July 25, 2012

U.S. Olympic Hopefuls Pay Tribute to the Beatles' 'Abbey Road'

 

Trey Hardee, Allyson Felix, LaShawn Merritt, and Sanya Richard-Ross cross everyone's favorite street


By
 Rolling Stone
June 29, 2012 6:55 AM ET
With the 2012 London Olympics right around the corner, four of the top U.S. track and field athletes teamed up for this photographic homage to the Beatles' Abbey Road album cover.
From left to right is gold-medal favorite in the decathlon Trey Hardee, who also dabbles in guitar and piano; Allyson Felix, a two-time 200m silver medalist participating in her third Olympics; two-time Beijing gold medal winner (400m and 4x400m relay) and trumpeter LaShawn Merritt; and Sanya Richard-Ross, who took home a gold medal in Beijing for the 4x400m relay.


The photo is especially fitting now that Paul McCartney is slated to play the Games' opening ceremony on July 27th. And he's not the only U.K. artist participating in the festivities. Electronic dance group Underworld will serve as musical directors of the opening ceremonies, while Blur, New Order and the Specials will play the closing ceremony. Muse, meanwhile, have been tapped for the Olympics' official song, "Survival."
For more musically minded Olympians, check out this NBCOlympics clip of sharp shooter Matt Emmonds strumming his guitar and talking about his favorite artists, like Neil Young, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.