Olympics.com Podcast

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."

How curling is sweeping up Olympic fans again for Milano Cortina 2026

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