Hello Listeners!
HAPPY OLYMPIC YEAR!! We're less than 200 days away from the Tokyo Olympics! We're partly super excited...and partly scared to death because we've got a lot to do. Hope you're buckled in for the ride!
--Jill
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A Peek Behind the Olympic Fever Curtain
I hate having to post this. Unfortunately a "fatal error" an my audio file upload that I couldn't figure out delayed the release of our Leah Fair episode. Sometimes, when it's 3am and your brain is shot, the best thing is to sleep on it and try again in the morning. Guess what? Zero problems when I tried later on in the morning.
This issue was just the icing on the cake for the production of this episode, so here's a true behind-the-scenes look on what happened. When you listened to the episode, did you notice a bunch of clicks or glitches in words? If you didn't, I can breathe a sigh of relief.
If you did, well, that was way better than the audio file I started with.
When we taped with Leah, I was on the road and set up in a hotel room outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's a place with some pretty high hills.
Even though I was on my own wireless connection, Skype proved to be nothing but glitchy, and no matter what we did, Skype would freeze and cause a pause that lasted anywhere from a half a second to a couple of seconds, often in the middle of a word. Alison and I would hold our breaths and hope that Skype would un-freeze.
During editing it took a lot of extra work just to make words recognizable (and that's before I had to edit down the usual mumbo-jumbo that accidentally comes out of our mouths--you Bronze Medal+ Patreon patrons know what I'm talking about. If you're not a patron, get access to some great outtakes today).
This was a shame because our guest, "Next Olympic Hopeful" skeleton winner Leah Fair was so lovely and so interesting. One thing she talked about that really resonated with me was the very frank fact that in some sports, age can be an issue when you're trying to get to that upper echeon--and sometimes you have to make bold choices to achieve your dreams. We hope the route Leah has chosen will help her achieve her dream!
If you haven't heard it yet, listen to the newest "Next Olympic Hopeful" winner episode. We're so excited to welcome Leah to Team Olympic Fever, and we're looking forward to following her career!
photo: Noah Abrams for Team USA, courtesy of Leah Fair
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Favorite Olympic Moments
Contributor Ben shared this week's favorite Olympic moment, the finals of the +80kg final in Taekwondo at London 2012. This match is between Anthony Obame of Gabon and Carlo Molletta of Italy. It's a great match that results in Gabon's first-ever Olympic medal.
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Have a favorite Olympic moment that you want to share? Email us a link to the video, and we'll include it in a future newsletter!
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Obame vs. Molletta - Taekwondo +80kg final - London 2012.
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Maranovela Update
You'd think that our maranovela would be on hiatus until we got to the actual Games themselves, but we get this little spin-off: Sapporo has formalized its intention to bid for the 2030 Winter Games.
What does the 2030 Winter Games have to do with the maranovela?
Well......as Inside the Games wrote, Sapporo made a special mention of the fact that they were hosting the marathon and hoped it would prove the city's ability to host major events.
If this is a game of chess, that was a great move.
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What We're Reading/Listening/Watching
- The Suspect, of course!
- The Final Report of the National Weather Service Olympic Support Unit for Lake Placid 1980 might be the best official report we've ever read. Sample quote (I am not making this up): "Here it is, boys. Your new office. 230 sq. ft. (80 sq. ft. less than expected) of debris-strewn space in bare basement of Old Olympic Arena. No windows, no phones, no furniture, no electricity, and no heat. All the comforts of home...."
- I saw the movie Richard Jewell on New Year's Day, so now I can catch up on everything that's been posted in our Facebook Group. The acting is great, but I'd really love to sit down with lead Paul Walter Hauser. He's been in two Olympics-related movies now. What Olympic story does he want to do next? What should he do next? Let me know!
- Our Team Olympic Fever hurdler Dawn Harper Nelson is in this interesting roundtable put together by The Players' Tribute. These athletes talk about what it's like to be a female athlete and try to make money from sponsorship deals.
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Tell a Friend!
2020 means more people care about the Olympics, which means even more fans we can get geeky with. Help us find our people! Share this newsletter, tell someone about the show or post about us on social. We'd appreciate it, and thank you so much for your support!
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Sponsors and Support
RR Auction is internationally recognized as a trusted source for Olympic Memorabilia and other collectible categories, including Space and Aviation, Rare Manuscripts and Documents, Presidential Memorabilia and much more!
RR Auction has Olympics-focused auctions twice a year. Its January auction is online now, and bidding starts THIS WEEK! Check out some of these amazing items up for bid, including torches, medals (someone's selling a gold medal from Rio), a fancy sweater, tickets and MUCH more!
Register for the auction today, and be sure to tell them Olympic Fever Podcast sent you (seriously--we want this campaign to be successful)! RR Auction items make great belated holiday gifts (or early Valentine's Day presents; you decide)!
And our Team Olympic Fever Update sponsor:
Join the largest online Olympic pin collecting community! Show off your collection, get its value, and buy/sell/trade at lower prices than other platforms! Check out PinCollector today!
Thanks to our Patreon patrons for supporting the show. All Patreon patrons get our snazzy new Olympic Fever pin, and there are other fun perks as well!
If you'd like to get a pin, but don't want the monthly commitment, donate with our Paypal button. Donating $20 or more will also get you a pin!
Need some new workout shirts? Check out our TeePublic store today!
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