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Features
Are You Ready for the Bubbalympics?
Rising from Atlanta’s sweltering mists is a revamped event we can only call the New Olympics. Yes, the Games have evolved, but their underpinnings remain: the world’s best athletes, mano a mano. We chart the changes and the players’ chances.
By Paul Kvinta
The New Olympic Ideal?
Meet Brooke Bennett, Olympic swimmer. Her talent: great. Her potential marketability: even greater. A look at the mandatory qualities for today’s sports hero.
By Rob Buchanan
The Book On
Definitive tout sheets for the speculative Olympic viewer
It’s Been Fun, Modern Pentathlon …
For each TV-friendly event added — hello, beach volleyball! — another old standard gets the boot. We offer a short lesson in Olympic Darwinism.
By Todd Balf
Of Medal Dreams and Collard Greens
A by-the-numbers accounting of Atlanta’s gargantuan coming-out party.
By Katie Arnold and Cory Johnson
And Now, a Very Special Moment with Gary Hall Jr., Survivor
Because they’re good enough, they’re telegenic enough, and doggonnit, people like them. Fast-forwarding through those ubiquitous athlete video vignettes.
By Jack Barth
Better Olympians Through Science
How do you turn five million bucks and a healthy dose of jingoism into gold? Consider Superbike II.
By Andrew Tilin
Is Everything to Your Liking, Mr. Samaranch?
To bring the Games to your hometown requires some romancing, some embellishing, and–yes–some bribing. A six-step plan for success.
Plus: a warts-and-all glance at the front runners in the race to
host the Games in 2004.
By John Tayman
Departments
Dispatches
After ten die on Everest, the survivors–and the world at large–try to come to grips with the highest mountain’s deadliest disaster. The first of two monthly reports on the tragedies. The self-proclaimed pioneer of “freefalling” finds an … interesting new way to plummet. BLM officials may face jail time for condoning the slaughter of imperiled wild horses. The environmentalists’ biggest ally, Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, is outspoken, resourceful, and yes, Republican. A green comic-book hero hits the stands, but is he friend or foe? PLUS: Lance Armstrong smokes the field–and loses his sponsor–at the Tour DuPont; the NRA sides with enviros to take a potshot at the president; Ironman hopefuls brave the elements, or more accurately, fecal coliform bacteria; the notorious leader of the Quartzite Eight is finally nabbed; and more.
Out There
A good travel partner, our man believed, should be equal parts mediator, entertainer, father confessor, educator, and psychologist. Fortunately, his chosen companion for a jaunt through Borneo was none of the above.
By Randy Wayne White
Field Notes
In one of the continent’s last great wildernesses, the richness of the sea, the abundance of fish and game, and the vast green expanse of temperate rainforest combine to offer a landscape like no other. But the loggers are moving in–and its time is running out.
By Doug Peacock
The Wild File
Why are lizards always doing push-ups? Is there really such a thing as sea level? Why does skin itch, and why does it feel so good to scratch it?
Destinations
Crowd-free and easy in California’s “other” mountains: Mere hours from the popular peaks of the Sierra Nevada, the Trinity Alps, Siskiyous, Klamaths, and Cascades are home to countless settings for hiking, biking, fishing, and river running in solitude. A visitor’s guide to the urban Mount Shasta. The most seaworthy B&B on Lake Michigan. Making the most of Whistler’s just-as-fun off-season.
Bodywork
Swimming’s powerful little secret: Though your average aquatic athlete doesn’t yet know it, hip rotation is the key to a stronger, faster, and more efficient stroke. Regimens and gear to make the most of your time in the pool. Strategies and fabrics to help you get through the heat of summer with your fitness intact. The ubiquitous smoothie: the pros, cons, and unsubstantiated claims.
Review
Nine off-road sneakers for a paved-over world: Because there’s often asphalt between you and the trail, the latest generation of running shoes strikes a balance between dirtworthy heft and roadworthy responsiveness. Hydration systems that provide comfort, convenience, and room to spare. The Sunfish Laser Escape, an innovative new sailboat that’s a breeze for even the most intimidated neophyte. PLUS: The moisture dispersing Go-T shirt from Patagonia; Crux Climb Wear’s dual-function Summit Shorts; The Ends of the Earth: A Journey at the Dawn of the 21st Century, by Robert D. Kaplan; Caught Inside: A Surfer’s Year on the California Coast, by Daniel Duane; and more.
Between the Lines
Letters
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