ESPN Olympic Sports

Pssst. Want to bet on Olympians? Now you can.

Well, sort of. Thanks to Charity Bets, you can put your money on a top athlete. You just won't win any money. But you'll win something better -- the knowledge that you're helping a good cause.

For example, go to the organization's website this week and you can place a bet on 2004 Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi's goal to finish in the top three of this weekend's U.S. marathon trials in Houston. You could place any amount (say $100) on "The Over" he accomplishes his goal and any amount (say $5) on "The Under'' that he doesn't. Under those circumstances, if he qualifies, he goes to the Olympics and you give his charity, the Meb Foundation, the $100. If he finishes fourth or lower, he stays home this summer and his charity gets only the $5 you wagered on that outcome.

As if there wasn't already enough pressure competing for one of just three spots on the Olympic team.

"They bet for you or against you, to contribute money to a great cause. It gives you motivation to push harder and harder," said Keflezighi, who started the Meb Foundation in November 2010 to promote education and fitness. "To represent your country is a great honor, but to not just represent your country but to also help other people out is even better."

Keflezighi is not the only elite athlete you can bet on. Charity Bets co-founder Dave Maloney says U.S. sprinter Walter Dix, who finished second to Usain Bolt in the 100 and 200 at the track and field world championships in Daegu, South Korea, this past summer, will participate, as well. So will Justin Gatlin, who won the gold medal in the 100 at the 2004 Olympics, and 2004 Olympian Khadevis Robinson, among other runners.

Robinson said he had a few qualms at first because it involved betting, but once he learned how it worked, he was all on board.

"For me, it is a win/win for everyone," he said. "The two things that it does that I believe in is that it will, A, bring more publicity and promote the sport of track and field, and, B, provide an opportunity to raise money and help charities and foundations."

Robinson said his charity will be the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

This is sort of like fantasy football or baseball, in that it provides a financial interest in how a particular athlete fares. The big difference, of course, is instead of winning $200 and bragging rights with your friends, you're helping someone's education or health. Which is a whole lot better than that silly trophy you get for winning your fantasy league.

People don't need to bet on someone else, though. You can set up your own athletic event -- a 10K, a marathon or a century ride -- and get friends to bet charitable amounts on your outcome. They can bet on you reaching your goal or bet against you.

If you decide to bet on Keflezighi this weekend, bear in mind he is coming off a personal best in the New York City Marathon in November and says he is feeling good.

"The marathon is 26.2 miles, so a lot of things can go wrong, but also right," he said. "I'm 36, I've made the trials twice, but you have to do it that day."

The Olympics are still six months and three weeks away, so there's still a little time to order a copy of Michael Phelps' "London on 10,000 Calories a Day" guidebook. The U.S. Olympic trials season, however, is just about to heat up.

Mark the following events and dates on your 2012 Mayan calendar if you want a head start on crushing all opponents in your Olympics Fantasy League.

(Disclaimer: This isn't all of the trials since some sports don't have them, but this list is a lot to put on your plate without also explaining the selection process for the modern pentathlon team.)

Jan. 14: Marathon

Begin the long, grueling season of Olympic athlete trials and qualifications with -- what else? -- the marathon in Houston. The U.S. women may have their deepest field ever, including Desiree Davila, Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan and 38-year-old Deena Kastor. On the men's side, Ryan Hall is the favorite, but don't rule out 36-year-old 2004 silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, who set a personal record in the recent ING New York City Marathon. By the way, top marathoners average just under five-minute miles. For 26.2 miles. You'd be lucky to average that in Houston at rush hour in a car.

Jan. 19-29: Women's soccer qualifying tournament

Sadly, Hope Solo's "Dancing with the Stars" season finished shy of the coveted mirror ball. If she wants a shot at adding another Olympic gold medal to her collection, she and the rest of the U.S. women must first secure a spot. A field of eight countries from the Americas will compete in Vancouver, British Columbia, for two slots in London. The United States is in Group B with Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, but another interesting story should be Group A in which Haiti will face Canada, Cuba and Costa Rica. Let's just hope Vancouverites don't burn down the city if Canada doesn't qualify.

Feb. 13-19: Women's boxing

Qualifying for the Olympics is a two-step process for the U.S. women. Boxers must win the trials in Spokane, Wash., in February. Then those boxers must finish among the top eight in the three weight classes at the world championships in China in May. This will be the first time women's boxing will be on the Olympic calendar.

March 22-April 2: Men's soccer qualifying tournament

Because of the age restrictions, men's Olympic soccer isn't viewed as big a deal as it is for the women. But can Freddy Adu and his teammates grab the spotlight away from the women with a medal? Well, the Americans will first have to get there. The qualifying rounds will be played in Nashville, Tenn., and Carson City, Calif., before the semifinals and final March 31 and April 2 in Kansas City, Kan. Don't drip your scarves in the barbecue.

April 21-22: Wrestling

In addition to the usual hopefuls, there are two possible wrestlers who could make this event very interesting. Both 2000 gold medalist/"Biggest Loser" competitor Rulon Gardner and 1996 gold medalist/pro wrestler Kurt Angle have said they will attempt to make the team. A slimmed-down Gardner is working at the Olympic training center, while Angle is training on his own. No chairs, please, Kurt.

Late spring, basketball roster selections

The Olympic spots are set, it's just a matter of hearing the final rosters. The men are coming off gold in 2008, while the women are 33-0 in the Olympics dating back to 1992. BTW: If men's coach Mike Krzyzewski needs a vowel, he can buy it from women's coach Geno Auriemma.

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How come this sort of thing never happens to us?

The London Olympic organizing committee accidentally sold twice as many tickets to synchronized swimming as were available. Yes, it's true. There are not only people who will actually pay to watch synchronized swimming, but there are more than can fit into the arena. In fact, there were 10,000 more of them beyond capacity.

The interesting thing is that London is making up for the mistake by offering those fans tickets to other events instead, including the 100-meter final. Imagine buying tickets for synchronized swimming and receiving the 100 final due to a computer mistake? That's like buying tickets to see Michael Bolton and having U2 play instead because he had laryngitis.

Now, many of those people who bought the synchronized swimming tickets either were just looking for any Olympic event that was available or were under the impression Martin Short was competing for Canada. Either way, they will be very happy to watch Usain Bolt run instead.

But there are also some die-hard synchronized fans who are going to be very put out if they wind up with the 100 meter, the 100 freestyle or the gold-medal basketball game instead.

I don't care about the world's fastest man! I want to see Russia's Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermak repeat their stunning gold-medal twists and twirls to Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite!"

And that Michael Phelps doesn't wear nearly enough glitter!

Meanwhile, we'll just have to cross our fingers that the committee made the same mistake with our rhythmic gymnastics tickets.

Olympic hopeful Christine Jennings doesn't have to be educated about the inherent perils of open-water swimming (heat exhaustion, hypothermia, polluted water and stinging jellyfish, among others), but she never, ever imagined she'd be hurt sprinting toward a finish line on the beach.

Almost three weeks ago, Jennings emerged from the water for the homestretch of an invitational race in Rio de Janeiro that alternated swimming and running, with five repetitions of an 800-meter swim followed by a 50-meter dash on the beach. As she hoofed it to the finish on the uneven sand, Jennings felt her hyperextended right leg buckle and looked down to the horrifying sight of knee and calf twisting in opposite directions.

Brazilian television ran the footage at regular intervals for the next 24 hours. Jennings, trying to find some humor in the situation, tweeted from her hospital bed: "Who knew that breaking your leg could get you famous in another country? ... I can't watch!"

The toll for the 2010 Pan Pacific gold medalist and two-time world championship team member: fractures of the tibial plateau and fibula, and a sprained posterior cruciate ligament. The timing: lousy, since Jennings is entering a critical period in her bid to book a place on the U.S. Olympic team for the 10K open-water event.

Fellow American Alex Meyer has already qualified with a fourth-place finish at the world championships. Only one U.S. woman can join him among the elite in London by finishing in the top two at the national championships in late April and then in the top nine in an Olympic qualifying race in Portugal on June 9.

Jennings was able to fly home a day after her freak injury, then suffered through a bout of food poisoning. She recently began upper-body workouts and got into a pool this past Thursday for the first time since the accident to do some pulling with her legs in a stationary position. She's not sure when she'll be able to resume full training, but intends to carry on with her competitive plan this spring.

"The story hasn't ended yet -- it all depends on who's writing it," Jennings said by phone from the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. "I'm going to make [rehab] my job as best I can."

Danielle Scott-Arruda, 39, is bidding to become one of a select few women to compete in volleyball in five consecutive Olympic Games. (Brazil's Hélia Rogério de Souza and Russia's Yevgeniya Artamonova-Estes are the others.) In 2008, the middle blocker helped lead the Americans to a silver medal, the team's first podium appearance since 1992.

Scott-Arruda took time off last year after the birth of her daughter, Julianne, in April. She began training again a scant four weeks later and said she never considered leaving the game. Scott-Arruda rejoined the program in the fall of 2010 and made the roster for last month's World Cup, where the team (she said the squad is perhaps the deepest she's played for) qualified for London by finishing second to host Japan.

"Having red, white and blue on my back is what motivates me," she told reporters on a conference call Monday.

Here are more excerpts:

• On playing for coach Hugh McCutcheon, who guided the U.S. men's team to Olympic gold in 2008 just days after his father-in-law was killed and mother-in-law seriously injured in a random attack early in the Beijing Games:

"It was quite a thrill to hear that he was now going to coach the women's team after he did such a good job with the men's team in getting a gold. I'm like, 'I hope we can get some of that.' ... I think he just makes sure the team is thinking about 'team' and how we can make the team better. It seems simple, but it's just a philosophy that everyone has to buy into, that you get out of 'self' and think more about 'team,' and beyond that, he adds a lot of feedback and a concept of how he likes things done, different ways he can make each player a little bit better.

"Even going for my fifth Olympics, I'm still working on little things that I can get better [at] that make the team better. He has a staff that's really well known in the sport. ... I just have to really say hats off to him [for his coaching job under difficult circumstances in 2008]. He was quite the husband and person of comfort for not only his team but for his wife during that period. With difficulty, you have to try to find some good and strength out of it, and I think he's done a good job doing that and just preparing the team for the next phase."

• On whether she expects the medal contenders to be the "usual suspects" of Brazil, Cuba, Russia and China, and how her seven years' experience playing for clubs in Brazil, where U.S. teammates Destinee Hooker and Stacy Sykora also play, may provide insight on how to beat the defending gold medalists:

"At any point, anyone can be a contender. ... Sometimes it comes down to who can make the least errors and be most efficient in the game. Germany has had a good season this year, and teams that have done well in the past that we didn't see at the World Cup are Azerbaijan, even Turkey and Serbia. The top-ranked teams can just change by a matter of points, so we just have to focus on playing our best game and be prepared for the other teams, making sure our game is crisp.

"[Playing club ball in Brazil], you do get to learn more of their tendencies. ... I'm working on making myself better so I can make good reads and get in good spots for attack, and serving tough, and just being an all-around player -- and that's going to make you successful against all the other teams. ... I haven't signed a contract yet, but looks like I will return there for this season."

• On being a new mother:

"Being a mom is so wonderful. After a hard day's training, coming home and seeing her smile, running with her long arms toward me and jumping up saying 'Hold me' ... having her and wanting her to know, even though she's so young, that I was able to come back to volleyball and play at a high level and hopefully have her see me play at a high level has been a motivation for me.

"The fact that my mom is retired and can take care of her and they're able to travel with me allows me to train and not worry about who's caring for her or whatnot. It's been a great journey, and I hope to be a good example for her and for others -- that even being older and having a child, dreams and aspirations are still attainable when you work hard and believe in yourself and other people believe in you, as well."

• On her longevity in the sport:

"I had no idea that I would continue playing this long, or even starting out that I would get a scholarship to play volleyball [at Long Beach State University] and then have the opportunity to make the national team and go to an Olympics, or have such an incredible career.

"Coming out of college, I played multiple sports. I got a fifth year in basketball but chose to go to the [volleyball] national team. It was, 'Come to the national team or don't come at all.' So, of course I went to the national team. It was a great decision, and I thank [former U.S. women's coach] Terry Liskevych for giving me the opportunity. ... I still have that spirit and passion of a rookie, but I've gained a lot of experience along the way, which I think just adds to my game.

"I'm just so excited to step on the court; when I got my jerseys this summer and had my first opportunity in the World Cup to put it on, I was taking pictures. ... I wish it wouldn't end, but eventually, of course, I will have to hang up my shoes, put them up in the closet on the shelf. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the process. I've been really blessed to physically be able to do it, and mentally I just enjoy the game."

IRVINE, Calif. -- Decathlete Bryan Clay spends his days in spandex, while Ryan Lochte pulls on a swimsuit like he's been doing since he was 8 years old. They'll be looking a lot spiffier, along with the rest of the U.S. Olympic team, at next year's London Games.

Clay and Lochte, along with swimmer Rebecca Soni and gymnast Jonathan Horton, are among 12 Olympic and Paralympic athletes sponsored by Ralph Lauren, who has designed the official uniforms for the American team to wear in the opening and closing ceremonies in London.

At a recent photo shoot on the track at UC Irvine, Clay posed in a navy polo shirt that sported the word London on the back.

Lochte, a fashion fiend outside the pool, cut an elegant figure in white slacks, a white polo with the collar popped, white tennis shoes and a new closely cropped `do.

"It's a real clean-cut look and I like that," he said. "It's definitely a different look for me, but I think I can pull it off. I also like dressing up and looking nice."

Lauren has also created apparel and accessories for American athletes to wear in the Olympic village.

"What I really enjoy about the clothing is that it allows me to show a different side of myself," Clay said. "We as athletes get kind of pigeonholed into this one area where we're only athletes and we only wear athletic clothes. I like to go out and I like to dress up and I like to look nice and my wife likes it. The clothes look good and they make me feel good. Hopefully, I'll be able to go out and compete good."

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Two-time defending Olympic sabre champion Mariel Zagunis, 26, of Beaverton, Ore., was in Philadelphia last Sunday along with an elite international group of fencers from all three disciplines (sabre, epee and foil) to display their skills in an exhibition during the annual congress of the FIE, the sport's world governing body.

The daughter of two Olympic rowers, Zagunis is currently the world's top-ranked woman in the aggressive, dexterous, lightning-quick art of sabre, which became an Olympic event for women at the Athens Games in 2004. Zagunis initially failed to qualify for that Olympics but got a spot at the last minute when the fencer ranked above her withdrew. She went on to win her first gold medal there.

Since then, she's toppled every important milestone in the sport -- yet she's not satiated. Zagunis, who won consecutive world championships, suffered a rare setback in October when Russia's Sophia Velikaia came from behind to defeat her in the gold medal bout.

Undeterred, Zagunis sat down with ESPN.com to discuss her mindset going into the lead-up to London 2012.

Ford: The bio on your website says you've won everything there is to win in your sport more than once -- so why keep going?

Zagunis: It's not really about how many times you've won something. It's just about my love for the sport, that's why I keep going. I love waking up every single day and going to fencing practice in the morning and just working hard and setting those big goals one after another, and achieving them, and wanting to do it again and again and again. There's no reason for me to stop -- I mean, I love it, I'm doing well, and yeah, I've won everything at least once, so why not win it two, three, four, five times?

Q: So there's no yearning for a more normal life?

A: For a long time, my life has not been quote-unquote normal. And I'm OK with that, because what I'm trying to do is something that's above and beyond, that not very many people in America or the world have achieved at all. So, I don't mind that my life is so hectic and crazy. I mean, sometimes I do mind, when I'm on my vacation, I'm like, "I could really get used to that." But then once I start training again, I really remember what I'm doing it for. There are certain sacrifices you have to make and I'm going to continue to make them and not have a normal life because I don't want a normal life. I want to do what I'm doing.

Q: How much of a factor is the U.S. team's evolution and success in your decision to keep going?

A: I have been very fortunate to be part of the ongoing success of women's sabre, and then also at the last Olympics in Beijing, the U.S. team had historic results. [Editor's note: The U.S. women swept the podium in sabre, and the team as a whole won six medals, second to Italy's seven.] And to be a part of that is something very special. It's something that may or may not ever happen again. To say I was part of that is great. ... We push each other to work harder and harder all the time and it's really a great dynamic.

Q: I would think it's more fun to be part of a tradition of success than being the only standout from your country.

A: Or trying to live up to something that's been done before you. Luckily, I'm setting records without even thinking about it, without having the pressure of having to do as well as the person who came before me. It's more like, "Yeah, I'm doing my thing and what happens, happens," and fortunately those have been some pretty amazing results.

Q: I watched your gold medal match from worlds, and there was a still photo from the podium where you were being professional, but it was pretty obvious you were very disappointed. Your career arc has been pretty much all uphill -- was it hard to handle? What did you take away and how do you plan to use it?

A: I need to always step back from a tournament like that and realize that it still is an amazing result. It's hard for me because I put so much pressure on myself, and have such high expectations for myself, that anything less than winning is, not as, [pause] ... I don't want to sound ungrateful, because anybody would take second place in the world championships. It's a huge result, but for me, I won it twice in a row, so to win it one more time, like, I really wanted it. Of course I was disappointed, and I was very close to winning. It's a hard loss when you lose by one point. But you always take something away from every tournament whether you win or lose, and especially through losing because you analyze your mistakes. That's what I was able to do, go home and review the bout many times and know what to do next time and make sure that doesn't happen.

Q: How much deeper do you expect the field to be at the upcoming Olympics than it was, say, when you debuted in '04?

A: Oh, man. The sport has changed so much since 2004, it's incredible. If you look even at me, the way I'm fencing now compared to 2004, it's a completely different sport. They've changed so many things just with what [the referees] are calling, they've changed the timing of the [scoring] lights. You always have to be evolving as a fencer. The Olympics is interesting because it's such a small field compared to what we're used to. This world championships, I think we had a hundred and something [athletes]. The Olympics is going to be less than 32.

In 2004, I only fenced four bouts. At any given World Cup [now], I'll fence six bouts if I go to the gold medal round. London's going to be a little different because we don't have a team event, so it's a maximum of two fencers from each country who qualify. It changes things a lot. [Editor's note: The International Olympic Committee has limited the number of medals in fencing, so the FIE is rotating which disciplines will have team events. Women's sabre and men's epee will be the odd ones out in London.] I think the qualification should be different. There's three Russian girls -- if they took the team right now, the No. 4 or 5 girl in the world wouldn't go. So I just think it's kind of unfortunate. I think Beijing was by far the deepest level of talent that we've seen.

Q: Is your preparation going to be very different this time around?

A: If anything, just working harder than I've ever worked before. That's the plan. Stay healthy, stay on track and make sure that I peak at the right times.

Q: What do you do with your precious downtime?

A: I just had three weeks off, it was amazing. One of those weeks I was in California doing some media stuff, but the two weeks before that, I stayed home. I slept in every day, I went to spin class at the gym every night, I made dinner, went shopping, did some arts and crafts, it was so great. But I'm ready to get back into it. This week was my first full hard week back and I'm ready for the grind. Because it's gonna be a long one.

Q: Did rowing ever appeal to you?

A: My parents never pushed it on us [Editor's note: Zagunis has two brothers who also fence]. We had an ergometer in the house because my dad worked out on it all the time. We were taken to regattas and stuff because my dad still stayed involved with it on the competitive side of things for a while. I don't remember how many times this happened, it may have been just once, I did the ergometer maybe 20, 25 minutes, and got off it and thought I was going to collapse, and I was like, "I don't like this at all." It wasn't for me. All three of us were able to find fencing eventually and that was our niche.

Q: Elite sports have obviously changed a lot since the '70s when your parents competed, but I'm sure it helps that they've been there and know what it takes.

A: For sure. My parents are my No. 1 supporters and they always have been. Just like you said, them having gotten to that Olympic level, and knowing the type of sacrifices it's going to take, the dedication, the time, the money, the effort, the travel, the competition, the ups, the downs -- they've been there for it all and that has been so significant throughout my career, because if I'm going through anything, they know how to identify with it. They know how to talk to me about it and get me through it.

Sprinter John Carlos won the bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, but he is remembered less for that than for what happened afterward when he and teammate Tommie Smith took the medal stand. The pair stepped onto the podium shoeless as a symbol of African-Americans' historical poverty, and, when the national anthem played, they bowed their heads and thrust black-gloved fists to the sky.

The gesture was widely viewed as a black power salute, but Carlos says their raised fists were a protest against injustice and inequality around the world regardless of race or ethnicity. The salutes cost them -- ultraconservative IOC president Avery Brundage, who raised no protest against the Nazis in the 1936 Berlin Olympics when he was president of the USOC, forced their removal from the Olympic Village. They also received death threats.

Carlos continued to race after the Olympics, briefly played pro football and later coached track at the high school level. Now 66 years old and still very outspoken against the injustices he sees, he recently finished his autobiography with Dave Zirin, "The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World."

Carlos talks about the book, the fist salute, Jackie Robinson, the apathy of current athletes, the Occupy Wall Street movement and the superpower he would most like to have:

Q: What prompted you to write the book now?

A: I felt like I was getting old and that it was time to have something coming from me, for my kids and grandkids. There are so many stories about me. I just wanted people to know who I am before leaving this world and the time was right.

Q: What do you think your image was in this country after the fist salute?

A: They thought I was a fire-spitting dragon who hated white people, who hated America. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I was just concerned with right and wrong.

Q: How did that salute change your life?

A: I think it just gave me more visibility in what I've done. It hasn't changed my life. Had that not happened, I would have done the same thing I've done in my life -- I just wouldn't have gotten noticed for it. As far as becoming an icon, that's something that you and others brought on me.

Q: Are athletes more or less outspoken than in your day?

A: They're far less outspoken today. That is a good question that you have to ask them.

Q: I think of your salute and then I think of Michael Jordan and the Dream Team using the flag to cover up another sponsor's logo.

A: It's about the dollar. We went out there for humanity and they went for a fistful of dollars.

Q: Which modern athletes do you admire?

A: Steve Nash. Woodson. [Michael] Strahan. Those athletes have made statements in regards to their social and economic standing in relation to others. And of the older athletes, Jim Brown, of course. Bill Russell. Kareem. Ali. Jackie Robinson.

Q: How did you meet Jackie?

A: When I was a kid. The first memory was when my father introduced him to me. I grew up in Harlem where my father had a shoe shop and Jackie and other players came into his shop. They would play cards. The bottom line is when I met Jackie Robinson it was as my father's friend. Later on, I saw "The Jackie Robinson Story," and Jackie starred as himself in that, and I made the connection with this man being my father's friend. As a youngster going to a movie, they turn the lights down and you want to play and have fun. Then the movie starts and you realize you've met this man, so you want to pay attention and learn. I learned that he went to UCLA, that he served in the armed forces, how he crossed the color line and integrated baseball and became a sacrificial lamb to open the door for everyone else.

Q: How have the Olympics changed since 1968?

A: The way the Olympics have changed is they freed up the money. They let some of the athletes have some money. They let the kids have some money.

I don't think of it as a positive or a negative, it's just the way it is. It's an opportunity to make money. [Back in 1968], they kept us on a tightrope, giving us $2 a day. You would go into the stadium and they would have 80,000 people there and they gave you $2. Most of the guys were married and had responsibilities. We had to represent America but we thought America was not stepping up to the table. It wasn't a racial or ethnic thing. This was across the board, white kids and black kids.

Q: You've spoken at a number of Occupy Wall Street gatherings. What did you say?

A: I told them, why was I there? I am there for them. After 43 years, we're still fighting for the same issues: Equality. For everyone to be able to go to college and get a decent job and flourish in America. Before, it was black people because we were the lowest man on the totem pole, so to speak. Now the circle has widened so much that it includes every ethnic group. They're all wondering whether I will have a job tomorrow, will I be able to pay the mortgage, whether my child can go to college and whether they can pay for college. And the kids out there are not from poor families. They're from wealthy families but they're rebelling. They're saying to their parents, "We had a great life and if you had shared more, more people could have had a great life, too."

Q: I'm in Minnesota today where the owner of the Vikings is looking for a $1.25 billion stadium. What is your opinion of the super-rich owners complaining about high taxes, then demanding public subsidies -- and higher taxes?

A: He wants to put the bill on the back of those people he's fighting against. He wants the stadium and he wants you to pay for it. That's what people are saying -- enough is enough.

Q: Will the movement make a real change?

A: I think anyone who puts up a fight long enough can make a change. If you look at the word consistency, consistency will make change regardless of what you're fighting for.

Q: Finally, this is a question I ask everyone -- Which superpower would you most want to have? The strength of 100 men, the ability to fly, turn invisible or have the speed of Mercury?

A: That’s a hard one, bro. If I was invisible I could get into a lot of things and straighten them out. But when you say the strength of 100 men -- do you mean the strength of 100 men to come together and unify? I would do that, but if it's just brute strength to hold up a building or something, I don't need that.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic believes it was not improvements to his game but his mentality that helped him win three grand slam titles in 2011.

Reflecting on a hugely successful season, Djokovic believes it was his newfound maturity which made the difference.

"It's true that I have improved but by a very small percentage," Djokovic told ESPN. "It's the same game I've had the last couple of years; it's my mental approach on the court that's changed.

"That was the difference. I stepped it up. I matured and said, 'It's my time. I can do it. I can win major titles'. I think luck falls on not just the brave but also the ones who believe they belong there."

After a brief break, Djokovic will return to action next month, when one of his first tasks will be to defend his Australian Open title -- the first of 10 title defenses in 2012. But Djokovic already has his sights on another prestigious title on the Wimbledon courts at London 2012.

"I'm only 24, and I want to have many more successful years, win as many major titles as possible," Djokovic said. "The Olympics are coming up. I want a medal."

This story first appeared in the December 12, 2011, "Interview Issue" of ESPN The Magazine.

Sarah Hendrickson flew into history Saturday by winning the inaugural women's ski jumping World Cup on the Olympic hill in Lillehammer, Norway, sailing down a trail that older athletes blazed for her. The victory for the 17-year-old from Park City, Utah, was especially sweet for the U.S. team, one of the groups that took the lead in the long and ultimately successful fight to include the discipline for women on the Olympic calendar.

This season, the women have their own International Ski Federation (FIS) sanctioned World Cup events after toiling for years on the lower-key, lower-tier Continental Cup circuit. The first event of 14 parachuted the women directly into Norway, the cradle of the sport. They jumped before a crowd of 3,000 under a novel format that alternated women's and men's rounds. The entire two hours of competition was televised live in Europe by numerous national networks and Eurosport.

Altogether, it was a significant upgrade from the past. The 5-foot-3 Hendrickson, who was born the year the Olympics were held in Lillehammer, was only too happy to absorb the bigger buzz.

"I kept saying, this feels like World Championships," Hendrickson said by phone from Norway. "Then I keep thinking, we have 13 more World Cups just in the season. It's a great feeling to have all that there throughout the whole year, not just [at worlds] every two years."

Hendrickson has uncommon composure for someone her age, a trait that came in handy over the weekend when she became a popular interview subject. The day after her win, she was invited to join longtime Eurosport commentator David Goldstrom to offer her analysis on the men's big hill competition.

"She's amazing, the fact that she's managing the situation that's moving around her in the last three days in a super-professional way," said U.S. coach Paolo Bernardi. "Just 17, and she's more professional than most of the older athletes I've met in my career."

Hendrickson's grounding starts at home, where she tries to have as normal a social life as possible given her unearthly skills. She got on skis at age 2 and began jumping at 7 (the ideal age, when kids are both fearless and ultra-flexible), prompted by her dad, a jumper in his high school days, and older brother.

But Hendrickson also loves soccer -- she's a left-footed midfielder -- and continues to play for her high school and club teams.

"I always kind of thought about going to college and playing soccer, but with the inclusion in the Olympics and getting World Cup, I think I've decided essentially to stay with ski jumping," she said.

Bernardi has come out to watch some of Hendrickson's soccer matches and admits the possibility of injury makes him nervous, but he said that's outweighed by his belief that she "needs to be happy and enjoy life ... when she's on the road, she gives 100 percent."

Hendrickson's jump distances of 100.5 and 95.5 meters were comparable to the top men's, and so is her technique, according to Bernardi. And it's not as if she's come out of nowhere. Last year, she became the first American, male or female, to medal at the Junior World Championships, taking a bronze.

Still, she said she surprised even herself with her performance.

"In official training the day before the event, I had the two longest jumps out of anybody," Hendrickson said. "It's actually kind of hard going into a competition knowing you've had the best training jumps. People are kind of looking at you continuing that into the competition."

She might have to get used to that.

On Thursday, USA Cycling announced the 30 athletes who are eligible to be nominated to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in mountain biking and women's road cycling.

"The hard work and determination of these athletes has helped USA Cycling advance its vision of making the U.S. the most successful country in the world of competitive cycling," USA Cycling's vice president of athletics Jim Miller said. "They are evidence of the United States' ability to be a legitimate medal contender across all four disciplines of competitive cycling in London. The athletes on this list have either proven their capabilities to win medals in major international events or illustrated the potential to do so in the future."

The long team rosters for men's and women's track cycling are set to be unveiled on Dec. 15. The long team for men's BMX will be announced on May 31, 2012, before the BMX Olympic Trials in Chula Vista, Calif., on June 16.

Women's Road Long Team
Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho/Team Exergy 2012)
Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo)
Andrea Dvorak (Crozet, Va./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo)
Robin Farina (Charlotte, N.C./NOW and Novartis for MS)*
Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./Team TIBCO)*
Janel Holcomb (San Diego, Calif./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo)
Kristin McGrath (Durango, Colo./Team Exergy 2012)
Amanda Miller (Fort Collins, Colo./HTC-Highroad)
Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif./HTC-Highroad)*
Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./ Diadora-Pasta Zara)
Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Team TIBCO)
Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./HTC-Highroad)*
Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Team Exergy 2012)

Men's Mountain Bike Long Team
Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va./Cannondale)*
Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes)
Adam Craig (Bend, Ore./Rabobank-Giant)*
Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, Wash./BMC)
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek)*
Spencer Paxson (Seattle, Wash./Kona)
Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont./Subaru-Trek)*
Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized)*

Women's Mountain Bike Long Team
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Rabobank)*
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized)*
Judy Freeman (Brighton, Colo./Kenda-Felt)
Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna) *
Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek)*
Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes)*
Krista Park (Madison, S.D./Cannondale-No Tubes)
Willow Rockwell (Durango, Colo./Trek World Racing)
Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz./BMC)

* - Automatic Nomination

At the 2009 swimming world championships in Rome, the suits overshadowed the athletes who inhabited them.

Those second skins that incorporated buoyant polyurethane -- simply referred to as "rubber suits" by the swimmers -- could take a half-hour or more to wriggle into, a worthwhile endeavor because they slashed precious seconds from personal bests. World records tumbled. Many in the sport protested, while some contended that technology should be allowed to progress unimpeded.

The many prevailed, and the controversial suits were banned by FINA, swimming's world governing body. Over the past two seasons, the athletes have inched toward the rubber-aided records wearing more conventional "textile" suits, and this year the ultra-talented Ryan Lochte punched through the fabric wall and broke the world record in the 200-meter individual medley.

So when eight Americans and one Canadian swimmer stalked onto a runway in Manhattan on Wednesday wearing new Speedo gear that meets the current rules but also comes with the promise of better biomechanical efficiency, it was hard to sort out what that meant. Where is the line between performance-enhancing and performance-optimizing? Will future records forever be linked to fashion eras, with invisible asterisks dotting the archives?

"The only thing I'll say to that is this -- the suit can't swim itself," said three-time world championship medalist Tyler Clary, the individual-medley standout and former swimmer for the Michigan Wolverines. "You still have to put in the training. You still have to have the mental aptitude to put together a race. The suits can't and never will take that away from somebody until you start putting in a living bio-exo-skeleton."

Athletes like Clary are clearly offended by the idea that they are mere passengers on a high-tech train, but they also want to believe they are competing with state-of-the-art apparel. The Speedo Fastskin3 -- debuted around the world Wednesday and billed as a "system" that integrates the design of suit, goggles and cap -- is the latest attempt at achieving that balance.

The woven suit still requires considerable effort to tug on but is made of permeable material that compresses key parts of a swimmer's body to streamline it. Minus the option of full body coverage, now limited by FINA rules, Speedo designers turned their attention to reducing the drag caused by accessories.

The new goggles are said to be more hydro-dynamic and permit peripheral vision, an innovation especially valued by backstrokers, who often have trouble gauging where their competition is because they're facing the sky or the ceiling and are screened by splashing. It will come into play underwater, too. Michael Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, speculated the 16-time Olympic medalist would save valuable fractions of seconds because he won't be tempted to turn his head to look at his rivals when he pushes off the wall on a turn.

Athletes with long tresses stand to benefit from a "hair management system" (and who among us couldn't use that on a given day?) in the form of a tight-fitting, cloth do-rag imprinted with arrows that show how to pack hair into a streamlined bun on the nape of the neck. A slick, thicker cap layers over that.

Natalie Coughlin demonstrated for reporters, dividing her nearly waist-length hair into two hanks which then magically disappeared under the cloth cap. She likened the resulting shape of her head to the tapered helmet worn by cyclists.

"The drag we have in the pool is similar to 60 or 70 mph on land," the 11-time Olympic medalist said. "So if you're driving down the highway and you stick your hand outside, going from having your hand turned flat out to turning your hand just the slightest increment will make the biggest difference. And that's what swimming is about, finding those places where you can shave time."

The swimmers who strutted their stuff Wednesday are all sponsored by Speedo, and several of them have participated in the development and testing process over the past four years. They praised the gear for comfort and its potential contribution to their success, as would be expected. Those compliments could be tested soon; the swimwear is approved for competition starting Jan. 1, and several athletes said they plan to don it for the Austin Grand Prix event later that month.

However, when it comes time for the Olympic trials in late June and the London Olympics a month later, anyone, regardless of sponsorship, will be able to race in the Fastskin3. Speedo president Jim Gerson said the company will provide it on request to any swimmer and he does not anticipate the supply crunch that ensued at the same juncture with the first generation of high-tech suits in 2008.

The bottom line: Once swimmers take their marks, they can't afford to fixate on what they're wearing, negatively or positively. Freestyle sprinter Nathan Adrian said what he most values is feeling that he's not behind when he steps up to the starting blocks.

"I choose to race in the best suit given what the rules are," he said.

Lochte said he thinks he'll break his 200 IM record, but emphasized he wants to correct the infinitesimal mistakes he made in that swim rather than leaning on an advantage conferred by apparel.

"It's the swimmer propelling the suit and not the other way around," Coughlin said firmly. "It's an Olympic year; people are training very well and this is what all of us have dreamt about and focused on, so people are going to be fast, regardless. Give us a baby pool and we'll figure out a way to be fast."

The U.S. men's foil team was forced to withdraw from the London International Invitational Men's Foil Competition after two members of the team were injured.

Both Gerek Meinhardt and Miles Chamley-Watson suffered hamstring injuries.

After the U.S. lost to France in the team event, they chose to withdraw from the consolation round in order to prevent further injuries.

Before getting injured, Meinhardt and Chamley-Watson won gold and silver medals, respectively, in the individual events. Race Imboden finished fourth and Alexander Massialas placed 11th in the Olympic test event.

After three days of competition at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, nine athletes were nominated for the U.S. Olympic synchronized swimming team.

The U.S. team is coming off a silver medal victory in team and duet at the Pan American Games. They will try to earn a berth in the London Games at the Olympic Qualification Tournament on April 18-22.

The roster is subject to approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

New coach Mayuko "Mayu" Fujiki was named the U.S. national team coach in January 2011. He led Spain to silver medals at the 2008 Olympic Games and the overall trophy at the FINA World Trophy in 2010.

Twenty-four American women will fight to earn a spot in London as the sport of women's boxing makes its Olympic debut at the 2012 Games.

After six months of qualifying tournaments, eight women in each of the three Olympic weight divisions will compete in the first U.S. Olympic team trials for women's boxing on Feb. 13-19 in Airway Heights, Wash., just outside of Spokane.

"The 24 women who have qualified for the first-ever Olympic Trials are all outstanding athletes that will represent our sport and country in a first-class fashion," said Harold Adonis, the USA Boxing president. "They have each dedicated endless hours in the gym and made tremendous sacrifices to chase their Olympic dreams and we look forward to seeing them all compete in this historic event."

Flyweight Christina Cruz, lightweight Queen Underwood and middleweight Franchon Crews claimed the first spots in the Olympic Trials and represented the United States at the 2011 Pan American Games.

The three 2011 National Golden Gloves champions (flyweight Cynthia Moreno, lightweight Mikaela Mayer and middleweight Tiffanie Hearn) also advanced to trials.

The final spots were determined at the USA Boxing National Championships and the National PAL Championships. The three winners from trials will compete in the Women's World Championships.