By David Schipper

Ten of America's top Olympic athletes inspire you to take up new sports, master your favorite ones, and raise your fitness to an all-time high

 

Breaux Greer - Javelin

The hungry veteran
Eight. That's how many national javelin titles Breaux Greer owns. Unfortunately for him, it's also three less than the number of surgeries he's endured in his 15-year career. There was the torn elbow ligament in 1998, the busted shoulder joint in 2002, and the shredded knee ligament in 2004. "My pain tolerance is off the charts," says the 31-year-old, who holds the U.S. distance record for a javelin throw (91.29 meters, or nearly 300 feet).

And yet, without fail, Greer jumps out of bed every morning and continues to work at his violent discipline, using his body to whip-launch a 2-pound spear the length of a football field. Even the slightest break in form can crack his back, a fear for nearly all javelin throwers. Not for Greer, though. His only trepidation: a second Olympic failure.

In the 2004 Games, Greer finished 12th--a profound disappointment, considering he had the longest qualifying throw. But he kept his focus and is now a single toss away from becoming the first American to medal in the men's event since 1972.

Get fit in 18 minutes
To condition his body, Greer runs stadium steps. He hits every step his first time up, every other step the next time, and then every third step. He repeats the cycle, always jogging down one step at a time. "By the time you hit 18 minutes, your legs are on fire and you can't breathe," he says. "It'll get you into shape real fast." It may be the ideal strategy for the business traveler: Try it in your hotel stairwell, using four flights as your stadium stand-in.

Kerri Walsh - Volleyball

The best on the beach
A pair of bikini-clad women rolling in the sand together makes for good television. So when teammates Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won beach volleyball gold in 2004,  it was no surprise that highlights of the match featured their victory celebration--a jubilant, horizontal embrace on the sandy court. Who knew they were sick of each other?

"The fact that we won so often had kept any annoyances we felt about each other at bay," says the 6'3'', 30-year-old Walsh. "But once we experienced some losses after the Olympics, things blew up out of proportion."

The duo that once won 90 consecutive matches began spiking insults at each other, threatening to end a 7-year partnership. Thankfully, their competitive spirits prevailed: "We realized we loved each other," says Walsh. "But more, we both knew that we could be the best team to ever play the sport."

Own the court
In volleyball, holding serve is key to victory. Ensure yours by mastering the float serve. It produces a knuckleball effect that can fool both pickup and pro volleyballers, says Phil Dalhausser, Walsh's counterpart on the U.S. men's team. Toss the ball straight up in front of you, about an arm's length away. Then make contact with the leather at the highest point of your arm swing. Strike the ball with your palm, but instead of swinging through it, stop your stroke at impact. The ball won't spin, making its movement unpredictable.

Tyson Gay - Sprinter

The fastest man on earth
A tenth of a second is all that stands between Tyson Gay and athletic glory. "My personal best in the 100-meter sprint is 9.84 seconds, but I want to run 9.74 in Beijing for the world record," says Gay. At 26, the current 100- and 200-meter world champ from Lexington, Kentucky knows that this, his first Olympics, may also be his final golden opportunity. That's because the reign of a champion sprinter rarely lasts beyond a year or two. In fact, no male sprinter has won back-to-back gold medals in either of Gay's events since Carl Lewis won the 100-meter sprint in both 1984 and 1988. "I've been winning and losing races all my life, working hard throughout, so I know I'm mentally prepared for this day," says Gay. "This is my career."

Sculpt a sprinter's six-pack
Core strength is critical for peak performance. Master your midsection the way Gay does with this novel move: Lie on your back on a decline bench, holding a weight plate against your chest with both hands. Then lift your upper body off the bench about 6 inches. Holding this position, press the weight plate straight up from your chest, as if you're doing a bench press. Lower the weight (but not your torso) and repeat. As you push the weight, your abs have to contract even harder, says Gay. Do 12 presses, rest 1 minute, and repeat once or twice.   

Carmelo Anthony - Basketball

The unlikely hero
With his recent tangles with the law, basketball star Carmelo Anthony isn't the obvious choice for the fan-favorite award. But perhaps he should be.

Rewind to the '04 Olympics, when Anthony averaged just 2 points a game on the worst U.S. squad in Olympic history. "I  was disappointed," says the Denver Nugget. "But losing made me determined to win gold in Beijing."

Which is why 'Melo convinced several NBA all stars, including LeBron James, to forgo their summer vacations and join him on the national team. Anthony is doing his part on the court, too: He dominated in the Olympic qualifiers--leading his Dream Team in scoring.

Shoot your way into shape
Try Number 15's favorite drill, which will elevate both your fitness and your game. Grab a ball at midcourt and sprint to the basket while dribbling. When you reach the hoop, head back to the right wing, beyond the 免费-throw line. Then pivot, square up, and shoot. If you score, start over, but this time circle to the left side. If you miss, grab the rebound, dribble to the opposite wing, and fire again.

Natalie Coughlin - Swimmer

The pool shark
People want what they don't have. So it makes sense that swimming sensation Natalie Coughlin wants to slow down.

Natalie Coughlin - Swimmer continued...

"The 2004 Games were such an overwhelming experience that my success was all a blur," says Coughlin, the most decorated female athlete at the Athens Olympics. The blue-eyed beauty captured five medals, which now sit in the back of a closet in her beachside digs. "I'm embarrassed by how beat-up they are," she admits.

But don't twist her meaning: Coughlin may not care about the actual hardware, but she plans on climbing many more podiums this summer. Along with her best event, the 100-meter backstroke (she's the first woman to break the 1-minute barrier), the native Californian will likely swim in two other sprint events and three relays.

"This won't be my last Games," says Coughlin. "But it's best for me not to think about that. I just want to swim hard and swim fast." Then slow down to enjoy her reward. 

Smooth your stroke
To swim your fastest, think of your arms' role as extending your body rather than pulling it forward. This can help you glide through the water like a racing scull instead of a laboring rowboat. Simply reach as far forward as you can, even if it means temporarily reducing your stroke frequency. Stay focused by imagining there's a mail slot in front of each shoulder and slide your hand into it each time.

Jennie Finch - Softball

The flamethrower
To see Jennie Finch pitch is to watch a thing of beauty. But not just because the 6' blonde is one of the world's sexiest female athletes. "I've never seen anyone throw the ball that hard, and with that type of accuracy," marveled the New York Yankees all-star Alex Rodriguez on This Week in Baseball, after watching Finch hurl her underhand "riseball."

While the pitch has been clocked at only 71 mph, it's thrown from a closer distance to the batter than in baseball. "Scientifically, this makes it equal to a 100 mph baseball pitch," says the 27-year-old Finch. "I've faced more than 35 major leaguers, and only two have ever made contact against me."

Just make sure to catch Finch and her teammates at the Olympics this year: The International Olympic Committee has eliminated softball from the 2012 Summer Games, in London.

Star in your summer league
Whether it's fast-pitch or slow-pitch ball, the best batters rarely strike out. To keep the K's out of your box score, take note of a 2008 study in the Journal of Sports Sciences. Researchers found that umpires are most likely to call a strike on a borderline pitch when a hitter has three balls. So whether the count is 3-0 or 3-2, swing away at any hittable lob. The suspected reason for this situational strike calling: Walks extend the inning, and rec-league umps like to keep games short. Down in the count? Prepare to take a pitch.  Umpires most often call a ball when the hitter's in an 0-2 hole.

Steven Lopez - Tae kwon do

The reigning champ
To prepare for Beijing, martial-arts champion Steven Lopez needed a kick in the pants from his little brother and sister. "I had grown complacent," says the 29-year-old Lopez, who has already taken tae kwon do gold at two Olympics and won every world championship in his weight class since 2000. "But my family motivated me to keep going."

The motivation was a dream: That he and his two siblings--Mark, 25, and Diana, 24--could qualify for the Games in the same year, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since a trio of brothers did it in 1904. Yet here are the Lopezes, children of Nicaraguan immigrants and all tae kwon do experts, about to make their surname a symbol of American pride. One other Lopez will be ringside, too--oldest brother Jean, their longtime coach.

Speed up your workout
While Lopez's brother coaches him in the ring, the champ relies on the Houston-based trainer Danny Arnold for conditioning his body. Arnold doesn't instruct his athletes to sprint a specific distance. Instead, he uses time. "Your body learns to pace its movements," says Arnold. "If I tell you to sprint 100 meters, your brain knows how fast you should run. But if I tell you to run at full speed for 8 seconds, you'll go faster than you normally would."

To put Arnold's advice to work, try sprinting on  a stationary bike for 8 seconds and then pedaling slowly for 12. Repeat the sequence for 5 minutes, and work your way up to 20 minutes over a month. Australian scientists found that people using this strategy 3 days a week lost more fat than those who jogged 40 minutes.

Thomas Finchum - Diver

The prodigy
Five months ago, a doctor in Indianapolis sewed 70 stitches into Thomas Finchum's right leg, closing a deep, ankle-to-knee laceration. The top diver in the United States slipped and fell on the board during a training jump, causing the bloody mess.

For Finchum, often called the Tiger Woods of U.S. diving, it was just another swimming lesson: "A lot of positives came from taking time off," says the 18-year-old national champion, who first learned to dive from his grandmother. "I knew if I worked on my mental game, I would come out of it stronger."

So every night for 8 weeks, Finchum visualized each dive--from jump to splash--that he plans to use at the Olympics. "When I got back out there after healing, my technique was better than ever," says Finchum, who qualified for the 2004 Games (yes, at age 14), but couldn't go due to a rules glitch.

"I knew I could make the Olympic team, and that kept my fire burning," he says. 

Knife through the water
While you may never jump off a three-story platform, you can still dive like those who do. The next time you launch yourself headfirst off a dock, deck, or diving board, use this technique: "Extend your arms straight above your head, and then try to squeeze your ears with your shoulders," says Finchum, who straightens his entire body, including his fingers and toes, as he enters the water. Brace your core, too: The more rigid your body is, the fewer waves you'll leave.

Howard Bach - Badminton

The underdog
Badminton is to China what golf is to Scotland. Asian kids follow shuttlecocks as closely as they do Western pop stars. Badminton stars attain Yao Ming–like fame. Which is to say, Howard Bach is the badminton equivalent of David. And in Beijing, he'll be competing against dozens of Goliaths.

But don't count him out. Bach is the only American (along with former doubles partner Tony Gunawan) to ever win a world badminton championship. "To take a medal from the Chinese on their home turf is a huge challenge, but it'll be fun," says Bach, who was born in Vietnam before his family immigrated to San Francisco when he was 3. "I want to show the world that Americans can play badminton better than anyone."

Burn fat, have fun
Striking shuttlecocks brings on a serious sweat, according to German researchers. In a recent study, they found that playing the sport competitively burns more than 450 calories in just 30 minutes. That's about the number you'd burn running for the same duration at an 8-minute-mile pace. The key is to play hard, not casually. Get in shape with a neighbor by setting up a net in your driveway or yard this summer. Or take your game to the beach, where a sand volleyball court will work nicely.

David Durante - Gymnast

The comeback kid
A new Olympic gymnastics champion will be crowned on August 14. The next day, David Durante, captain of the U.S. men's squad, will announce his retirement. "Ain't that a big chunk of adversity, knowing it's my last shot?" asks Durante.

Durante first spoke of retirement back in 2002 after wrapping up his collegiate career at Stanford but failing to make Team USA. "I was a good college gymnast, but I wanted to be one of the top guys in the country," he says. Durante redoubled his training efforts and, in 2003, he earned the right to flip for the stars and stripes.

But then, on the way to the '04 Games, his flips flopped at the qualifying meet and he settled for an alternate slot. After Athens, he asked himself, How bad do you want this? The answer: enough to postpone retirement a second time. "Everything is clicking for me right now," says Durante, who won the national title last year. "I'm confident I can compete at the highest level, and my results in Beijing will prove it."

Build your chest and arms
The dip is as important to gymnastics as the jump shot is to basketball. So it's essential for Durante--and it helps explain his chiseled upper body. After all, the classic dip is one of the most effective exercises for building your triceps and chest. But if you find it's hard on your shoulders--as many guys do--a simple form tweak may offer relief.

David Durante - Gymnast continued...

In the "up" position of the exercise, raise your thighs in front of you until they're parallel to the floor, and bend your knees 90 degrees. Hold your legs that way for the entire movement--instead of crossing them behind you. This redistributes your weight so that your torso leans forward as you lower your body, placing more of the stress on your chest instead of your shoulders. (For a complete gymnastics-inspired training plan, see this month's workout poster.)

Find daily tips on what to watch, who to look for, and the training plans that got them to the Beijing Games at MensHealth.com/beijing.

 

Originally Published: August 1, 2008

 

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