Gabriele Anderson has spent much of her life on the run -- constantly working under the assumption there is always another race to train for. But as the former University of Minnesota two-sport athlete makes a run at the U.S. Olympic team, Anderson no longer takes such competitive luxuries for granted.

Life has seen to that.

There may have been a time when Anderson would have considered herself too big of a long shot to make her way to London as one of the world's elite distance runners. She competes in what's arguably the most competitive event in U.S. Track and Field, part of a talented collection of Americans vying for three spots in the women's 1,500-meter run at this summer's Olympic Games.

But the fear and doubt that was part of Anderson's competitive make-up has been wiped away. Gone are the moments of uncertainty and the questions about whether the former NCAA runner-up has what it takes to be an Olympian.

Anderson is now much more apt to believe in herself, having endured obstacles had never encountered until her life changed three years ago.

"I don't think I would have ever predicted I would have come this far in my running since having cancer twice," Anderson says. "On my best days, I was really hoping to come back to heath and return to running and try and see what I had on the track."

"I never thought I would make it to this point."

Yet, here Anderson is, happy, healthy and fit, ready to run the race of her life at next month's Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

While stories of sacrifice have long been part of the Olympic landscape, Anderson's story is unique in its own right.

Not because she's fought cancer and won, but because she's done it twice.

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The lump on the side of Gabriele Anderson's neck was small, almost to the point of being unnoticeable.

Located right below her left ear, where her jawline ended, the lump was more a nuisance than anything worth worrying about.

Anderson was living in a basement in the spring of 2009, and she figured the lump was nothing more than an inflamed lymph node somehow related to her allergies.

Anderson never concerned herself with the abnormality that was painful to the touch but nothing, she figured at the time, to worry about.

She was 22.

Cancer wasn't on her radar and it had never been an issue with her family. But, almost ironically, it would quickly creep into her life without warning.

She had chosen to skip an annual spring break trip, giving Anderson the chance to spend time with her family in Perham, Minn., a small town of less than 3,000 residents nestled three hours north of the Twin Cities.

During the 179-mile drive home from Minneapolis, Anderson's phone rang. It was her father calling with alarming news.

Doctors had discovered a tumor on Gabriele's mother, Laura Anderson's ovary. They feared it was cancerous.full story >>

Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, and after some bouts of indecision, he is gearing up for London this summer. Phelps was in New York on Tuesday as part of Visa's Olympic campaign and sat down for some one-on-one time with ThePostGame:

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ThePostGame: What's the difference between how you train now and how you trained back in the day, before all the Olympic medals and accolades?
MICHAEL PHELPS: I think the biggest difference between now and then is that back then I was just trying to do as much as I could. Trying to put in as much yardage as I could, putting super high volume in. Now it's a lot more specific, working on the small things that end up making the big difference at the end of the day. The older I am, the harder it is to recover. Instead of high volume swimming, now I have to think about doing more flip turns or stream lines correctly, because races do end up coming down to that hundredth or tenth of a second.

TPG: So now it's more about focusing on the details of swimming.
PHELPS: Yeah, I won't say it makes it easier, but it's less tiring. And you need to be able to do all the small things correctly so that you're on the good side of the races.

TPG: How's your overall health? Any nagging injuries?
PHELPS: I've been able to stay pretty healthy throughout my career. I guess I've been kind of lucky having the training system, the people that I have: My weight coach, my trainer and my coach.

TPG: There's been a lot of talk about how important your coach, Bob Bowman, has been to your career. What is it that makes you such a successful duo?
PHELPS: He really pushes me. The reason that we work so well together is our passion. Sure, we have short fuses, but we both want to be the best that we can be, and we'll never let anything stand in our way.

TPG: What are you thinking about when you're in the water during a race?
PHELPS: When I'm racing, nothing is going through my mind. Just get in the water and swim as fast as you can.

TPG: So you're almost racing yourself.
PHELPS: Yeah, in a way it's just me against myself. I try to prepare myself the best I can, and I know that if I do that, then everything will happen the it should. Whether I get first or second or tenth, I'll be happy because I was able to accomplish my personal goal.

TPG: A lot has been said and written about the fact that you struggled to find motivation after your success at Beijing. What happened, and how did you get motivated again?
PHELPS: I don't know really. I was able to find the passion again. I can't really say one thing triggered it, but it was the hardest thing finding it. I couldn't have help from other people to find that passion. I had to find it within myself. I just randomly woke up one day and thought, "What am I doing?" I went through two years of pretty much nothing, just being lazy. I kind of felt, not worthless, (laughs) but kind of.full story >>

When Reema Abdullah carries the Olympic torch to the 2012 London Games, she'll be the first Saudi Arabian woman to do it. But the honor could be bittersweet if no female athletes from her country are allowed to compete in the games.

"It's a confusing picture, but in Reema Abdullah we already have a Saudi woman who is unhesitating and proud to be an athletic role model for Saudi women," writes Eman Al Nafjan in the Guardian.

Abdullah would be a role model for women anywhere, but the fact that she is the first female sports radio host in Saudi Arabia and the captain of the first public Saudi women's soccer team elevates her to a hero in a country where women face a daily struggle for autonomy. As the ultimate stage for international diplomacy, the Olympics are seen as a place where nations are supposed to set aside their cultural differences, stripping away race, religion and economic prosperity, leaving only athletic talent as the great decider.

Unfortunately, it's always a little more complicated. While Abdullah's participation signals progress, the fact that Saudi Arabia has kept the media, human rights organizations and the International Olympic Committee on their toes with their inconsistent position on sending female athletes the London Games certainly paints that "confusing picture."

Female participation in sports is still frowned upon in Saudi Arabia.

"Their reasoning is that it's masculine, that exercise would somehow result in girls losing their virginity and that it's against the physiological nature of being a woman," Al Nafjan writes.

The IOC is still hoping to convince the Saudis to send the three qualifying women, but the "confusing picture" extends far beyond Saudi Arabia and deeper into Olympic history. The IOC has set a precedent of banning countries from the Olympics if they are seen as violating the Olympic charter, which states, "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."

From the 1964 ban on South Africa for refusing to renounce apartheid to the 1999 ban on Afghanistan for not only refusing to send women, but for the Taliban's refusal to allow Afghan women to play sports at all. It leaves many wondering, why not ban Saudi Arabia from the London Games?

"I think the IOC lacks the cojones to do it," says Bill Mallon, past president and co-founder of the International Society of Olympic Historians. Mallon says if the IOC banned South Africa and Afghanistan for violating the charter, they should do the same to Saudi Arabia. The non-profit Human Rights Watch agrees.

"The time is running out for hope that dialogue with Saudi authorities will lead to a change in discriminatory policies," Christophe Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher with HRW, said in a statement. "It is clear that a symbolic participation in the London 2012 games by Saudi women athletes does not mean an end to the systematic discrimination against women practicing sports in Saudi Arabia and in international competitions."

The Saudi Arabian controversy, and those that came before, invites the question of whether the IOC is supposed to act as a global moral compass.

"The Olympic Games are the largest peacetime gathering of humanity in the history of the world," says Mallon, quoting the late Jim McKay.

It's true. Sports have a way of helping people forget their differences, and the Olympics aim provide the ultimate melting pot. One sprinter trains in the American suburbs, another in an African village. But on the track, it comes down to speed.

"When you play sports at a high level," says Mallon, a former professional golfer, "you meet so many people from different backgrounds and races, and you realize you're more alike than different."

But of course, Olympic history is not entirely one of peace. The 1936 Olympics in Berlin became a stage for Nazi propaganda. Palestinians massacred 11 Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German police officer during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Still, it wouldn't be fair to blame it on the IOC. As Mallon explains, countries need a lot of time to plan the logistics of hosting the Olympics. That's why host cities are now awarded seven years in advance. It used to be five years, and Berlin was awarded the 1936 Games in 1931.

"You can't just cancel them and move them, although that's what people wanted," Mallon says of the Berlin Games. "It was may not have been the best decision to hold them in Berlin, but I think it was harder for the committee to know what to do with that."

Many have argued holding the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was a mistake. The IOC's decision to host the Games in China incited numerous complaints. From China's support of oppressive regimes like Sudan and North Korea and China's religious persecution against Tibetan monks to air pollution and a state-controlled media, the list went on. But Mallon says it may take 10 to 20 years to truly know the ultimate judgment.

There's no empirical data to prove the Olympics are a catalyst for progress. But when a nation like Afghanistan faces an Olympic ban and five years later, sends two women to the 2004 Athens Games, it's promising.

At the very least, the Olympics are a catalyst for global conversation. At the end of this month, at their executive meeting in Quebec, the IOC will take up the issue of Saudi discrimination against women. It may take 10 or 20 years, but one day we might now if the brewing Olympic controversy helps to change Saudi attitudes toward women in sports. For now, the world will be watching Reema Abdullah carry the torch.full story >>

Wednesday marks 100 days until the 2012 Olympic Games and as eager participants qualify for London, they are left with questions about what the experience will hold. Thankfully, two-time Olympian Jennie Finch is here to help.

As a dominant pitcher with the U.S. national softball team, she won a gold medal in 2004 and a silver in 2008. Those experiences in Athens and Beijing are some of Finch's most treasured memories so she was happy to give some advice to first-time Olympians on what to expect and how to get the most out of their journey. First, it will be overwhelming, especially the Olympic Village.

"You are surrounded with the world's greatest athletes," Finch says. "There is so much diversity it was incredible -- young, old, short, tall, different body shapes, so much pride, so many different colors. It was amazing. We spent a lot of time in the dining hall just admiring our surroundings and the athletes."

Speaking of dining, the food choices available to athletes are almost endless. There is a salad bar, sandwich bar and pasta bar at every meal, in addition to Italian, South American and Asian entrees with rotating specials. It's easy to go overboard.

"Stick to your game plan," Finch advises. "Stick with your same diet as before. Bring anything that you may possibly need or want, and just be you."full story >>