Rai Benjamin wins a men's 400-meter hurdles semi-finals during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials on June 28, in Eugene, Ore.George Walker Iv/The Associated Press
Curious about which songs are fuelling the Olympians competing in Paris starting this month? The Associated Press has an idea.
Some of the world’s top athletes from the Olympics and Paralympics have shared their favourite warm-up tracks, revealing what gets them pumped before a crucial game, meet or match. The results range from The O’Jays to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Drake, spanning genres and eras.
RAI BENJAMIN, U.S.
Before Rai Benjamin races past the competition, the sprinter and hurdler listens to a slew of musicians for the ultimate hype session.
Benjamin, 26, doesn’t have one particular song. He’s more about listening to particular artists like Drake and G Herbo, along with film scores including Interstellar and The King.
“It gets me up here,” Benjamin said, raising his hands above his head. “By the time I get out here, I got to bring it back down and be ready to do what I’m about to do.”
Benjamin said he needs a baseline between upbeat and calming music.
“I get pretty amped when I get out there with the energy from the crowd and seeing everyone and wanting to do well,” he said. “It’s good to get the mind going and get out of you head … just to get over those 10 barriers.”
REBECCA McGOWAN, U.K.
During Rebecca McGowan’s preparations, the taekwondo specialist has two songs on deck before launching her roundhouse kick. The Scotland native vibes to Panic! At The Disco’s High Hopes during warm-ups and walks out to Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“It kind of gets myself going and into my headspace to compete,” McGowan, 24, said of High Hopes.
“Don’t give up and keep going,” she continued. “When things get tough, that’s the song I listen to. … I just put it on and grind out the rest of the session and grind out whatever I’m doing.”
As for Can’t Stop, McGowan said, “it’s just a really good beat. It gets me pumped up.”
LOGAN EDRA, U.S.
Logan Edra might be a part of the new breakdancing regime, but her foundation is built on old-school hip-hop.
Edra, a Filipina American, said she regularly presses play on Malcolm McLaren’s World’s Famous from 1983.
“I felt like I was brought back to when breaking first started,” said Edra, known as B-Girl Logistx. She first found World’s Famous while listening to an old mixtape.
Edra, 21, said the music has the ability to time-travel.
“I’m starting to see how the music brings us together,” she said. “The music connects the generations. Every time I can listen to it and vibe to it, I feels like a remembrance or homage to the people in the past eras.”
BRADLY SINDEN, U.K.
Bradly Sinden always tries to put up a great fight, showcasing his strength in taekwondo matches after walking out to Kanye West’s Stronger.
“It’s a fight song – a more of a pump-up song,” he said of the track written by the rapper and Daft Punk.
Sinden, 25, became fascinated with song after the final fight scene in the 2008 film Never Back Down, starring Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet.
“From that film, it’s always been my favourite song,” said Sinden, who won a silver medal for Britain at the Tokyo Games.
“It just gets you into that mood. Now it’s like ‘I’m ready to go in there and do my business,’ ” he added.
VERONICA FRALEY, U.S.
Veronica Fraley normally vibes out to Afrobeat melodies. But when the discus thrower needs to lock in, she turns on rap music like Future’s March Madness before stepping in the circle.
“It’s a lot of things that’s not safe for work,” Fraley, 24, said with a chuckle. “Just something to get the blood pumping, get the anger going to be honest.”
Fraley said the music she subscribes to helps her tremendously.
“It gets me in the zone,” she said. “Kind of in the mood to be a fighter. It helps me come with my hardest energy.”
FERNANDO DAYAN JORGE, REFUGEE OLYMPIC TEAM
When Fernando Dayán Jorge steps into his red-and-white canoe, the two-time Olympian listens to one song that matches his energy.
Anytime Jorge, 25, practices or does warm-ups, the canoeist turns on Legendary by 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 sprint, will be competing this time as a refugee. He’s joined a growing number of Cuban athletes who have defected.
McKENZIE COAN, U.S.
McKenzie Coan is a huge Britney Spears fan, particularly drawn to Circus and Womanizer.
“Those are my two favourite pump-up songs,” said Coan, a Paralympian 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 Spotify playlist, which features artists such as Spears and Rihanna.
“Some of those songs I can’t listen to unless I’m getting ready to race, because it gets me so amped up,” she said. “I can’t even handle it. … I listen to things I can really move to.”
RACHEL GLENN, U.S.
When it comes to music, Rachel Glenn calls herself the ultimate “hype girl.” Before she competes in the high jump and 400 hurdles, it’s all about listening to several upbeat songs like Y.G.’s Perfect Timing with Mozzy and Blxst.
“I’m a big music person,” said Glenn, 22, who listens to the likes of Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy, Lil Vada and Tommy the Clown.
“I like to listen to music anywhere I go,” she said. “I'll listen when I’m doing my homework, when I’m trying to go to sleep. It’s super important. Track and field is a mental thing. If your mentality right, then you’re going to compete right.”
JAYDIN BLACKWELL, U.S.
While Jaydin Blackwell warms up, the Paralympian sprinter focuses more on motivational speakers than songs.
Blackwell’s speech of choice? The inspirational intro to Madden NFL 13, which features two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis.
He also listens to David Goggins, an ultra-marathon runner.
Asked the kind of music that does catch his ear: “I like the mushy music when I warm-up,” said Blackwell, 20, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 6.
DANIEL ROBERTS, U.S.
Daniel Roberts isn’t an ’80s baby, but his musical taste derives from tunes created nearly two decades before he was born.
The hurdler often goes the old-school R&B route, selecting the 1979 classic Use to Be My Girl by The O’Jays.
“I don’t listen to music that’s going to get me hype, but music I enjoy,” Roberts, 26, said. “If I like the music or song a lot, it’s going to bring that good energy. I’m going to dance. I’m going to move.”
Roberts plays a diverse range of music to help him find his ultimate groove heading into a race.
“You got to be able to get into that rhythm,” he said.
CORDELL TINCH, U.S.
Even though Cordell Tinch hardly ever listens to music during his warm-ups, some songs do cause the hurdler’s head to bobble with enthusiasm.
“Today, it was God Did. That was the last song I listened to before I took my headphones off,” Tinch said of the track by DJ Khaled, featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy.
“It was that song today, but it could be different another day,” he said.
Tinch, 24, said he consumes a healthy dose of Broadway songs. Rod Wave’s Yungen is another favourite.
SAMANTHA BOSCO, U.S.
During training for the Paralympics, cyclist Samantha Bosco usually leans on two songs: Pink’s upbeat I Am Here and the gospel-inflected Chant by rapper Macklemore and Australian singer Tones and I.
“Those are my songs,” said Bosco, who was born with a posteromedial bow of the right tibia and a calcaneal valgus foot that was corrected at the age of four by having a wedge of bone surgically removed. She first rode a bike at age six, riding to and from school with her dad.