What music are Australian Olympians listening to in Paris

There are many major global events that most of us will never have the opportunity to experience. Like holding up an Oscar, performing on stage in front of a sold-out crowd, or walking to the starting line during the Olympics.

If you were actually in that situation, how would you get in the zone? For our Olympians, getting in the right zone before a competition isn’t just a fantasy—it’s something they actually have to do, and it turns out music plays a big role.

Years of training, hours spent every day on the track, thousands of laps swum, but in the final minutes before the race, it all comes down to one song. We decided to ask some of Paris’ top athletes what they listen to to get themselves pumped before going for gold.

Mariafe Atacho del Solar, beach volleyball

Even if Mariafe Artajo del Solar had imagined her beach volleyball career would lead to three Olympic Games, she probably never imagined she’d be playing under the Eiffel Tower.

After winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics, Artacho del Solar and teammate Taliqua Clancy have now made it through the Paris preliminaries. As they advance to the next round, Artacho Del Solar tells us they will be stepping out under the streetlights of Paris to hear one of the greatest musical inspirations of all time: Journey’s 1981 classic do not stop Believing.

Stuart McSwain, track and field

You might think Chariots of Fire For those competing at the highest level, the song is the go-to warm-up. But that’s not the case for 1500m and 500m runner Stewart McSweyn, who told us he listens to Dizzee Rascal’s 2008 club classic Dance with me.