Guide to the games
All Olympians will go for the gold. In these 12 sports, Americans are favored to take it home.
Basketball
With No. 2 NBA draft pick Emeka Okafor rounding out the ranks, the United States is sending its youngest squad since pros started playing. (The old man is the 76ers' Allen Iverson at 29.) On the women's side, so many players come from the WNBA that the league is shutting down in August.
Hot shot: Lisa Leslie returns for her third Olympics. In Sydney, she made headlines for a slight altercation with Australia's Lauren Jackson. In a game, Jackson yanked out Leslie's hair extension. Is Leslie planning a defensive 'do'? No way: "My hair will be done however I want."
Competition: The U.S. women, who got the gold in '00, again seem unbeatable. But the American men did lose to Argentina and Serbia and Montenegro in the 2002 World Championships.
WHEN TO WATCH: Both the men's and women's gold medal matches are on August 28. (All Olympic events are airing on NBC networks; check local listings for times and channels.)
Boxing
The Sydney games marked the first time in 52 years that no American boxer won gold. This time around, Americans failed to qualify in two of the 11 weight classes.
Hot shot: "I'm going to claim the gold medal, as humble as I can be," says Andre Ward. Known for his crisp punches, the 20-year-old light heavyweight--who plans to go pro after the Olympics--has a pair of national championships to back up his boast.
Competition: Cuba and Russia consistently dominate.
When to watch: The gold medal finals are August 28 and 29.
Cycling
Lance Armstrong dropped out, but there's plenty of action, especially in "keirin" : Cyclists jockey for position behind a motorcycle for several laps, then sprint when the hog pulls off the course.
HOT SHOTS: For multiday stage races, Tour de France participant Tyler Hamilton is strong in the hills, but watch for sprinters George Hincapie and Jason McCartney, who won a stage in the competitive Tour de Georgia. And don't forget the women: Road cyclist Dede Barry is ranked 13th in the world, while track racers Jenny Reed and Erin Mirabella are top-five finishers.
COMPETITION: Vying against Mirabella will be a clutch of Europeans and Sarah Ulmer, a New Zealander whose spiffy new bike has superlow handlebars.
When to Watch: Road cycling finals, August 14, 15, and 18; track competition, August 20-25; men's keirin final, August 25; mountain biking finals, August 27-28
Diving
She already has a Wheaties box. And a gold medal--the first by an American diver in the women's 10-meter platform event in 36 years and won while wearing a kayak shoe to support her broken foot as she climbed the platform. Now 26-year-old Laura Wilkinson (far right) wants to make sure another few decades don't go by before the next U.S. victory.
Hot shot: Wilkinson, who took time off from training and got married after Sydney, plans to add "a flip or a twist to everything" to boost her chances.
Competition: Wilkinson stole the Chinese thunder in Sydney and expects them to challenge in Athens.
When to watch: Women's 10-meter platform final, August 22
Fencing
It's been 20 years since the United States won a fencing medal, but the current team, including siblings Keeth and Erinn Smart and Emily and Sada Jacobson, has a chance to break that streak.
Hot shot: Sisters Sada, 21, and Emily, 18, will compete in the first women's saber event in the Olympics (the most "macho" fencing competition, says Sada, where, unlike foil or epee, fencers can score points with any part of the blade). Sada, who took time off from her history studies at Yale to train for the Olympics, is ranked No. 1 in the world. Her sister and constant practice partner is No. 10. Sada started fencing in 1998 after her father, a former college champ, was reintroduced to the sport.
COMPETITION: Sada could foil the medal aspirations of France and Russia.
When to watch: Gold medal matches, August 14-22; women's individual saber gold medal match, August 17
Gymnastics
Four years after Kerri Strug vaulted the American women to gold in Atlanta, the entire team--men, women, the first-ever trampoliner--came home from Australia with nary a medal. But 2004 should not be a shutout. The women clinched the world championship team title last year, and Paul Hamm (above, left) is the reigning men's all-around world champion--the first American to enter the Olympics with that title. But nothing is a lock yet, especially this year, when a new type of scoring debuts in these games. Three athletes will compete in each event, and all three scores will count, a change from previous years, when five competed and one score could be dropped. "It really opens up the field," says Chris Korotky, publisher of Inside Gymnastics. "One or two falls could take you out of contention."
Hot shot: There was no swing set in the Hamm backyard on a farm in Waukesha, Wis. Instead, twins Paul and Morgan Hamm played on a makeshift pommel horse and trampoline in the barn. Paul is favored in the all-around competition, and Morgan--a floor exercise, pommel horse, and vault specialist--joins him on the Olympic team.
Competition: China, Japan, and Russia present serious challenges for the men. Ukraine's Alina Kozich and Russia's Svetlana Khorkina could threaten for the all-around title on the women's side.
When to watch: Men's all-around, August 18; women's all-around, August 19
Soccer
The American men failed to qualify for Athens. But Iraq will be there after beating Saudi Arabia on a "home" field in Jordan (tanks are parked on the field at the Baghdad stadium).
Hot shots: The American women--led by vets Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, and Mia Hamm--want to make up for their silver medal letdown in Sydney. One up-and-comer who might help is Heather O'Reilly, 19. "They've been on this team about the same number of years as I've been alive," she says of her soccer mates.
Competition: Norway did not qualify to defend its Sydney gold. But Sweden and Germany pose a challenge.
When to watch: Women's gold medal match, August 26; men's gold medal match, August 28
Swimming
Buoyed by the preternatural calm of a Maryland teenager named Michael Phelps, who aims to tie or break Mark Spitz's record seven golds in one summer, the American swim team could rule the pool. Six world records fell at the U.S. trials. Meantime, the Aussies have been keeping their strokes steady by training with the Wetronome, a waterproof beeper that tucks under a cap.
Hot Shot: Aaron Peirsol, who won a silver medal for the 200-meter backstroke in Sydney, is poised for a backstroke sweep. He owns the world record in the 200-meter, the race in which he beat Phelps at the U.S. trials. Peirsol likes the attention his rival brings but adds, "We're not in this to be superfamous."
Competition: In the 200-meter freestyle, Phelps faces Australian star Ian Thorpe. Brendan Hansen broke two world records at the U.S. trials. They used to belong to Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, whom he'll race in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. Those events for the women will also feature dueling world record holders.
When to watch: Men's 200 freestyle final, August 16; men's 100 butterfly final, August 20; women's 200 breaststroke final, August 19
Track & Field
At age 37, hurdler Gail Devers is on her fifth Olympics. Rising sprint stars Allyson Felix, Shawn Crawford, and Justin Gatlin are going for the first time. Two-time Sydney gold medalist Maurice Greene is sporting a G.O.A.T. tattoo (that's "greatest of all time"). The main question is: Will whatever they do on the track outshine this year's doping scandals?
Hot Shot: An amateur Olympic history buff, Adam Nelson, silver medalist in the shot put in Sydney, explains that his sport is the only field event that will take place at the temple where the ancient games were born. He's not sure whether they will mark this particular return in the buff, in honor of the ancient sporting uniform. "I mean, completely in the nude would be an interesting twist," he jokes. A more interesting twist, as far as Nelson's concerned, would be an American shot put sweep, which he says may happen.
Competition: American Stacy Dragila and Russian Yelena Isinbayeva keep trading the world record title in the women's pole vault.
WHen to watch: Shot put, men's and women's, August 18; men's 100-meter final, August 22; pole vault and women's 400-meter final, August 24
Volleyball
American women finished out of the medals both indoors and on the beach in Sydney, but the indoor team is ranked second in the world right now.
Hot shot: It won't be snowy in Athens, as it was in the Super Bowl Visa commercial featuring a bikini-clad Misty May and Kerri Walsh practicing on a frosty beach volleyball court. Their opponents might be snowed under, however, if May bounces back from an abdominal injury and she and Walsh maintain their No. 1-ranked form. They would be the first American women to win a beach volleyball medal. "We know we're capable. We've seen all these teams before, and we're going to work our butts off," Walsh says.
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
This story appears in the August 9, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.