Olympic Athletes Share Favorite Music on Spotify

July 24th, 2024

Some very good sports people from the Olympics and Paralympics tell us about their favorite songs. They listen to these songs before they play sports. Their favorite songs are from different kinds of music and different times. You can listen to their songs on Spotify. One sports person, Rai Benjamin, listens to artists like Drake and some movie music to get ready for racing. Rebecca McGowan, who does taekwondo, likes to listen to "High Hopes" and "Can't Stop" before she starts. Logan Edra, a breakdancer, enjoys old hip-hop music. She likes a song called "World's Famous" from 1983. Bradly Sinden, who does taekwondo, gets ready with the song "Stronger" by Kanye West. Veronica Fraley, who throws the discus, likes to listen to rap music, like the song "March Madness" by Future. Fernando Dayán Jorge, who paddles canoes, has a special song called "Legendary" that he listens to. McKenzie Coan, a swimmer, likes songs by Britney Spears when she gets ready to swim. Rachel Glenn, who jumps high and runs over hurdles, loves music that is fun and full of energy. Jaydin Blackwell, a runner, prefers to listen to people who talk about being strong and working hard. And Cordell Tinch, another runner, likes a mix of music, sometimes even from Broadway shows. These sports people say that music helps them feel strong and ready. They choose songs that make them happy and give them good energy before they compete.

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💭 Discussion Questions

. What do the sports people listen to before they play sports?

. Can you name one song that the article says a sports person likes?

. Why do the sports people listen to music before they compete?

📖 Vocabulary

🌐 Cultural context

These sports people are famous for doing very well in big international sports contests. They like to listen to music before they play. The music is from America or other countries and includes many styles. Some singers mentioned are very popular. The article is from a place where English is spoken.

🧠 Further reading

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music industry

The virus made many music shows stop. Big and small shows did not happen. Many singers waited to share new songs. But, some singers put their music out sooner. People couldn't go to concerts, so singers played music from their homes on the computer. Everyone could watch for free. They did this to make people happy and teach them to stay far from others to stay well.

Sport psychology

Sport psychology helps people do better in sports. It also helps them feel good when they play sports or exercise. It uses ideas from science and psychology. Sport psychologists do not only help athletes. They also help regular people enjoy sports more and keep doing their exercises. They can help with things like getting better at sports, getting along with teammates, or playing sports after being hurt. A long time ago, teachers started to study sport psychology. It began in Germany. A man named Dr. Carl Diem made the first sport psychology place in the 1920s. Another man, Robert Werner Schulte, helped too. He started a school for learning about sports and wrote a book about sports and the mind.

Gracenote

Gracenote is a company. It knows a lot about music and videos. It helps other companies find out what's in their music and videos. Gracenote started as a small project. Now, it helps the world with music. Gracenote used to be part of Sony, a big company. Then another company had it. Now, Nielsen has Gracenote. They help many people. Long ago, two people made Gracenote to help CDs. CDs have music but don't tell you what music is inside. Gracenote finds out what songs are on the CD. Many people help Gracenote by telling it about music. It has a big list of music because of people's help. One day, Sony bought Gracenote for many dollars. They had it for a while. Then, another company got Gracenote. Now, Gracenote helps with TV shows too. It's still helping people find music and videos.