The Zone
10 Olympic hopefuls on what it feels like
2008-06-12

The Olympics are not about money. Your amateur status as an athlete must remain uncompromised in order to compete.

The Olympics are not about fame. Once you qualify, you can become a household name, but that’s generally for about as long as the ESPN coverage lasts.

And, though gold trumps silver trumps bronze in any language, the Olympics are not, ultimately, about the medals.

For the athletes, the Olympics are about the competition -- against other competitors, but more importantly, against oneself; against the last, best time you executed a long jump, a pole vault, a shot put, a lap.

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 It must be solely (soul-ly) and completely about what you are called to do. How else to explain the 4 a.m. training sessions, sometimes before you go to work; The challenge of financing your passion so that you have the time to devote to being the best; the relentless pursuit of first place.

For the athletes profiled here, Olympic hopefuls for Beijing 2008, these realities are just another set of hurdles that must be cleared – all for the sake of arriving in the zone.

For track phenoms Allyson Felix, Carmelita Jeter and LaShawn Merritt, swimmer Cullen Jones, hurdles competitor Terrence Trammell, fencer Ivan Lee, shot putter Reese Hoffa, decathlon competitor Bryan Clay, gymnast Sean Golden and boxers Rau’shee Warren and Demetrius Andrade, finding that sweet spot makes it all worthwhile.

Launch the photo essay to hear them explain it in their own words.

Photography by Dudley Brooks