The Milano Cortina 2026 cauldron might be out, but our community still has a lot to say about these Games! Hear what the listeners thought about a spread out Paralympics and the amazing sports that we watched. And there might be a feed beef or two.

Plus, Alison gives an update on her friend Eric Heiden, and Jill reports on the late 1980s downhill skiing scene in Northern Indiana.

Thank you for being part of this podcast and community and for making the Olympics and Paralympics more fun than we could have ever imagined!

Until next time, keep the flame alive!

***

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

***

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

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Hang out with us online:

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

The Paralympic flame has been extinguished, and sadly, the Games of Milano Cortina 2026 are over. However, there was still plenty of action on the final day of competition!

Thanks to your support of our Grande Finale 150 campaign, we went to Milano to watch the para ice hockey medal games, both of which were the icing on the cake (especially in terms of record attendance) of a great Paralympics.

Sports on today's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para cross-country
• Para ice hockey

Finally, the Closing Ceremony in Cortina at the curling stadium may have been in a small venue, but it included beautiful and poignant performances around the theme of memories.

The cauldron may be out, but we're still keeping the flame alive! We have multitudes of memories from Milano Cortina 2026, and we hope you do too! Share them with us this week as we have two call-in shows. Alison will record on Tuesday, March 17 from 8-9pm ET. Jill will record at the same time on Wednesday, March 18. Here's the link to our studio. It works best with Chrome or Edge. It doesn't like Firefox.

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

We're at the penultimate day of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics, and it was our last day in Cortina. Time to say good-bye to many friends we've met and fit in one last cultural moment.

In terms of sports, we some some exciting competitions. In para Alpine skiing, the women battled rain and shifting light conditions to finish out their Paralympics with the slalom competition. We also saw most of the gold medal wheelchair curling match, which went down to the wire and had a nail-biting finish.

In para cross-country, the relays took place, with an exciting come-from-behind win for Team USA (3/4 of which was from TKFLASTAN). The International Paralympic Committee is also looking into a potential podium protest by Germany during the women's sprint classic visually impaired class, which was won by RUS Anastasiia Bagiian and guide Sergei Siniakin. Silver medallists Linn Kazmaier and Florian Baumann from Germany who kept their hats on during the anthem and did not turn towards the flags.

Sports on today's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para cross-country
• Para ice hockey
• Wheelchair curling

We want to hear what you thought of the Paralympics! We're hosting two call-in shows next week:

• Alison: Tues Mar 17 8-9pm ET
• Jill: Wed Mar 18 8-9 pm ET

Join us online at our studio: https://riverside.com/studio/keep-the-flame-alive-live

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

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

Photo credit: IOS Photos

***

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 Friends of Eric Heiden merch here: https://flamealivepod.dashery.com

Hang out with us online:

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

Coming to you from Piazza Roma in Cortina d'Ampezzo, it's Day 7 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics. Alison went to para snowboard to see TKFLASTAN crush it in the banked slalom. Jill had a cultural moment (and a blood pressure check) and saw some wheelchair curling before going up to Tofane to watch para Alpine. On that ride up the mountain, she made a big mistake.

Meanwhile, Alison got to celebrate some medals with Team USA athlete families and got some good intel along the way. Plus, she attended the latest International Paralympic Committee press conference, which had our Craig Spence dancing (literally).

Sports on the day's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para biathlon
• Para ice hockey
• Para snowboard
• Wheelchair curling

GRAND FINALE 150! Help us end our coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on a high note by covering our train fare to the para ice hockey medal matches. Please chip in and help us get back to Milano to give para ice hockey the coverage it deserves!

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

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

Photo credit: OIS Photos

***

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 Day 6 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics, and the snow is holding up for a few more competitions. Jill went to para Alpine skiing for the women's giant slalom, while Alison went to wheelchair curling for mixed team play. Luckily, their time in Cortina allowed for a little cultural exploration because what they each stumbled upon was really good.

Plus, we recap the rest of the day's sports action, and Jill finds that Giacomo in the Morning takes a surprising turn. Suprise! A new day and time is coming for para snowboard!

Sports on today's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para ice hockey
• Wheelchair curling

GRAND FINALE 150! Help us end our coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on a high note by covering our train fare to the para ice hockey medal matches. Please chip in and help us get back to Milano to give para ice hockey the coverage it deserves!

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

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

Photo: OIS Photos

***

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 Day 5 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics, and the running theme of the Games seems to be, "It's getting hot," as the snow gets slushier in the heat. Athletes are using coded language (and sometimes not-so-coded) to express just how tough the snow conditions are, and how hard it is to compete under them.

Jill and Alison went up to Cortina today for the medal round of mixed doubles wheelchair curling, which had amazing gameplay in both matches. Did Team Keep the Flame Alive's Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer beat the ice, or did the ice beat them?

Para cross-country skiing was also on the docket today, and it featured several TKFLASTANIs climbing the podium. Who had a great day?

Meanwhile, Jill opted for a culture morning and found something shocking at the post office.

GRAND FINALE 150! Help us end our coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on a high note by covering our train fare to the para ice hockey medal matches. Please chip in and help us get back to Milano to give para ice hockey the coverage it deserves!

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

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

Photo courtesy of OIS Photos.

***

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 Day 4 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics! Alison survives another Giacomo in the Morning experience to get to para Alpine skiing for (part of) the combined event. She also watched TKFLASTAN's Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer battle Korea in the semifinals of the mixed doubles wheelchair curling tournament. They've made it to the medal rounds, but what color are they playing for?

Meanwhile, Jill had the six-hour commute to watch two periods of para ice hockey, but they were good ones, as the USA faced China, and we got the answer to what China's goal song is!

Plus, TKFLASTAN has a great day at para cross-country skiing!

Sports on today's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para cross-country skiing
• Para ice hockey
• Wheelchair curling

GRAND FINALE 150! Help us end our coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on a high note by covering our train fare to the para ice hockey medal matches. Please chip in and help us get back to Milano to give para ice hockey the coverage it deserves!

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

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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

Day 3 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics was a struggle in transportation. Jill scored a massive win by getting to the para Alpine competition, but thanks to the not-well-thought-out transportation schedule, saw 1.5 of 6 classes. Still, it was a massive achievement for Keep the Flame Alive that we've finally made it to a Para Alpine competition!

Things got better at the last round robin session of wheelchair curling, where TKFLASTANI Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer gave Team China its first loss of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Alison went back to Milano to see para ice hockey and spent more time on the train than in the rink. Hear how that went down and what Milano looks like two weeks later.

Sports on today's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para ice hockey
• Wheelchair curling

We'd like to give a big shout out to our donors who got us to Milano Cortina, as well as our patrons who keep our flame alive throughout the Olympic and Paralympic quad. If this show helps you enjoy the Games more, please consider sending a financial contribution to ensure the show can continue through LA 2028. Find out more at https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/. If you'd like to become a patron, you'll get exclusive bonus content throughout the Games.

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

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

Photo courtesy of OIS Photos.

***

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 Day 2 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics, and we head back up to the mountains for the finals of para snowboard, then into Cortina for some wheelchair curling. Plus we got an up-close look at several medal ceremonies, which meant we got an up-close look at the podium people outfits, and we have thoughts.

Did Alison survive the bus ride? How did our fearless podcasters fare on the janky stairs at the para snowboard park? Hit play to find out!

Sports on today's program:

• Para biathlon
• Para snowboard
• Wheelchair curling

We'd like to give a big shout out to our donors who got us to Milano Cortina, as well as our patrons who keep our flame alive throughout the Olympic and Paralympic quad. If this show helps you enjoy the Games more, please consider sending a financial contribution to ensure the show can continue through LA 2028. Find out more here. If you'd like to become a patron, you'll get exclusive bonus content throughout the Games.

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

Day 1 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics starts off with a wild (and nauseating ride) that does not end well for Alison, but she does get to an exciting day of wheelchair curling.

Meanwhile, Jill made a questionable choice going up into the mountains, but got some interesting intel and took a gondola ride (and we know that gondola rides can end badly).

Sports on today's program:

• Para Alpine skiing
• Para biathlon
• Para ice hockey
• Para snowboard
• Wheelchair curling

We'd like to give a big shout out to our donors who got us to Milano Cortina, as well as our patrons who keep our flame alive throughout the Olympic and Paralympic quad. If this show helps you enjoy the Games more, please consider sending a financial contribution to ensure the show can continue through LA 2028. Find out more at https://flamealivepod.com/milano-cortina-fundraiser/. If you'd like to become a patron, you'll get exclusive bonus content throughout the Games.

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