Episode 185: Olympic Gold Medalist Connor Fields on BMX Racing

Keep the Flame Alive

Connor Fields, reigning Olympic gold medalist in BMX racing, joins us to explain just how BMX is more organized chaos and less demolition derby. And he shares some interesting details about the BMX course we'll be watching at Tokyo 2020.

Follow Connor on Twitter, Insta and Facebook, and check out his website.

What are our TKFLASTANIs up to this week? We've got news from:

• Modern pentathlete Samantha Schultz
• Figure skater Meagan Duhamel
• Paralympic swimmer and long jumper John Register -- check out his foreword contribution to Bespoke Bodies: The Design and Craft of Prosthetics, by Amanda Hawkins and Sam Aquillano.

It's a big weekend for our Athletics TKFLASTANIs! Competing will be:

• Race walker Evan Dunfee attempting to set a world record for a 10K walk. Watch him race at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
• Hammer thrower DeAnna Price is competing at the USATF Grand Prix at Oregon Relays in Eugene OR. She throws at 2:50pm PT - catch the event on USATF.TV and NBCSN/Peacock
• Hurdler Dawn Harper Nelson is competing at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, IA. The stream's behind a paywall, but find more info here.

Throughout 2021 we're revisiting great stories from Atlanta 1996! For our Atlanta 1996 moment this week, Alison looks at mountain biking, which made its debut at these Games.

We also have Games Updates from: Tokyo 2020 (a giant skateboard!), Paris 2024 (sailing might lose a medal event) and Milan-Cortina 2026 (who's paying for that bobsled track renovation?).

And here’s the International Olympic Committee Executive Board met this week, so we report back from TBach's latest press conference with the results of the IOC's Rule 50 survey and how they're going to handle athletes' activist concerns. Will they allow podium protests at Tokyo 2020?

Photo courtesy of Team USA.

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Keep the Flame Alive: The Podcast for Fans of the Olympics and Paralympics with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown

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