Olympics.com Podcast

The conclusion of the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 last Sunday (15 March) marked a historic finish in Italy, with 611 athletes from 55 delegations earning some 412 medals.We highlight one of their stories in this episode: Czech para biathlon skier Carina Edlingerova, who explains how her guide dog, Riley, has shaped her life - as an athlete and as a person.And with the ISU World Figure Skating Championships set to begin next week (24 March) in Prague, we feature Olympics.com contributor Gracie Gold's one-on-one sit-down with her good friend, Amber Glenn, from their last few days in Milan.

Milano Cortina 2026 is far from over. The Paralympic Winter Games are underway already, with the Opening Ceremony set for the Arena di Verona on Friday (6 March). Host Nick McCarvel is joined by his Olympics.com colleague Lena Smirnova to preview some of the biggest storylines, including 50 years of the Paralympics, the USA-Canada sled hockey rivalry and a set of high-achieving Austrian siblings in alpine skiing.Nick also speaks one-on-one with Dani Aravich, a para cross-country skier and biathlete for Team USA, who has co-founded a sports media collective that focuses in on para athletes and their stories. Aravich believes it's important to platform herself and her peers to increase fan interest and engagement: "I'm willing to be the loudest voice in the room," she says. "It means it gets something done."As an episode bonus, Nick speaks with athletics great Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who - along with her father Willie - is spreading the word about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a common, often inherited heart condition that Willie suffers from.McLaughlin-Levrone also discusses her plans ahead of LA 2028... which include welcoming her first child later this year. "We're just excited for this new chapter," she says. "And hopefully it'll bring a new type of motivation for the next seasons to come."

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are officially over. It's been a memorable and inspiring 16 days of Olympic greatness, and host Nick McCarvel puts the final weekend into perspective, with standout performances from the U.S. men's hockey team, free ski legend Eileen Gu and Norway's Johannes Klaebo. After six (yes, six!) golds this Games, Klaebo brings his tally to 11 overall, and is well and truly the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time.Nick has one more exclusive for listeners on this episode too, American speed skater Jordan Stolz. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin set out for an unfathomable four medals across the 500, 1000, 1500 and mass start, and ended up with three - two golds and a silver. He reflects on his Milan experience and his unique approach to pressure, his one-of-a-kind coach, Bob Corby, his cat, Mitzi, and much more.The Olympics.com podcast publishes every other week year-round. Subscribe and like to get regular stories of the Olympians you've followed during Milano Cortina 2026, as we round the bend to the Paralympic Winter Games, which are set to start on 6 March.

"The destiny for Cortina for me was to be peaceful, even if I didn't get a medal."Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin is opening up after her first Olympic gold in eight years, revealing her mentality in a one-on-one sit-down with Olympics.com's Alessandro Poggi.Another American gold medallist is also discussing her unique approach after coming back from retirement, as Alysa Liu won the Olympic figure skating title, making her the first American woman to do so since Sarah Hughes at Salt Lake City 2002."I don't really feel pressure," Liu says in her exclusive with host Nick McCarvel. The 20-year-old talks about how her two years away from the sport reshaped her thinking around external expectations - and how that's helped her flip the skating world on its head.Plus, the USA women's hockey team completed a 48-hour gold rush for the Americans with a dramatic come-from-behind overtime win over rival Canada, and we hear from captain Hilary Knight and Megan Keller - who struck the game-winning goal - about their golden triumph. 

In the days since his Olympic debut came to a close, Ilia Malinin has been in a reflective mood. On Tuesday, he sat down exclusively with Olympics.com podcast host Nick McCarvel in one of his few post-competition interviews, the famous Milan Duomo in the backdrop. "Medals don't really define who you are," he said in a wide-ranging chat.Malinin discusses the pressure that he felt at these Winter Olympics, his thinking around the quadruple Axel, his plans moving forward and the amount of support he's gotten - from Simone Biles to Tom Brady and beyond - after his performance.The podcast also features a one-on-one with another high-flying athlete, freestyle skiing mogul legend Mikael Kingsbury, who led a trio of fathers on the dual moguls podium in the discipline's Olympic debut. Olympics.com reporter Andrew Binner chats with Kingsbury. Meanwhile, Nischal Schwager-Patel discusses the gold rush of cross-country skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, the Norwegian who now has 10 Olympic gold medals - the most for any Winter Olympic athlete - ever.Plus, a tour of Casa Airbnb at Milano Cortina 2026, the debut of ski mountaineering, Mikaela Shiffrin's emotional gold and great French success in the biathlon.

A month ago, Federica Brignone wasn’t sure she could even compete at Milano Cortina 2026. Now, the 35-year-old skier is a double Olympic champion.“I had no pressure because it was already amazing to be here,” Brignone told reporters after her second gold, captured in the giant slalom. “I just tried to enjoy every single moment out of it. I didn't feel the pressure, [which is] crazy because I'm at a home Olympics.”Brignone has helped spearhead a thrilling hardware haul for the Italians: a record 23 medals with still five days to go. It's more than their previous best of 20 - at Lillehammer 1994.Brignone features on the podcast along with another skiing champion, Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who claimed not only his country’s first Winter Olympic gold - but first winter medal of any colour for all of South America.Olympics.com producer Alessandro Poggi joins host Nick McCarvel to talk all things alpine skiing, before Nick gets the lowdown from another colleague, Grace Goulding, on all things speed skating - both short and long track.Plus, Grace sits down exclusively with short track great Apolo Ohno, who discusses Dutch dominance in the two sports - and one of the breakout stars of these Games, 21-year-old American Jordan Stolz.

Figure skating always has a flair for the dramatic - and this Winter Olympics has been no different. Mikhail Shaidorov's shocking gold medal in the men's event came as favourite Ilia Malinin fell to eighth place. In ice dance, the competition was one of the closest in history - with Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron edging Madison Chock and Evan Bates by just 1.43 points.Olympics.com contributor Gracie Gold joins host Nick McCarvel to help reflect on both Shaidorov and Malinin, and she also sits down with fellow American Amber Glenn, with the women's event set to anchor week two of the Games at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.The episode also features exclusive sit-downs with Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron, Chock/Bates and bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, as well as 42-year-old Canadian Deanna Stellato-Dudek, who is set to make her Olympic debut in the pairs event."This is obviously my second chance at this sport," Deanna tells Nick, having been retired of 16 years. "So many stars had to align; so many serendipitous occasions had to occur in order for me to even be sitting in this seat. I just feel like I owe it to my younger self and to my current self to do absolutely everything I can, put all my chips on the table, like full throttle to [chase] this dream."

There is something about curling and the Olympics that captures fans’ imagination every Winter Games. Olympics.com curling reporter Chloe Merrell joins host Nick McCarvel from Cortina to help explain the phenomenon - and set the scene from the historic Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Chloe breaks down each of the three curling events, including the mixed doubles, where Swedish siblings Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa surprised for gold. The men and women are underway, and we hear exclusively from three top stars: Reigning men’s Olympic champion Niklas Edin of Sweden; veteran Alina Paetz, a multi-time world champion from Switzerland who is looking for her first Olympic medal; and 2018 Olympic champion Anna Hasselborg, another Swede.Plus, Nick gives a medal count update, and discusses emotional podium finishes for Federica Brignone, the Italian Alpine skier, and American snowboarder Chloe Kim.

It's a big Winter Olympics for ice hockey. Why? The stars of the NHL are back on Olympic ice. And women's hockey is riding a wave of success from its record-breaking new league, the PWHL.Olympics.com producer ZK Goh joins host Nick McCarvel to break down the men's tournament, and we also hear from hockey great TJ Oshie, who believes NHL teammates will have no issue facing off against one another in the best-on-best format: "I think hockey players have a pretty easy time with that switch," he says. "When the game is on, it's whatever it takes. And when it's over, you shake hands and hug and hang out."On the women's side, the USA-Canada rivalry is one of the fiercest in all of sports, with the two teams facing off in the last four consecutive gold-medal games. Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin sits down one-on-one with Olympics.com producer Grace Goulding to discuss how the Olympics has shaped her as a leader - and why women's hockey is having such a moment."It's been amazing to see," she explains of the explosive growth. "And I'm really excited to see what's ahead, too."

Four years ago, Shane Pitter didn't know what bobsleigh was. An athletics teammate told him, "It's a thing where you get in a tiny little box and you push it down the ice."At Milano Cortina 2026, Pitter pilots not one but two Jamaican bobsleighs, while compatriot Mica Moore competes in the women's monobob. It marks a continuation of a fairy tale program for the Caribbean nation, with echoes of the 1990s cult classic movie, "Cool Runnings.""That movie inspires me," said Pitter, who is a spearfisherman back at home in Jamaica when he's not training on the icy track in Lake Placid, New York. "And it inspires me to do better at these Games."Jamaica's best-ever finish at an Olympics is 14th. Can they go better? "We want to make history," Pitter said.Listen to their respective stories, as told to Olympics.com team members Andy Elliott and Sinead Nelson. Plus, host Nick McCarvel checks in on some of the other feel-good stories from the first few days of the Games, gives an update on Lindsey Vonn, and explains just why tennis great Novak Djokovic couldn't believe what he was seeing on a visit to figure skating.

Four years after facing immense pressure at a home Games at Beijing 2022, Eileen Gu is evolved - and ready to tackle what she calls "my first second Olympics."The freestyle skiing superstar sat down exclusively with Olympics.com ahead of her competing at Milano Cortina 2026, where she is looking for a clean sweep of golds after winning a pair of them four years ago: "There's no burden," she explained. "There is nothing to defend, right, like, 'Defending gold medalist?' No, I'm here to compete - just like everyone else."Olympics.com reporter Andrew Binner joins host Nick McCarvel to discuss his Gu chat, and gives an update from snowy Livignio, where both freeski and snowboard are taking place. Binner also gives further insight on the status of snowboarding great, the three-time Canadian medallist Mark McMorris, after a scary crash.Plus, Nick meets Olympic fans from around the world at the Opening Ceremony, and we give you a taste of one of the Olympics.com athlete meet and greet livestreams, the first of which featured 2014 Olympic team bronze medallist in figure skating, Gracie Gold.

"I've always gotten back up," Lindsey Vonn told reporters on the eve of the Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026. The skiing legend is battling another injury - a torn ACL - following a crash last week in Switzerland, but remains determined to race in what would be her fifth career Games."I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate," she said.Vonn is the focus of our first official podcast from MiCo 2026, with competition underway - and the iconic Opening Ceremony set for Friday, 6 February. Olympics.com podcast host Nick McCarvel is joined by colleague Alessandro Poggi from Cortina to get further insight on Vonn's injury and the challenges it presents - while also taking a vibe check on the Italian mountain town, which is hosting women's Alpine skiing, curling and the sliding sports - bobsleigh, skeleton and luge.

We're officially just days away from kicking off the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, with competition set to get underway on 4 February - and the Opening Ceremony scheduled for the 6th.With that in mind, host Nick McCarvel is joined by fellow Olympics.com reporter ZK Goh to talk about some of the big must-know storylines ahead of the Games, including "Quad God" figure skating star Ilia Malinin, the comeback of Lindsey Vonn, the USA-Canada women's hockey rivalry, cross-country skiing great Johannes Klaebo and much, much more.Nick also gets audio dispatches from a handful of his other Olympics.com colleagues on the story they're most excited for - from ski jumping to Brazilian skeleton to the NHL's return to the Games and beyond.Plus, three-time Olympic snowboard champion Shaun White describes why, exactly, the Olympics are just so extraordinary for the athletes themselves in a blurb from his exclusive interview with reporter Annie Fast. 

There might be no story more awe-inspiring at Milano Cortina 2026 than that of Deanna Stellato-Dudek, a 42-year-old figure skater who left the sport for 16 years - only to return, and then win a world title.The Chicago native, who now competes for Canada, is the subject of a new Olympic Channel documentary called Deanna's Dream, which is available to stream for free now on Olympics.com."This story is way bigger than me," Stellato tells host Nick McCarvel in the latest episode of the podcast, which dives deep into Deanna's journey and the documentary surrounding it. "It's about all women at any age of life who feel like they want to change something and make something more of themselves.""I always think that my age provides me with a power," she adds, before laughing: "The only thing is that I have to put more work than my 20-year-old counterparts into just showing up the next morning."Stellato-Dudek and partner Maxime Deschamps are competing this week (9-11 January) at the Canadian Championships, where the duo is aiming for a fourth consecutive national title - and a berth to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.You can stream Deanna's Dream on Olympics.com now - for free.

Executive producers Malala Yousafzai and Arian Moayed sit down to discuss the film, Champions of the Golden Valley, and its many themes as the documentary is now streaming exclusively on Olympics.com."This such a powerful story about the people of Afghanistan and how much they desire peace in their community," Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Malala tells host Nick McCarvel on the pod. "And how skiing, a sport, can give hope to our community."Yousafzai and Moayed also hit on the refugee experience, the power of sport for girls and women internationally, the IOC Olympic Refugee team and much more in a wide-ranging conversation.You can also stream Champions of the Golden Valley now, available for free on Olympics.com.

There is set to be just one new sport added to the Olympic programme for Milano Cortina 2026, but it is one with historic roots in the Italian Alps.Ski mountaineering will feature both a sprint and mixed relay event in its Winter Olympic debut, and on this episode of the podcast, host Nick McCarvel dives deep - or rather, scales the mountain - to understand this fascinating sport, often set in the most picturesque of outdoor courses.Skimo stars Emily Harrop, Cameron Smith and Johanna Hiemer help to explain the sport and its many challenges in exclusive interviews on the pod, while Olympics.com producers Nadine Regel, Guillaume Depasse and Annie Fast lay out the many storylines to watch out for, including French superstar Thibault Anselmet and the Spanish duo of Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardonna Coll - among others.You can explore skimo even more with the new Olympic Channel documentary, Into the Unknown, which is out now exclusively on Olympics.com.

For the first time in four Winter Olympic cycles, alpine skiing is making a return to some of its most famed downhill tracks.Tucked in the Italian Dolomites, Cortina (women) and Bormio (men) will host Milano Cortina 2026's downhill competitions. In this episode, Nick McCarvel is joined by Olympics.com skiing expert Alessandro Poggi to break down just what that means to the athletes ahead of February.Nick and Ales also discuss some of the biggest storylines of the alpine skiing Olympic season, and then turn the episode over to the athletes, with exclusive interviews featuring American superstars Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, Brazil's trailblazer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway.

If you fall in love with the world of figure skating every four years, this episode is for you. Host Nick McCarvel and fellow Olympics.com producer Lena Smirnova sit down to discuss the biggest storylines in the sport ahead of February's Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026. And there's a lot of them!From the "Quad God" Ilia Malinin's dominance to the fascinating story of 42-year-old Deanna Stellato Dudek to the surprise comebacks of Olympic medallists and more, Nick and Lena bring reporting and insights into the must-know stories ahead of the Games. Lena also pulls the curtain back on the Olympics.com series Ink on Blades, which dives into the artistic process that Olympic programs go through before being presented to the world.Plus, hear from Malinin and fellow top American Isabeau Levito on everything from how they package their programs to creating a community of support among their fellow skaters.

Believe it or not, the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are only 100 days away!Host Nick McCarvel is joined by Olympics.com colleagues ZK Goh, Chloe Merrell and Nischal Schwager-Patel for a special countdown roundtable, focusing in on their Winter sports: Ice hockey, curling and ski jumping, respectively.They preview the top storylines in those disciplines and beyond, including the NHL’s return to the men’s hockey event, the inspiring story of the Filipino curling team, a 44-year-old Swiss ski jumper and much more.Plus, Nick speaks one-on-one with U.S. women’s hockey legend Kendall Coyne Schofield, who has returned to the Team USA roster after giving birth to a son in 2023. The goal? Gold. “That is absolutely correct,” she laughed.

For the first time since last year's Paris Olympics, the biggest stars in gymnastics are set to gather in one place - this time for the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - held in Jakarta, Indonesia."It's going to be interesting to see some of these new talents and how they step up into the spotlight," says Olympics.com gymnastics producer Scott Bregman, who joins host Nick McCarvel to help preview the event. Bregman is referring to an open opportunity for the women in attendance as Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade and reigning U.S. champion Hezly Rivera are all set to miss the competition.Bregman breaks down the big storylines to watch out for, including the return of another American, Skye Blakely, who has proven resilient after injury prevented her from making the U.S. Olympic team - twice.On the men's side, Scott says it could be a three-way race among 2021 world champion Zheng Boheng and the two most recent Olympic champions, Oka Shinnosuke (2024) and Hashimoto Daiki (2021). Don't sleep on Filipino Carlos Yulo, either, who will have plenty of support at the first-ever Gymnastics Worlds held in Southeast Asia.

With World Mental Health Day set for October 10th, this episode of the Olympics.com podcast checks in on the mental health movement in the Olympic space - which has morphed by leaps and bounds over just the last five years. In a roundtable discussion, Olympic figure skating medallist Gracie Gold, an IOC Mental Health Ambassador, is joined by Scott Sloan, the IOC's senior project manager for mental health, in conversation with host Nick McCarvel."When we say mental health, it's about aspiring to have good mental health... something in the shift there [that] I think is important," says Sloan about the changing mental health world."I think athletes are [now] feeling more comfortable to say like, 'There's this problem and I don't know how to fix it,'" added Gold, who wrote a memoir that detailed - in part - her own mental health journey. Now, she says, the response is: "'Let's just continue to find the answers. And knowing that while it's okay to not know the answer, it's not okay not to do anything about it."

There will never be another Olympian quite like Carl Lewis - on or off the track.The athletics superstar is a nine-time gold medallist, and navigated a nearly two-decade-long career that was full of headline-grabbing controversy. It’s all featured in a new Olympic Channel documentary, I’M CARL LEWIS!, which is out now and available for viewing in the USA and Japan.Lewis joins Olympics.com producer Scott Bregman for a discussion on the documentary, his reflections on his historic career, his turn as a pop culture phenomenon, as well as his thoughts on fellow Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, teenage sensation Gout Gout - and much more.Find the full documentary on Olympics.com now.

It's been a big season on the track for athletics stars Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Kenny Bednarek of the USA.McLaughlin-Levrone is the two-time reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles, but has thrown her version of a curve ball at the sport - switching events to the 400m flat.Bednarek, meanwhile, claimed his first-ever American title, winning the 100m last month before finishing runner-up to rival Noah Lyles in a heated final metres in the 200m, the two exchanging words after.Both McLaughlin-Levrone and Bednarek sit down with Olympics.com podcast host Nick McCarvel to discuss their respective successes, their memories from Paris 2024 and what's changed this season - all in the lead-up to the 2025 World Athletics Championships, which begin 13 September in Tokyo.

The US Open tennis tournament is underway in New York City - where some of the biggest stars, like defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are aiming for the year's final Grand Slam.But there are plenty of players who are looking for their next big breakthrough, too. Enter 23-year-old American Emilio Nava, son of parents who met at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and enters the event at a career-high world number 101.The Southern California native joins host Nick McCarvel to discuss what it was like to be raised by not one but two Olympians, then discusses what he took from four years of training in Spain under the eye of former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero - and alongside Carlos Alcaraz.While Nava would like to finally break into the world's top 100, he doesn't want to stop there: "My goals and my dreams are definitely a little bit bigger than that," he told us. One of them? To compete at LA 2028 for Team USA. "That's the absolute goal," he said of what would be a home Games for him - right where he grew up. 

"There were a lot of intense emotions that went with it," says gymnastics superstar Simone Biles when recounting her triumphant return to the Olympic stage, just over a year ago at Paris 2024. "There was always a part of me that thought, 'What if?' And I think that was my anxiety talking. So if I could lower that voice, then I felt more comfortable competing."We all know what happened next: Biles scooped up a second individual all-around gold days after leading the U.S. to the Olympic team title. For this episode of the Olympics.com podcast, she speaks one-on-one with longtime gymnastics reporter Scott Bregman, sharing with him that, yes, she had dealt with cases of the twisties that haunted her at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 ahead of Paris. But she wasn't going to let them get in her way, and cleared her path to success with consistent therapy and strict boundary-setting.Scott also speaks with Tokyo champion Sunisa Lee, who had her own comeback story in Paris after battling a rare kidney disease that threatened to end her career.Host Nick McCarvel gets Scott's perspective on the post-Paris lay of the land for American gymnastics, with the U.S. Gymnastics Championships set for 7-10 August in New Orleans.

July 26th marks one year since the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024, an eye-popping start to what proved to be an Olympic Games to remember.While household names like Simone Biles, Tom Daley and Katey Ledecky soared, new stars in Leon Marchand, Noah Lyles, Summer McIntosh and Julien Alfred introduced themselves to the global Olympic audience.We dive back into Paris in this special rewind episode, featuring stories you may have not yet heard of - both on and off the field of play. Olympic champions Hamish Kerr (athletics) and Toby Roberts (sport climbing) share what it meant to make history for their countries, and bronze medallist Gaby Dabrowski (tennis) details her journey to the podium - less than four months removed from a breast cancer diagnosis.We also hear from then-IOC President Thomas Bach about his reflections on Paris 2024, check in on the legacy being left behind in France with the IOC's Tania Braga and speak with Jerome Tschupp, one of over 45,000 volunteers from Paris 2024, about his passion for the role - and much, much more.--Re-live Paris 2024 landing page on Olympics.com: https://www.olympics.com/en/paris-2024-anniversary-relive-with-highlights-and-replays

Having combined for nine Olympic medals at Paris 2024, American swimmers Kate Douglass and Regan Smith deserved a little rest. The close friends join the Olympics.com podcast to discuss their downtime - and why they felt like it was so important as they both set goals ahead of LA 2028 in three years' time. Among other topics, Douglass details an altered training approach at her collegiate alma mater in Virginia in a chat with host Nick McCarvel, while Smith opens up about her rivalry with Australia's Kaylee McKeown with Andrew Binner - and much more.Both women are set to compete at this month's World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where the swimming gets underway on 27 July. 

Kasra Mehdipournejad wants you to understand something about refugees: "We are someone like you; we're not different," he says on the latest episode of the Olympics.com podcast. "Same, same. We are human." It's a stirring message from the member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in taekwondo, who reflects on his Paris 2024 experience with host Nick McCarvel with both World Refugee Day (20 June) and Olympic Day (23 June) top of mind. Mehdipournejad calls his Olympic debut "something really unique and different," and is already eyeing LA 2028. In the episode, he opens up on what his journey to the Games was like, how he'd like the Refugee Team to be an inspiration around the world and how his partner, Parisa, played a critical role in helping his dreams come true.--Relevant linksPau Gasol's full interview with Rafael Nadal from the International Athletes' Forum 2025:https://www.olympics.com/athlete365/news/iaf/tennis-legend-rafael-nadal-surprises-international-athletes-forum

British diver Tom Daley was just 14 years old when he made his Olympic debut at Beijing 2008. The now five-time Olympic medallist is a household name in the UK and beyond, and is sharing his story in a new Olympic Channel documentary, '1.6 Seconds.' Daley sits down with Olympics.com producer Scott Bregman to discuss the project, as well as reflect on his nearly two-decade-long career in the water - and how he navigated his biggest moments, including coming out as queer, the passing of his father, body image issues and more. Plus, fellow out Olympian Gus Kenworthy shares how Daley inspired him on his own journey.'1.6 Seconds' is now available on Olympics.com for the U.S. audience. The documentary is set for a wider release on 14 June.

Running is an activity over 600 million people participate in on a regular basis. This week on the podcast, we speak with two world-class runners who compete in vastly different running spheres: Marathoner Desiree Linden and 1500-metre specialist Yared Nuguse. Linden reflects on her decision to move on from marathoning earlier this year - but how she's far from done with running itself. Meanwhile, Nuguse - in our featured interview for the episode - speaks with olympics.com producer Matt Nelsen about how his calm demeanor away from the track helps him on it. And yes, about that epic Olympic men's final last year at Paris 2024, where he claimed bronze.  

"We are always going to get other teams' best shots," basketball legend Sue Bird tells host Nick McCarvel on the latest episode of the Olympics.com podcast. The five-time Olympic champion has been named as the first-ever managing director for the U.S. women at a time when the game has never been more popular. But as the USA has won eight Olympic golds in a row, the rest of the world is getting better - quickly. "We always know people aren't always cheering for us," Bird said of that international challenge. "And that's just a part of putting on that jersey; it's a part the pressure. It's part of what makes it great."

What has the pre-Olympic season brought about in the winter sports of curling, ice hockey, snowboard and free ski? Host Nick McCarvel is joined by Olympics.com colleagues Chloe Merrell, Andrew Binner and ZK Goh in a special roundtable episode to give their reporting insights on those respective sports and their qualifying events for Milano Cortina 2026. Plus, exclusive audio from Olympic gold medallists Anna Gasser and Zoi Sadwoski-Synnott, curling world champs Grant Hardie and Rachel Homan, and rising American ice hockey star Taylor Heise.

Did Alysa Liu ever dream she could be world champion after two years away from figure skating? And what piques Ilia Malinin's interest about time-travelling to post-Milano Cortina 2026? Olympics.com contributor Gracie Gold, the 2014 Olympic medallist, got those answers and much more for this week's podcast, which features full sit-downs with both of the American champs from the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston in late March.

Jason Brown was unsure if he'd be able to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships. But after finishing eighth, the fan favourite is more hopeful than ever that he'll make his third Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026 next year. He sat down in Boston with Olympics.com podcast host Nick McCarvel for a one-on-one chat - including his advice for teammate Ilia Malinin, the two-time world champ. Plus, contributor Gracie Gold offers her takeaways from a memorable Worlds ahead of the Olympic season.

"We all want it bad," 19-year-old Canadian snowboarder Cameron Spalding tells host Nick McCarvel on the latest episode of the Olympics.com podcast. The teenager claimed the snowboard slopestyle Crystal Globe ahead of the World Championships in what has been a breakthrough season for him. He discusses how Olympic medallist Mark McMorris has motivated Canada's next generation of boarders, the power of visualisation, his love for golf and how he's aiming for the Milano Cortina podium. 

"It is way harder than I thought," says three-time Olympic champion in bobsleigh, Kaillie Humphries, about the challenges she's faced in coming back after giving birth to her son Aulden in June. Humphries and tennis champion Petra Kvitova join a special episode of the podcast, centered around International Women's Day (on 8 March), to reflect on their respective journeys back to the sporting stage - and much more.

We're less than a year away from next February's Olympic Winter Games. Host Nick McCarvel is joined by Milano Cortina 2026 ambassador Carolina Kostner and organising committee member Marta Pagnini to find out just what it feels like in Italy as the Games draw ever closer. Kostner opens up on her role as flag-bearer at Torino 2006, while both women - each of them Olympic medal winners - talk of how they're living out the spirit of the Games in these respective roles. 

It's been a tragic week in figure skating after 28 members of its extended community died in the D.C.-area plane crash on 29 January. 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano joins host Nick McCarvel to discuss how the skating world is coping with the heart-wrenching moment. Boitano also shares memories of the great Dick Button, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, who passed away (separate from the crash) at age 95.

It's set to be a big year in Olympic sport, with official test events ahead of Milano Cortina 2026 and quota spots on offer. Olympics .com reporter ZK Goh breaks it all down with host Nick McCarvel. Meanwhile, Alessandro Poggi checks in from the mountainous slopes of Cortina with an update from Lindsey Vonn and a one-on-one sit-down with New Zealand skiing superstar Alice Robinson. 

What an Olympic year it was. In our final podcast of 2024, host Nick McCarvel is joined by Olympics.com editor in chief Mary Byrne and news producers Andrew Binner and Chloe Merrell for a roundtable discussion on the moments we won't soon forget from Paris and beyond. Plus, our team of producers from around the world share the Olympic moment that stuck with them the most.

USA's most successful cross-country skier, Jessie Diggins isn't done yet at age 33. The American talks openly about her battle with an eating disorder, and describes how she and her coaching team plan "super peaks" every four years for the Olympics - and much more. Plus, she explains to host Nick McCarvel just what, exactly, toe yoga is. Yes, toe yoga.

Rafael Nadal won 22 majors, two Olympic golds... and countless hearts around the world in his legendary two-decade tennis career. Host Nick McCarvel brings us thoughts from Rafa - and his Spanish teammate Carlos Alcaraz - from his farewell in Malaga, Spain, at the Davis Cup Finals. Nick is also joined by Olympics.com reporters Nischal Schwager-Patel and Marta Martin, who were in Malaga and weigh in on Nadal's final stand. Plus, Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt and Carla Suarez Navarro on the legacy of the "King of Clay." 

The hills are alive with the sound... and sight and speed of Alpine skiing this season, with the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 looming. Host Nick McCarvel is joined by Olympics.com resident skiing expert Alessandro Poggi to discuss the top storylines in the sport this year. Ales also shares one-on-one interviews with Norwegian-turned-Brazilian Lucas Braathen and American superstars Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn.

"The payoff is definitely worth it," Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles tells Olympics.com reporter Scott Bregman of her mental health work in a one-on-one sit-down on this episode of the podcast. It's an all-gymnastics episode, as Bregman joins host Nick McCarvel to give his takeaways from Biles' triumphant Paris 2024, and shares further interviews with Jordan Chiles, Ellie Black and Jade Carey.  

"My perspective has totally changed," says Alysa Liu, the 2022 world bronze medallist who retired over two years ago at 16. The American star joins host Nick McCarvel on this episode of the podcast to reveal how skiing (yes, skiing) brought her back to skating - and much more. Plus, Canada's two-time Olympian Kaitlyn Weaver on the many hats she wears in the skating world post-competitive life.

Lacrosse is set to return to the Olympics at LA 2028 as a medal sport for the first time since 1908. American Charlotte North is one of the standout stars of the game, and speaks one-on-one with host Nick McCarvel about how the Olympic platform could help lacrosse grow, and why she thinks the sport is so well-suited for the Games.

With the Paralympic flame extinguished at Paris 2024, we wrap up our coverage from the city of light with sit-down interviews with wheelchair fencer Bebe Vio, swimmer Abbas Karimi and the dynamic husband-wife duo of Hunter Woodhall and Tara Davis-Woodhall. Hosted by Nick McCarvel; interviews: Lorena Encabo.

The Paralympics are in full swing for Paris 2024. Olympics.com sits down with athletics star Nick Mayhugh and wheelchair rugby players Sarah Adam and Chuck Aoki to hear how they're shifting perspectives on Para athletes - while chasing the podium.

The Paralympic Games Paris 2024 are here! Host Nick McCarvel previews some of the top storylines to watch for with Olympics.com producer Lena Smirnova. Plus, wheelchair tennis star Dana Mathewson on how to grow the para movement - and what she's learned about resiliency.

As the Olympic Games Paris 2024 come to a close, host Nick McCarvel is joined by Olympics.com producers Andrew Binner and Ash Tulloch to discuss their lasting memories from the Games. Ash details the surfing in Tahiti, while the trio also chat about Leon Marchand, Antoine Dupont, Novak Djokovic - and their favourite moments from a memorable Games.