How Will Visualization Help You Get That Olympic Gold Medal?

THIS is the first of a four part series on Visualization in Sports.

Can Visualization Really Get You An Olympic Gold Medal?

Between 1956 – 1980, Russia (formerly known as USSR) was virtually untouchable in the gymnastics discipline. Larissa Latynina, Nikolai Andrianov and Boris Shakhlin were at the core of the Russian Gymnastics golden years - Larissa won an amazing nine gold medals, while Nikolai and Boris each won seven, cementing their places amongst the all time great Olympians. Read more

Oscar Pistorius - The Fastest Man On No Legs

Oscar Pistorius was born to Henke and Sheila Pistorius on 22nd November 1986. This would have been a fairly ordinary affair except that Oscar Pistorius was born with a rare deformity of the legs - his feet contains only two toes, the heel bone and a bone to connect the toes and the heel together.

Henke and Sheila Pistorius made the heartwrenching decision to amputate Oscar’s legs below the knee. Read more

I Bet You Can’t Swim Faster Than Natalie Du Toit!

BORN IN CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Natalie Du Toit was already a rising star in swimming when she was young.

At the tender age of 14, Natalie Du Toit set multiple national age group records in both medley events and she competed in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in 1998.

Two years later, at 16, she nearly qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics in three events.

With her strong determined character, many believed she would go on to bring glory for the home nation in future years.

In February 2001, a then 17 year old Natalie, went about school in the usual manner - riding her scooter. Unknown to her, what would soon happen would change her life forever. Read more

Olympic Spirit Burns Strongly With Luz Long

JESSE OWENS is probably the most celebrated black American athlete prior to 1950. In the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, he captured international attention by winning four gold medals - the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and the 4×100 meter relay team.

In 1935, a year preceding the Olympics, Owens’ astounded the world in a Big Ten meet. In a remarkable span of 45minutes, he set three world records in the long jump, 220 yard sprint (equivalent to the 200m sprint), 220 yard low hurdles, and equaled the record for 100 yard sprint (91m).

Yet Owens’ unprecedented Golds in the sprint and long jump events in the 1936 Olympics would not have materialized if not for amazing Olympic Spirit displayed by Luz Long.

Luz Long and Jesse Owens were considered the favorites in the 1936 Long Jump event. In the preliminary rounds, Luz Long found himself clearing the distance required easily. Owens, his strongest competitor in the event, had fouled on his first two jumps and was on the brink of elimination from the finals. Read more

Dara Torres Proves You Are Never Too Old To Achieve Extraordinary Results In Sports

Dara Torres, at age 41, is going to the Olympics for an unprecedented fifth time. It was not so much the frequency of trips to the Olympics that had people gasping. It was the manner she qualified for the Olympics. On July 5th 2008, she broke the US record for 50m Freestyle with a time of 24.38. As if that was not impressive for a grand dame at age 41, she followed that up by breaking the record for the 2nd time in 2 days with a time of 24.25 sec, just .28sec off the current World Record.

Dara Torres, for the time being, is proving that you are never too old for anything. Read more