# Prof. Gavin Kilduff's research on rivalry is applied to the Olympics

1 July 27, 2012 Stern in the News ![](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_037060.gif?itok=HRRX-IlM)>

Excerpt from [Life's Little Mysteries](http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2715-lochte-phelps-rivalry.html/) -- "'A rivalry in this kind of context is apt to benefit these swimmers' motivation and performance,' said [Gavin Kilduff](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/gavin-kilduff), an assistant professor at New York University who studies the causes and consequences of rivalry. In fact, the swimmers could be boosting each other's performances by as much as 2 percent."

[Read more](http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2715-lochte-phelps-rivalry.html/)

Additional coverage appeared on [Live Science](http://www.livescience.com/21926-ryan-lochte-rivalry.html).