After nearly 400 conversations with Olympians, Paralympians, and trailblazing women athletes from 55 countries, one thing is clear: no two stories are alike. Some athletes train with world-class facilities, others without basic equipment. Some are household names, others are fighting for visibility in sports you’ve never even seen on TV. And yet, across all these differences, certain themes echo again and again.

That’s what this new Best Of series is all about—spotlighting both the range of experiences and the threads that connect them. We’ve pulled together the most powerful moments across years of conversations, including:

✨ Best Advice to Younger Selves — from “give yourself grace to be a beginner” to “don’t dim your light for anyone.”
 ✨ Best Stories of Resilience — tales of athletes coming back from devastating injuries, near-misses, and moments when the world doubted them most.
 ✨ Best Moments of Role Modelship — athletes lifting the next generation, mentoring teammates, and carrying entire communities with them to the world stage.
 ✨ Best Stories of Identity & Joy — how athletes embrace who they are on and off the field, from glitter on the track to pride in their heritage.
 and many more!

You’ll hear voices as different as the sports they represent, yet together, they reveal what it really takes to rise to the top. This isn’t just one story. It’s hundreds woven together. And this is just the beginning.

In this episode, Resilience and Perserverence, athletes open up about what it costs to keep going and how they rebuild when everything says stop. Canadian bobsleigh pilot Cynthia Appiah shares how the sport helped her find her voice and the confidence to stand up for herself. U.S. wheelchair tennis star Dana Mathewson describes a childhood diagnosis, initial resistance to adaptive sport, and the moment tennis finally clicked. Olympic trampolinist Bryony Page talks about fear, losing confidence, and the practical tools that brought her back to big skills. Chelsea Edghill, table tennis Olympian from Guyana, pushes back on the “it looks easy” myth and explains how mindfulness keeps her centered. Jamaican middle-distance runner Natoya Goule-Toppin recounts a car accident, a lingering nerve issue, and racing her way back to 1:55 form. Malian-French boxer Marine Fatoumata revisits burnout and abuse, then finding a coach and team that respected her and saved her career. And French figure skater Maé-Bérénice Méité remembers an Achilles rupture that ended an Olympic qualifier and how she rediscovered joy by making skating a game again. Together, these stories show resilience as a practice: setting boundaries, seeking support, and choosing to try again.

Flame Bearers is a women's sports storytelling studio, illuminating the unsung stories of exceptional women athletes from around the world. We tell stories via podcast, video and live events.

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