Meet Team USA training for Olympics in Paris suburbs
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00:00Talia Brooks hits the track, while US superstar sprinter Shaq Ali Richardson discusses with her coach.
00:08We are at the HPC, Team USA's high-performance training facility.
00:13They have exceptionally granted us a visit.
00:16The venue is called Athletica. It is run by the Val d'Oise local council.
00:21We have a front-row seat. We respect them a lot, so we won't bother them.
00:25We watch them go by with stars in our eyes.
00:28The Americans came to meet us very early back in 2018.
00:32They have a delegation with many athletes, which means they need this type of equipment.
00:36It's also their organization that requires everything to be dedicated to the athletes,
00:40to enable them to achieve this type of performance.
00:43450 American athletes practicing 30 different sports
00:47were expected to use this facility to avoid the constraints
00:50of Olympic official training schedules and venues.
00:54We had approximately 60% of our athletes who medaled
00:58that came through the high-performance center in Tokyo,
01:01and we expect the same or similar here in Paris.
01:06The council has spent 27 million euros modernizing this center.
01:12This track has been rebuilt specially for the Team USA.
01:17It has the exact same surface the athletes will be running on in the Olympics,
01:22which, of course, is an advantage for them.
01:25Here, there are 100 rooms, a restaurant, a host of sports doctors and coaches,
01:30everything required to maximize athletes' performances on their big day.
01:35Training really has been the same, but the mental aspect,
01:39I definitely upped a bit just to prepare for the moment, the huge crowd,
01:44and even just the realization that this is a once-in-four-year chance
01:51and everyone wants the gold, so it's a lot of mental preparation.
01:55Each athlete can take time to get ready at their own rhythm.
01:59Mary is a weightlifter.
02:00She will be competing at the very end of the Olympic fortnight.
02:04I have lots of time, so I'm not peaking yet, I don't feel great yet,
02:09so I'm trying to train heavy a couple more days,
02:11and then I'll start to kind of taper and feel a little bit better and rest more.
02:15For certain sports, like breaking,
02:17the HPC offers privacy to rehearse routines away from prying eyes.
02:23Breaking is about personal expression and having your own style.
02:26The best dancer on that stage will be the one that stands out the most.
02:29The dancer with the most depth in their arsenal that they present to the audience
02:33and to the judges is the one that will prevail and get the gold medal.
02:37At the pool, the artistic swimming team is just about to start training.
02:41They know they can count on vast resources and a host of experts.
02:47You are a team daring to dream the biggest dream possible.
02:50This was written by our 1996 Olympic gold medalist.
02:56Her name is Jill Savary, and it means so much,
02:59just such an honour to have their spirit with us as we go into these games.
03:06Who are we? USA! We are USA!
03:09Who are we? USA! We move as one!
03:13The United States have consistently finished first on the Summer Olympic medal scoreboard
03:18since the Atlanta Games in 1996,
03:21and they appear to be determined to win the Paris Games as well.
03:26Thank you, Paris!