LOS ANGELES – Curious to know what songs are fueling Olympic athletes competing in Paris starting this month? The Associated Press has an idea.
Some of the world’s best Olympic and Paralympic athletes have shared their favorite warm-up tracks, revealing what gets them excited before a crucial game, meet or match. The results range from The O’Jays to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Drake, spanning genres and eras – all can be found at our Spotify playlist.
Before Rai Benjamin At the races after the competition, the sprinter and obstacle course runner listens to a host of musicians for the ultimate hype session.
Benjamin, 26 years old, doesn’t have a specific song. He’s more interested in listening to specific artists like Drake and G Herbo, along with movie soundtracks including “Interstellar” and “King.”
“That brings me here,” Benjamin said, raising his hands above his head. “When I get here, I need to bring it back and be ready to do what I’m about to do.”
Benjamin said he needs a baseline between upbeat and calm music.
“I get really excited when I get there with the energy of the crowd and seeing everyone and wanting to do well,” he said. “It’s good to get your mind moving and get out of your head… just to overcome those 10 barriers.”
During Rebecca McGowan’s preparations, the taekwondo expert has two songs on deck before launching his roundhouse kick. Scotland’s native vibes for Panic! At the disco “High Hopes” during the warm-up and comes out to the sound of “Can’t Stop” by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“It kind of gets me in my head to compete,” McGowan, 24, said of “High Hopes.”
“Don’t give up and keep going,” she continued. “When things get tough, this is the song I listen to. … I just put it in and work through the rest of the session and work through whatever I’m doing.
As for “Can’t Stop,” McGowan said, “it’s a really good beat. This makes me excited.
Logan Edra may be part of the new breakdance regime, but its foundation is built on old school hip-hop.
Edra, a Filipino-American, said she regularly presses play on Malcolm McLaren’s 1983 “World’s Famous.”
“I felt like I was back at the moment the break started,” said Edra, known as B-Girl Logistx. She first encountered “World’s Famous” while listening to an old mixtape.
Edra, 21 years old, said that music has the ability to travel through time.
“I’m starting to see how music brings us together,” she said. “Music connects generations. Every time I can hear it and vibrate with it, I feel like it’s a memory or a tribute to people from times past.”
Bradly Sinden He always tries to put on a great fight, showing his strength in taekwondo fights after coming out to the sound of “Stronger” by Kanye West.
“It’s a fight song – more of an uplifting song,” he said of the track written by the rapper and Daft Punk.
Sinden, 25, became fascinated by the song after the final fight scene in the 2008 film “Never Back Down,” starring Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet.
“From that movie, it’s always been my favorite song,” said Sinden, who won a silver medal to Great Britain in Tokyo Games.
“It just puts you in that mood. Now it’s like, ‘I’m ready to get in there and do my business,’” he added.
Veronica Fraley normally vibrates to Afrobeat melodies. But when the discus thrower needs to crash, she turns on the rap to Future’s “March Madness” before entering the circle.
“There are a lot of things that are not safe for work,” Fraley, 24, said with a laugh. “Just something to get the blood pumping, get the anger honest.”
Fraley said her signature music helps her tremendously.
“It puts me in the zone,” she said. “I want to be a fighter. It helps me use my energy harder.”
When Fernando Dayán Jorge Gets into his red and white canoe, the two-time Olympian listens to music that matches his energy.
Whenever Jorge, 25, practices or warms up, the canoeist plays “Legendary” by the blues rock band Welshly Arms.
“I connect with this song,” Jorge said of the 2016 track, which was featured on NBC’s “Shades of Blue” and the 2018 film “Den of Thieves.”
Jorge, who as a Cuban rower won gold in Tokyo for the 1,000 canoe speed test, it will be competing this time as a refugee. He joined a growing number of Cuban athletes who have defected.
McKenzie Coan it’s a huge Britney Spears fan, particularly drawn to “Circus” and “Womanizer.”
“Those are my two favorite songs to cheer up to,” said Coan, a Paralympic gold medalist in swimming. Her career began with aquatic therapy in 2001 after she was diagnosed as a child with osteogenesis imperfecta, known as brittle bone disease.
Coan, 28, has a playlist on Spotify that features artists like Spears and Rihanna.
“Some of these songs I can’t listen to unless I’m getting ready to run, because it makes me so excited,” she said. “I can’t even deal with this. … I hear things I can actually do.”
When it comes to music, RachelGlenn calls herself the best “fashion girl”. Before competing in high jump and 400 hurdles, it’s about listening to several upbeat songs like “Perfect Timing” by YG featuring Mozzy and Blxst.
“I love music,” said Glenn, 22, who listens to the likes of Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy, Lil Vada and Tommy the Clown.
“I like listening to music everywhere I go,” she said. “I’ll listen to it when I’m doing my homework, when I’m trying to sleep. It’s super important. Athletics is a mental thing. If your mindset is right, you will compete correctly.”
As Jaydin Blackwell warms up, the Paralympic sprinter focuses more on motivational speakers than music.
Blackwell’s favorite speech? Madden NFL 13’s inspiring intro, which features two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis.
He also listens to David Goggins, an ultramarathon runner.
Asked what kind of music gets his attention: “I like soft music when I warm up,” said Blackwell, 20, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 6.
Daniel Roberts is no ’80s baby, but his musical taste derives from songs created nearly two decades before he was born.
The obstacle often goes the old school R&Route B, selecting the 1979 classic “Use to Be My Girl” by The O’Jays.
“I don’t listen to music that’s going to make me excited, but music that I like,” Roberts, 26, said. “If I really like the song or music, it will bring that good energy. I’m going to dance. I’m going to move.”
Roberts plays a diverse range of music to help you find your ultimate groove before a run.
“You have to be able to get into that rhythm,” he said.
Although Cordell Tinch music is almost never heard during the warm-up, some songs make the runner’s head bob with excitement.
“Today was ‘God did it’. That was the last song I listened to before I took my headphones off,” Tinch said of the track. DJ Khaledpresenting Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend it’s Friday.
“It was that song today, but it could be different another day,” he said.
Tinch, 24, said he consumes a good dose of Broadway music. “Yungen” by Rod Wave is another favorite.
During training for the Paralympics, cyclist Samantha Bosco usually listens to two songs: pink the upbeat “I Am Here” and the rapper’s gospel-inflected “Chant” Macklemore and Australian singer Tones and I.
“These are my songs,” said Bosco, who was born with a posteromedial arch of the right tibia and a calcaneal valgus foot that was corrected at age four with the surgical removal of a bone wedge. She rode a bicycle for the first time when she was six years old, going to and from school with her father.
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Associated Press journalists Pat Graham, Noreen Nasir, Daniel Kozin and Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.
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This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
