2024 Olympics: Team USA’s Stars Share How They Prepare for Their Gold Medal-Worthy Performances 

The athletes heading to Paris for the 2024 Olympics have prepped their entire lives for this moment. You've got roughly 24 hours. 

Because to be a true red-, white- and blue-sporting, trivia-spewing, star-spangled fan of Team USA, you've got to get your head in the game.

And we don't just mean knowing Katie Grimes from Katie Ledecky (hint: The former, who placed fourth in the 800 meter freestyle at the 2020 Olympics, had posters of the gold medal-winning swimming phenom on her bedroom wall growing up) or mastering which gymnast once fangirled over meeting future teammate Simone Biles.

Okay, that's a trick question—everyone fangirls over meeting the sport's unrivaled GOAT, but Joscelyn Roberson parlayed that introduction into a place at the seven-time medalist's Texas gym and a spot as an alternate on the U.S. women's gymnastics squad.

To help you really impress at your Olympic watch party, we chatted, Zoomed and sat down with your favorite athletes to get the truly important performance stats. We're talking the music they use to get pumped before they go for the gold, the shows they're bingeing and the must-haves they've already slid into their Paris-bound suitcases. 

You know, the important things in life. 

So as Suni Lee, Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall hit the ice baths and get their uniforms ready for the July 26 Opening Ceremony, it's time for you to hit the books with E! News' crash course on how to be a top-notch Olympics fan. Game freakin' on. 

Three years—and one "really scary" kidney illness—after she dominated in Tokyo, 21-year-old gymnast Suni Lee is back to defend her all-around title. And while the Auburn University student's dreams are still as lofty as her spins around the uneven bars, she arrives in Paris already feeling like a winner. "I'm at the point where I'm like, 'I just want to make it there,'" the Minnesota native shared with E! News in December. "If I can make it there with everything going on, that's going to be as special as winning a gold medal."

Her Get-Pumped Playlist: "Right now I've been listening to [SZA's] 'Saturn.' It just came out and it's been on repeat. But her last album was amazing. I saw her in concert and I was crying." 

Who She Calls After Competing: "My manager and my doctor. Those are the two most important people in my life and I trust them with everything. They've always been there, good or bad days. They have understood everything and have never looked at me differently for having a bad day or not being at my best all the time." 

If She Could Medal In Something Other Than Gymnastics: "Napping? Shopping? I'm good at that." 

Having raced to a bronze medal finish in the 200m at the 2020 Olympics and earned silver with her 4x100m relay teammates, Gabby Thomas is excited to run it all back, but this time with her loved ones at her side. "I'm looking forward to being able to share the experience with my friends and family," the 27-year-old Harvard grad, who moonlights at the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic in Austin, told E! News, "and my team, everyone who helped me get to that point."

Her Get-Pumped Playlist: "We'll do [GloRilla's] 'Yeah Glo!,' 21 Savage's 'redrum,' Future's 'Like That.'"

Current Binge: "My go-to is Friends."

If She Could Medal In Something Other Than Track & Field: "I would say experimenting with cooking in the kitchen." 

Growing up in Las Vegas, Katie Grimes had posters of fellow swimmer Katie Ledecky on her bedroom wall. So when the 10-time Olympic medalist told the 18-year-old she was "the future" of the sport, "That was pretty crazy," Grimes, who placed fourth in the 800-meter freestyle in Tokyo, told E! News. "To hear her say that was definitely shocking at first—I don't think I even comprehended it—but it was cool, for sure."

Her Get-Pumped Playlist: "Lately it's been Dua Lipa. She came out with a new album and it's really good, I feel like it's super fitting for the summer too, just cause it's called Radical Optimism, so everybody needs a little optimism heading into the summer. Lots of bangers on that one."

If She Could Medal In Something Other Than Swimming: "Probably sleeping, I'd be a world record holder in that. Or just being lazy, I'm really good at being lazy."

Already in Her Suitcase for Paris: "This sounds really ridiculous, 'cause I'm literally 18, but I have this stuffed animal that is a bear and I've had it forever. If I don’t have it in the hotel room—I don't hit my REM, I don't get a good deep sleep. I'm just kidding, but my stuffed animal is one of my musts in my suitcase for sure. His name is Wilson."

At just 16, gymnastics squad newbie Hezly Rivera is the youngest U.S. athlete headed to the Paris Olympics. And she earned her spot by beating onetime idol Simone Biles—who visited her New Jersey gym back in 2016—and Lee on beam. Now, she's stoked to learn from the two all-around champs and fellow vets Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles. "They're such great role models for me," she told E! News. "And I just know that they're going to be amazing guides."

Her Get-Pumped Playlist: "I don't really have a specific song, but sometimes I listen to worship music. My favorite artist is Katy Nichole, because she makes some very good and uplifting music, and gets me calm, but pumped up as well."

How She Unwinds Post-Competition: "I love to be with my family and eat dinner, if it's not too late at night. I love to catch up with them after the meet, and tell them about everything, and they love to talk to me."

While in Paris...: "Hopefully, we'll get to see the Eiffel Tower. I'm very excited for that, because I've been wanting to do that for forever."

Falling a bit short of the podium in Tokyo, long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall, 25, is hoping to go the distance in Paris. "Everyone's main goal when they go to Olympics is to win Olympic gold," the Arkansas resident, who wed fellow track star Hunter Davis in 2022, explained to E! News. "The way that we have changed our focus this year and how much our practice means more than the meet, it's going to be a very, very special moment for both of us."

Pre-Workout Fuel: "Definitely Celsius with a Chomp, a nice beef jerky steak."

Her Get-Pumped Playlist: "It's been changing over and over and over again. Right now, because it’s so prominent, is 'Yeah Glo!' by GloRilla. It's a fun song."

Current Binge: "Resident Alien and the Tom Brady roast. That thing is crazy."

"In Tokyo, I was optimistic of like, 'Yeah, I want to win the gold medal,'" Utah-raised Hunter, whose legs were amputated at 11 months old due to fibular hemimelia, told E! News in May. Instead, he raced his way to a bronze-medal finish in the 400m T62, bringing his total Paralympic medal count to three. "But this year," continued the 25-year-old, "I know I have it within myself to win. I know I can be the best."

His Get-Pumped Playlist: "Right now mine is 'Levels' by BigX."

Morning Ritual: "I don't really like to eat a whole lot before I run. So that's what makes Celsius really good. Every morning, I start the day with a cup of water with a quarter teaspoon of salt, some lime or lemon juice, and amino acids."

Post-Workout Indulgence: "Beef jerky sticks are fire. A plate of sweet potatoes and ground beef, bomb. Man, our meals after practice are where it's at. We eat a lot."

The third time proved to be the charm for heptathlete Chari Hawkins, who finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June after consecutive 15th and sixth place finishes. "I haven't stopped crying since it happened," the 33-year-old Idaho native told reporters. "Being an Olympian, oh, man! It's so cool!"

On Making the Team: "I’m going to be honest, it’s almost traumatic making the Olympics. Because in America, there’s so many incredible athletes that it’s so hard to do. So, all we do up to trials is stress and freak out and cry and have panic attacks. And so, when you make it, there’s this overwhelming feeling of relief and happiness, but also that moment of, 'Oh my goodness, we barely escaped with our lives as well.'"

Last-Minute Training: "The great thing about the Olympic trials is because there’s so many incredible athletes, we have to peak for that moment. So now we’re already in great shape, we’re ready to go. We’re needing to smooth out the edges and sharpen the tools and show up and just kill it in Paris."

While in Paris...: "When I was 10 years old, I remember talking to my mom because she was always like, 'I don’t want you to get any tattoos.' I have no idea why I did this but I was like, 'Listen Mom, I’m not going to get any tattoos unless I’m going to get the Olympic rings when I make the Olympics.' My mom was like, 'Chari, if you make the Olympics, I’m going to buy you the tattoo.' So that will be happening in Paris."

Following a gymnastics upbringing and a largely unsatisfying corporate career, Sunny Choi flipped into a second act. Now the top-ranked B-girl in America, the 35-year-old NYC native was the first U.S. woman to qualify to compete in breakdancing, the Olympics' newest sport. “I thought that having done gymnastics, seeing that career ended, I kind of was like, ‘Alright, well, that dream’s done,’" she reflected to E! News. "So, getting a second chance at all of that was like a sign that life was saying, ‘Hey, why don't you try something a little bit different?’”

Best Part of Breaking: "I want people to show up and enjoy the moment. Breaking's going to be a little bit like a party—we have loud music, we've got an MC, we have a DJ, we're dancing. So what is there not to love?"

Post-Workout Indulgence: "Not only am I eating healthy, but I'm also eating things that I enjoy. To be in the kitchen and create some random new recipe, like a custard freeze, and then be able to enjoy that afterwards in the evening, when I'm super burnt out and I need a sweet treat."

Why She's Excited for the Olympic Village: "I think it's just running into the people who are competing. It's so interesting when you're walking through a village with high-level athletes. One of the fun things to do is actually look at people and try and guess their sport, because some are obvious and then some are really not."

Beach volleyball player Miles Evans, 34, nabbed a spot on the U.S. team with Chase Budinger (a former NBA small forward!) and the ranking of 13th overall in the world. "The journey has been so up and down," the 6-foot-4 UC Santa Barbara alum acknowledged to E! News, "but huge excitement. It's always been my dream to make the Olympics. And I was really excited that I get to call my mom and dad and let them know the news."

If He Could Compete in Another Sport: "It'd be really cool to do break dancing. I love dancing, not great at it, but really, really cool to learn that."

His Get-Pumped Playlist: "I do love EDM-slash-house music, so I listen to that a lot. FISHER is one of my favorite artists. I tend to listen to him a decent amount beforehand. It gets me in a great, happy state of mind."

Their Pre-Match Ritual: "We all get together, we do some breathing techniques, we do some visualization and we try to just let all of the the nerves and outside factors of what's going on with us, just leave that behind and move forward."

Even with a fractured ankle, skateboarder Jagger Eaton kickflipped his way to bronze in the first-ever Olympic men's street competition at the 2020 Games. And though he's eyeing gold this go-round, "The medals aren't really what matters," the 23-year-old insisted to E! News. "It's the journey that matters—and it sounds corny, me saying it, but it's really true."

His Get-Pumped Playlist: "Lately it's been Tupac [Shakur]. The playlist I had before Japan had a lot of Tupac, it had old country, it had new rap, it had all sorts of stuff."

Best Celeb Encounter: "It was Kobe Bryant who came up to me after the Kids' Choice Sports Awards. He shook my hand and said, 'Hey, my daughters, they love your show on Nickelodeon,' Jagger Eaton's Mega Life. 'They love your show and keep doing what you're doing. You're promoting positivity.' And that meant the world to me. It was actually right after he got slimed in the gold slime. He shook me with his gold slime, and I had it all on my hands."

Book of Choice: "Eckhart Tolle—he's a huge author that I've really gravitated toward. I've only read The Power of Now, but I've read it five times and I have notes in my book that I go back to almost every day when I practice. Just things that create presence and happiness and enthusiasm toward what I've done and also what I continue to do my whole life."

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family)

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