In early 2008, Michael Phelps bought a laptop. The Apple Store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, threw in a choice of free bonus: iPod or printer. “I never print anything,” the American swimmer who is now the most decorated Olympian of all time writes in his 2012 memoir, No Limits: The Will to Succeed, “so I grabbed the iPod.” Phelps’s omnipresent earbuds, a relative novelty in TV sports at the time, soon emerged as one of the standout images from the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Inquiring minds wanted to know: What was on this iPod? Phelps delighted plenty of rap fans with his answers: Jay Z, Young Jeezy, Eminem, Outkast, and Lil Wayne, especially “I’m Me,” off Wayne’s then-new, pre-Carter III EP, The Leak.
Since then, Phelps has gone on to win 13 individual Olympic medals and 28 in total, including six medals (five gold, one silver) at this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Meanwhile, the international pastime of speculating over Olympians’ training playlists has emerged. Interviewed earlier this week, Phelps said that for 2016 he’d been listening to EDM, namely Skrillex’s remix of Nero’s "Promises” along with Afrojack and Steve Aoki’s “No Beef.” Phelps’ U.S. swimming teammate Ryan Lochte, who last week won his sixth gold medal (and, yes, later allegedly lied about being robbed at gunpoint), has said he works out to Weezy’s “The Sky Is the Limit.” Gymnast Simone Biles, who takes home four gold medals from Rio, prefers Justin Bieber. Music, as Costas Karageorghis, author of Applying Music in Exercise and Sport, told The Guardian recently, gives athletes “a sense that they are a master of their own destiny.”
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, what has been a winning soundtrack? Pitchfork asked top medalists from Team USA to share their workout playlists. From swimmers to runners to judokas, their responses had plenty in common—Drake, Beyoncé, uptempo pop of all flavors—while also highlighting some personal favorites like Chance the Rapper, Fall Out Boy, Salt-N-Pepa, even Brooks & Dunn. Frank Ocean’s “Swim Good”? Dive on in.
Simone Manuel // Swimming
Two gold medals (Rio 2016: 100-meter freestyle—making her the first African-American woman to win individual swimming gold—and 4x100-meter medley) // two silver medals (Rio 2016: 4x100-meter freestyle relay and 50-meter freestyle)
Photo by Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images
Beyoncé
Drake
Chris Brown
Dana Vollmer // Swimming
Five gold medals (Rio 2016: 4×100-meter medley relay; London 2012: 100-meter butterfly, 4×200-meter freestyle, and 4×100-meter medley; Athens 2004: 4×200-meter freestyle relay) // silver medal (Rio 2016: 4×100-meter freestyle relay) // bronze medal (Rio 2016: 100-meter butterfly)
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Fall Out Boy — “Irresistible”
Fall Out Boy — “Centuries”
Fall Out Boy — “Uma Thurman”
Fall Out Boy — “Jet Pack Blues”
Fall Out Boy — “Immortals”
Fall Out Boy — “The Phoenix”
Fall Out Boy — “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark”
Fall Out Boy — “Just One Yesterday” [ft. Foxes]
X Ambassadors — “Jungle” [ft. Jamie Commons]
Kongos — “I’m Only Joking”
Kongos — “Take It From Me”
Imagine Dragons — “Gold”
Imagine Dragons — “Warriors”
OneRepublic — “Love Runs Out”
Kayla Harrison // Judo
Two gold medals (Rio 2016: 78-kilogram division; London 2012: 78-kilogram division)
Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images
Brooks & Dunn — “Brand New Man”
Brooks & Dunn — “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”
Lonestar — “What About Now”
Eminem — “Cinderella Man”
Kiiara — “Gold”
Wankelmut & Emma Louise — “My Head Is a Jungle”
Destiny’s Child — “Say My Name”
Taylor Swift — “Shake It Off”
Kevin Gates — “2 Phones”
Salt-N-Pepa — “Shoop”
Drake — “Childs Play”
Beyoncé — “Flawless” [ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]
Ryan Murphy // Swimming
Three gold medals (Rio 2016: 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke, and 4×100-meter medley relay)
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Blink-182 — “What’s My Age Again?”
Yellowcard — “Ocean Avenue”
Audien — “Circles” [ft. Ruby Prophet]
Bethanie Mattek-Sands // Tennis
Gold medal (Rio 2016: mixed doubles)
Photo by Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images
ATTLAS — “Parallel Lines”
Alan Walker — “Faded (DserT Remix)”
Kygo — “I’m in Love”
Sia — “Cheap Thrills (Sehck Remix)”
Quinn — “Another Day in Paradise”
Chris Malinchak — “So Good to Me”
RUNAGROUND — “Chase You Down”
The Chainsmokers — “Don’t Let Me Down”
The Chainsmokers — “Roses”
“And Chris Stapleton’s latest album!”
Jack Sock // Tennis
Gold medal (Rio 2016: mixed doubles)
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
DJ Drama — “We in This 1.5” [ft. Drake and Future]
50 Cent — “I’m the Man”
Rick Ross — “Stay Schemin’” [ft. Drake and French Montana]
Ty Dolla $ign — “Wavy” [ft. Joe Moses]
Sam Dorman // Diving
Silver medal (Rio 2016: synchronized 3-meter springboard, the best-ever U.S. finish for his category)
Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Dr. Fresch — “Gangsta Gangsta” [feat. Baby Eazy E]
Avicii — “Stories”
Mark B — “Playa y Arena” [ft. Gabriel]
Zara Larsson — “Lush Life” Cheat Codes and Dante Klein — “Let Me Hold You (Turn Me On)”
Zedd and Aloe Blacc — “Candyman”
DMX — “X Gon’ Give It to Ya”
Nicky Jam — “Hasta el Amanecer (Remix)” [ft. Daddy Yankee]
Conrad Sewell — “Remind Me (Steve James Remix)”
Frank Ocean — “Thinkin Bout You”
Frank Ocean — “Swim Good”
Sia — “Alive”
Jocelyn Alice — “Jackpot (The Him Remix)”
Caravan Palace — “Lone Digger”
Alice Russell — “Citizens”
Tyler, the Creator — “Domo23”
Billy Ocean — “Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)”
Lucky Charmes — “Fulfill”
2Pac — “Thugz Mansion (7 Remix)” [ft. Anthony Hamilton]
Mark Morrison — “Return of the Mack (C & J Street Mix)
Ludovico Einaudi — “Nuvole bianche”
Clayton Murphy // Track and Field
Bronze medal (Rio 2016: 800-meter, the first U.S. medal in his event since 1992)
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa — “We Own It”
B.o.B. — “So Good”
Aloe Blacc — “The Man”
Jay Z — “Empire State of Mind” [ft. Alicia Keys]
G-Eazy — “I Mean It”
Tinie Tempah — “Written in the Stars” [ft. Eric Turner]
Panic! At The Disco — “Miss Jackson” [ft. Lolo]
Drake — “Pop Style”
Drake — “One Dance”
Logic — “I Am the Greatest”
Chance the Rapper — “No Problem”
Nelly — “Ride Wit Me”
Rajeev Ram // Tennis
Silver medal (Rio 2016: mixed doubles)
Photo by Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images
Dave Matthews Band — “Ants Marching”
Dave Matthews Band — “Warehouse”
Dave Matthews Band — “Grey Street”