U.S. Olympic hockey star Kendall Coyne revealed her winning habits exclusively to uSports ahead of competing at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. “My everyday habits, it’s recognizing the habits that have made me successful, whether it’s eating, sleeping, training, just emptying the tank every single day to be the best that I can be and being willing to do that every single day,” she said. “As we know, the Olympics are not every four years; they’re every day, and the grind is every day, and just being willing to embrace that grind.”

U.S. Olympic hockey star Hillary Knight revealed the life lessons she learned on her way to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. “A life lesson from my Olympic journey is just being able to work with people from different backgrounds and problem-solving on the fly and getting through different adversities,” she told uSports exclusively in November. “How to effectively communicate with one another. So, yeah, think anyone who’s been in our program is set up for success with those life skills, for sure.”

U.S. Olympic skier Gus Schumacher reflected on the life lessons he’s gotten from his Olympic journey in an exclusive interview with uSports. “There’s so many. I think the biggest one is that, in my last Olympics, I raced while I was sick to qualify, and it ended up being like my body didn’t work right for six months,” he said. “That’s been a big life lesson: just listen to your body. Manage your energy – even though the super little things, like the better you can be at hearing the small things your body’s saying, the better you’ll be in the long term.”

U.S. Olympic skier Breezy Johnson, who just won gold at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, spoke to uSports about the role of her work habits in her success. “One super important life habit I would say is just figuring out your own body for working out, and stuff is figuring out what things you’re good at, what things you get better at quickly and trying to know yourself and understand that,” she told uSports in November. “I would say one is that this is gonna sound dark, but hard work does not always pay off, but working hard is worth it for being able to say that about yourself, that you gave it everything you could. But just because you work super hard doesn’t mean that your dreams will come true. But it does mean that sticking your neck out there is, to me, the bravest thing you can do. And to do that is not something most people are willing to do.”

US Olympic speedskater Erin Jackson revealed her habit that makes her a winner in an exclusive interview with uSports. “I would say one habit I have is really taking a calm and reflective attitude towards sports and competition and wins and losses,” she said just before heading to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. “I think sometimes when you have a loss in sport, it can feel like you know this big failure, but I just try to learn something from every race I have, good or bad. I try to reflect after my races, reflect on what I did well, what I did poorly and really take that into the next one.”

U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing in an exclusive interview with uSports.

Dershwitz, who has represented the United States at the Paris Olympics in June, highlighted the importance of a unique blend of physical agility and mental acuity.

“I would say the combination of quick and explosive feet similar to how tennis players need very fast one-two steps from their stance, and in fencing, it’s no different,” he told uSports in April. “The strip isn’t that wide or long, so those first one, two, three steps need to be really explosive.”

The Olympian emphasized that the ability to change direction rapidly is vital for staying competitive in fencing. This quickness, he noted, allows fencers to react and adapt in real-time to their opponents’ movements, a necessity in a sport where fractions of a second can determine the outcome of a match.

Physical speed alone isn’t enough in fencing. “You need to be able to change directions quickly,” Dershwitz observed. “You need to be explosive in that regard; it’s a game of physical chess,”

U.S. Olympic 3×3 basketball player Dylan Travis described how 3×3 basketball is distinct from traditional five-on-five in an exclusive video interview with uSports.

Travis attended Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School in North Bellevue, Nebraska, where he was named first-team All-State, and he averaged 24.9 points, 5 assists and 8.9 rebounds in his senior season.

“It feels like you got to be ready to go into a war,” Travis told uSports before the Paris Games in May. “You’re going to get hit, you’re going to fall down, you have to be in great shape.”

The Olympian added that practicing twice daily was crucial for succeeding in 3×3 basketball.

Despite having an insane stat line for a senior, Travis received no Division I offers. The Omaha native committed to Midland University to kickstart his collegiate career. Travis played 25 games as a Midland Warrior, averaging seven points a game before transferring to Iowa Central Community College in 201 – he was the team’s scoring leader and received All-Region tournament honors.

The former Midland Warrior was eligible for the 2016 draft, but no team selected him. He took a job as a special education teacher at Omaha’s Westside High School.

Travis took up 3×3 after a friend wanted him to try it. It was a good choice, as Travis won the U.S. a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup and the 2023 Pan American Games. Travis was selected to play on the national team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, signaling the first time the U.S. qualified for the Olympics in 3×3 basketball.

In Paris, he finished seventh overall. 

As the debate over Pete Rose’s potential induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame gains momentum, a new documentary directed by Mark Monroe, Charlie Hustle And The Matter Of Pete Rose, offers a balanced perspective on the controversial figure.

In a recent interview with uInterview founder Erik Meers, Monroe clarified his intentions behind the film. “Well, I didn’t make a film to promote one side or the other. And if you took that, I am sorry, and that was not the intention certainly to defend Pete or to create any kind of propaganda to get him back to the Hall of Fame,” Monroe said.

Rather than advocating for or against Rose’s induction, the documentary continuously encourages viewers to reassess their opinions.

“I feel that is the fun aspect of the story; you are constantly checking your own opinion about what you think should happen to Pete,” he said. “You come into this film as a Pete loyalist thinking he deserves to be in the hall, and you may come out the other side even more firm in your beliefs.”

For those who oppose Rose’s place in Cooperstown due to his gambling history, Monroe’s film provides a platform to challenge and possibly reinforce their stance.

“You can come into this film thinking, ‘there’s no way we should ever let a gambler into the Hall of Fame,’ and you can come out the other side feeling like you have the right side of the argument,” Monroe said.

The documentary does not aim to resolve the controversy but to present it in a manner that respects the issue’s complexities. “I try very hard to do that; I think that’s where the fun lies in the storytelling,” Monroe said.

The Charlie Hustle is now available to stream on Max. 

Head coach of the Team USA women’s basketball team, Cheryl Reeve, has observed a shift in the landscape of women’s basketball globally. With the increasing popularity of college basketball and the WNBA, Reeve believes that this enthusiasm will inevitably spill over to international competitions.

Miami native Daniella Ramirez talked with uSports about her preparation for artistic swimming competitions at the Paris Olympics. Artistic swimming has been an Olympic sport since 1984, a form of swimming that mixes water acrobatics in a 30-meter by 20-meter pool. There are two events: a duet and a team competition; judges score routines based on how advanced the routine is and whether it was executed correctly.

“One of the main things I like to do before I compete is bubble. It’s to never focus on your opponents because in artistic swimming, you’re not competing directly against other people but against yourself and you’re trying to beat yourself,” Ramirez remarked. “Beating your past record or performance and trying to better yourself every time is something I look into before every competition.”

Her hard work paid off – Ramirez won the silver along with the U.S. team on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old earned four World Championships in her international career. Most notably, Ramirez won a silver at the 2023 Pan American Games and two bronzes at the 2024 World Aquatic Championship. She is currently a UCLA student looking to get a degree in architecture after completing her artistic swimming career.

U.S. Olympic archer Casey Kaufhold discussed the key skills necessary in competitive archery with uSports in May.

Kaufhold competed for the United States in women’s recurve events, but she suffered a shocking defeat Thursday when Lei Chien-Ying prevailed over Kaufhold in the second round, 7-3.

“Something super cool about archery is that we shoot at 70m, which is far. We shoot 70m at a 144-centimeter diameter target,” Kaufhold told uSports. “Not just eyesight, but eye focus is a huge thing.”

Kaufhold made quite the name for herself as she claimed a silver medal in the women’s individual event at the 2021 World Archery Championships held in Yankton, South Dakota while winning bronze at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.

In addition, Kaufhold won a silver medal in the cadet mixed team event alongside Josef Scarboro at the World Archery Youth Championships in 2019. The Olympic archer placed 17th in the ranking round in the women’s individual event at the 2020 Olympics while winning the women’s recurve event at the Vegas Shoot in 2022.

Kaufhold is a current student at Texas A&M studying visualization at the College of Architecture.

U.S. Olympic triathlete Morgan Pearson revealed how he got into triathlon during a video interview with uSports. He qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics after winning a bronze medal at the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama and a silver in Leeds, United Kingdom.

“I started triathlons in 2018; I was a college runner and swam in high school,” Pearson recalled. “But I was like, ‘Triathlon might take it to the Olympics because I got it. I’ve been grinding ever since I made it to Tokyo and made it back for Paris.”

Pearson ran cross country and track and field at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was named All-American seven times. The Colorado alum claimed a silver medal in the mixed relay at the 2020 games while he finished 42nd place at this summer’s men’s triathlon, seven minutes and one second behind the winner. The New Jersey native is ranked ninth overall in the men’s World Triathlon Rankings and 32nd in individual Olympic qualifying.

On Monday, Pearson took silver in the mixed triathlon.

U.S. Olympic sprinter Kenny Bednarek is focused on securing a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, following a close finish in Tokyo. Bednarek, who narrowly missed the top spot on the podium in the 2021 Tokyo Games, is determined to achieve his ultimate goal in Paris.

“To win. Last time I was there for Tokyo, and I got edged out barely. So my goal is just to, you know, get the gold medal,” Bednarek told uSports in May, reflecting on his silver medal performance.

Bednarek’s Tokyo experience has fueled him to push beyond his previous accomplishments. His near-miss in the last Olympics has only shown his dedication to achieving the highest honor in his sport.

As he prepares for the Paris Games, Bednarek’s training regimen is focused on refining his performance and maintaining peak physical condition. His commitment to improvement and his competitive spirit make him a strong contender for gold.

U.S. basketball star Kareem Maddox shared with uSports his habits for correctly achieving success on the court. When in Amsterdam for 3×3 qualifiers, Maddox bought a gemstone believed to give his team good luck. Maddox says that 3×3 is different from traditional 5×5 as there’s a lot of extortion involved when players hold each other, and there’s less focus on aerobics.

“It’s about how you develop the right habits every day. Then, if you got to change something when the game comes around, you’re probably in bad shape,” Maddox told uSports. “The 3×3 star suggests that attacking your training the same way you would attack a game is a good habit to think about as focus on weak spots is pivotal for success.”

Maddox’s playing days in a professional league are long gone as he stopped concluding Miasto Szkla Krosno‘s 2016-17 campaign in the Polish Basketball League. However, he’s still going strong on the international stage as he took home a gold medal in the 2019 FIBA 3×3 World Cup and claimed silver in last year’s tournament.

Maddox won a gold medal in back-to-back Pan American Games. Maddox played under coach Sydney Johnson during his Princeton tenure, being on the 2004 squad that lost to Kentucky in March Madness off a Brandon Knight layup at the buzzer. The California native is competing in Paris alongside Canyon Barry, Dylan Travis and Jimmer Fredette.

Sanya Richards-Ross gave fellow athletes competing at the Olympics advice on how to stay motivated. The former Olympian competed for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Richards-Ross was champion in the 2012 London Olympics, making her the second American woman to win the 400 meters and the first to earn multiple titles.

“You just want to keep doing the same things that got you there, you don’t want to make too many changes,” the Fort Lauderdale native told uSports exclusively in May. “You want to trust yourself and the process to go out there and have fun.”

The Jamaican American began running at age seven and represented Vaz Prep in youth championships. Richards-Ross won the 2002 Gatorade National High School Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year and USA Track and Field Youth Athlete of the Year.

During high school, Richards-Ross was a nine-time individual state champion, winning four 100-meter titles, three 200-meter titles, one 400-meter title and a long jump title. The ex-Longhorn became the first freshman to win an NCAA championship in the 400-meter and the 4 x 100-meter relay. R

ichards-Ross came into the 2008 Beijing Olympics as one of the most prolific sprinters of the decade, thus she was favored to win gold. Unfortunately, she settled for bronze after Christine Ohuruogu and Shericka Williams finished ahead of her. The track star announced her retirement in 2016 as she was still recovering from a toe injury.

Competing at the highest level of any sport requires not just physical struggle but mental fortitude as well. For U.S. Olympic canoeist Evy Leibfarth, visualization and stress management techniques are essential tools when facing adversity in the Olympics.

“Oh my gosh, yes. I’d say the biggest thing that I do for my sport is visualizing,” Leibfarth told uSports exclusively in May. “We don’t actually get to practice where the gates are before the race. We could see from the side, we get to watch them and do it, a demonstration boater. But we don’t actually get to do it until it’s race day.”

Canoe Slalom, a sport that involves navigating a course with 24 gates on turbulent water, requires athletes to memorize the course layout and plan their strokes precisely. “So we have to visualize ourselves going through all, like 24 gates. And I have a really bad memory, so it’s really hard for me to remember exactly where to go and what strokes to take. So being able to visualize that over and over again in my head has been so helpful,” she said.

Managing stress is a critical aspect of Leibfarth’s routine. She focuses on controlling the controllable aspects of her performance and maintaining composure under pressure.

“For managing stress, just, you know, a lot of like breathing techniques and focusing on things that I can control rather than how other people do and what the weather is going to do. And, you know, all these other uncontrollable which are present in every sport,” Leibfarth said.

Olympic runner Gabby Thomas took the time to recall the period when she recovered from a hamstring injury that she suffered at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The injury sidelined Thomas from competing in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last year.

“In 2023, I came back from that injury and had my best season to date,” the track star told uSports exclusive in May. “In that time, I’ve grown so much and I’ve become so resilient.” Thomas added that she “feels very fit and confident” looking forward to qualifiers at the 2024 games. “I’ve gone through so much as an athlete since then. I’m a different athlete.”

Thomas won a bronze medal in the 200 m and a silver as part of the women’s 4×100 m relay at the 2020 Olympics. With a time of 21.81 seconds, Thomas earned a silver medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

The Northampton, Massachusetts, native attended Harvard University, where she won 22 conference titles in six different events in three years of competition. Thomas set Ivy League records in the 100 meters, 200 meters and indoor 60 meters.

In the 2020 Olympic final, the track star won a bronze medal after running for 21.87 seconds, behind Christine Mboma and Elaine Thompson-Herah. Thomas became New Balance’s first female sprinter after signing an endorsement deal with the company in 2018.

U.S. Olympic water polo star Maggie Steffens revealed to uSports exclusively how she prepared herself for competition in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Steffens noted that she begins her routine at 6:30 a.m. with a weights session to prepare her body for conditioning exercises in the water that last roughly two hours. “Nutrition is super important to be your best. You’ve got to treat your body like a temple and respect it,” the Stanford alum told uSports. “I do a lot of physical therapy and athletic training work during that time period to make sure my body is ready.”

Steffens won a gold medal as a U.S. Olympian at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Games.

During the Tokyo Olympics, Steffens set a new record for most goals scored by an individual player in Olympic women’s water polo. Before representing the U.S. in women’s water polo, Steffens led Stanford’s women’s water polo team to three NCAA championships and two second-place finishes; she scored three goals in the Cardinal’s 8-7 victory over UCLA in the championship game in 2017. The Danville, California native led the US to three FINA World Championship titles while getting the opportunity to play alongside her older sister, Jessica Steffens , in the 2012 Summer Games.

Before the Paris games began, Steffens’ sister-in-law, Lulu, passed away at age 26 due to a medical emergency. Steffens remarked that Lulu was an artist and that she “brought 150%” to each venture. Steffens’ husband stayed in Paris to back her bid for a fourth gold medal in women’s water polo.

U.S. Olympic swimmer Kate Douglass discussed how she began swimming in a recent conversation with uSports.

Douglass is currently on a quest for an individual gold medal after winning a silver in team relays.

The Pelham, New York, native recalled that she began swimming when she was little during summer league. “You know, everyone kind of just does every sport, I feel like, when they’re younger, that’s kind of what I did,” Douglass said. “I realized that I was pretty good at it, so I stuck with it through high school and a goal of mine became to swim in college.”

The Olympian added that college was where she figured out her full potential as a swimmer and that it translated to her representing the United States national team.

Douglass won her first major international medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a bronze in the 200m individual medley. The success keeps pouring in as she won three medals at the 2022 World Championships and two golds at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships. The American Olympian competed for the University of Virginia’s women’s swimming team where she was a household name; Douglass won UVA three competitions, and the Honda Sports Award as the best college female swimmer in 2022 and 2023, in addition to winning 15 gold medals during her colligate career. Currently, Douglass swims for Connecticut’s Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club.

U.S. Olympic track and field star Tara Davis-Woodhall credited her past setbacks for fueling her journey to success in Paris, expressing a belief that her previous second-place finishes were important in her growth and drive.

In a recent interview with uSports, Davis-Woodhall shared her thoughts on how these experiences have shaped her career and provided the motivation needed to achieve her goal of winning Olympic gold.

“It’s definitely instilled some confidence in me,” Davis-Woodhall said. “I do believe that second place was meant to be and allowed me to have some fuel to my fire, which allowed me to win gold at the World Indoors. And now hopefully for Olympic gold.”

Davis-Woodhall’s resilience has been evident throughout her athletic career. Her work paid off at the World Indoor Championships, where she won the gold medal, solidifying her status as one of the top athletes in her field.

Her journey to the top has been marked by a series of notable achievements. Davis-Woodhall first gained widespread recognition with her outstanding performances in collegiate track and field as a Texas Longhorn. Transitioning to the international stage, she demonstrated her commitment to the sport.

With the Olympics on the horizon, Davis-Woodhall’s aspirations are clear. She aims to build on her recent successes and carry the momentum forward to achieve her ultimate dream—an Olympic gold medal.