- Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23 1940 - November 12 1994) was an American athlete, and in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, despite running on a sprained ankle. The powerful sprinter emerged from the 1960 Rome Olympics as "The Tennessee Tornado," the fastest woman on earth. - Sasha Pauline Cohen
Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26 1984) is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 U.S. National Champion, 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and 2006 Olympic silver medalist. - Michelle Kwan
Michelle Wing Kwan is an American figure skater and media celebrity who has won nine U.S. championships, five world championships, and two Olympic medals. She has remained competitive for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Known for her consistency and expressive artistry on ice, she is widely considered to be one of the greatest figure skaters of all time despite having never won an Olympic gold medal. - Marion Jones
Marion Jones (born October 12, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is an American athlete of half Belizean and half African American descent. She is the winner of five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She holds dual citizenship from the USA and Belize (her mother's home country). - Kristi Yamaguchi
Kristi Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American figure skater. In December 2005, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. - Dain Blanton
Dain Blanton (born November 28, 1971 in Santa Monica, California) is an American beach volleyball player, who attended Pepperdine where he helped The Waves win a National Volleyball Championship in 1992 as a sophomore. He won the gold medal in the 2000 Olympic Games, alongside partner Eric Fonoimoana. He returned to the 2004 Olympic Games with partner Jeff Nygaard as the first two-time U.S. male Beach Volleyball Olympian. - Maurice Greene
Maurice Greene (born July 23, 1974) is an American sprinter in athletics, who holds several world records and Olympic medals. He was the former world record holder for the 100m, with a time of 9.79 seconds, a record which was broken in 2005 by Asafa Powell. - Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton ("Carl") Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is a retired American track and field athlete who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 golds, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were golds, in a career that spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired. He currently lives in Los Angeles and is pursuing an acting career. - Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson is chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Development Corporation and Magic Johnson Enterprises. Johnson Development Corporation is dedicated to urban revitalization by providing entertainment complexes, restaurants and retail centers in underserved communities nationwide. The company operates 103 Starbucks nationwide, and has also opened six AMC Magic Johnson Theater complexes across the United States. - Vonetta Flowers
Vonetta Flowers (born Vonetta Jeffery October 29, 1973 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American bobsledder and athlete. Flowers was a star sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and originally aspired to make the U.S. Summer Olympic Team. After several failed attempts, Flowers turned to bobsledding, and found success as a brakewoman almost immediately. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, she, along with driver Jill Bakken, … - Jeremy Wariner
Jeremy Wariner (born January 31, 1984 in Irving, Texas) is an American track athlete. He is a graduate of Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas. Height: 1.83m (approx. 6') He won the gold medal in 400 meters the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, heading an American clean sweep. The USA also won the gold medal in the 4x400m with Jeremy Wariner running the third leg. He is known for wearing sunglasses for all of his races, regardless if it is sunny or not. - Jimmy Pedro
Jimmy Pedro , a three-time Olympian in judo, won a bronze medal in 1996 and was world champion in 1999. While he took two years off from college for Olympic training, he remained focused on education and graduated from Brown University in 1994. Approached by Monster at the 2000 Olympics, he now works developing a site to help Olympians transition as smoothly into the professional world as he did. - Dan Jansen
Daniel Erwin "Dan" Jansen (born June 17, 1965 in West Allis, Wisconsin, United States) is a former speed skater, best known for winning a gold medal in his final Olympic race after suffering through years of heartbreak. Inspired by his sister Jane, Dan Jansen took up speedskating while growing up in Wisconsin. He set a junior world record in the 500 meter race at the age of sixteen, … - Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is an American sprinter. He is an Olympic gold medalist who shares the world record in the 100 m sprint (with Asafa Powell), with a time of 9.77 seconds. He is currently serving an eight-year ban from track and field for testing positive for doping - Andre Ward
Andre Ward (born February 23, 1984 in Oakland, California) is an American boxer who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning the Gold Medal in the light heavyweight division. He was the only American boxer to win Gold at that Olympics, becoming the first American to win a gold medal in boxing since 1996. He has since begun a professional career where he is currently undefeated with 12 wins and 7 knockouts. - Eric Fonoimoana
Eric Fonoimoana (born June 7, 1969) is an American volleyball player who currently resides in Hermosa Beach, California. He was born in Manhattan Beach, California, and attended UCSB. He is most notable for winning the gold medal in the 2000 Olympic Games. He has earned approximately 1 million dollars playing volleyball. He has played professionally for more than 18 years, and has entered over 200 tournaments. Fonoimoana's partner is Dain Blanton. - Logan Tom
Logan Maile Lei Tom (born May 25, 1981 in Napa, California) is an Olympic indoor volleyball and professional beach volleyball player. She is the daughter of former NFL Football player Melvyn Tom. Though she grew up with her mom and brother in Salt Lake City, Utah, she spent her summers with her dad in Hawaii learning how to surf. In 2000, she became the youngest woman to ever be selected for the USA Olympic volleyball team. She was just 19 years old at the time. - Alan Culpepper
Alan Culpepper (born 15 September, 1972) is an American distance runner. His accomplishments include finishing fourth in the Boston Marathon in 2005, winning the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and finishing 12th at the 2004 Olympic Marathon in Athens. His 2:09:41 at the 2002 Chicago Marathon tied him with Alberto Salazar for the fastest ever debut marathon by an American, and remains his fastest marathon. - Gretchen Bleiler
Gretchen Bleiler (born on April 10, 1981 in Toledo, Ohio) is a professional halfpipe snowboarder and pioneer. She is said to be one of the most accomplished female snowboarders in the world. She currently resides in Aspen, Colorado and is 5’5”. - Lee Evans
Lee Edward Evans (born February 25, 1947) is a former American athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Born in Madera, California, Evans was undefeated in high school and won his first AAU championship in 440 yd (402.34 m) in 1966, shortly after graduating. He repeated his win in next year and won AAU and NCAA 400 m titles in 1968. Lee Evans achieved his first world record at 1966, … - Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American athlete, ranked amongst the all-time greatest heptathletes. She won three gold, one silver and two bronze Olympic medals. Named after Jackie Kennedy, she currently lives in East St. Louis, Illinois. Joyner-Kersee was the first woman to score over 7,000 points in a heptathlon event (during the 1986 Goodwill Games). - Shani Davis
Shani Davis (born August 13, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American speed skater who competes in both short track and long track speed skating. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Davis became the first black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual sport (1,000-m) and the fifth black Winter Olympics medalist. He also won the silver in the 1,500-m. He won the allround World Allround Championships in both 2005 and 2006, after winning the silver medal in 2004, … - Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (born 8 June, 1962) is a former American athlete who competed mainly in the 200 metres. He competed for the United States in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States in the 200 metres where he won the bronze medal. - Kevin Young
Kevin Curtis Young (born September 16, 1966) is a former American athlete. He was the winner of the 400 metre hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and still holds the world record that event. Born in Watts, California, Kevin Young, as an University of California, Los Angeles "walk-on", won the NCAA titles in 400 m hurdles in 1987 and 1988. Young made his debut at the international scene by finishing second at the 1987 Pan American Games. - Bill Russell
William Felton "Bill" Russell (born February 12, 1934) is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the NBA. A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All-Star, the 6 ft 9 in Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA Championships during Russell's thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, … - Paul Hamm
Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Waukesha, Wisconsin) is a US gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. - Matt Lindland
Matthew James "The Law" Lindland (born May 17 1970) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and Olympic wrestler. - Eric Heiden
Eric Arthur Heiden (born June 14 1958 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American former long track speed skater who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five gold medals, and set 4 Olympic records and 1 world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Heiden is an icon in the speedskating community and, in particular, in Europe where the sport is highly regarded. - Bonnie Blair
Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964 in Cornwall, New York) is a retired American speedskater. One of the top female skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated female athletes in Olympic history, Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal. Blair was raised in Champaign, Illinois. After graduation from Centennial High School in Champaign, … - Frankie Andreu
Frankie Andreu (born September 26, 1966 in Dearborn, Michigan) is a former professional cyclist whose career highlights include riding as team captain of the U.S. Postal Service cycling team along with Lance Armstrong in 1998, 1999 and 2000. In an interview with the "New York Times" in September 2006, Andreu admitted that he had taken EPO to help prepare for the 1999 Tour de France, … - Rafer Johnson
Rafer Lewis Johnson (born August 18, 1935) is a former American decathlete. Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but moved to Kingsburg, California at age 9. In high school, he played on the school's football, baseball and basketball teams. As a versatile athlete, he was attracted to the decathlon after seeing double Olympic Champion Bob Mathias compete and told his coach "I could have beaten most of those guys in that meet". He competed in his first meet in 1954, … - Florence Griffith-Joyner
Florence Griffith-Joyner (born Delorez Florence Griffith), also known as Flo-Jo (December 21, 1959 - September 21, 1998) was an American track and field athlete. She is best known for her media flamboyance and setting World Records in the 100 m and 200 m, which still stand as of 2007. Her career was dogged by allegations of drug use, which was speculated to have caused her premature death. - Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Stuart Hamill (born July 26, 1956, Chicago, Illinois) is an American figure skater and 1976 Olympic champion. Hamill was born in Chicago, but her family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut shortly after where she spent the rest of her childhood. She has a brother and a sister. Hamill started ice skating when she was eight years old on her grandparent's backyard pond. Her skates were too big, so her grandmother would put stuffing in the toes to make them fit. - Christopher Bowman
Christopher Bowman (born March 30, 1967 in Hollywood, CA) is an American figure skater. Known as "Bowman the Showman", he is a two-time U.S. National Champion. He is also a two-time medalist at the World Figure Skating Championships and competed in two Olympic Games. Before his skating career, he was a child actor. During his career, he was trained by Frank Carroll, Toller Cranston, and John Nicks. - Scott Hamilton
Scott Scovell Hamilton (born in Toledo, Ohio) is an American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist known for his originality and engaging on-ice personalities. - Timothy Goebel
Timothy Richard Goebel (born September 10, 1980 in Evanston, Illinois) is an American retired figure skater. Goebel was adopted through Catholic Charities by Ginny and Richard Goebel as an infant. He is best known for winning the Olympic bronze medal in men's figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and for being the first person to land a quadruple salchow in competition. - John Baldwin
John Baldwin, Jr. (born October 18, 1973 in Dallas, Texas) is an American figure skater. He currently competes in pairs figure skating with Rena Inoue, his partner both on and off the ice. They have twice won gold medals at the United States Figure Skating Championships and finished 7th at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Previously, he competed as a singles' skater, with a best finish of 9th at Nationals in 1995. - Deena Kastor
Competing in her third Olympics in the marathon (Aug. 17), Deena is the top female distance runner in the United States. She took home the bronze medal in the women's marathon in Athens in 2004. The Agoura, CA, native now resides in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Deena Kastor was forced to withdraw during the women's marathon due to injury. - Ted Ligety
Ted Ligety (born August 31, 1984 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) is an American alpine skier. Ligety won the gold medal in the men's alpine combined event at the 2006 Winter Olympics, in an upset victory after the two skiers favored to win the event couldn't keep up with Ligety's blistering slalom runs. He is the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing since Tommy Moe won the downhill in Lillehammer in 1994. - Bob Beamon
Robert ("Bob") Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is a former American track and field athlete, best known for his long-standing world record in the long jump. Beamon, from Jamaica, New York, set a world record for the long jump at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City with a jump of 8.90 m (29 ft. 2-1/2 in.). His world record stood for 23 years, and was named by Sports Illustrated magazine as one of the five greatest sports moments of the 20th century.
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