The lowdown on American archer Mackenzie Brown: She knits, line dances, used to be a competitive swimmer -- backstroke was her specialty -- and shoots arrows while listening to country music to hone her concentration.Then theres this: The 21-year-old from Flint, Texas, may just be the archer to interrupt the dominance of South Korea, the nation that has captured seven of the last eight Olympic gold medals in the womens individual event heading into Rio.Brown certainly has the aim to pull off the feat -- the poise, too.If I go in with the right amount of confidence, Im usually going to do really well, said Brown, whos attempting to become the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold since Luann Ryon in 1976. Im my biggest competitor when it comes to that.Brown took third at a Rio test event last September at the Sambadrome venue, the iconic stadium designed for the Samba Parade at Carnival. She finished behind winner Choi Misun of South Korea and runner-up Tan Ya-Ting of Taiwan.(The stadium) is really catching to the eye, Brown said. Its going to be a really good venue.Brown will be the lone American woman competing in Rio after teammates Khatuna Lorig and Hye Youn Park narrowly missed making the Olympic squad. Lorig is a big name in archery circles for whats shes accomplished -- she was trying to make her sixth Olympic team -- and for being the one who enhanced the archery skills of actor Jennifer Lawrence for her role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.Im just going to do my best and feel like thats going to earn me a medal, Brown said.She grew up a swimmer before being introduced to archery in middle school. From the start, she was talented -- winning tournaments in divisions above her age.I grew up in deep Texas, where all I heard of was bow hunting. I had this image of the movie `Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Thats what I knew about archery, Brown said. Soon, I found out it was so much more. It was something I definitely have a passion for.Typically, she will train to music in order to work on tuning out distractions. When shes not listening to country stars like Garth Brooks or George Strait, shes jamming to Meghan Trainor.Being able to push that (noise) away and focus on what I need to focus on, it becomes a benefit, explained Brown, whose hobby is knitting and makes garments to protect her equipment while traveling. Im just really looking forward to how things turn out.The archery competition starts Aug. 5. Here are some things to know:INSIDE SCOOPArchery targets are set up 70 meters away -- about three-fourths of an American football field -- and feature 10 rings with different point values and colors. For scoring purposes, remember this: Gold is great. White, not as much, and missing altogether even worse.KOREAN COMMANDThe South Koreans have such a deep archery program that defending mens individual champion Oh Jin-Hyek didnt make the squad. Also missing from the team is visually impaired archer Im Dong-hyun, who helped the country to a bronze medal in the team event at the 2012 London Games. On the womens side, Ki Bo-Bae will defend her gold. The South Korean women have also won every gold in the team event since it was included in 1988.BRAZILIAN HOPETeenager Marcus DAlmeida of Brazil is sometimes referred to as Archerys Neymar, because his quick rise to stardom -- much like the soccer great. DAlmeida will be one of the host countrys top medal contenders. The 18-year-old captured a silver medal at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games in 2014.AMERICAN MIGHTThe American men have a full team in Brady Ellison, Jake Kaminski and Zach Garrett. Ellison and Kaminski led the U.S. to a silver medal in the team competition at the London Olympics.QUITE AN ACHIEVEMENTZahra Nemati of Iran is scheduled to compete in both the Rio Olympics and Paralympics. The 31-year-old earned a black belt in taekwondo before she injured her spinal cord in an accident in 2004. She took up archery soon after and captured gold at the 2012 London Paralympics in the individual recurve W1/W2.Custom New York Mets Jerseys . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. New York Mets Gear . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Wholesale Mets Jerseys . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Cheap Mets Jerseys .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training.Four-time Olympic medalist Simone Manuel made history in Rio when she became the first African-American woman to win an individual medal in a swimming event -- tying Penny Oleksiak for gold in the 100-meter freestyle.The song that helped Manuel get in the right mental space to make American Olympic history? Victory, by gospel icon Yolanda Adams.Manuel said the song holds a profound importance to her because of the strength of her faith.The song just kind of speaks about how I have victory in God regardless of whether I win or lose because I am a child of God -- I have the victory, Manuel said. It gives me peace when I get out on the blocks and perform with less pressure.Manuel also saiid her prerace soundtrack -- and singing and dancing -- keeps her from having a case of race-jitters before she jumps in the pool.ddddddddddddI love to dance and sing when were in the team area because it keeps me from thinking about my races too much.Also making appearances on Manuels playlist are Rihanna, Drake, Beyonce and rapper YG. Some of [YGs] very explicit content, because [it gets you] moving, Manuel said jokingly.She shared her whole prerace list. (Beyonce songs arent on Spotify, but Manuel also listens to Upgrade You.)Get more athlete playlists. ' ' '