ARGENTINA: FIELD HOCKEY - Argentine women's field hockey team Las Leonas prepare physically, mentally for Bejing

Record ID: 446627

  • Title: ARGENTINA: FIELD HOCKEY - Argentine women's field hockey team Las Leonas prepare physically, mentally for Bejing
  • Date: 14th June 2008
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LEONAS TRAINING COACH GABRIEL MINADEO TALKING WITH ASSISTANT LEONAS TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COACH GABRIEL MINADEO SAYING: "It's very important because the Leonas were born at the Olympic games in Sydney. The gold medal is the prize we're lacking so it's going to be very special for us. We are a candidate and we have the chance to win it." EXTERIOR OF BUILDING FOR PHYSICAL, MENTAL CONDITIONING OLYMPIC FLAG FLYING ON BUILDING DOOR OF CONDITIONING CENTRE GISELE KANEVSKY TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUCIANA AYMAR SAYING: "Beyond being ready physically, technically and strategically, you have to be prepared mentally. It's going to be a tournament with a lot of matches at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). These things like being here today and training the entire mental and physical part helps us gain a little advantage over the rest of the countries." VARIOUS OF LEONA DOING REACTION TRAINING ON COMPUTER VARIOUS OF DEXTERITY TRAINING WITH BLINDFOLD VARIOUS OF TRAINING
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAECO988N5KB1GZWR6DZORXCYQ6
  • Story Text: Argentina's women's field hockey team 'Las Leonas' are training for Bejing with physical training and the hope that special mental training will give them an edge as they try for their first Olympic gold medal.
    At a recent practice in Buenos Aires, the players ran through traditional drills and conditioning exercises under the eye of coach Gabriel Minadeo.
    The upstart Leonas put Argentina on the field hockey map with a surprising bronze in Sydney in 2000. A year later, they won the Champions Trophy and since have been a force in international tournaments.
    But Olympic gold has eluded the team, something Minadeo says they hope to rectify.

    "It's very important because the Leonas were born at the Olympic games in Sydney. The gold medal is the prize we're lacking so it's going to be very special for us. We are a contender and we have a chance to win it,"
    the coach said.
    Achieve their goal, Minadeo is sending his players to a special training centre in Buenos Aires that combines physical preparation with mental training.
    Acumen, as the centre is called, combines physical training with psychology, yoga, nutrition and technology to create a system used by many top athletes in Argentina.
    Leonas star Luciana Aymar said the mental training is important to prepare for the stress of the Olympics.

    "Beyond being ready physically, technically and strategically, you have to be prepared mentally. It's going to be a tournament with a lot of matches at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). These things like being here today and training the entire mental and physical part helps us gain a little advantage over the rest of the countries," Aymar said recently.
    Leonas players like Aymar and Gisele Kanevsky do dexterity drills on computers and don blindfolds for exercises that aid hand-eye coordination, and then it's back to the practice field for more traditional training with sticks in hand.
    Las Leonas hope the formula will add up to Olympic gold in Bejing in August.
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