Natalie Gingerich Mackenzie, ESPN.com
May 6, 2019
Olivia Smoliga was a part of the 4×100-meter relay team that won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics — and she has only picked up speed since. In December, she took home a record-setting eight gold medals from the short-course world championships in Hangzhou, China. She also set American records in the 100-meter and 50-meter backstroke events (55.47 and 25.88 seconds, respectively), not to mention two relay world records.
Get Smoliga talking about music and it’s clear she draws a lot of inspiration from it when she competes. “There’s something about music that allows me to articulate how I feel in a way I typically wouldn’t outside of my mind,” she told us. “With music I can be whoever I want to be.”
Before races, the song “Who’s Stopping Me” by Big Sean and Metro Boomin is her must-listen. “It makes me feel invincible,” Smoliga said. “I get so cocky when listening to this song behind the blocks. But as soon as I finish my race, it’s back to normal.”
In fact, her whole playlist is carefully planned. “There’s a reason for the order of these songs, as I’ve kind of created a little pseudo-album that tells a story. But overall, these all just slap,” she said. Here’s the list:
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