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Most of us have a thing we loved once and quietly lost along the way.
A passion that made us light up. A curiosity we could talk about for hours. Something that made the world feel bigger - until life got busy and the people around us moved on.
For Lakewood’s Jill Jaracz, that thing was the Olympics.
Obsessed is an understatement.
And instead of letting it fade, she built something around it - a podcast, a community, and a year-round space for people who still feel that spark.
Some people watch the Olympics casually every four years. Others fall headfirst into them… and never quite come back out.
Jill is firmly in the second camp.
Her Olympic obsession began during LA 1984. As a kid growing up in Indiana and a competitive age-group swimmer, she tuned in to watch swimming - and was immediately hooked on everything else.
One moment sealed it: watching Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer tie for gold in the 100-meter freestyle. From there, Jill fell down a joyful rabbit hole of sports she’d never seen before and stories she couldn’t stop watching - plus that unmistakable Olympic feeling of the whole world coming together for a couple of weeks.
Years later, Jill was working as a research librarian in Chicago alongside Alison Brown, who had fallen in love with the Olympics herself watching Dorothy Hamill and Nadia Comaneci. During the Salt Lake City 2002 Games, the Olympics dominated their days - conversations, excitement, and even the torch relay passing through Chicago.
Then life did what life does.
Jobs changed. Geography changed. Jill became a freelance writer, Alison spent years working in the nonprofit sector, and the daily Olympic chatter disappeared.
By the time Rio 2016 rolled around, Jill had a full-blown case of Olympic Fever - but no water-cooler conversations to go with it. She turned to Olympic podcasts… only to discover that once the cauldron went out, so did the content.
So Jill had a very Midwest realization:
If you don’t see what you want, you build it yourself.
Fast-forward one year. Alison was traveling through Jill’s town, and over dinner Jill asked a simple question:
“What do you think about starting an Olympics podcast?”
Alison said yes immediately.
And in 2017, Keep the Flame Alive® was born.
This is the kind of joy I can get behind!
A Podcast That Refuses to Go Dormant
Hosted by Jill Jaracz and Alison Brown, Keep the Flame Alive® is the podcast for fans of the Olympics and Paralympics - not just during the Games, but all the time.
Each week, the show dives into:
how Olympic and Paralympic sports actually work
history and host city stories
the people behind the scenes who make the Games happen
During the Olympics and Paralympics, Jill and Alison release daily recap episodes, covering everything that happened that day — so fans never miss a moment.
When the cauldron is out?
They talk about everything that makes the Games what they are:
Why artistic swimmers use gelatin in their hair (and whether they have a favorite flavor)
Whether short-track speed skaters wear socks
What it feels like when a pole-vault pole snaps
And yes… how the chocolate muffin tasted at Paris 2024
They also shine a light on the people behind the scenes — from sport surfaces and medical staffing to photography, marketing, and announcing — plus deep dives into Olympic and Paralympic history through books, films, and their beloved “history moment” episodes.
The podcast has been featured on the BBC, BBC South, and in outlets including the Associated Press, and Jill and Alison are noted speakers on Olympic history and podcasting. They’ve been nominated multiple times for Sports Podcast Awards and earned a Women in Podcasting Award nomination.
A level of enthusiasm you cannot fake.
They’ve also been officially accredited for three Olympics and Paralympics - Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, and the upcoming Milano-Cortina 2026 - plus major events like the Team USA Media Summits, the 2024 U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials, and the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships.
(And yes - they once found themselves stuck in the mountains in China during Beijing 2022, unsure how they’d make it back to the city. Olympic adventures are real.)
👉 What to Watch for at the 2026 Winter Olympics (Plus Some Ohioans to Root For🤩)
The Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics begin February 6, 2026, and they’re shaping up to be special. This will be Italy’s third Winter Olympics - and the first truly regional Games, spread across Northern Italy.
✅ Here’s what Jill has her eye on (even if you swear you’re “not a sports person”):
🏒 Hockey
NHL players are back in the Olympics for the first time since 2014
USA vs. Canada in women’s hockey is always appointment viewing
Cleveland Heights native Laila Edwards is on the roster
🏂 Snowboarding
Rocky River’s Red Gerard, Olympic gold medalist, competes in his third Olympics
Will Chloe Kim three-peat in halfpipe? And will Myles Garrett be in Italy cheering her on?
⛸ Figure Skating
Team USA is stacked and could go home with multiple medals
Watch world champs Alysa Liu, the “Quad God” Ilia Malinin, and ice dancers Madison Chock & Evan Bates
Team USA could repeat gold in the team event after the long-delayed 2022 upgrade
🎿 Alpine Skiing
Lindsey Vonn has made a comeback at 41 and is looking like a true medal contender
Mikaela Shiffrin heading into her fourth Olympics
Silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle is one to watch
🏁 Speed Skating
Can Erin Jackson repeat gold in the 500m?
Jordan Stolz has been on fire — three golds isn’t out of the question
🧊 Curling
A changing of the guard: Team Casper replaces long-dominant Team Shuster for the U.S. men
🎯 Biathlon (Trust me)
Campbell Wright could win the U.S.’s first gold
Also: biathlon is wildly exciting and deserves your attention
🛷 Luge
Women’s doubles debuts for the first time ever
Americans Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby are ones to watch
Don’t Skip the Paralympics
If your Olympic fever lingers (it will), tune into the Paralympics March 6–15.
Highlights include:
U.S. sled hockey chasing a five-peat gold
Oksana Masters, competing in her fourth Winter Paralympics with 19 career medals
Wheelchair curling’s new mixed doubles event
Sit skiing and visually impaired alpine skiing — genuinely jaw-dropping
If there’s one takeaway here, it’s this:
Lucky for us, Ohio is full of amazing things and people.
Sometimes they become Olympic athletes.
Sometimes they become the storytellers who keep the Olympic flame alive year-round.
And sometimes, they build the thing they wish existed… and invite the rest of us along for the ride.
👉 New episodes of Keep the Flame Alive® drop every Thursday (and daily during the Games), and you can listen for free at keepflamealivepod.com or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow along on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube - and if you love talking Olympics with other people who get it, their Facebook group is waiting for you.
(Fair warning: once you’re in, you’re probably in for life.)
Learn more about the podcast:
flamealivepod.com/about
See what they’re covering for this year’s Olympics:
flamealivepod.com/milan-cortina
Help Jill & Alison fund their coverage of the Games:
flamealivepod.com/support
Much Love,
P.S. If you’re looking for something to do this week in NEO, check out this immersive experience about the cosmos at The Great Lakes Science Center Dome Theater. It looks so cool! 🪐💫🤩
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