Olympic Athletes Bios


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Click on the names below to read the athletes' bios:






Ryan Lochte Ryan Lochte


Brief:
Name — Ryan Lochte
Profession — Professional Swimmer
Hometown — Daytona Beach, Fla.
Born — August 3, 1984

Notables:
Ryan Lochte is a world record swimmer who is most famous for his performance at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Lochte specializes in the backstroke, the individual medley and the freestyle relay. He is known for his speed and distance in kicking under water. In 2004, he won the gold medal in the 4X200 meter freestyle and silver medal in the 200 meter individual medley race.

Lochte is arguably one of the most decorated NCAA swimmers of all-time after becoming a 24-time All-American. He is close to having the most medals ever at Short Course World Championships.

Lochte graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in sports management. Ryan began swimming at the age of nine and was coached by his parents. He now swims for Gators Swim Club and is coached by Gregg Troy.

For more information visit www.swimroom.com.




Allyson Felix Allyson Felix


Brief:
Name — Allyson Felix
Profession — Track and Field Athlete
Hometown — Los Angeles, Calif.
Born — November 18, 1985

Notables:
Allyson Felix is an American track athlete and a member of the USA Track & Field team.

In 2007, Felix became the second woman ever to win three gold medals at one World Championships. She is the current and two-time would champion in the 200 meter dash and won with a huge personal best of 21.81 seconds — the fastest time run by a woman this century and winning by the largest margin of victory ever at a world championship event. Felix is also a three-time USA Outdoor 200 meter champion (2004, 2005, 2007). In 2005, she earned the Jesse Owens Award as the country's top female athlete.

As an 18-year-old, Felix won her first Olympic medal in the women's 200 meter in Athens in 2004 and secured the world junior record that she had waited a year to officially break, clocking 22.18. At that time, Felix was the youngest person on the U.S. team and she earned the world junior record by .01 seconds.

Felix did not start running track until her freshman year of high school. In 2003, her time in the 200 meter at the 2003 California Masters meet broke Marion Jones' high school federation record for the fastest time ever run in a high school-only competition.

Felix graduated from the University of Southern California in 2007 with a B.A. in Elementary Education. She is coached by Bobby Kersee, husband and coach of Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

For more information visit www.allysonfelix.com.




Cat Osterman Cat Osterman


Brief:
Name — Cat Osterman
Profession — Softball Player
Hometown — Houston, Texas
Born — April 16, 1983

Notables:
Catherine Osterman won a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, was named USA Softball National Player of the Year three times (2003, 2005 and 2006) during her four years at the University of Texas, and is noted as one of the top softball pitchers in the world.

A left-hander, Cat stands 6-2, with hands so large she can grip a softball entirely with her fingers rather than having to cradle it in her palm. That allows her to put above-average spin on the ball and surprise batters as arguably no one has. She has command of six pitches but claims she rarely throws her fastball. In summer of 2001, Osterman was invited to join USA Softball's national team as its pitcher. Over the years, Cat has accumulated impressive stats and won other numerous awards. She ranks first in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings at 15.4, and is the first softball player to twice appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

She owns four of the top five seasons for the NCAA's best strikeout ratio (strikeouts per seven innings pitched), and was the first of only two NCAA pitchers to register 2,000-plus strikeouts.

Osterman graduated 2007 and is currently the pitching coach for DePaul University in Chicago.

Visit www.catosterman.com for more information.




Morgan Hamm Morgan Hamm


Brief:
Name — Morgan Hamm
Profession — Professional Gymnast
Hometown — Waukesha, Wis.
Born — September 24, 1982

Notables:
Twin brother of Olympic athlete, Paul Hamm, Morgan has set multiple gymnastic records throughout his career. At the age of 17, he competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and in the 2004 Athens Olympics he helped the team win the silver medal in the team gymnastics competition. His performance was essential to the team's success as he performed on four of six apparatus and was the highest scorer in the competition on the vault and high bar. Morgan also competed in the 2003 U.S. World Championships and helped lead the team to win a silver medal.

Morgan tore his chest muscle in October 2007 during training and has been rehabilitating since that time. He was selected to the 2008 Men’s Gymnastics Team at the trials in Philadelphia and will be competing in the games for the third time this summer.

Morgan has also spent time with his brother, Paul, doing promotional work for the Red Ball Right to Play program. The program uses sports as a means to improve health, teach life skill and promote peace to disadvantaged children worldwide.




Paul Hamm Paul Hamm


Brief:
Name — Paul Hamm
Profession — Professional Gymnast
Hometown — Waukesha, Wis.
Born — September 24, 1982

Notables:
Paul Hamm is a world-renown gymnast who has set multiple records in his career. In 2003, he became the first American man to win the all-around title at the World Championships. Shortly following this success, he traveled to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens where he became the first American to win the gold medal in the individual all-around competition. That same year, he also won the silver medal for his impressive performance on the horizontal bar and team silver medal.

Hamm also competed on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team and the 2001 U.S. World Championships Team where he won a team silver medal. In 2007, he won the floor exercise at the 2007 Visa Championships.

Paul recently broke a bone in his hand at the end of May 2008 during the final few seconds of his parallel bars routine at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. He received surgery on May 27 and was optimistic that he will be able to compete in the 2008 Beijing Games. Paul petitioned and was selected to the Beijing team at the trials in Philadelphia to compete in the games for the third time this summer.

Paul has also spent time with his brother, Morgan, doing promotional work for the Red Ball Right to Play program. The program uses sports as a means to improve health, teach life skills and promote peace to disadvantaged children worldwide.




Maritza Correia Maritza Correia


Brief:
Name — Maritza Correia
Profession — Swimmer
Hometown — Valrico, Fla.
Current Residence — Athens, Ga.
Born — December 31, 1981

Notables:
Maritza Correia is a member of the U.S. Swim Team and a gold and bronze (2) medal winner at the 2001 World Championships. Correia was the first African-American woman to qualify for an Olympic swim team which she did at the 2004 Olympic Trials In 2002, Correia became the national champion in both the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle and was a member of two winning relay teams at the NCAA Championships celebrated in Austin, Texas.

In 2003, Correia earned a gold medal at the FINA World Championships. In 2004, she won an Olympic silver medal swimming at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In 2005, Correia won four gold medals in the World University Games. In total she owns nine international medals and seven of them are gold.

Correia graduated from Tampa Bay Tech High School in 1999 and went on to attend the University of Georgia where she graduated with a degree in Sociology in 2005.

When she's not swimming Correia has done work in inner city schools and detention centers to get kids involved in sports, particularly swimming.




Leslie Osborne Leslie Osborne


Brief:
Name — Leslie Osborne
Profession — Professional Soccer Player
Hometown — Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Born — May 27, 1983

Notables:
Leslie Osborne is a member of the U.S. Women's National Team. In 2006 she was chosen as a finalist for the U.S. soccer player of the year. In September of 2007, Osborne competed in her first World Cup and earned the bronze medal.

Osborne began playing with the U.S. National Team youth programs when she was just 14-years-old. She played with the U.S. U-16, U-18, U-19 and U-21 National Teams and received her first call up with the full team in 2003 and played in her first World Cup in 2007.

Osborne attended Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis. where her #10 jersey is retired and she was twice named the Wisconsin Player of the Year. Osborne went on to play soccer at Santa Clara University where she was named the WCC Player and Defender of the Year three times, All-WWC First-Team for four consecutive years and was as NSCAA First-Team All-American for three years.

When she's not playing soccer, Osborne enjoys coaching, traveling, fashion and sports.

For more information visit www.osbornesoccer.com.




Bryan Clay Bryan Clay


Brief:
Name — Bryan Clay
Profession — Track and Field Athlete
Hometown — Honolulu, Hawaii
Born — January 3, 1983

Notables:
Brian Clay is an American decathlete and a USA Track & Field team member. Known especially for his speed and skill in throwing events, Clay has won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold medals at the 2005 and 2008 World Championships.

While Clay was born in Texas, he moved to Hawaii at the age of 3 where he lived until he left for college in 1998. He attended school at Azusa Pacific University, a small Christian school in Southern California. It was there that he developed his beliefs in dedication to excellence, a strong work ethic and unwavering integrity.

When he is not competing, Clay dedicates much of his time to the Bryan Clay Foundation which maintains the motto: "Building Champions, Changing Lives." The organization's goal is to provide students in need with support to attend college. He helps to provide students with athletic and academic scholarships and supports the development and improvement of many physical education facilities.

Bryan is now training for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He lives with his wife Sara and their son, Ezra Clay.

For more information visit www.bryanclay.com.




Natasha Kai Natasha Kai


Brief:
Name — Natasha Kai
Profession — Soccer Player
Hometown — Kahuku, Hawaii
Born — May 22, 1983

Notables:
Natasha Kai is an American soccer player and member of the United States women's national soccer team. A 2001 graduate of Kahuku High School in Kahuku, Oahu, Kai was regarded as the top female high school athlete in the state. During her high school career she earned 12 varsity letters combined in soccer, track, volleyball, basketball and cross country.

Kai went on to play soccer at University of Hawaii where she became the first player in Women's Athletic Conference (WAC) history to earn three Player of the Year awards and First-Team All-Conference honors all four seasons. She finished her college career with 72 goals in 73 matches and was voted the team's MVP and Most Outstanding Striker as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Kai joined the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team in 2004, and was the leading scorer on the team. Then in 2006 she made her official Women's National Team debut at the 2006 Algarve Cup in Portugal, scoring in her first two games against Denmark and France, both as a substitute. Kai became the first-ever player from Hawaii to play for the Women's National and Women's World Cup Teams.




Sacha Kljestan Sacha Kljestan


Brief:
Name — Sacha Kljestan
Profession — Soccer Player
Hometown — Huntington Beach, Calif.
Born — September 9, 1985

Notables:
Chivas USA chose Sacha Kjestan as its first-round (fifth overall) pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. A Southern California native, Kljestan graduated from Seton Hall University, where he majored in sports management.

In his first season as Chivas USA's midfielder, Kljestan played 32 regular-season games (starting 31), logging 2,676 minutes and registering 7 assists. He finished second on Chivas USA for assists and first among MLS rookies. In 2007, he played 25 regular-season games and finished first on the team (second in the league) with 13 assists.

At Seton Hall, Kljestan started all 60 games during his collegiate career at SHU under head coach Manfred Schellscheidt, recording 20 goals and 28 assists. He set a school record for most assists in a season (2005) and earned first team NSCAA All-American honors in 2004.

Kljestan made his debut with the U.S. National Team on June 2, 2007 with a victory over China.