2008 Olympic Preview

Gymnastics and basketball may get the most attention, but here’s what to expect from our favorite sports.

Cycling

The Olympics feature bike races on the road, track and off-road, as well as the new sport of BMX racing. On the road, Levi Leipheimer, the third overall finisher at the  2007 Tour de France, will head up the men’s team. The rest of the squad includes George Hincapie, Jason McCartney, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie, who were selected by USA Cycling. This will be Hincapie’s fifth Olympic Team, making him the only five-time Olympic cyclist in U.S. history. The team of five will compete in the mass start road race, while Leipheimer and Zabriskie will compete in the time trial competition.

On the women’s side, Kristin Armstrong, by virtue of her silver medal in the time trial at the 2007 world championships last September, earned the sole automatic nomination to the women’s road team.

On the track, six men and two women will compete for the U.S. Olympic Team, including Taylor Phinney (see Q&A). The best hope for a medal probably comes from two-time world champion Sarah Hammer. She found great success as a younster, but burned out at age 20. She’s now 25 and has a good shot at a gold.

When to Watch: The men’s road race kicks off the games on Aug. 9, with the women’s following on Aug. 10. The time trials for both men and women are Aug. 13, which features Kristin Armstrong racing for her best shot at a medal. The track racing will award medals from Aug. 15-19.

Mountain Biking

Europeans have dominated the sport, winning 15 of 18 medals since the cross-country race debuted in Atlanta in 1996.On the men’s side, Adam Craig has won 12 national titles across several mountain bike disciplines, most recently the 2007 national championships and 2007 Pan Am Game in cross country. Todd Wells returns for his second Olympics. He finished 19th in Athens. On the women’s side, Georgia Gould won all six National Mountain Bike Series events in 2007 and took first at the Pan American Mountain Bike Championships. Mary McConneloug, 37, made her Olympic debut in Athens, finishing ninth.

When to Watch: Women’s mountain bike is on Aug. 22, the men’s on Aug. 23.

Swimming

Perhaps you’ve heard of a young man named Michael Phelps?

Sure, he’s only one of 41 U.S. swimmers who will be competing in Beijing, but he’s the one who’s trying to break Mark Spitz’s record seven gold medals in 1972. At the 2004 Athens games, Phelps finished with six gold and two bronze medals. In 2007, Phelps won seven gold medals at the world championships, so it’s certainly within his reach.

But Phelps isn’t the only story for U.S. Swimmers. The 41-year-old Dara Torres will become the first American to swim in five Olympics, and has a good shot at a medal in the 50-meter freestyle.

Other familiar faces will be back as well. Natalie Coughlin won five medals in Athens and set the world record twin for the 100m backstroke at the Olympic Trials. She’ll also be competing in the 200m IM and 100m freestyle in addition to relays. But the woman who made the most headlines a the Olympic Trials was Katie Hoff, who won five individual events. Phelps may have to share the spotlight as Hoff plans to compete in six or seven events in Beijing.

When to Watch: The 32 pool events will be held over from Aug. 9 to Aug. 17.

Triathlon

A full team of three American men and three American women will be competing in the stacked field at the Olympics. They’ll have their work cut out for them.

On the men’s side, Javier Gomez of Spain has won seven world cup races and is considered the favorite. But he’ll have to beat 2000 gold medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada and Bevin Docherty of New Zealand, the 2004 silver medalist, who’ve both been racing well. The American team features Matt Reed, who was born in New Zealand but now lives in and competes for the U.S. His brother, Shane, also will be competing in Beijing, but for New Zealand. Hunter Kemper will be competing in his third Olympics, having finished 17th in Sydney and 9th in Athens. The 25-year-old  Jarrod Shoemaker surprised many by winning the automatic Olympic berth at the Beijing World Cup last September. The Sudbury, Mass., native just started competing in the sport in 2004.

On the women’s side, Aussie Emma Snowsill is considered one of the favorites, after an impressive couple of years where she won practically every race in sight. But Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes has dominated since 2007, making for an impressive match-up for Olympic gold. For the U.S., the 34-year-old Laura Bennett will competing in her first Olympics, after being first alternate in Athens and second alternate in Sydney. Julie Ertel, was a member of the U.S. women’s Olympic water polo team from 1993-2001 and was part of the silver-medal winning team in Sydney. She switched to triathlon and won her first World Cup event in November 2007. Sarah Haskins, 27, was the 2nd-ranked American in the world in 2006 and 2007. The St. Louis-native finished 11th at the Beijing World Cup last September.

When to Watch:  The women race on Aug. 18, the men on Aug. 19.

Marathon

After two somewhat surprising medals in Athletes (Meb Keflezighi won the silver; Deena Kastor the bronze), expectations are high for the U.S. team this year. Ryan Hall delivered an outstanding performance at Olympic Trials, running a new trials record of 2:09:02 on a slow and difficult course. He’s expected to compete with the world’s elite runners, especially after a performance at the 2008 London Marathon where he ran 2:06:17. Dathan Ritzenhein (2:11:06 at the trials) and Brian Sell (2:11:40 at the trials) are not expected to medal, but anything’s possible in the marathon.

Deena Kastor, 35, will be back to compete in her second Olympic marathon after winner the Olympic Trials in Boston with a 2:29:35, which was well over her PR of 2:19:36. Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 34,  and will be competing in her first Olympics afterin a personal-best time of 2:30:19. After finishing fourth at the 2004 Olympic Trials, Blake Russell moved up to third in 08 (2:32:30) to give her the final spot on the team. China’s Zhou Chunxiu is expected to get a lot of attention as she races for gold at home.

When to Watch:  The women’s race will air live on Aug. 16 between 7:3 p.m. and midnight. The men’s marathon on Aug. 23 also will air live between 7:30 p.m. and midnight.