US Swimmer Natalie Coughlin started her 2008 Olympics with another gold medal performance (she had two in Athens), winning the 100m Backstroke race and making her the first woman to win back to back Olympic titles in the same event. She followed that up with a bronze in the 200m IM, and will swim the 100m Freestyle next (she is the fastest qualifier so far). If things go as planned, Natalie will also swim the 4x 100m Freestyle relay, the 4x 200m Freestyle relay and the 4x 100 IM relay - making 6 events and 6 chances to medal.
So how does this amazing athlete do it? Natalie’s training includes (from Fitness Magazine):
Two hours in the pool twice a day, running with her dog for 45 minutes to an hour every day, and lifting weights two or three times a week. Natalie also does Pilates every day and sees a private instructor two times a week.
Natalie has also learned that balance is the key to happiness and success in and out of the pool. Like many extraordinarily talented athletes, Natalie learned that lesson the hard way - via injury, illness, and burnout. Her book,Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Olympic Champion is an interesting look into the world of competitive swimming and the path she took to the top and how she ultimately found balance.
I’m looking forward to watching her final races this week! My daughter has taken great interest in Natalie’s swims too - because they share a name, have the same long curly honey blond hair, and my daughter swam competitively for the first time this summer and LOVED it. Go Natalie!
Gymnasts are tough, that is all there is to it! Chellsie Memmel has fought for so many years - coming back from injury, overcoming obstacles, and hanging on to the Elite gymnastics dream for so many years. She looked AMAZING at the US Olympic Trials in June and made the Olympic Team, but shortly after arriving in Beijing, she injured her ankle in training.
Due to the injury she only competed on bars in the Team Preliminaries and Team Finals - as a bar landing is fairly tolerable (especially when you are taped up tight and flying high on adrenaline) yet tumbling would be impossible.
The United States Olympic Gymnasts knew they had their work cut out for them in the team finals against China, Romania, Russia, Japan, Australia, France and Brazil, but they were favored to place in the top two - which they did. And while everyone was hoping for an upset and a Gold medal for the US women, it was not to be. China was too strong and the US women were unable to put up their best team due to injuries.
Left to right: Bridget Sloan, Alicia Sacramone, Samantha Peszek, Chellsie Memmel, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson - US Womens Gymnastics team takes Silver.
The US women should still be so proud. A silver medal is a great accomplishment and there are still more medals to be had. The showdown I am really looking forward to is the Womens All Around final - Powerhouse Shawn Johnson vs. Artistic Gymnastics personified Nastia Liukin. The media has hyped Shawn Johnson to an incredible level, while Nastia just keeps focused, working hard, and quietly getting better and better with each passing day. Personally I feel that Nastia is the more complete gymnast and the true description of an Olympic All Around champion, however, I will be so happy for either one of them if they grab the gold.
While NBC did not show anything other than the US and China last night, I have to say the most captivating routine I saw was Jiang Yuyuan’s floor routine. She absolutely showed that routine off! She smiled, she flirted with the crowd (in a theatrical way), and genuinely looked like she was having fun. Her choreography fit her to a tee and she played it up for all it was worth. Here is a video from earlier this year:
I am so looking forward to the All Around finals and the US women should be too - there is a lot of hardware still up for grabs and they can do it!
Natalie has also learned that balance is the key to happiness and success in and out of the pool. Like many extraordinarily talented athletes, Natalie learned that lesson the hard way - via injury, illness, and burnout. Her book,Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Olympic Champion is an interesting look into the world of competitive swimming and the path she took to the top and how she ultimately found balance.
