Much like the American coxless pairs team, we're also bootstrapping our way to the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Help us get to Milano Cortina so that we can bring you 32 days of daily episodes that will tell you what it's really like at the Games. Tell us whether you're a Milano or a Cortina here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/

For a complete list of sources used in this episode, visit: https://tinyurl.com/sydney2000sources.

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: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

***

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

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

Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod

Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

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

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

Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe

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

Introducing your favorite Olympic Aunties Jill Jaracz and Alison Brown! If you're obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics or just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work, you've found your people. Join us each week--and daily during the Games--for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes, coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. This is why you watch the Games!

We are sliding down the luge track in this episode, interviewing three women from Team USA's luge team, who are vying to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics.

First up, singles luger and 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson returns to the podcast to explain some of the technical details--and physics--of the sport.

Then we talk with women's doubles lugers Sophia Kirkby and Chevonne Forgan. Women's doubles is a new Olympic event, so the pair discuss how this event works. They were also part of the athlete testing group for the new sliding track in Cortina, so they share some insight on how it rides and what we can look for when we watch it.

Follow these athletes on social! On Insta, Ashley is @far.quhar.son, Chevonne is @chev.forg and Sophia is @sophia.kirkby. Sophia is also on Tiktok: @sophiakirkby.

We also have the latest news from Milano Cortina 2026, including a pause on ticket sales and Omega's hospitality house. Team GB and Team France have unveiled their kit, and, in a first, Team USA's medical staff also has its own kit sponsor! Also, if you're in the Salt Lake City area during the Games, the city is hosting a massive watch party.

In LA 2028 news, the Ceremonies' creative team has been announced. What does this mean for the viewing experience?

And Team Keep the Flame Alive has been busy! We've got the latest from TKFLASTAN.

***KEEP OUR FLAME ALIVE:*** Support our fundraiser to bring you the most fun coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics from Milano Cortina 2026. Learn more and give here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/

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

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!

***

Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

***

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

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

Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod

Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

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

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

Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe

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

It's 100 days to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics! We have all the latest on these Games from the Team USA Media Summit in New York City (aka our test event) including podiums, more torchbearers, and a new Team USA plane. We also talked with Peacock reps to find out what the viewing experience will be like this time around--will the feed beef cease to exist in 2026?

We want to know if you are a Milano or a Cortina! Let us know by helping us raise funds to cover the production costs of our Milano Cortina 2026 coverage, which includes at least 32 daily episodes (and probably 100+ escapades that only your favorite Olympic and Paralympic aunties can get into). We need your support to make this coverage happen. Please make a contribution here: https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/

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

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!

***

***

Keep the Flame Alive: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

***

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

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

Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod

Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

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

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

Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe

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

Paddler Dame Lisa Carrington, New Zealand's most decorated Olympian, joins us to talk about kayaking and how the sport varies from solo races to doubles and fours. We also discuss her children's book "Lisa Carrington Chases a Champion" and her new partnership with Zespri kiwifruit. What's Dame Carrington's favorite kiwi? Kiwi vs. feijoa? Where are her silver ferns? We've got answers!

Follow Dame Carrrington on Insta and Facebook: @liscarrington and check out her website!

Milano Cortina 2026 has announced its Olympic Opening Cermony theme and details around the event, which might be more complicated than Paris 2024's spectacle along the Seine. With four locations, a lot could happen, but it means more athletes will be able to take part in the Parade of Nations.

Also, NBC adds to its primetime commentator lineup, Ester Ledecka makes a decision, and the International Ski & Snowboard federation makes a decision about whether Russian and Belarussian skiers can compete as neutrals.

Plus, we thought that all of the construction for Milano Cortina 2026 was under control, but there's one project that is way behind schedule. We have a new novela--and the dramatic details!

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: Obsessed with the Olympics and Paralympics? Just curious about how Olympic and Paralympic sports work? You've found your people! Join your hosts, Olympic aunties Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz for smart, fun, and down-to-earth interviews with athletes coaches, and the unsung heroes behind the Games. Get the stories you don't find anywhere else. Tun in weekly all year-round, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics. We're your cure for your Olympic Fever! Call us: (208) FLAME-IT.

***

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

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

Become a patron and get bonus content: http://www.patreon.com/flamealivepod

Buy merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

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

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

Newsletter: Sign up at https://flamealivepod.substack.com/subscribe

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