Going for the Gold

by Alan Ross
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For two and a half weeks beginning August 8, more than 10,000 athletes from 205 nations will descend on the metropolis of Beijing, the capital city of the People’s Republic of China, to compete for Olympic gold in the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. And America will be well represented by some 600 athletes there to battle it out with international competitors in 302 events in 28 sports that canvass a diverse course of challenges, from track and field to taekwondo.

NBC Universal, the parent company of the NBC television network, will provide unprecedented coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games, dedicating a staggering 3,600 hours to the event. Tripling the amount of coverage from Athens four years ago, the around-the-clock broadcast time will be spread across NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, the USA Network, Oxygen and Telemudo, plus high-definition coverage on NBC’s HD affiliates, USA HD and Universal HD, and, for the first time ever, 2,200 hours of online live video streaming on NBCOlympics.com.

Here is a brief cross section of U.S. Olympic hopefuls, a blend of past medalists and rising talents. Beijing beckons. It’s time for realizing Olympic dreams, and America is going for the gold.

Paul Hamm
Men’s Gymnastics
Events: All
Hometown: Waukesha, Wis.

From glad to sad to mad: That’s the unwanted route gymnast Hamm traveled emotionally, following his stunning-but-contested, come-from-behind, gold-medal-winning performance in the men’s all-around at Athens in 2004. A procedural error by the judges held up his win for several months before it was finally ratified. “It was difficult to deal with,” says Hamm, 25, who cites Belarusian six-time (1992) gold medalist Vitaly Scherbo—“the Michael Jordan of gymnastics”—as his early idol. “I learned a lot. How many people have been in a court case defending their Olympic medal?” During the flap, Hamm took what turned out to be a three-year hiatus from the sport, returning to Ohio State and earning his degree in accounting. Following these Olympics, his last, he’ll pursue an MBA in finance. Now he’s on the comeback trail, pointing for Beijing, and with a refreshing perspective. “I’m going to take it all in and enjoy it. I want to make sure I stop and smell the roses before I move on.”

Allyson Felix
Track and Field
Events: 100 meters, 200 meters, relays
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.

In 2003, Felix exploded onto the track and field scene as a record-setting 17-year-old just four years after taking up the sport, clocking in the fastest time for a female at 200 meters in high school history. The following year, she took the silver medal in her specialty at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “Everything happened so fast,” she says. “To discover I had that talent was kind of shocking.” Felix has grown steadily, grabbing gold in the 2007 World Championships by besting her top rival, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell. A devout Christian, she looks up to women’s track icon Jackie Joyner-Kersee. “For her accomplishments both on and off the track, there’s no one who can compare.” After her career closes, Felix, 22, definitely wants “to be in the classroom teaching somewhere,” inspiring others, like her idol Joyner-Kersee.

Michael Phelps
Swimming
Events: 100m/200m butterfly, 200m/400m
individual medley, 200m freestyle, relays
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.

How does the man who won eight Olympic medals in 2004 (six of them gold) motivate himself to do it again in 2008? “I just have so many goals that I want to achieve,” says the 17-time world champion, who lists Michael Jordan and three-time Olympic gold medalist Pablo Morales as inspirations. “I know it’s going to take nothing but hard work. I’m trying to accomplish everything I’ve always wanted to. This is all a dream for me.” Phelps, 23, who helped start Swim with the Stars, a program that “allows us to spend a lot of time with kids and help them to swim,” feels the Games should override politics. “The Olympic Games are all about happiness and bringing the world together,” he says. After Beijing, he plans a well-deserved rest. “I just want to do nothing but sit around and relax. Do whatever I want, whenever I want.”

Patricia Miranda
Women’s wrestling
Event: Freestyle, 105.5 lbs.
Hometown: New Haven, Conn.

You might wonder what would prompt a Yale Law School graduate to double as a wrestler, but the two disparate fields somehow work for Patricia Miranda, 29, who brought home a bronze medal in 2004. She honed her skills in high school and college, wrestling almost exclusively against men. “There was never the hope you were going to go against other girls, but I made a decision, when I walked through the door of this sport, to win regardless of gender.” Miranda cites her mother, a former Brazilian university president and activist who died when Patricia was 10, as her biggest hero. Win or lose in Beijing, Miranda’s priorities are in place. “Wrestling for me has always been about shining light introspectively on ourselves.”

The Lopez Family
Taekwondo
Events: Men’s welterweight (Steven), men’s featherweight (Mark), women’s featherweight (Diana) Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas

The Lopez family made history when Steven (29), Mark (26) and Diana (24) all qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, marking the first time in 104 years that three siblings have graced an American Olympic team. On top of that, oldest brother Jean is their coach. “The advantage we have over other athletes,” says Steven, a gold medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, “is that we have our older brother as our coach, and Mark and Diana, we cheer each other on. It doesn’t matter what part of the world we’re in, we always have family with us.” The trio produced a stunning sweep of their respective divisions in the 2005 world championships. It is Jean’s chore to make sure that the Lopezes stay on task, no easy matter among siblings. “I’m still heavier than them, so I use that to my advantage,” he quips.

Keep an Olympic eye on:

Jenny Finch
The U.S. women’s golden-girl softball star will be throwing her best pitches and swinging for the fences.

Shawn Johnson
The reigning world all-around gymnastics champion, this Iowa teen sees a neck-and-neck fight with an evenly matched China team. “Every tenth of a point, every landing is going to count,” she says.

Cheryl Haworth
Acknowledged leader of U.S. weightlifting team, this two-time Olympian took home a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division at 2000 Games in Sydney.

Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh
The dynamic, veteran beach volleyball duo is an odds-on gold-medal favorite. May-Treanor, married to Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, would race cars if she weren’t playing volleyball.

Terrence Trammell
A runner-up in the past two Olympics, this 110-meter high hurdler, who directs his own Trackstar active-apparel line, hopes his third time is the charm for turning silver into gold.