海角大神

Episode transcript

Kendra Nordin Beato: 鈥奍t鈥檚 been just over a century since the first Winter Olympics brought 16 nations together in the French Alps in 1924. The gutsy and artistic feats of those early competitors introduced winter sports to the masses, inspiring generations of athletes to strap on skates, skis, and launch sleds down icy slopes.

Mark Sappenfield, the Monitor鈥檚 global correspondent, has had a front row seat at seven Olympics. Those include four winter Games in Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver, and Sochi. He returns this year with our reporter Story Hinckley to cover the 2026 Milan Cortina winter Games. The winter Games are also Mark鈥檚 favorite Olympics.

He recently wrote an essay for the Monitor titled 鈥淲hy I Love the Winter Olympics.鈥� He鈥檚 here with us today to share his thoughts.

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Nordin Beato: This is 鈥淲hy We Wrote This.鈥� I鈥檓 Kendra Nordin Beato, guest host of this podcast and the Monitor鈥檚 Olympics editor. Mark, it鈥檚 nice to have you with us.

Mark Sappenfield: It鈥檚 good to be here.

Nordin Beato: So Mark, what is it about Olympic events held across land of ice and now that to you feels more appealing or dramatic than the summer Games.

Sappenfield: Well, part of it that I didn鈥檛 get in that article is that, I just grew up in a place in northern Michigan where you got lake-effect snow. I was like in middle school before I realized that it wasn鈥檛 normal for every place on earth to have snow from Thanksgiving until April. I just thought that鈥檚 what winter was. You know you watch Charlie Brown, and there鈥檚 snow. And you watch all these things, and there鈥檚 snow. And so it was like 鈥� yeah, there鈥檚 just snow, and there鈥檚 lots of snow. So that鈥檚 just kind of the natural state for me, is to see snow. And so there鈥檚 something just kind of like coming home when you go to the Winter Olympics, because it has snow, or usually it has snow. You know, the Summer Olympics, I鈥檝e been to three Summer Olympics, and they鈥檙e fantastic. They鈥檙e amazing. So comparing them is kind of like apples and oranges. But you do get in the Winter Olympics absolute craziness. And that鈥檚 something that you maybe get a little bit, they鈥檝e started to try and add a little bit to the summer Games, you know, with the BMX, and then they had the break dancing and things like that. They鈥檙e trying to add a little bit of that X Games feel to it.

But to be honest, that really, I mean, it started originally, you know, when you鈥檙e doing ski jumping, that鈥檚 crazy. And that鈥檚 been happening ever since the Winter Olympics almost started.

But then they鈥檝e really leaned into it with all the snowboarding events and all the, you know, free skiing events, and adding skeleton, and, you know, all these different things. They鈥檙e the danger games. There鈥檚 just an element of like, Oh my gosh, I can鈥檛 believe a human is attempting that.

Nordin Beato: OK, as someone who loves the summer Games, I鈥檓 gonna push back just a little bit here. What about gymnastics? I mean, look at Simone Biles, who generates mind-dizzying height and complicated twists in bare feet.

Sappenfield: Yeah, exactly. You know, it鈥檚 not like you have to say one is better than the other. You know, you think of who鈥檚 the greatest football player ever, and you can say it鈥檚 this or this. But the fact is they鈥檙e all great. And, you know, I love going to the Summer Olympics, too. You know, the difference is that when you do the Winter Olympics, you start getting things strapped onto humans that make them do things that make them even more crazy. So Simone Biles going and running down the mat the way she does and doing all the flips is phenomenal. But then you put ice skates on someone, and you鈥檙e going twice as fast. You put skis on someone and they鈥檙e going four times as fast. And it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 pushing the boundaries. It really just kind of amps up the difficulty level in ways that, I think it comes across on TV, but I think when you see it in person, just the sensory experience.

You know, I wish people could hear a bobsled run. A bobsled run is just this concussive thing, actually quite terrifying. If you鈥檙e standing next to the track, when the sled goes by, you feel it reverberating through your body, and it鈥檚 this deep, guttural crunching, like, holy moly, you know, people are just going down that thing, and there鈥檚 a lot of force behind that. But even when you talk about Alpine skiing, there鈥檚 this kind of crunching, crackling, kind of scrappy sound that, it鈥檚 just like, these people are just hanging on by their toenails to do these things, and they鈥檙e doing it at 80 miles an hour. And you just, being there in person, it鈥檚 quite awe-inspiring.

Nordin Beato: I love that. I mean, in your essay, 鈥淲hy I love the Winter Olympics,鈥� you have this great turn of phrase, 鈥渁 teeth-chattering, bone-rattling infusion of rocket fuel.鈥� And I really want to encourage listeners to find and read your essay on our website because it鈥檚 full of delightful turns of phrase like that. So thank you, Mark, for putting readers right at rinkside, slopeside. And it鈥檚 really true, I mean, anyone, an average human who has tried to strap on skis and ski down a slope, the very first time it鈥檚 very terrifying. So I can鈥檛 imagine what it feels like at 80 miles an hour.

Sappenfield: Yeah. And growing up skiing, and I did a little bit of very basic ski racing, like when I was, late elementary school, but you know, like for a season or two, nothing serious. And I would go skiing for the rest of my life. But the way these people go down that run 鈥� and of course you can see it, cause you鈥檙e watching it, but just going, especially the downhill, the super G, the speed events, like, the amount of strength that it takes to be able to hold that line is just unbelievable. And I think that鈥檚 one of the reasons it鈥檚 so hard for the Winter Olympics, is because lots of people don鈥檛 do these things. So, you know, I did alpine skiing. So when I watch that I can look at it and have a real appreciation for it. You know for a lot of people, these things are very foreign.

So I feel like, thank you for what you said, Kendra. I think part of my job is to try and make it relatable, make it understandable. You know people can understand a hundred meter dash. People can understand a long jump. Even a pole vault, which is a little bit weird, you can still get the idea. You know, when you鈥檙e talking about the luge, OK, yes, we all had, you know, many of us had a sled and we went down there, but it鈥檚 kind of a whole different ball of wax. And it鈥檚 interesting, it鈥檚 fun to try and really inhabit that space and try and bring it across in a really visceral kind of way.

Nordin Beato: Yeah. Well, you talk about growing up in a snowy place, and I certainly relate, having grown up in Wisconsin and New Hampshire. And small fact aside, Eric Heiden and Beth Heiden went to my elementary school. I was, you know.

Sappenfield: You taught them everything they knew, right?

Nordin Beato: No we were the little kids getting their autographs, but their quads were ginormous.

Sappenfield: Yes.

Nordin Beato: But anyway, so, you know, you grew up in a snowy place. As a reporter, how do you survive the assault of the physical elements of winter as you鈥檙e trying to chase down these athletes, and get a quote after they鈥檝e completed a run or a performance?

Sappenfield: For me it鈥檚 not hard, because since I grew up in cold and snow, it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 cold, wear more clothes, sort of thing. So, you know, you helped me on this story that we鈥檙e talking about, a separate story that was the cover story, it was an icy sheet, and you had to put on crampons.

Nordin Beato: Yes.

Sappenfield: So sometimes you have to do that stuff. But I think it speaks to this kind of adventure. There鈥檚 a sense of adventure in the winter Games that, as wonderful as the summer games are, they just can鈥檛 quite do [it] in the same way. And you know, the idea of having to navigate icy slopes even as a journalist, you know, it鈥檚 just kind of fun. You know, it feels like you鈥檙e doing something, as opposed to just you know walking down an asphalt street.

Nordin Beato: Right? You鈥檙e being an athlete yourself. I mean, a little bit.

Sappenfield: A little bit, yes, in a very small way.

Nordin Beato: Well, yeah, except for, the difference is you have to stand around a lot. You know, it鈥檚 not like you get the benefits of moving or wearing skis. That was, my shocking discovery was riding the ski lift up without skis.

Sappenfield: It鈥檚 a weird sensation, isn鈥檛 it?

Nordin Beato: Very vulnerable. Yeah, it was very funny.

Sappenfield: Yeah, so I mean, you know, you get the hand warmers, and you figure it out.

Nordin Beato: OK, well, there are 3,000 accredited journalists covering the Milan Cortina Games, not to mention the new kids on the media block, the social media influencers.

Sappenfield: Mm-hmm. I have seen them.

Nordin Beato: Oh, yeah?

Sappenfield: They鈥檙e easy to spot. They鈥檙e totally doing a different game. Like, you鈥檙e over there doing it. They鈥檙e like taking selfies and like asking them these really weird questions. You鈥檙e like, yep, they鈥檙e doing a different thing than I am. But more power to them. I鈥檓 sure a ton of people watch them.

Nordin Beato: Yes, all the TikTok hits, everything. But OK, so how do you handle the big stories that everyone else will be covering, such as Maxim Naumov, the American figure skater who lost his parents in a plane crash, or the hopeful return of Alpine racer Lindsey Vonn [she would crash out of the Games on Feb. 8, 13.4 seconds into the downhill final]? How does looking for the Monitor angle help you identify stories that may be overlooked?

Sappenfield: I mean, on some level, we鈥檙e all partial to the work that we do. So there鈥檚 one part of me that just hopes that, you know, we are all different, so if you see, if you give a little bit of the sense of how things look through your eyes, hopefully you give us slightly different flavoring of what鈥檚 going on than someone else. And that鈥檚 good. You know, there鈥檚 a really good reporter, he used to be for The Wall Street Journal. He might be for The Athletic now. I don鈥檛 know. But I always read his stuff. I鈥檝e met him before. And you can just kind of see him in his stories. And that means they鈥檒l be a little different from mine. And I loved them. But hopefully I can add that same kind of flavoring too.

But I do think that covering it for the Monitor, I think sometimes the humanity at the games can become a little bit saccharine and a little bit formulaic. The struggling athlete overcoming all these things 鈥� and that is 100% true. But I think there鈥檚 a way of trying to get beneath that to the actual emotions of the person. And the only way you can really do that is by observing them. And obviously someone like NBC, they have much much much more access than we do. Generally I don鈥檛 get access to individual athletes at all. I鈥檓 watching them as other people are interviewing them, but that鈥檚 a lot of what I鈥檒l do.

So they have this thing after, it could be after a race, it could be after a heat, it鈥檚 called the mixed zone, and what it means is, and you know this, Kendra, because you saw it when you went to the thing that you did recently, is that they finish their run, their heat, whatever, and then they have to kind of walk through a labyrinth. It鈥檚 usually kind of laid out like a maze, and they have to walk through it, and at each corner of the maze, there鈥檚 a different place so you can get鈥� The visual media, NBC always goes first, and I鈥檓 not kidding, like literally because they鈥檝e paid so much money. In the mixed zone, NBC is always first. And basically, NBC talks their heads off. So by the time they鈥檙e finished with NBC, then they just want to get through the rest of the mix zone. But these are people who really want to promote their sports too. So they鈥檙e generally very generous with their time, and they recognize it鈥檚 in their own best interests to stop and talk to people. And they will, most of them, not all.

But by the time they get to the [print] press journalists, they鈥檝e already gone through a bunch of people because the TV people always come first. But oftentimes, what will happen is all the media people, the press people for the newspapers, will all crowd up against the fence, and they鈥檒l lean in toward them, and they will all stick their microphones in their faces. And obviously for microphones, it鈥檚 recording equipment. It鈥檚 not actually recording it for a TV thing, because that came earlier. And they鈥檒l all try and elbow in their question. It鈥檚 a classic, what you would imagine journalists to look like.

Nordin Beato: Like a mosh pit.

Sappenfield: Exactly. I look at it and cringe a little bit, like, 鈥淥h my gosh, I鈥檓 a part of this.鈥� What I generally do is, I鈥檓 tall, which helps, I鈥檒l just kind of hang back a little and watch. And I watch how they react. I listen to how they鈥檙e answering a question with what tone of voice. Are they being patient? Are they impatient? How does that reflect on the run? Because in the Olympics, you just won the gold medal, how are you handling that? You just didn鈥檛 win the gold medal, how are you handling that?

Nordin Beato: Yeah.

Sappenfield: And I try to be an observer. And then if you do a lot of reading, too, you can begin to knit together deeper parts of the story. And, you know, I probably don鈥檛 have the access to do it to the level that some others do. But I feel like I can add something from my own experiences. And, one person I particularly followed a lot, because I found her very, very interesting, again, being an alpine skier, is Mikaela Shiffrin. I went to several media events where she was. I would just hang around in the vicinity and just watch her. And what I always appreciated is that she鈥檚 such a technician. She鈥檚 very scientific about how she approaches her sport. And it was just interesting to see how that came through and how she dealt with the media. And so in Sochi, that was her first Olympics, some of the stories I wrote were about watching her and how she expressed herself in this very, I mean, very scientific way, even when talking with journalists. She always wanted to take things in and analyze them. Which is very much when you read stories about her, you know, who she is. So I mean, I think you can mash all that together and get a picture that hopefully, if not unique, then gives a different flavor than you get with the 3,000 other journalists doing it.

Nordin Beato: You were talking about tricks, so let鈥檚 talk about tricks. The freestyle skiers and snowboarders on the half pipe are masters of innovation, always looking for ways to up their tricks, like the triple cork 1440. And for listeners at home, that鈥檚 snowboard speak for launching off a 22-foot-high half pipe followed by four flips and four full rotations. What about skating? Are we at the edge of what can be done in the rink? I mean, the half pipe, I imagine, it can always get creative, but you can only get so high above the ice.

Sappenfield: You know, you want to say yes, because the hardest jump in skating is called the axel. And the reason it鈥檚 hard is that you take off going forward and you land going backwards. So it means a triple axel is actually three and a half rotations. There are three other jumps. And those are all, you start going backward and you鈥檒l land going backward. So those are three rotations. Axel is three and half. And you鈥檝e got people doing triple axels, you have people doing quads, and you just are like. How can they keep going on this? So I mean, you鈥檇 think that they are reaching the level of it, but we鈥檝e thought that before. And so I think someone鈥檚 gonna hit a quint, at some point, you know, five rotations. It sounds crazy, but there鈥檚 just so much in sports that we thought was impossible that turns out not to be. Now, could you actually do six rotations? I think at some point, you鈥檙e saying, yeah, we鈥檙e done. We can鈥檛 keep going. But I鈥檇 be loath to say there鈥檚 nothing ahead. It feels to me like there might be a little bit more space to push into. We鈥檒l see.

Nordin Beato: OK, well, we鈥檙e talking about creativity, and quite frankly, a lot of the risk the winter athletes infuse into their sports. So let鈥檚 go bonkers for a minute and imagine the Winter Olympics 25 years from now. What might that look like? I mean, this year we鈥檝e got the new sport of mountaineering.

Sappenfield: Yeah, ski mountaineering.

Nordin Beato: What else, you know, what鈥檚 something new that we might see, based on the creativity and the risk that is so common to the winter Games?

Sappenfield: Well, I think, you know, you talked about just being able to constantly ramp up tricks. The other big event for that is called the big air. And, you know, that is with the half pipe, you obviously go down a half pipe, and you go up, and you do generally three to four tricks when you鈥檙e going down the half pipe. The big air is literally just one gigantic trick. You go off, not quite like a ski jump, but similar. And there, I think, the most recent one, I think, was a 2340.

And you know, I think there will continue to be that. I think you also get people doing these tricks more smoothly and more elegantly. You know, if you go back to when some of these tricks were originally being done, you know, it looks like they were just hanging on by their toenails to do these things, but now they鈥檙e doing them relatively easily.

Nordin Beato: Or even early ski jumping, early videos of ski jumping. You talk about in your essay the agony of defeat.

Sappenfield: No, and it does. It looks like they were playing with chopsticks back then. It鈥檚 like they jump and it鈥檚 like, they go three feet. And like, oh, that鈥檚 what it looks like. Whereas now it鈥檚 so powerful. But I think that鈥檚 inevitable. And I think that will always happen. I think one of the things that Story Hinckley and I, the person who鈥檚 doing this along with me, have talked about is that there鈥檚 always this balance between artistry and athleticism. And that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 really big in gymnastics, too, as you talked about in the Summer Games.

The Olympics have very much recently 鈥� really since Salt Lake, when there was the Salt Lake judging scandal 鈥� have really tried to emphasize athleticism over artistry, because athleticism is ultimately what it鈥檚 about a sport. You can also judge athleticism much better than you could judge artistry because artistry tends to be. You know, you just notice a very great difference in how people view it between Russians and Americans in figure skating, for example. You know they just value different things and so you can look at the Russians say, oh they鈥檙e biased but they just see it differently. They see artistry differently. And so the Olympics have gone much more toward athleticism and you see that exactly with what we鈥檙e talking about in figure skating. Figure skating has gone away from artistry and more towards doing tricks that can be judged much more easily and, one would say, fairly.

But you do wonder is as you start getting toward the limits of these things, you do wonder if there鈥檚 gonna be a push back toward artistry because if you really can鈥檛 do a quadruple axle, if it鈥檚 just not possible, then it鈥檚 like, how cleanly can you do the best jump? So you鈥檙e doing a bunch of quads, everyone starts doing a punch of quods, but it鈥檚 how cleanly do you land it? What鈥檚 the speed on entering it? I don鈥檛 know, but I could imagine that you could see kind of a little bit of a return to artistry. Because that鈥檚 what鈥檚 gonna, these fine margins, that鈥檚 where it鈥檚 gonna distinguish those two. And the other thing that you see, somewhat in the Summer Games, but again, more in the Olympics, is the importance of equipment. And I don鈥檛 know if you remember this, but maybe 12, 16 years ago, they invented the clap skate, which is something when you鈥檙e doing the long track speed skating, not the short track, but the long track. It was something where the back had a hinge on it, so the actual skate was not attached to the back in the way it was saying it was to the front, and it kept the. The blade on the ice fractionally longer which gave you a little bit more push, and that revolutionized times, like world records just fell after that.

And so you can imagine, can there be, and obviously the sports have to agree to this, but could there be some technological developments in figure skating that change the nature of the skates that give you more width, that allow you more jump? I don鈥檛 know, but people are always looking for that little bit extra. And I can imagine technology might be where you find some of those fine margins as kind of those limits of human ability get reached.

Nordin Beato: Right. Well, let鈥檚 talk about one of the events that requires peak physical conditioning鈥�

Sappenfield: Curling!

Nordin Beato: Yes!

Sappenfield: I knew it.

Nordin Beato: All right, in your column, you poke fun at curling. Like, who even cares about this sport, where people furiously sweep....

Sappenfield: Right, but it was from love! I鈥檓 playing it up.

Nordin Beato: OK, but in 2010, you wrote an explainer from Vancouver about curling and that story still gets tons of online views every time the Winter Olympics rolls around. What鈥檚 so fascinating about curling?

Sappenfield: Well, I think it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 on and people don鈥檛 know what it is. And so they turn it on.

Nordin Beato: [Laughs.] So it鈥檚 like curiosity. It鈥檚 like, 鈥渨ell, what am I seeing?鈥�

Sappenfield: If you have Peacock, which is the streaming service in the United States that does this, they have a channel that probably just does curling all the time. So you鈥檙e flipping through and you鈥檙e watching curling and you鈥檙e like, 鈥渨hat is going on here?鈥� And so you Google, 鈥渨hat is curling?鈥� And I think just knowing how these things work, it tends to be a viral sort of thing that once something gains some momentum, then it鈥檚 like a tumbling stone down the hill that gains more. And so I think my story probably got some initial momentum because I did have fun with it. The whole idea was to kind of pretend that here you are, this kind of ignorant person who鈥檚 just tuning in going, 鈥渨hat the heck is going on?鈥� And I just kind of went with that and had fun with that. But I mean, it鈥檚 the idea of trying to explain what they鈥檙e talking about.

And I lived in India for a while and watched cricket. And cricket is a sport where it has its own language. Literally if you come in and watch a cricket match, you have no idea what they鈥檙e talking about. They could be talking in a completely different language. And curling has a little bit of that; there are just these terms that if you don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e talking about, it鈥檚 completely mystifying so you do have to not only understand what they are doing, you have to understand the words that they use when they talk about it. So there鈥檚 a lot of de-densifying to do, and you know the goal was to do that in a way it was entertaining and not just, you know. Here are the rules of curling. The house means, you know, the button. What is the button? What is a draw? What is the hammer? You know, how do you do that in an entertaining way?

Nordin Beato: Have you been to many Olympic curling matches?

Sappenfield: Not a ton. The one that I did from Vancouver, I think I was at that match. They all blur together now, but I think was at the match and that鈥檚 why I did that.

Nordin Beato: And what is it like seeing it in person? Is it like watching paint dry? I don鈥檛 know. I mean, you鈥檙e what? It鈥檚 like pool, but then there鈥檚 a broom and 鈥�.

Sappenfield: First of all, all the teams are playing at the same time. So you鈥檝e got a sheet of about five or six different sheets right next to each other, and they鈥檙e all playing at the same time, so it鈥檚 a question of which one you want to look at. And there are obviously fans that are watching different ones, so fans will cheer, and if you鈥檙e watching a different one, you鈥檙e like, why are they cheering? And it鈥檚 because something happened on the other one. And so there鈥檚 some, there鈥檚 a little bit of that when you鈥檙e watching it in person, and I guess for the final it wouldn鈥檛 be the case, but this is for the kind of preliminary rounds. There鈥檚 a little bit of that kind of split-screen TV, which is you can kind of flip channels, and it鈥檚 like, I鈥檓 gonna watch sheet one, or sheet two, or sheet three. It鈥檚 fun when you can hear the crowd really starting to get excited about something, and you switch over and you kind of watch that one. I mean, with all these Olympic sports, there鈥檚 something communal about it.

And a lot of the people who go to watch, yes, there are just people who are from the local area who probably don鈥檛 know a lot about that sport. They鈥檙e just there to get kind of the Olympic thing. But there鈥檚 always people there who are family and friends, and there are always people that have traveled there for that. And if you kind of dial into those people, that鈥檚 very infectious in a good way is that you can kind of there鈥檚 always a core of people who cared passionately about it and know what鈥檚 going on and you can ride those coattails and get kind of in on that.

Nordin Beato: Reflecting back on your more than 20 years of Olympics reporting, do you have a favorite moment that stands out to you?

Sappenfield: I suppose, you know, there are ones from just things that I enjoyed because I enjoy alpine skiing. I became a huge Bode Miller fanboy just because the way he skis is crazy 鈥� or he did ski, when he did it. And I remember watching him in an event where he literally fell in the middle of the run, got up, kept going and then ended up getting a silver, I think.

Nordin Beato: Wow. Or he finished one run and one ski, I think, right?

Sappenfield: That was not in the Olympics. But yes, that was a very famous downhill where he lost his ski halfway down and just kept going. And it鈥檚 like that became an incredible video. And everyone who knew skiing loved him after that, because that was just like such an insane thing. He actually went into a tuck at one point, which is just like so Bode Miller. And then, you know, Mikaela Shiffrin is the opposite. And I mean, they both are technicians, just in completely different ways. So seeing her win gold was great. But I think, to me, what has stood out the most is when the host cities really get into it. And I just remember walking the streets of Vancouver and just thinking these people are loving it.

Nordin Beato: Hmm.

Sappenfield: When the Olympics are right, when they hit the right note, I鈥檝e covered a fair amount of sports and there鈥檚 just nothing like it. And you know, that again, sounds very cliche, you know, the Olympic spirit, but it鈥檚 true. There鈥檚 something to the Olympics that鈥檚 unique and there is a sense of legitimate camaraderie. There鈥檚 a sense of genuine fellowship that happens at the Olympics that you see in the sports but is reflected in the host cities when they really take that spirit themselves. You saw that in Salt Lake, but I guess the one where I felt it the most was in Vancouver, because Vancouver was fairly warm weather. They had the Alpine up at Whistler, but within Vancouver, it was probably 40, 50 degrees. So it wasn鈥檛 that. So people were out on the streets. There was this kind of street life that was happening there. And especially, you really remember after Canada won the gold medal in the hockey match, they were just so excited. And it was just fun. There was something vicarious about just kind of riding along that wave and just enjoying the moments that I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l ever forget.

Nordin Beato: Oh, I love that. Well, what are you looking forward to at the Milan Cortina Games?

Sappenfield: You know, I think it鈥檚 just all of it. And now, unfortunately, with the way the Winter Olympics are going, they鈥檙e getting more and more spread out. I remember that my first Olympics in Salt Lake City, pretty much all the venues were within 45 minutes of one another. Now you鈥檝e got some venues that are five and a half hours away, so you just can鈥檛 cover the whole Olympics. But I mean, Salt Lake, Turin, even Sochi, it鈥檚 like sports tourism. You know it鈥檚 like you get to do curling in the morning and ice hockey in the afternoon, and then speed skating in the evening. It is literally a festival of sports. And for someone who really loves both sports and also the inspiration that sports inspire, to be redundant, it鈥檚 fantastic. And I think just being there and soaking it up, and being able to see the diversity of what goes on, you know, I鈥檒l, I鈥檓 going to be at Milan to start, and I want to see the short track speed skating. That鈥檚 crazy. Like what they do in short track speed skating is insane. It鈥檚 hard to explain. The acceleration, when these people hit, they do this thing where they go around slowly, slowly, but it鈥檚 like they literally flip a switch and it鈥檚 like they鈥檙e gone. It鈥檚 unbelievable to watch, because then the other ones hit it and it鈥檚 the kind of jailbreak thing, and it鈥檚 really cool.

Nordin Beato: Right.

Sappenfield: Later, I鈥檓 going to go out and see some alpine skiing. I鈥檓 gonna go watch Mikaela Shiffrin鈥檚 event, so I鈥檒l see that. Maybe I鈥檒l do some bobsled, the woman who I talked to for the cover story you and I wrote, Elana Myers Taylor. She鈥檚 just a world-class human being, so I鈥檇 love to see her be able to bring something back. So, you know, just see it and soak it in. It鈥檚 a unique experience, and you just never know if you鈥檙e ever gonna go again. So just enjoy it while you鈥檙e there.

Nordin Beato: Well, we are looking forward to your coverage, Mark, and we wish you well and your pockets full of hand warmers as you head off to Milan.

Sappenfield: Thank you. No, it鈥檚 going to be great and really excited to do it.

Nordin Beato: And thanks to our listeners. Find links to the story you just heard discussed in our episode show notes at CSMonitor.com/WhyWeWroteThis. This episode was hosted by me, Kendra Nordin Beato, and produced by Mackenzie Farkus. Jingnan Peng is also a producer on this show. Our sound engineer was Alyssa Britton. Original music by Noel Flatt, produced by 海角大神. Copyright 2026.