The Winter Youth Olympic Games 2024 has come to a close and the digital flame has been turned off. We run through the second week of competition, including feed beefs (or a lack thereof) and results from:

• • Alpine Skiing
  • Biathlon
  • Cross-Country Skiing
  • Curling
  • Figure Skating
  • Freestyle Skiing
  • Ice Hockey - including why USA and Canada did not field women's teams in these Games
  • Nordic Combined
  • Short Track Speed Skating - the mixed relay was a lot of fun!
  • Snowboard
  • Speed Skating
  • Closing Ceremony

It's been a big news week for the Olympics! First off, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) released its ruling on the Kamila Valieva doping situation from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which only took 721 days. Valieva will face a four-year ban effective on the date of the doping, December 25, 2021.

That ruling changes the results of the team figure skating competition from Beijing 2022, and the International Skating Union decided that USA would get moved up to gold, Japan up to silver....and Russia would drop down to bronze. We explain how the ISU's decision is possible--and who's not happy because of it.

Paris 2024 announced that it will have random ticket drops until the Games begin in order to sell out its remaining 1+ million ticket inventory.

The end of January brought decision-day for whether the Milan-Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee would commit to building a new sliding track (not IOC-recommended), or if they would put the sliding competitions at a track outside of Italy (IOC-recommended). Guess what they chose? Our slidingnovela lives on!!

In our visit to TKFLASTAN, we have news from:

• Curler John Shuster
• Speed skater Erin Jackson
• Race walker Evan Dunfee
• Nordic combined athlete Annika Malacinski
• Artistic swimmer Jacqueline Simoneau
• Listener David

Also, we unravel a mystery connected with our opening theme--be sure to check that out! [Hint: It involves this race, which is historic for Americans]

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

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

Image courtesy of Gangwon 2024.

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Keep the Flame Alive: The Podcast for Fans of the Olympics and Paralympics 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.

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