March 12, 2026 • 23 mins
The Paralympic Winter Games are underway, and Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang are diving in! Where are the venues and who are the athletes? Get all the answers in the latest Two Guys, Five Rings podcast!
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Bringing ringing different flavor on that one.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, it's a different games after all, and we're just
a para guys who love to talk about the Para Olympics.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Of course, two guys that is, of course two guys,
five rings being the podcast. My name is Matt Rogers,
my name is Bowen Yang, And for the next twenty
five to thirty one and a half minutes, we're going
to get into it about the twenty twenty six Milan
Courtina Paralympic Winter Games, just as widespread as what would
(00:51):
you call the I guess just the.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Olympics, the Olympic, the Olympics. Yeah, as you answer, yeah,
aston answer. It is apparently in the fiftieth anniversary, you
the first Winter Paralympic Games. Everything is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.
Doesn't it feel like that?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah? Yeah, Well I will say I think that a
lot of people are very vocal when they're celebrating something
that is a fiftieth you know what I mean, Like
you just don't hear about, Oh, it's my forty eighth,
you know what I mean? Or can you believe it's
the sixty seventh? This It's just that I don't know
part of me thinks, yes, a lot of things seem
(01:30):
to be celebrating their fiftieth but that's just because you're
not hearing people shout about the other celebrations. But that's
just a counterpoint. You know. It's really good to be
able to sort of spar.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
When we're sparring. Is that what we're doing. Every podcast
is a spar Every podcast is a spar. Well, this
is how about this? This is what I'm presenting to you.
What was happening in nineteen seventy five, in nineteen seventy
six that had so many new things come into the world.
You have the parallems, you have Hello Kitty, because that
(02:03):
was nineteen seventy five. You have a Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, well, you know what they say. They they say
that back then, you know, a lot more people were procreating.
There's a serious problem nowadays people are not procreating as
much as they were.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Sex was a huge part of the seventies.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
I wanted to say it was the Summer of love,
but I think that's the sixties.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I think yet, I think the summer of love was
nineteen sixty nine. Barb, When was the summer of love? Barb,
when was the summer of love? We haven't asked much
of you lately these Barb. Yeah, we have to remember
we have a resource here. We need to know what
the summer of love was. I do think if I
had to guess, it was the nineteen sixty nine summer.
(02:54):
But nineteen seventy five is not that far away from that.
So you have to imagine that within that six year
period still had, you know, to go around. Yeah, a
lot of love to go around.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Of course, nineteen sixty seven, Oh, nineteen.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Sixty seven was the summer of love?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, because sixty eight was a bad year.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Correct? Yeah, yeah, hey, well you know, Barb, agree to disagree.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Agreed to disagree, Barbe. I think I think I think
I heard a rumor that Barb gets paid on a
per answer, per question basis.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Okay, well, we gotta we gotta keep asking her.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We got to keep asking her because because I am
not going to be the one who holds Barb back
from her blessings.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
No, it won't be me.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It won't be me.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So let's just get into it and look for opportunities
to help Barb out. The twenty twenty six Milan COURTEENA
Paralympic Winter Games are underway now through March fifteenth, twenty
twenty six, featuring seventy nine medal events across six parasports
in Milan, Courtina, den Pezza and laud Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
History will be made when six hundred and twelve athletes
from fifty five national Paralympic committees compete in alpine skiing, biathlon,
cross country skiing, ice hockey, snowboard and wheelchair curling, including
a new mixed doubles events. You thought you loved curling,
Get ready for wheelchair curling, where they will be pushing
(04:22):
and leading these stones to the center of the mark.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Just when I thought you couldn't get more obsessed, here's
a genuine question for you. Has the sort of you know,
love affair that you started with curling in your head
when we were in Milan? Has it continued? Have you
youtubed it at all? Be honest, No, no, not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I am very fickle with these things, I would say,
And maybe I have an ADHD problem. I'm obsessed with
one thing and then I have to move on to
the next. My brain crave's new stimulus.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Why I'm not your therapist, I asked a fun question.
I didn't want to get into all this stuff. I
answered your question. You didn't want you didn't want a
real answer, Okay girl. The opening ceremony was held at
the Verona Olympic Arena, a non competitive venue of the
Games that already hosted the closing ceremony of Olympics on
(05:23):
February twenty second. The other venues of the Paralympics, the
competitive ones will be divided between Cortina, the Betso Milano
and Tesco, with Cortina also hosting the closing ceremony at
the end of these games.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Wheelchair curling takes place at the Courtina Girling Olympic Stadium
in the heart of the Dolomites, surrounded by snow capped peaks.
The stadium has already started hosting the first qualifying competitions
at the Paralympic tournament, after being at the center of
the Winter Olympics. Built in nineteen fifty five for the
first Winter Olympic Games in Italy. In nineteen fifty six,
(05:59):
it hosted the opening state money for the event and
the figure skating competitions. It's a lot of dates, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
In the heart of the taovan Ski area in socrapis
on the historic sands and slope stands the Courtina Paris
Snowboard Park, which hosts the par of snowboard competitions. The
competitions here are divided into two specialties. Now listen banks
slalom and snowboard cross. An unmissible opportunity to experience the
(06:27):
excitement of the Paralympic Games up close and enmire the
extraordinary performances of the world's best athletes.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Women's and Men's Paralympic alpine skiing takes center stage at
the Tefane Alpine Skiing Center. Among the tracks of the area,
there is a queen of fast and adrenaline filled races,
her Majesty. The Olympia de de Tofame, one of the
most iconic tracks in the world, which has a long
history link to the Five Rings, and since nineteen ninety
three it has become a fixture of the Women's World
Cup in downhill and super g.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
The Tessaro Cross Country Skiing Stadium hosts the Paralympic biathlon
and cross country skiing competitions.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Let's start with Paranordic skiing and biathlon. Oxana Masters is
the most decorated US winter Paralympian in history with fourteen
winter medals.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Well, here's what I'll say about If your name is Oxana,
you kind of have to serve.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
So have do you have to be at the Olympics. No,
the name Oxana is for the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yet down, yes, yes, you know, Oxanas tend to excel
at the Olympics. It's actually real culture. Number four Oxana's
ten excel at the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
And the plan we are obviously joking, and the Paralympics,
we're obviously joking. She deserves more medals, of course. Despite
missing all of the twenty four to twenty five season
due to an infection in her life, the thirty six
year old is back and hersitski and ready to defend
her title. She's the world's top ranked Paara cross country
skier heading into Italy.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Well, I wish her the best as an Oxana. Yeah, well,
I don't think she even needs our help with that name.
But let's talk about Kendall Gretch from the USA. She
a dual sport powerhouse and a five time Winter Paralympic
medalist with four podium finishers in para biathlon and one
(08:28):
in para cross country skiing. She recently swept all three
para biathlon events up the twenty twenty five World Championships.
So I guess Kendall Kendall Gretch doesn't need our help either,
just gonna be, just gonna crush.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I hope there's one paralympian that needs our help, and
I think we might find one. Or if we turn
up short, then that's okay, then maybe humbled by the experience.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
But get this, you know how we just spoke of
Oxana Masters. She's engaged to Aaron Pike from the USA,
also competing. He's a seven time Paralympian and two time
individual world champion and biathlon in twenty twenty three and
twenty twenty five, seeking his first Paralympic medal, and he's
engaged to Oxana Masters. They plan to marry in Milan
(09:16):
after the Paralympics. How sweet is that? How romantic is that?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
A romantic and they met over their shared love of coffee. Well,
I guess I should be marrying everyone I worked with
at the office. We love the stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
How many of them do you think still work there
the office? Yeah? I do.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
To understand the question, how many of them try simple work?
You know what, get this? This is so cute.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So so Aaron Pike and Oxana Masters met over their
shared love of coffee. So she noticed him at a
training camp because he'd gotten whole beans delivered there and
realized he had the same coffee standards that she did.
It sparked a conversation and a lasting relationship. Masters says
Pike has made her coffee every morning in the eleven
years they've been together. Masters says this and was quoted
(10:15):
as doing, so, oh my gosh, we love coffee. It's
really really sad and problematic, and we're probably single handedly
keeping the coffee business in business. It's kind of an
iconic quote. Yeah, I think that is beautiful. And also
I want to really rebut her and say that it's
not problematic. She said it's really sad and problematic. I
(10:37):
think it's the opposite.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I think it's joyful and unproblematic that they love coffee
and whole being culture.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yeah, I think it's kind of normal. I think everyone
loves coffee. I actually want to challenge them to our
own game, like who loves coffee more? I think I
love the stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
But I will say if they are grinding their beans
every morning. That is, you're both waking up at the
same time.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Culture.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Well, that's like, because if you're grinding beans in the morning,
you're waking up your partner in the bed. That must
mean that these two are getting up at the same
exact time, because no one's waking the other up. Now
let's talk about para alpine skiing. You have jakomont Bertannuoli,
the home nation favorite in Italy in the visually impaired
(11:24):
category with eight Paralympic medals, including four golds. He's compositive
remarkable competitive record, amassing more than seventy World Cup podiums
along with seven discipline titles and a hall of fifteen
World Championship medals. Where do you put them all? That's
my question.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Golly, probably a warehouse or something, or maybe he has
like a bunch of ants, you know what I mean,
like a lot of times, you know, it's nice to give,
like you know family aunt. Do you say aunt or aunt?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I guess I say ants, but I but I just
wanted to clarify I didn't mean to challenge pronunciation.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Well you did, and a lot of people listen to this.
Laurie Stevens is a seven time medalist and flag bearer
for the opening ceremony, competing in her sixth Paralympic Games.
And Laurie, that's someone I got my eye on for
the Games. I really gotta say, yeah, probably the most
(12:24):
prominent US para alpine skier.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
She's a flag bearer. That means she is going to
be waving. She's going to be waving the flag her
just her hands to the adoring public. She has a
lot on her shoulders.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
But you know, knowing Norway who have Jessper Peterson, you
know they're gonna they're gonna come hard as well if
they do as well in the Paralympic Games as they
did in the Olympic Games. Because if you don't know,
now you know, Norway added to their dominance in Winter
Olympic history by taking home the most medals in those games.
And Peterson is a dominant force who won four golds
(13:05):
and one silver at the Basing twenty twenty two games
in the sitting category. So look out. Lorie Stevens and
Alena Forster.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
From Germany is one of the most consistent six Gears globally,
boasting nine Paralympic medals and over one hundred and thirty
world top podiums. All right, now I'm thrown because one
hundred and thirty World Cup podiums. That means, that means
it's that's over one hundred podiums. It gets boring. I bet,
(13:34):
I bet you're so bored because.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You don't really realize, like when you know, when when
you go to the Olympics. We were lucky enough to
be at the team medaling for US figure skating teams,
and it takes them a while to set up the podiums.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Odiums are podiums are thing.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So it's one hundred and thirty podiums that she's been on.
But you know that's also waiting for a lot of
construction at a certain point, and you're like, okay, just
give it to me. But anyway, paracross country skiing popping
over there, Karina Edlingarova from Chechia. Here's the tea. In Beijing,
Karina made headlines not only for winning her first Paralympic
(14:15):
gold in paracross country skiing, but also for providing her
guide dog Riley, his own customer medal for all the
work he did getting her across the finish line. With
four World Championship golds. Yeah, four overall World Cup titles
and three Paralympic medals and that's on K nine.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Friends, Look at Riley. That is a good boy. He
is so noble. Look at I'm I'm dead. I need
I need him.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Everyone at home has to google this because you are
gonna want to see the image of Riley here. It's
really good.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Oh oh my god.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Medal.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's a kind of dog that you should Is it
like a chocolate lab?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I kind of I might want to lab. Yeah, that's
like a lab. Oh my goodness. Mm hmm. Next we
have Jake Adakoff from the USA. After earning silver at
the twenty eighteen Pyeongchang Paralympics, Jake Adakoff announced his retirement,
but hungry for more, he returned to the sport three
years later and collected two individual silvers in one relay
(15:20):
gold in Beijing. He enters Milan Courtina as the reigning
world champion in the Vision Pery classification of the men's
ten kilometer and twenty kilometer. If you're a cross country
skiing and you retire and you decide to come back,
you are a better man than I. Because I'm calling
it quits. As soon as I put the skis on
(15:41):
for cross country, I'm like, I'm not dragging over a straight,
unsloped plane. And you say I'm coming back for more
after I announce my retirement. You're crazy, Jake, but I
respect you.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Seems too tough for me in para ice hockey or
sled hockey. Declan Farmer of the USA is Team Ussay's
all time leading scorer and a three time gold medalist,
widely considered a generational talent. So, Declan Farmer, we're checking
for you. We're Checklin for Declan.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
We're Checklan for Declan.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Does that work?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah? It does?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I can see myself with a sign like sort of
hung up in the air, like above my head, like
Checklin for Declin, and then people walking over and being like,
Checklin for Declan, And then they say it out loud
a couple of times and like I think I get it,
and you go, yeah, we're Checklin for Declan. And then
they go yeah, Well, when you say it with that enthusiasm,
(16:40):
like as if it's a thing, I guess I am
gonna get it more because you're you're The tone you're
using is very persuasive. But when I walk away from you.
When I really think about the sign more, I think
you could have gone back to the drawing board because
we're Checklin for deckl. It just doesn't It's not as
good as you think.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
But for a sign to sort of inspire such a
debate and to really stick with the person long after
they've read it, I think is the mark of a
great sign.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Look, what matters is none of this. What matters is
Declan Farmer's talent, which is widely considered generational.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Generational. We have Brody Royball, a three time gold medalist
known for elite speed and puck handling, forming a lethal
offensive duo with Farmer, and yet and where his flowers? Yeah,
I'm not seeing his flowers. Why are we calling Brody
a generational talent?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
They're like, oh, yeah, he has elite speed and good
puck handling. It's like, yeah, well he's a three time
gold medalist. Hello, of course he is. I don't know
what sort of bias is going on with our producers,
but there's a big picture of Declan Farmer here and
nothing of Brody Roibal.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Suggesting bias, suggesting bias.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
A lot suggests bias about this stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Oh Okay, Vincent has put a picture of Brody and
this is and.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
This is good and honestly adorable.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Adorable Brodie, You're adorable to say nothing of Jo. Yeah,
we have Josh Paul, go go, go off on Josh
Paul's well, let me let me go off hold my
urse man's purse.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
He's a four time gold medalist and the longest tenured
player on the US squad, serving US Opening Ceremony flag bearer.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Wait a minute, I thought someone else was flag bearer.
I'm going to conflicting information.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Uh oh, here comes Barr. Two.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
There are two you're not getting You're not getting paid
for that one because we didn't have to direct the question.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
At you, because it's really confusing.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
But thank you, thank you for answering the question for us.
I will I will then met you separately.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, not me though. Over in Paris snowboarding, Brenna Huckabee
is the most decorated para snowboard in the world and
the raining banked slalom gold medalist, and she's back at it.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Tyler Turner from Canada, who has lost both legs below
the knee in a skydiving accident in twenty seventeen, it
became the first Canadian ever to claim Golden men's snowboard
cross and picked up bronze and banked slalom at the
twenty twenty two Winter Paralympics in Beijing. Do you have
something to say?
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I went skydiving once and I would never go again.
It was I would call it not a good experience. Also,
I was eighteen and closeted. Well as someone who skydal
has sky dived. As someone who skydive, you, I think
you have also been someone who has been very wary
of some of the perils.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Not that it's held Tyler back, of course not.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I didn't do it against my will. But peer pressure
was a well let's just say it's a really powerful thing.
And I don't think we're talking enough about peer pressure.
I think it should be, you know, really discussed.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Well, you know, they come in and you're in high
school and say, you know, be careful of peer pressure.
But then after you leave and once you're quote unquote
grown up and out in the real world, they pretend
like it just disappears.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Oh please, they love when you conform, they love when
you conform as an adult, and don't please, just please,
We're going to take a quick break so I can
cool down. We're back. You know you were really really
(20:37):
excited about wheelchair curling, so I'll let you get into it. Well.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I want to talk about Steed Empt, two time Paralympian,
officially qualified first third consecutive winner games, this time taking
the ice with mixed Devil's part of Laura Dweiler and
the Long Courtina. You know, growing up, Empt was a
star basketball player, taking his towns to West Point and
then Yukon to hoop for legendary coach Jim Calhoun. A
(21:01):
few years after his collegiate career came to a close,
he was drunk driving and got into an accident that
paralyzed him. He discovered wheelchair curling in twenty thirteen to
scratch his omnipresent competitive itch, and today travels around the
country to share his story and encourage students to drink responsibly.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Steve, he turned it around. I want to talk about
oh Yuna or a jameg Born and raised in Mongolia,
Onyuna is a Minnesota resident and naturalized citizen. She was
involved in a car accident that resulted in permanent paralysis
from the waist down. Ayuna fought back from depression and
at forty three years old, started curling and competed in
her first Paralympics in twenty twenty two, finishing fifth out
(21:40):
of eleven in the wheelchair mixed curling event. Now, at
fifty two years old, she'll have another crack at earning
a medal in Milan Courtina. I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
There is a film here. I'm sorry to put my
showbiz tap on, but oh no, that is an amazing story.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
For the successive Paralympic Winter Games. Listen to this. A
record number of women will compete, with a total of
one hundred and sixty female competitors spanning through all six sports.
China will have the biggest delegation of competing and PCs
with seventy athletes, followed by the USA with sixty eight
and Canada with sixty. Host Italy will have a team
(22:21):
of forty two athletes.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
We have some new country. Among the fifty five competing
NPCs will be five Paralympic Winter Games debutants, al Salvador, Haiti,
North Macedonia, Montenegro and Portugal.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
H And after the medals have been awarded and the
venues grow quiet, the spirit of these Paralympics will travel
home with every athlete, every fan, and every story still
being told.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It would love to be there in person, but they
have not allocated money in the budget for us to
be at the Paralympics.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
We just want to say you're Chambier and you'll always
be a hero.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Follow Two Guys Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app or
your favorite podcast platform, and watch on the NBC Sports
YouTube channel, and watch and listen to every moment, well
upcoming moment of the Milan Courtina Winter Paralympics now through
March fifteenth on NBC and Peacock. Well, this has been
Two Guys, Five Rings, and we end every episode with
(23:25):
a song.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I gotta tell you something. Last night was my birthday
and the GLAD Awards and I had some cocktails and
my voice sounds like this. Now I can't well, I'm
gonna vent.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Lee Barne
Bringing ringing different flavor on that one.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, it's a different games after all, and we're just
a para guys who love to talk about the Para Olympics.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Of course, two guys that is, of course two guys,
five rings being the podcast. My name is Matt Rogers,
my name is Bowen Yang, And for the next twenty
five to thirty one and a half minutes, we're going
to get into it about the twenty twenty six Milan
Courtina Paralympic Winter Games, just as widespread as what would
(00:51):
you call the I guess just the.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Olympics, the Olympic, the Olympics. Yeah, as you answer, yeah,
aston answer. It is apparently in the fiftieth anniversary, you
the first Winter Paralympic Games. Everything is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.
Doesn't it feel like that?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah? Yeah, Well I will say I think that a
lot of people are very vocal when they're celebrating something
that is a fiftieth you know what I mean, Like
you just don't hear about, Oh, it's my forty eighth,
you know what I mean? Or can you believe it's
the sixty seventh? This It's just that I don't know
part of me thinks, yes, a lot of things seem
(01:30):
to be celebrating their fiftieth but that's just because you're
not hearing people shout about the other celebrations. But that's
just a counterpoint. You know. It's really good to be
able to sort of spar.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
When we're sparring. Is that what we're doing. Every podcast
is a spar Every podcast is a spar. Well, this
is how about this? This is what I'm presenting to you.
What was happening in nineteen seventy five, in nineteen seventy
six that had so many new things come into the world.
You have the parallems, you have Hello Kitty, because that
(02:03):
was nineteen seventy five. You have a Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, well, you know what they say. They they say
that back then, you know, a lot more people were procreating.
There's a serious problem nowadays people are not procreating as
much as they were.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Sex was a huge part of the seventies.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
I wanted to say it was the Summer of love,
but I think that's the sixties.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I think yet, I think the summer of love was
nineteen sixty nine. Barb, When was the summer of love? Barb,
when was the summer of love? We haven't asked much
of you lately these Barb. Yeah, we have to remember
we have a resource here. We need to know what
the summer of love was. I do think if I
had to guess, it was the nineteen sixty nine summer.
(02:54):
But nineteen seventy five is not that far away from that.
So you have to imagine that within that six year
period still had, you know, to go around. Yeah, a
lot of love to go around.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Of course, nineteen sixty seven, Oh, nineteen.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Sixty seven was the summer of love?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, because sixty eight was a bad year.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Correct? Yeah, yeah, hey, well you know, Barb, agree to disagree.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Agreed to disagree, Barbe. I think I think I think
I heard a rumor that Barb gets paid on a
per answer, per question basis.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Okay, well, we gotta we gotta keep asking her.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We got to keep asking her because because I am
not going to be the one who holds Barb back
from her blessings.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
No, it won't be me.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It won't be me.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So let's just get into it and look for opportunities
to help Barb out. The twenty twenty six Milan COURTEENA
Paralympic Winter Games are underway now through March fifteenth, twenty
twenty six, featuring seventy nine medal events across six parasports
in Milan, Courtina, den Pezza and laud Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
History will be made when six hundred and twelve athletes
from fifty five national Paralympic committees compete in alpine skiing, biathlon,
cross country skiing, ice hockey, snowboard and wheelchair curling, including
a new mixed doubles events. You thought you loved curling,
Get ready for wheelchair curling, where they will be pushing
(04:22):
and leading these stones to the center of the mark.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Just when I thought you couldn't get more obsessed, here's
a genuine question for you. Has the sort of you know,
love affair that you started with curling in your head
when we were in Milan? Has it continued? Have you
youtubed it at all? Be honest, No, no, not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I am very fickle with these things, I would say,
And maybe I have an ADHD problem. I'm obsessed with
one thing and then I have to move on to
the next. My brain crave's new stimulus.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Why I'm not your therapist, I asked a fun question.
I didn't want to get into all this stuff. I
answered your question. You didn't want you didn't want a
real answer, Okay girl. The opening ceremony was held at
the Verona Olympic Arena, a non competitive venue of the
Games that already hosted the closing ceremony of Olympics on
(05:23):
February twenty second. The other venues of the Paralympics, the
competitive ones will be divided between Cortina, the Betso Milano
and Tesco, with Cortina also hosting the closing ceremony at
the end of these games.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Wheelchair curling takes place at the Courtina Girling Olympic Stadium
in the heart of the Dolomites, surrounded by snow capped peaks.
The stadium has already started hosting the first qualifying competitions
at the Paralympic tournament, after being at the center of
the Winter Olympics. Built in nineteen fifty five for the
first Winter Olympic Games in Italy. In nineteen fifty six,
(05:59):
it hosted the opening state money for the event and
the figure skating competitions. It's a lot of dates, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
In the heart of the taovan Ski area in socrapis
on the historic sands and slope stands the Courtina Paris
Snowboard Park, which hosts the par of snowboard competitions. The
competitions here are divided into two specialties. Now listen banks
slalom and snowboard cross. An unmissible opportunity to experience the
(06:27):
excitement of the Paralympic Games up close and enmire the
extraordinary performances of the world's best athletes.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Women's and Men's Paralympic alpine skiing takes center stage at
the Tefane Alpine Skiing Center. Among the tracks of the area,
there is a queen of fast and adrenaline filled races,
her Majesty. The Olympia de de Tofame, one of the
most iconic tracks in the world, which has a long
history link to the Five Rings, and since nineteen ninety
three it has become a fixture of the Women's World
Cup in downhill and super g.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
The Tessaro Cross Country Skiing Stadium hosts the Paralympic biathlon
and cross country skiing competitions.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Let's start with Paranordic skiing and biathlon. Oxana Masters is
the most decorated US winter Paralympian in history with fourteen
winter medals.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Well, here's what I'll say about If your name is Oxana,
you kind of have to serve.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
So have do you have to be at the Olympics. No,
the name Oxana is for the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yet down, yes, yes, you know, Oxanas tend to excel
at the Olympics. It's actually real culture. Number four Oxana's
ten excel at the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
And the plan we are obviously joking, and the Paralympics,
we're obviously joking. She deserves more medals, of course. Despite
missing all of the twenty four to twenty five season
due to an infection in her life, the thirty six
year old is back and hersitski and ready to defend
her title. She's the world's top ranked Paara cross country
skier heading into Italy.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Well, I wish her the best as an Oxana. Yeah, well,
I don't think she even needs our help with that name.
But let's talk about Kendall Gretch from the USA. She
a dual sport powerhouse and a five time Winter Paralympic
medalist with four podium finishers in para biathlon and one
(08:28):
in para cross country skiing. She recently swept all three
para biathlon events up the twenty twenty five World Championships.
So I guess Kendall Kendall Gretch doesn't need our help either,
just gonna be, just gonna crush.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I hope there's one paralympian that needs our help, and
I think we might find one. Or if we turn
up short, then that's okay, then maybe humbled by the experience.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
But get this, you know how we just spoke of
Oxana Masters. She's engaged to Aaron Pike from the USA,
also competing. He's a seven time Paralympian and two time
individual world champion and biathlon in twenty twenty three and
twenty twenty five, seeking his first Paralympic medal, and he's
engaged to Oxana Masters. They plan to marry in Milan
(09:16):
after the Paralympics. How sweet is that? How romantic is that?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
A romantic and they met over their shared love of coffee. Well,
I guess I should be marrying everyone I worked with
at the office. We love the stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
How many of them do you think still work there
the office? Yeah? I do.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
To understand the question, how many of them try simple work?
You know what, get this? This is so cute.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So so Aaron Pike and Oxana Masters met over their
shared love of coffee. So she noticed him at a
training camp because he'd gotten whole beans delivered there and
realized he had the same coffee standards that she did.
It sparked a conversation and a lasting relationship. Masters says
Pike has made her coffee every morning in the eleven
years they've been together. Masters says this and was quoted
(10:15):
as doing, so, oh my gosh, we love coffee. It's
really really sad and problematic, and we're probably single handedly
keeping the coffee business in business. It's kind of an
iconic quote. Yeah, I think that is beautiful. And also
I want to really rebut her and say that it's
not problematic. She said it's really sad and problematic. I
(10:37):
think it's the opposite.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I think it's joyful and unproblematic that they love coffee
and whole being culture.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yeah, I think it's kind of normal. I think everyone
loves coffee. I actually want to challenge them to our
own game, like who loves coffee more? I think I
love the stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
But I will say if they are grinding their beans
every morning. That is, you're both waking up at the
same time.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Culture.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Well, that's like, because if you're grinding beans in the morning,
you're waking up your partner in the bed. That must
mean that these two are getting up at the same
exact time, because no one's waking the other up. Now
let's talk about para alpine skiing. You have jakomont Bertannuoli,
the home nation favorite in Italy in the visually impaired
(11:24):
category with eight Paralympic medals, including four golds. He's compositive
remarkable competitive record, amassing more than seventy World Cup podiums
along with seven discipline titles and a hall of fifteen
World Championship medals. Where do you put them all? That's
my question.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Golly, probably a warehouse or something, or maybe he has
like a bunch of ants, you know what I mean,
like a lot of times, you know, it's nice to give,
like you know family aunt. Do you say aunt or aunt?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I guess I say ants, but I but I just
wanted to clarify I didn't mean to challenge pronunciation.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Well you did, and a lot of people listen to this.
Laurie Stevens is a seven time medalist and flag bearer
for the opening ceremony, competing in her sixth Paralympic Games.
And Laurie, that's someone I got my eye on for
the Games. I really gotta say, yeah, probably the most
(12:24):
prominent US para alpine skier.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
She's a flag bearer. That means she is going to
be waving. She's going to be waving the flag her
just her hands to the adoring public. She has a
lot on her shoulders.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
But you know, knowing Norway who have Jessper Peterson, you
know they're gonna they're gonna come hard as well if
they do as well in the Paralympic Games as they
did in the Olympic Games. Because if you don't know,
now you know, Norway added to their dominance in Winter
Olympic history by taking home the most medals in those games.
And Peterson is a dominant force who won four golds
(13:05):
and one silver at the Basing twenty twenty two games
in the sitting category. So look out. Lorie Stevens and
Alena Forster.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
From Germany is one of the most consistent six Gears globally,
boasting nine Paralympic medals and over one hundred and thirty
world top podiums. All right, now I'm thrown because one
hundred and thirty World Cup podiums. That means, that means
it's that's over one hundred podiums. It gets boring. I bet,
(13:34):
I bet you're so bored because.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You don't really realize, like when you know, when when
you go to the Olympics. We were lucky enough to
be at the team medaling for US figure skating teams,
and it takes them a while to set up the podiums.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Odiums are podiums are thing.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So it's one hundred and thirty podiums that she's been on.
But you know that's also waiting for a lot of
construction at a certain point, and you're like, okay, just
give it to me. But anyway, paracross country skiing popping
over there, Karina Edlingarova from Chechia. Here's the tea. In Beijing,
Karina made headlines not only for winning her first Paralympic
(14:15):
gold in paracross country skiing, but also for providing her
guide dog Riley, his own customer medal for all the
work he did getting her across the finish line. With
four World Championship golds. Yeah, four overall World Cup titles
and three Paralympic medals and that's on K nine.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Friends, Look at Riley. That is a good boy. He
is so noble. Look at I'm I'm dead. I need
I need him.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Everyone at home has to google this because you are
gonna want to see the image of Riley here. It's
really good.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Oh oh my god.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Medal.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's a kind of dog that you should Is it
like a chocolate lab?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I kind of I might want to lab. Yeah, that's
like a lab. Oh my goodness. Mm hmm. Next we
have Jake Adakoff from the USA. After earning silver at
the twenty eighteen Pyeongchang Paralympics, Jake Adakoff announced his retirement,
but hungry for more, he returned to the sport three
years later and collected two individual silvers in one relay
(15:20):
gold in Beijing. He enters Milan Courtina as the reigning
world champion in the Vision Pery classification of the men's
ten kilometer and twenty kilometer. If you're a cross country
skiing and you retire and you decide to come back,
you are a better man than I. Because I'm calling
it quits. As soon as I put the skis on
(15:41):
for cross country, I'm like, I'm not dragging over a straight,
unsloped plane. And you say I'm coming back for more
after I announce my retirement. You're crazy, Jake, but I
respect you.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Seems too tough for me in para ice hockey or
sled hockey. Declan Farmer of the USA is Team Ussay's
all time leading scorer and a three time gold medalist,
widely considered a generational talent. So, Declan Farmer, we're checking
for you. We're Checklin for Declan.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
We're Checklan for Declan.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Does that work?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah? It does?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I can see myself with a sign like sort of
hung up in the air, like above my head, like
Checklin for Declin, and then people walking over and being like,
Checklin for Declan, And then they say it out loud
a couple of times and like I think I get it,
and you go, yeah, we're Checklin for Declan. And then
they go yeah, Well, when you say it with that enthusiasm,
(16:40):
like as if it's a thing, I guess I am
gonna get it more because you're you're The tone you're
using is very persuasive. But when I walk away from you.
When I really think about the sign more, I think
you could have gone back to the drawing board because
we're Checklin for deckl. It just doesn't It's not as
good as you think.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
But for a sign to sort of inspire such a
debate and to really stick with the person long after
they've read it, I think is the mark of a
great sign.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Look, what matters is none of this. What matters is
Declan Farmer's talent, which is widely considered generational.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Generational. We have Brody Royball, a three time gold medalist
known for elite speed and puck handling, forming a lethal
offensive duo with Farmer, and yet and where his flowers? Yeah,
I'm not seeing his flowers. Why are we calling Brody
a generational talent?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
They're like, oh, yeah, he has elite speed and good
puck handling. It's like, yeah, well he's a three time
gold medalist. Hello, of course he is. I don't know
what sort of bias is going on with our producers,
but there's a big picture of Declan Farmer here and
nothing of Brody Roibal.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Suggesting bias, suggesting bias.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
A lot suggests bias about this stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Oh Okay, Vincent has put a picture of Brody and
this is and.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
This is good and honestly adorable.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Adorable Brodie, You're adorable to say nothing of Jo. Yeah,
we have Josh Paul, go go, go off on Josh
Paul's well, let me let me go off hold my
urse man's purse.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
He's a four time gold medalist and the longest tenured
player on the US squad, serving US Opening Ceremony flag bearer.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Wait a minute, I thought someone else was flag bearer.
I'm going to conflicting information.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Uh oh, here comes Barr. Two.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
There are two you're not getting You're not getting paid
for that one because we didn't have to direct the question.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
At you, because it's really confusing.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
But thank you, thank you for answering the question for us.
I will I will then met you separately.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, not me though. Over in Paris snowboarding, Brenna Huckabee
is the most decorated para snowboard in the world and
the raining banked slalom gold medalist, and she's back at it.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Tyler Turner from Canada, who has lost both legs below
the knee in a skydiving accident in twenty seventeen, it
became the first Canadian ever to claim Golden men's snowboard
cross and picked up bronze and banked slalom at the
twenty twenty two Winter Paralympics in Beijing. Do you have
something to say?
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I went skydiving once and I would never go again.
It was I would call it not a good experience. Also,
I was eighteen and closeted. Well as someone who skydal
has sky dived. As someone who skydive, you, I think
you have also been someone who has been very wary
of some of the perils.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Not that it's held Tyler back, of course not.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I didn't do it against my will. But peer pressure
was a well let's just say it's a really powerful thing.
And I don't think we're talking enough about peer pressure.
I think it should be, you know, really discussed.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Well, you know, they come in and you're in high
school and say, you know, be careful of peer pressure.
But then after you leave and once you're quote unquote
grown up and out in the real world, they pretend
like it just disappears.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Oh please, they love when you conform, they love when
you conform as an adult, and don't please, just please,
We're going to take a quick break so I can
cool down. We're back. You know you were really really
(20:37):
excited about wheelchair curling, so I'll let you get into it. Well.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I want to talk about Steed Empt, two time Paralympian,
officially qualified first third consecutive winner games, this time taking
the ice with mixed Devil's part of Laura Dweiler and
the Long Courtina. You know, growing up, Empt was a
star basketball player, taking his towns to West Point and
then Yukon to hoop for legendary coach Jim Calhoun. A
(21:01):
few years after his collegiate career came to a close,
he was drunk driving and got into an accident that
paralyzed him. He discovered wheelchair curling in twenty thirteen to
scratch his omnipresent competitive itch, and today travels around the
country to share his story and encourage students to drink responsibly.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Steve, he turned it around. I want to talk about
oh Yuna or a jameg Born and raised in Mongolia,
Onyuna is a Minnesota resident and naturalized citizen. She was
involved in a car accident that resulted in permanent paralysis
from the waist down. Ayuna fought back from depression and
at forty three years old, started curling and competed in
her first Paralympics in twenty twenty two, finishing fifth out
(21:40):
of eleven in the wheelchair mixed curling event. Now, at
fifty two years old, she'll have another crack at earning
a medal in Milan Courtina. I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
There is a film here. I'm sorry to put my
showbiz tap on, but oh no, that is an amazing story.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
For the successive Paralympic Winter Games. Listen to this. A
record number of women will compete, with a total of
one hundred and sixty female competitors spanning through all six sports.
China will have the biggest delegation of competing and PCs
with seventy athletes, followed by the USA with sixty eight
and Canada with sixty. Host Italy will have a team
(22:21):
of forty two athletes.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
We have some new country. Among the fifty five competing
NPCs will be five Paralympic Winter Games debutants, al Salvador, Haiti,
North Macedonia, Montenegro and Portugal.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
H And after the medals have been awarded and the
venues grow quiet, the spirit of these Paralympics will travel
home with every athlete, every fan, and every story still
being told.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It would love to be there in person, but they
have not allocated money in the budget for us to
be at the Paralympics.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
We just want to say you're Chambier and you'll always
be a hero.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Follow Two Guys Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app or
your favorite podcast platform, and watch on the NBC Sports
YouTube channel, and watch and listen to every moment, well
upcoming moment of the Milan Courtina Winter Paralympics now through
March fifteenth on NBC and Peacock. Well, this has been
Two Guys, Five Rings, and we end every episode with
(23:25):
a song.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I gotta tell you something. Last night was my birthday
and the GLAD Awards and I had some cocktails and
my voice sounds like this. Now I can't well, I'm
gonna vent.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Lee Barne
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