Videogames essential to Olympic hopeful

I've written lots of blog posts about how video games can improve your health and even save your life, but this one was news to me: Olympic shotput competitor Reese Hoffa plays videogames for hours every day, not to better his shotputting or improve his coordination, but for a far simpler reason: To avoid hurting himself.

A man can't spend all day throwing 16-pound balls around the yard, and Hoffa was a devoted skateboarder during his downtime, much to the chagrin of his coach, who was worried that one bad fall could end Hoffa's Olympic aspirations. To wean himself off of power slides and boneless finger flips, Hoffa instead flips on Metal Gear Solid or plays a little Command and Conquer.

Hoffa says he's no obsessive, though, and has trouble going up against people who play for multiple hours a day mastering tactics and strategy in his preferred games. No word on whether he's a fan of the Tony Hawk series of skating titles. Presumably, the cursed Nintendo Thumb must not be much of a concern, either.

As Wired notes, Hoffa is such a gamesman that he appears on the cover of Beijing 2008, which lets you participate in the  upcoming Olympiad yourself. Sounds good: For my money, I'd much rather throw a virtual shotput than embarass myself trying to heft a real one.

LINK: Videogames Keep Olympic Shot-Putter Busy