Start with this: in 2008, when Ryan Lochte competed in the Summer Games in Beijing, he took his meals at the McDonald鈥檚 in the Olympic Village. 鈥淏reakfast, lunch, and dinner,鈥� he later told ESPN, explaining simply: 鈥淚 knew what I was getting.鈥� In so doing, he took a bad habit of American culture and made it a discipline, creating for himself a training table of the familiar. He super-sized. Sadly American. Then he won four medals鈥攖wo of them gold鈥攁nd set a pair of world records. Very American.

Now, on the cusp of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Lochte is the most dominant American athlete in the Games, perhaps on the planet. Eleven career Olympic medals, at least one gold every four years since 2004. He鈥檚 favored to win four more this summer. Why? He persists. No matter the obstacle, he overcomes it. He wore speed-enhancing bodysuits until they were outlawed, and then he still won. He used a revolutionary kick turn that was named for him, then outlawed, and he won after that, too. He was given his own nickname (鈥淗imbo鈥�) and had his own reality-TV show (, on E!), and even amid these distractions鈥攖he likes of which have waylaid countless other celebrity jocks鈥攈e won.聽

The Ryan Lochte Mindset聽

Watch to learn about Lochte's training and strategy going into the 2016 Rio Olympics

So forget his advancing age. (He turns 32 a few days before the opening ceremony, making him older than the majority of his teammates.) Forget his recent unimpressive times. (Almost half a second off the other guy in the 200-meter individual medley in January.) And, oh yeah, forget that other guy, too. (You know who we鈥檙e talking about.)

Instead, look at his face. Ryan Lochte believes in Ryan Lochte. If he appears a little cold, that鈥檚 just the steely assertion of faith in himself. Take it as another sign of his indifference to the occasional defeat. Observers of American sports have seen this face before. Icy and excellent: Michael Jordan. Dazed, familiar, a bit disconnected: Tom Brady. Propelled by the concrete strength of physique: Serena Williams. And now, in a cloud of boundless American hope and expectation: Ryan Lochte.

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