Defending Olympic gold medalist Stacy Dragila (33, Phoenix, AZ) is on the island of Crete for Team USA training camp as she prepares to defend her gold in the women's pole vault. A two-time world champion and 8-time U.S. outdoor champion, Dragila spoke to the press on Wednesday. Below are excerpts from the conversation.

Q: What is being here at training camp doing for you?

A: I think it's good. Obviously, coming off the Trials, after making the team, you get on a little bit of a down. To come back here to regroup, it's such a relaxing atmosphere. It's a nice track and good food. Plus some fun stuff. It's a great way to recharge. I get a chance to talk to people I've never talked to before. It's a team atmosphere and it's really fun.

Q: How do you feel about your jumping this year?

A: I'm really happy. I've been very consistent. The things I moved to Phoenix to work on are coming together. Looking back a year ago, I wasn't sure they would.

Q: How do you feel about your Olympic chances, given how high people have been vaulting this year?

A: It's very exciting for women's pole vault to be part of the ground- breaking process and see where it's going. I'm very competitive, and I think I'll be on the medal stand. I'm the defending Olympic champion, and I'll fight my way to the top.

Q: Do you have an edge against your competitors?

A: The Olympic experience can be very overwhelming. I've been here before, so maybe I have a little bit of an edge. You can't communicate with your coach very well [in the Olympic stadium], so you better know sign language. All kinds of things come into play that you don't experience in small meets.

Q: Are there still bigger things to come from you?

A: I think so. I have a couple extra poles in my bag, and if I can get on those, we'll see some big things. That comes down to confidence in myself - having confidence in what we've done this year.

Q: Talk a bit more about the Russians.

A: I think they've been very consistent, they know what they're going. They learned it right from the time they started. When I started, the vault was new. I got away with a lot of things and developed some bad habits that we're still trying to correct.

Q: You dominated for so long, was the emergence of the Russians a surprise?

A: It was pretty much expected. They have a long tradition of great pole vaulters. It was just a matter of finding that perfect athlete. The competition between the two of them is very hot, and I think either one of them will do anything to beat each other. For me, it's not about beating them, it's about doing my best.

Q: How long will you compete?

A: For sure I see myself going two more years. Things are good, I'm still competitive and I still have that drive. Who knows? Beijing is just around the corner. These four years went so fast.

Q: Sergey Bubka has said a woman will never jump 5 meters. What do you think?

A: He better bite his tongue, because he's going to see it soon.

2004 Olympic Trials men's pole vault champion Tim Mack (31, Knoxville, TN) is on the i sl and of Crete for Team USA training camp as he prepares to compete in the Olympic Games. The 2001 Goodwill Games gold medalist and 2002 U.S. indoor champion is coming off a Golden League win at Weltklasse Zurich, and he spoke to the press on Wednesday. Below are excerpts from the conversation.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the world of pole vaulting right now?

A: I pride myself on being consistent as far as training and preparing, being ready for anything. It's just a product of making the last couple of world championship teams and this Olympic Team. You've got so many people jumping so high at so many different times, being consistent is important.

Q: You've been extremely consistent this year but jumped at several small meets before the Olympic Trials.

A: Our plan was designed to jump high at the end of the season. After Prefontaine, I was a little unsure where it was going because I was jumping really, really high, but I wasn't clearing high bars. I was really high - almost to the point I couldn't believe it. We put together a couple of competitions. I just had to figure out how to feel a rhythm. I wasn't feeling a rhythm until those three meets - two in Knoxville and one in Jonesboro (Ark.). In the matter of one week I jumped 19-2, 19-4 and 19-0. That's how I knew I was ready.

Q: What do you consider to be the best competition of your career?

A: The Olympic Trials. It went as planned. There were a couple of spots there when I could have totally ditched my plan, because there was a lot of passing going on. I can be confident now in saying I knew exactly what was going on. Looking back, I was a little bit nervous. I have certain poles for certain situations and it worked. I simplified it by making it more mathematical than just feeling like I can do something.

Q: What is your strength as a vaulter?

A: Basically, my tactics are my best part. I have a series of numbered poles and go through them. I'm not mathematical at all, and that's the funny part - I'm as far from that as you can get. My system allows me to just not think. By just looking at my notebook, I know how I'm feeling. For each height, I know where I should put the standard and where I should be on my pole.

Q: When in your career did you realize vaulting was something you wanted to do full-time?

A: Probably after graduate school in 1998. I went to graduate school [getting a masters in sports administration] because I needed a few extra years to get to where I could jump high enough to make money in vaulting. Every year I fitness trained less and less and pole vaulted more. After about four years of that, I got to the point where I could just pole vault. Now I've got to think about what I'm going to do after I'm done. I've told myself this year I'm not going to worry about it. It's just going to be a pole vault year.