With every Olympics and Paralympics comes thousands of athlete stories. How do you preserve them all? Lindsay Huban, Chief Content and Integration Officer at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum gives us some insight on how the museum tells the stories of Team USA athletes and the Games.

Part of that strategy is through special exhibits, and the museum has two new exhibits on tap. The first, A Legacy of Victory: U.S. Olympic Decathletes, shares the stories of America's incredible performances throughout history in the decathlon. The second is The Genuis of Sport, on International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin. Team Keep the Flame Alive member George Hirthler curated this exhibit , which he updated after it was at the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad.

We talked with Lindsay about some of the amazing ways athletes send in artifacts and what you can experience when you see the USOPM's new exhibits.

Plus, LA 2028 has unveiled the triathlon and para triathlon courses, and we have follow-ups on LA28 news from recent episodes. Also, Alpes 2030 has finalized its venue plan, and it looks more manageable than Milano Cortina 2026.

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 Lindsay Huban.

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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

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

When a host city signs the contract to put on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they don't just have to deal with local government to make them happen. LA 2028 has to work with municipal, county and state governments, as well as commissions and the federal government for funding, as well as regulatory needs.

Jason Sisney, Budget Advisor for the Speaker's Office at the California State Assembly, joins us to talk about the state's involvement in the LA28 Games. From temporary venues to environmental issues - and even gun control laws, the state has been working with the LA Organizing Committee for over a decade to help the Games happen. Jason sheds light on the importance of the Games not building any new venues and what they're doing differently than in 1984.

Jason shows us the amazing effort it takes from all levels of government to make an Olympics and Paralympics happen in California. As an Olympic historian, he also talks about the financial debacle that was the 1960 Winter Olympics and why the state doesn't want a repeat of that in 2028.

Jason is a great follow on Instagram and LinkedIn, so add him there! Also, if you're into infrastructure talk around LA-area mega-events like the Olympics and Paralympics, check out Alissa Walker's Torched LA. She gets into the nitty gritty of all of the good stuff regarding civic funding and policy around mega-events in the Los Angeles area.

Also on this episode, the Institute for Applied Economics of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation published an economic analysis of the potential impact of the Games on the local economy. We take a look at the numbers.

Plus, LA28 is implementing a food truck program, which has Alison very excited!

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 Jason Sisney.

***

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

At Atlanta 1996 swimmer Amy Van Dyken became one of the heroes of the U.S. team, bringing home a whopping four gold medals in five events. She followed that up at Sydney 2000 with another two gold medals.

After retiring and getting into broadcasting, Amy's life took a turn in 2014, when an ATV accident left her paralyzed. While she's continued to broadcast (you may have heard her as an analyst on NBC's coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics), she's also become an advocate for people with disabilities, helping able-bodied people understand the world from the eyes of someone in a wheelchair.

Alison talked with Amy about some of the specifics of her swimming training (including shave parties) and the approach to her second Olympics at Sydney. Amy shares the specifics of her injuries, the many complications she's had, and her secret for approaching recovery. They also get frank about the lack of understanding around accessibility and just how unaccessible America can be, even though there are disability laws in place.

Follow Amy online:

https://www.amyvandyken.com/

https://www.instagram.com/amyvandyken/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-van-dyken-rouen-oly-ab017323/

Also on this episode, it's torch relay time for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, and Jill and Alison get into the newly announced sports program for the Karlsruhe 2029 World Games. We're excited to see what sports stayed on the program, what came back, and what's new for this edition. Who's ready for some minigolf?

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 Amy Van Dyken.

***

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