ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 1996: Swimmer and 100 meter backstroke gold medalist, Jeff Rouse, swims in June of 1996 at a training center in Atlanta, Georgia. The olympians of ancient greece trained not only to compete but to attain physical abilities that rivaled those of the common man--with the feats achieved during the present day olympics its fair to say little has changed. These athletes train their bodies to machine-like capabilities in order to beat the competition by sometimes only a hundredth of a second. Some have done it with severe heat stroke or even a broken leg.
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Getty Images News Joe McNally