iPod in the games

This is a cool story about Olympic athletes and their iPods.

Olympians Chase Glory to iPod Soundtrack

By Abigail Tucker
The Baltimore Sun
02/18/06 5:00 AM PT

"It enables you to focus on what you're doing without actually focusing, if that makes any sense," said Dustin Majewski, 23, of Pasadena, who often listens to music -- from Helmet to the Rolling Stones -- when he snowboards. "You're not over-thinking, and that's the best way to perform the harder tricks and maneuvers."

Last weekend, snowboarder Hannah Teter told her boyfriend that she planned to listen to his band's song "Communicate" on her iPod during her Olympic halfpipe routine. This made him a bit nervous. "It's a heartbreak song, basically," said Eli Lieberman, 28, whose tune is about lost love and "cascading" tears. "I was like, uh, Hannah, don't you think that's a little mellow?"

Apparently she did not. As the world now knows, Teter -- who was seen dancing before her final run -- won gold Monday. When she told journalists about her secret groove, Lieberman's punk reggae band made out pretty well too: Strive Roots' Web site , which averages a few thousand hits a month, scored 37,000 one morning this week alone.

Apple Wins the Gold
The biggest winner of all may have been Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) , maker of the tiny iPod that soared to glory along with Teter. This Olympics, U.S. snowboarders have competed while listening to the personal music device, and skiers, speed skaters and other Olympians from all over the world have been observed listening raptly during practice and before competing. All of which makes for great press.

"One of the lasting images of these games is going to be these snowboarders with their iPods," said Abraham Madkour, executive editor of SportsBusiness Journal, a trade magazine that covers the sports industry. "It's the perfect form of subconscious marketing." It's especially perfect for Apple because it doesn't pay a dime for the display. The company is not an Olympic sponsor.

"We don't target athletes," said Stan Ng, director of iPod product marketing. Olympians provide their own iPods or other MP3 players -- although U.S. Olympic Committee spokesperson Darryl Seibel said that a personal music device company is "a sponsorship waiting to happen."

Indeed. The U.S. snowboarding team's pinstriped uniforms are already wired for the machines, with a nifty iPod-size pocket, speakers in the hood and a control panel on the left sleeve that allows the athletes to select songs.

"Wearing the hood, you don't have to worry about the silly little white earphones falling out," said Silvie Snow-Thomas, a spokesperson for Burton Snowboards, which makes the outfits. "The jacket was a natural development, new tech, because snowboarders are very hip and cool and always on the cutting edge."

Shaun White, the 19-year-old snowboarder, also uses an iPod-equipped helmet, which -- according to newspaper accounts -- frequently pipes in Led Zeppelin or, during his recent gold medal routine, AC/DC's "Back in Black."

During her silver medal performance Monday, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler listened to Green Day's "Holiday."

Joey Cheek, who won the men's 500 meters in speed skating, likes hearing Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" before races.

Kimmie Meissner, the 16-year-old figure skater from Bel Air, listens to "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real on the gold iPod mini she totes around Italy -- although her official routine is set to the more soothing sounds of Ottorino Respighi's "Belkis, Queen of Sheba."

Extreme Listening
Experts say the proliferation of iPods this Olympics merely highlights the long-standing relationship between athletics and music. Competitors have long been known to rock out before performances or during practices, in order to relax or to reach their ideal "arousal levels," according to Sam Zizzi, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at West Virginia University.
"Athletes and teams have been doing this for decades," he said, adding that the type of music varies with the energy level of the sport. "Weightlifters want to get fired up, with heavier rock music or dance music with a strong beat. In the luge you'd want to be relaxed; maybe listen to some Miles Davis."

The Sony (NYSE: SNE) Walkman, Discman and the MP3 player have all served to provide game-day soundtracks over the years, but CD players have been known to skip. Cassette players are bulky and -- especially in frigid Alpine environments like the mountains around Turin -- "the batteries run out," said Don Orr, the editor of Snowboarding.com, a news and equipment Web site.

That's where iPod scores big. Its small size and digital technology facilitate listening in extreme situations -- such as being upside down, in the middle of a 1080 toe grab, during a once-in-a-lifetime Olympic routine.

Athletes of all kinds use iPods -- from Vince Carter, the NBA player who was reprimanded in 2004 for listening during layup practice, to members of the Orioles and Ravens -- but snowboarders are the machine's natural ambassadors on the Olympic stage. Theirs is a very music-oriented sport: Competitions are frequently set to blaring rock anthems. In Turin, selections are provided by the evocatively named DJ Chainsaw.

Goes With the Lifestyle
The iPod -- which was unveiled in 2001 -- has been part of Winter X Games for several years, according to Melissa Gullotti, a spokesperson for the extreme sports event, which includes snowboarding.

"These athletes have always been listening. Music is part of the genre and the lifestyle," Gullotti said.

"It's a detachment kind of thing," said Rodney Fox, 27, an iPod-addicted competitive snowboarder from Frederick. "I listen to metal when I'm trying to get something new down -- but if I'm mellow and it's a good powder day, it's reggae or some old Motown."

"It enables you to focus on what you're doing without actually focusing, if that makes any sense," said Dustin Majewski, 23, of Pasadena, who often listens to music -- from Helmet to the Rolling Stones -- when he snowboards. "You're not over-thinking, and that's the best way to perform the harder tricks and maneuvers."

Not everyone agrees. "I'm not certain it's such a good idea" to listen to a music player during events, said Mike Jones of Dundalk, the president of the Baltimore Ski Club. "When you're doing aerials and everything, you have to concentrate and focus on positions. On a day when it's cloudy, you don't know whether you're looking at snow or sky, and distractions can be very dangerous."

In fact, Spyder -- the company that sponsors the alpine ski team -- didn't rig its Olympic uniforms with iPod-ready wires in part because of safety concerns. "The skiers are racing down at 40 miles an hour," said Laura Wisner, a company spokesperson. "You are in a completely different realm. It would not be a good time to listen to your iPod."

The ones who may truly be affected by the iPod infusion are the fans, said Eric Zillmer, a professor of sports psychology at Drexel University. In competition, music represents an intimate tie between athlete and audience -- whether it's the snippet of a rap song played when a batter approaches the plate, or the background to a figure skater's routine.

"When people listen to the music, they're listening to an athlete's rhythm," he said. "When all of that comes together, it's a beautiful thing."

The tie is broken if the athlete -- plugged into a music player -- is the only one listening, he said. This may be all the more true with snowboarding exhibitions, where spectators are hearing another soundtrack altogether: jarring rock music, for instance, while the athlete riding the snow in front of them may be pumping the most soothing reggae into the speakers of his snug-fitting hood.

"I think it's better when we can listen to it too," Zillmer said.

Athletes' playlists
Here is some of the music on the playlists of Olympic athletes: Hannah Teter, American snowboarder: Listened to "Communicate" by her boyfriend's band, Strive Roots, during gold medal run. At an Olympic qualifying event in December, listened to "Higher" by k-os.

Gretchen Bleiler, American snowboarder: Her silver medal run was accompanied by Green Day's "Holiday."

Shaun White, American snowboarder: "Back in Black" by AC/DC played during gold medal run. Also likes Led Zeppelin.

John Kerr, British ice dancer, who skates with sister, Sinead: Before events, likes to listen to "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson.

Steve Omischl, Canadian freestyle skier: To energize before a competition, plays Rage Against The Machine and Eminem.

Jessica Schultz, American curler: Listens to Eminem and Metallica before games.

Joey Cheek, American speed skater: Likes to hear Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" before competing. Kimmie Meissner, American figure skater from Bel Air: Listens to "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real.