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David Scott

How do you say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same" in Greek? We're not sure, but we do know that the world's greatest athletes have always been put upon a pedestal. Literally. Olympians were treated much the same way in ancient Greece, circa 700 B.C., as they are today. Sure, back then the spoils of victory consisted of a statue in your honor and a choice seat at ZeusFest, whereas today it's endorsements, book deals, cereal boxes, and the couch on Leno. But the concept is pretty much the same.

Training for the games, however, is markedly different. Prepping for the Olympiad of yore, sportsmen trained a mere 10 months or so. In this new millennium, the gold-minded athlete has been training since childhood and never stops practicing, working out, fueling up, and burning off.

To succeed like a champion in 2004, one must know the top-level athlete's secrets. We take you inside the gyms, lunch bags, and--most important--heads of America's most promising Olympic contenders.

JASON ESTRADA, SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT BOXER

Hometown: Providence, R.I.

Credentials: Three-time U.S. National Champion (2001-03)

Height/Weight: 6', 240 lbs

Amazing Feats: He's won more than 260 fights and hasn't lost a match in the USA since the 2000 Olympic trials.

Competitive Nature: Jason Estrada isn't just looking forward to the Summer Games--he's looking past them. "The Olympics is amazing and it's first," says the 23-year-old, "but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm ready to get to Athens and do what I do and get this whole thing over with, then start my professional career."

Until that happens, Estrada maintains he doesn't want to hurt anyone, really. "But if it comes down to you or me," he notes, "and one of us has to be hurt, it's going to be you."

Training with his teammates at the U.S. Olympic Complex in Colorado Springs, Estrada spars up to four times a week. "I love training at this altitude," he says. "It makes my workouts harder without my having to do a harder workout."

Nutrition: "Right now, there's a lot of garbage in my diet," Estrada concedes. "I think I eat some of the worst foods possible. But it doesn't seem to affect me, since I'm still young." The culprits Estrada will cop to are "any kind of junk food you can name. A lot of pizza. Some cheeseburgers every now and then. But once in a while, I'll get a good meal from my grandmother, some rice and beans maybe. After the Olympics, I'm hoping I can get myself a nutritionist, because I do want to eat right."

Train With an Olympian: Estrada trains mostly in the gym, knocking on the heavy bag and speed bag and sparring in the ring up to four times a week. He plays basketball often and he'll play any position, from point guard to center. His conditioning also includes three-and-a-half-mile early-morning runs, which he alternates with 40 laps in the pool. "Swimming's much better because of my weight. The running can put stress on the ankles, feet, and back."

TOM PAPPAS, DECATHLETE

Hometown: Azalea, Ore.

Credentials: 2003 World Outdoor Decathlon champ; finished fifth at the 2000 Olympics

Height/Weight: 6'5", 210 lbs

Amazing Feats: His score of 8,784 points at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships is the second-best total in the history of the U.S. Track and Field League.

Competitive Nature: When the winner of your Olympic event gets, along with the gold medal, the unofficial title of World's Greatest Athlete, it can be a heavy load to shoulder. But 28-year-old Tom Pappas now has the experience to bear it. "I think I had a tendency to get down on myself, and you have a hard time competing that way," admits the quiet, reserved product of Living Springs, a former Oregon hippie commune. "In years past, I was physically talented enough, but I wasn't quite mentally there. I didn't have that confidence to compete against all the other guys in the world." Things changed recently, though. "Last year," he says, "I could go in with confidence and know what I was capable of doing. I started to visualize good throws I've had in the past and focused on those. I want to feel myself doing things the correct way and tell myself I've been there and done that before."

Nutrition: Pappas maintains his 210-pound weight for competitions by starting each day with a breakfast of two bowls of cereal or four or five eggs with toast. Lunch often consists of a sandwich--anything from chicken, tuna, or turkey to good old peanut butter and jelly. Dinner usually features chicken and pasta.

Train With an Olympian: Pappas is a dedicated weightlifter, which, he says, helps him improve "power," a combination of strength and speed needed for several of the decathlon events. His workouts include the power clean, back squat, jerks (a weightlifting technique where you explosively press the bar overhead using full-body momentum), and incline bench presses. Typically, he lifts heavy--about 80% to 85% of his max--performing 3-4 sets of 3-6 repetitions of each exercise to increase maximum strength.

ED MOSES, SWIMMER

Hometown: Burke, Va.

Credentials: 2000 Olympics: gold medal, 400-meter medley relay; silver medal, 100-meter breast stroke

Height/Weight: 5'11", 175 lbs

Amazing Feats: At a recent workout, Moses tested his limits. Over the course of the day, he swam eight hours--that's more than 33,000 yards.

Competitive Nature: The last time a Moses tried parting the waters, he got some pretty good results. Thousands of years later, when Ed Moses moseys to Greece, the 11-time U.S. Nationals title holder thinks he'll have a distinctive edge: Namely, he's been to the mount before.

"The person who has competed in the Olympics has grown through the experience and knows what to expect," says the 24-year-old, who made quite the splash in Sydney in 2000.

The recent University of Virginia graduate enters Athens as a substantial favorite for double-gold in the 100- and 200-meter breast stroke (he currently holds the world record in both). "Right now, I'm dialed in--completely focused," says Moses, who trains with coach Mark Bernardino at UVA. "When I get to Athens, I don't want to think there's anything I didn't do. If I were the strongest man in the world, but didn't execute my most efficient technique, I'd go nowhere in the water." And by the way: The stroke stops here. Says Moses, "No one has an impact on how I perform except me."

Nutrition: Every day, the swimmer consumes five meals totaling more than 5,000 calories (20% fat, 60% carbs, 20% protein). But even in eating, timing is everything. "It's not so much what I eat," says Moses, "but when. I try and eat a small snack before the workout that's easy on my stomach and has long-term energy value. The key to my recovery is eating or drinking something immediately after the workout that's high in sugar and quickly absorbed to push carbohydrates back into my system. I'm looking for a quick insulin spike with some protein se I can quickly refuel my muscles for the next workout." He gets his sugars from sports drinks, not Coke or Pepsi. "I stay away from cakes, pastries, and sugars, and I never drink soda."

Train With an Olympian: Moses trains a little more than four hours per week "on land." Some of that training involves two one-hour medicine-ball sessions weekly, in which he bounces a 12-pounder off a wall, completes 10 chest passes, 10 overhead throws, 10 squat jumps, and then repeats the cycle.

In two one-hour weight-room sessions a week, he does 6-7 sets of leg curls, the leg-press sled, lat pulldowns, and hamstring curls, with 3-4 reps each.

He always follows up these sessions with a one-hour swim (that's in addition to his two and a half hours of afternoon pool time). "When you're broken down a little bit, fatigued, it's important that you get back into the water and recognize that feeling and get those muscles specific to the breast stroke firing again."

DAIN BLANTON, BEACH VOLLEYBALLER

Hometown: Laguna Beach, Calif.

Credentials: 2000 Olympics: gold medal (with former playing partner Eric Fonoimoana); Association of Volleyball Professionals' "Offensive Player of the Year 2003" and "Team of the Year 2003" with current playing partner Jeff Nygaard

Height/Weight: 6'3", 205 lbs

Amazing Feats: He uses what he calls "situation drills, where I have to do twice what my opponent has to do to 'win'--double what I'd normally do, I also train when my body is very fatigued, so I must force myself to focus even more,"

Competitive Nature: Dain Blanton, 32, serves it up straight. "You are the enemy when I get out there and compete against you," says the gold medalist, who'll rep the USA in Athens with Nygaard. "The most important mind-set I get myself into at each match is to play one point at a time. Then, between points, I concentrate on breathing to get myself centered and regrouped." And he tells himself one other thing: "Be present and focused," he says. "I do a lot of visualization beforehand, getting ready for anything that may be thrown my way." Figuratively and literally.

Nutrition: Blanton tries to get at least 3,500 calories from his six daily meals. Breakfast may consist of eggs, fruit, and turkey or ham (that's what Dain calls a light meal). For other eating sessions, he includes chicken, turkey, or beef for protein. He snacks on Balance Bars and a protein shake or two per day.

Train With an Olympian: One of Blanton's favorite and most effective workout segments is the wood chop. Attaching a rope handle to the high pulley of a cable station, Blanton stands in the center, grabs a rope end in each hand, and pulls from his left shoulder, crossing down his body, and ending up at his right ankle for three sets of 12 reps with 50 to 80 pounds (he then switches to the other side and repeats).

Next, Blanton switches the rope to a ground-level setting and repeats the wood chop in reverse, this time pulling up. "It's great because you're 'axis-ing' on your core," he says. "You're your center --that's where my focus is and where I draw my strength from on the sand."