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London 2012: These photos of athletes getting ready for the Olympics will give you goosebumps

Oh. It’s on. Almost.

WE’RE ONLY A few days from the start of the Olympics.

All over the globe, athletes are making their last minute preparations for what is, for many of them, the culmination of decades of training.

While many of the athletes are now on the ground in London, we pulled photos of Olympians training in their home countries in the months leading up to the Games.

These picture not only give you a good idea of how competitors train differently in different countries, they give you a sense of the environment and culture that produced the stars who will go for gold.

BATON ROUGE, USA - Hurdler Lolo Jones runs stairs in a college football stadium
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  • BATON ROUGE, USA - Hurdler Lolo Jones runs stairs in a college football stadium

  • CAMBRIDGE, NEW ZEALAND - Paralympic rower Danny McBride on Lake Karap

  • DUISBURG, GERMANY - An unnamed canoeist trains alone

  • HAVANA, CUBA - Orlando Ortega trains for the 110m hurdles below a painting of Che Guevara

  • IMPHAL, INDIA - Women's boxing hopeful Mary Kom trains a student

  • KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - A member of the Afghan women's boxing team trains in 2010, the team will send its first fighter to London next month

  • LONDON, ENGLAND - British diver Tom Daley comes up for air after a practice dive

  • RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Women's beach volleyball player Talita Antunes practices serves

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    Mute Cliff Waijenberg
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    Jul 24th 2012, 9:00 AM

    Goosebumps, really?? #underwhelmed

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    Mute John Ryan
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    Jul 24th 2012, 7:36 AM

    Should of included the video of Michelle Jenneke!

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    Mute King Olaf
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    Jul 24th 2012, 9:08 AM

    Definitely! And a bit of Stephanie Rice wouldn’t hurt either!

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    Mute Cian McAlone
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    Jul 24th 2012, 10:37 AM

    Number 8 gave me goosebumps anyway!

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    Mute Jimmy Bennett
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    Jul 24th 2012, 9:56 AM

    Rubish headline and no point to this article

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    Mute Sean O Luanaigh
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    Jul 24th 2012, 10:55 AM

    easy tiger

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    Mute David Conch Condon
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    Jul 24th 2012, 10:59 AM

    great photos.

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    Mute King Olaf
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    Jul 24th 2012, 11:12 AM

    They are great photos. I especially like the one of the lone canoeist…really gives you a daunting perspective of the challenge they face. Only the telly it looks like a pretty short distance but the photo shows otherwise.

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