Guide to the games
All Olympians will go for the gold. In these 12 sports, Americans are favored to take it home.
Competition : On the beach, Brazil and Australia are the top contenders. But--Walsh points out--the sport is gaining worldwide popularity, and Switzerland and Germany field teams with medal chances.
When to watch: Women's gold medal beach volleyball match, August 24; men's gold medal beach volleyball match, August 25
Weightlifting
Women's weightlifting debuted in Sydney, and two U.S. medal winners return to Athens to defend their titles.
HOT SHOT: A former standout soccer player and gymnast, Tara Cunningham started weightlifting competitively in 1995 and picked up a gold medal in Sydney (after the Bulgarian winner was disqualified for using a banned substance). The 105-pounder has recovered from abdominal surgery and nagging knee and shoulder problems to go for the gold a second time. Also back from injury is the 2000 superheavyweight bronze medalist Cheryl Haworth, who tore a ligament in her elbow in 2003. And look for America's strongest man, Shane Hamman.
COMPETITION: Both the Chinese men and women took the top team prize at last year's world championships.
WHEN TO WATCH: Women's 48 kg/106 lbs (Cunningham's event), August 14; men's superheavyweight, August 25
Wrestling
Americans Toccara Montgomery and Patricia Miranda are both medal favorites in the Olympic debut of women's wrestling. On the men's side, Cael Sanderson enters the Olympics on the heels of a perfect four-year NCAA record. Rulon Gardner, who dethroned three-time Olympic champion Alexander Karelin of Russia to win in Sydney, comes to Athens after four less-than-golden years. He lost a toe to frostbite in 2002, was hurt in a motorcycle accident this spring, and injured his wrist a few days later.
Hot shot: Miranda, 25, from Saratoga, Calif., started wrestling at age 12. "My mother had passed away a few years earlier, and I really wanted to get to know myself, to do things that scared me," Miranda says. Elsewhere on the list of difficult tasks: "Oh, I don't know, math." A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford, the 105-pounder wrestled men in high school and college. The spectators "always looked at me like I was about to die. Now people are like 'Man, you're going to kick ass,' " she says. "And I'm like 'Thank God, someone thinks I'm going to win.' " Miranda, who will enroll at Yale Law School in the fall, still sees wrestling as a personal challenge. "I love the chance to explore the outer limits of my potential," she says. "I think there's a very good chance that the upper limit of my potential is good enough to win a gold medal."
Competition: Irini Merleni of Ukraine, who defeated Miranda in the gold medal match at the 2003 World Championships, is her biggest threat.
When to watch: Women's freestyle wrestling, August 22-23; men's Greco-Roman gold medal matches, August 25-26; freestyle, August 28-29 -Rachel Dry and Katherine Hobson
Swim like a shark
Speedo took a cue from Jaws to design the Fastskin FSII, which will be worn by Michael Phelps , among others. The suit has different textures in different parts (inset) to reduce water friction, mimicking a shark's scales. A study claims such antidrag suits don't help much. But at least for men, they're in vogue. "If you think you're going fast, you'll go fast," says U.S. swimmer Eric Vendt, who'll wear his TYR Aqua Shift in Athens. -Katherine Hobson
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