Olympic Hopefuls Look to Spouses for Support

Lauren Fendrick has her sights set on the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil -- and her husband Andrew Fuller is right by her side.

Fuller left his job coaching at USC to help Fendrick and partner Brooke Sweat make it to their first Olympics.

"I'm not here to be hanging out with my wife, I'm here to do work and help this team," Fuller said.

The biggest help for the couple is to leave what happens on the beach at the beach.

"Sometimes you want to go home and vent to your spouse but we've made a point not to and I think that's been really helpful," Fendrick said.

Carlos Handler quit his own running career to coach his wife Brenda.

Carlos believed in his wife so much he took random temp jobs to make things work.

"They would just call you that day, in the morning and they're like 'do you want this job' and I'd be like 'how much does it pay," Carlos said.

"He was cleaning houses in Big Bear. He was doing some demo work, couple temp jobs, but again he was putting my running first," Brenda said.

Mountain biker Larissa Connors has a distinct advantage because her husband Brenden designs her bikes.

Brenden may not be able to keep up on the trails but he keeps his wife's bikes up to speed as her mechanic. With a little tweaking, he pushed her to quit her job to pursue the Olympics.

"I've always thought he's a little bit nutty and maybe husbands are supposed to be encouraging, so I didn't really believe him ever," Larissa said.

Larissa believes her husband now, and he believes in her.

"Being right there, going to races with her, wrenching on our bikes, handing her water bottles, it can't get much better than that," Brenden said.

Larissa Connors did not make the Olympic team but Lauren Fendrick and Brenda Martinez are headed to Rio.

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