Suzy Powell discus thrower.(United States)

Byline: Robert Sullivan

Twenty-seven-year-old Suzy Powell is not what you'd expect from a discus thrower, if you think of discus throwers the way most people think of discus throwers-built like a barrel, or at least looking like a weightlifter.

"I'm kind of like the anomaly out there," says Powell, who consistently (and amazingly) threw more than 200 feet at every meet last year, earning her medals at all the big American track and field events. "I'm a little freak show, in that I look like a girl. I'm not that big, and I think the misconception is that you have to be this really strong body type, and the truth is that the discus is a very light implement. It's really only 2.2 pounds."

The misguided corollary to this misconception is that to train for the discus you train only for power, which is to say weights, weights, and more weights. But Powell prefers to thwart convention and works out more for agility and balance. "It's speed and technique over size and strength," says Powell, who incorporates sprints and plyometrics into her training sessions. Kris Kuehl-who has competed against Powell since 1995 and, as an Olympic hopeful, is no discus slouch herself-says Powell seems more like a javelin thrower. "She's fast, and she uses that to her advantage, which is why the discus goes so far."

Powell also works very hard on her grip. Unlike most throwers, she spends quite a bit of time with a movement coach, Stephen Tamaribuchi, who has worked with everyone from Rod Laver to Rudolf Nureyev. He's the one who taught her that the smallest adjustment in posture and grip can have a tremendous effect on momentum and thus the distance of the object thrown-something that martial-arts experts have known for centuries. With his help, Powell hopes to make the Olympic team for the third time, and have another shot at battling the Europeans, who have dominated the sport.

Needless to say, Powell does not throw like ...