Olympic Channel 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