]Andrew Kurka lives by a simple motto: "Work hard, have grit, and don't quit."

That spirit has served him well for years, from his days growing up in Alaska, through the devastating injury that rendered him unable to walk, and ultimately to multiple medals at the Paralympic Games. In Italy last winter, he won a bronze medal in the men's super-G sitting competition and then was elected as a flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

In this episode of the SportsTravel Podcast, SportsTravel Managing Editor Ted Keith talks with Kurka about his remarkable life, including the ways in which he continues to not just inspire people from afar but give hands-on help to others in his situation and how he lives his motto every day.

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You may have noticed that one of the world’s largest sporting events has begun, the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Destinations across the United States, Canada and Mexico have known for years that these weeks are coming, but now that they are finally here, we thought we’d take some time as an editorial team and talk about where we’ve been, what we expect, and maybe even some predictions on how the U.S. team will fare and who may win it all. In this episode, SportsTravel's editors break down our thoughts of which host cities may stand to benefit most, what the legacy of this event may ultimately look like and what the sports events industry should be looking at most closely as the games proceed.

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For decades, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association has been polling Americans on which sports and activities they participate in and how often. The result is the Topline Participation Report, an annual survey that goes into amazing detail on 126 different sports and activities ranging from basketball to birdwatching. By tracking those rates — both those who participate casually and those who participate regularly in a given sport or activity — SFIA has a wealth of data, including which of those sports and   activities are on the rise and which are declining. They can also break down those stats by age, gender and demographics, a bevy of information that any sports event organizer or destination should be interested in digesting.

[article_sidebar]Some of the headlines from this year’s report: Americans are moving more than they ever have, some 250 million people reporting at least some level of activity in something, which is a record. And yet, most are still not meeting the minimum recommended threshold of moderate physical activity. And pickleball? It’s rise to the top over the past few years is no joke and continues to position the sport as the fastest-growing in the United States by participation. We’ll get into why that is and what it means for the future, as well as many other aspects of this wide-ranging report with Jenny Karn, the senior director for SFIA who played a key role in this year’s research.

And we’ll also explore SFIA’s new 2034WARD initiative, which aims to take advantage of the mega events headed to North America over the next decade to inspire the next generation to try new sports.

In this episode, Karn will break down SFIA’s take on the report and which sports could be the next to capture the attention of the American public.

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George Washington University sports management professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti has just attended her 23rd consecutive Olympic Games, once again playing a volunteer role at the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina. Along the way, she has become a keen observer of the logistics behind the Games, what works and what doesn’t. In this discussion with SportsTravel Publisher Jason Gewirtz, who was also in Milan and Cortina, she discusses her grades for the Games. We break down the pluses and minuses, including the Opening Ceremony, transportation, signage, volunteers, food and beverage, venues, overall atmosphere and more.

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At the end of every year, our editorial staff at SportsTravel likes to take a look back at the year past and a look ahead to the year to come. And this year, we’re joined by our newest addition, Paul Stevens, who became senior editor of SportsTravel in November after a career in the business-to- business media space. He’s also a true sports fan, which makes him the perfect person to discuss the year ahead.

[article_sidebar]And what a year 2026 is shaping up to be with the World Cup headed to North America, the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games headed to Milan-Cortino, Italy, and so many more events on the schedule both here in the United States and abroad. In this episode, we break down the trends we’re watching across professional, collegiate and youth sports, and make some bold predictions about the outcome of sporting events in the year to come.

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Like the millions of people living with disabilities, Paralympians have a multitude of ways they acquired those disabilities. Some like Ezra Frech were born with disabilities and many others like Lindi Marcusen acquired those disabilities later in life, in her case in a car accident just two weeks after her wedding. Nonetheless, the Paralympic Games have provided an amazing outlet for Ezra, Lindi and others to show everything they are capable of at the highest level of sport. In Ezra’s case, that resulted in two gold medals in Paris in the 100 meters and the high jump in his classification, and in Lindi’s case, it has allowed her to become the fastest woman on the U.S. team. But just because they have had success on the field doesn’t mean their travel experiences are easy. In fact, each of them has faced challenges as they seek to transport both themselves and their equipment to locations around the world, including to the world’s most prestigious sports events. It’s one of many reasons they are both now spokespeople for a new campaign organized by Ottobock, the global medtech company, called “The Invisible Class,” which is aiming to put a spotlight on the organizations that are actually succeeding when it comes to providing a better experience. And with December 3 being International Day of Persons with Disabilities, this conversation will take a look at what some of those travel challenges can be. But we’ll also take a look ahead at the opportunity that the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles will present to engage more people in the types of conversations that turn some of those travel challenges around.

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Carlos Ezpeleta joined Dorna Sports as an intern in 2007, took on a full-time role in 2013 and has since worked his way to Chief Sporting Officer at MotoGP, directly responsible for the Sporting and Technical areas of the Championships as well as overseeing activities in the Promoters, Operations and Talent Promotion departments. Dan Rossomondo’s career began in advertising sales at Madison Square Garden and has since taken him to IMG, Time Warner Global Media and the NBA. From his role as Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships and Media at the NBA, Dan moved to become Chief Commercial Officer of Moto GP and Dorna Sports in 2023. We discussed the recent announcement of Guenther Steiner taking ownership of a Moto GP team, the series since Liberty Motor Group took a new majority role, the intersection of travel and sports and how they look to elevate spectator experiences, working in a "traveling circus" that other more stationary sports don't go through and the future outlook for the series, especially in the United States. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

This episode of the Sports Travel Podcast is being sponsored by TEAMS Europe, the world’s leading conference and expo for the sports-event industry. TEAMS Europe unites sport event organizers with destinations, venues and suppliers interested in hosting or supporting their events. TEAMS Europe in 2026 will be March 17–19, 2026 at The Belfry, an award-winning hotel and resort located less than 10 miles from the city center of Birmingham, England. For more details on everything planned at TEAMS Europe, please visit teamseurope.com.

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Raffaella Paniè is an Italian designer and creative director, serving as Director of Brand, Identity, and Look for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Milano Cortina. She leads the design of the Games’ visual identity, including the emblem, pictograms, mascots and medals. Her work emphasizes a modern Italian spirit, sustainability, and community, showcasing Italy’s creativity on the global Olympic stage.

She joined the Podcast to discuss how the design process was developed for the Games, how many version of the Olympic torch and medals were designed before settling on what was revealed to be the final design, where the design inspiration came from and if any design can ever be truly finished before being released to the world.

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Rob Stull was elected president of the International Modern Pentathlon Union in November 2024, a four-year tenure that includes the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Stull was an alternate to the 1984 U.S. Olympic modern pentathlon team, competed in both fencing and modern pentathlon at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, then competed in modern pentathlon at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Starting at the LA28 Games, modern pentathlon will replace equestrian riding with obstacle racing after a long process that took several years. Modern pentathlon is a five-sport event that, for 2028, will include fencing, freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting and cross-country running. We discussed the lead-up to LA28, Stull’s work at the international federation since being elected president and much more. 

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John Kemp may be the perfect person to be at the helm at the Lakeshore Foundation. As you’ll hear in this episode, his passion for the adaptive sports community isn’t just professional. It’s personal. Born without arms and legs, Kemp had to adjust at an early age to his surroundings, and managed to play baseball even if his career may not have been worthy of the Hall of Fame as he’ll discuss. He has, however, gone on to a Hall of Fame career when it comes to advocacy for the disability movement. His previous leadership roles include serving as the national executive director of United Cerebral Palsy Associations, president and CEO of VSA Arts and VSA Arts International, and as general counsel and vice president of development for the National Easter Seal Society, among others. In 1995, he co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities. He recently served as president and CEO of the Viscardi Center and Henry Viscardi School in New York.

But in 2021, he was named president at CEO of the Lakeshore Foundation. The foundation has taken on different forms over the years but traces its origins all the way to 1925 as the Jefferson Tuberculosis Sanitorium. Since then, its focus has turned to a much wider spectrum, and in 1984 began as something close to its current form as the Lakeshore Foundation, with Jeff Underwood taking the helm as the first president and CEO. As the relatively new leader, Kemp oversees a program that is now an official U.S. Paralympic Training site, and serves over 4,000 people annually through its various programs. Last year, it opened its Sports Science & Performance Center, a first-of-its-kind program that will help fuel the pipeline for Team USA and other elite athletes through a performance lab, strength and conditioning center and nutrition lab among other things.

In this conversation, we’re going to discuss Lakeshore’s amazing history, the rise of the Paralympic movement, the opportunities ahead with the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles and perhaps most importantly, what host cities and venues need to know about serving the community of adaptive sports athletes.

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