Baseball

Dave Nilsson, Australia: An All-Star catcher with Milwaukee last year when he hit .309 with 21 homers, Nilsson gave up playing in the major leagues so he could play for his homeland in the Olympics. Signed a one-year contract worth $2 million with the Chunichi Dragons, who agreed to let him leave for Sydney this month.

Omar Linares, Cuba: Third baseman considered the best amateur player in the world. Was MVP of Cuba's gold-medal victory in Atlanta, hitting three homers -- each to a different field, each off a different pitcher -- in the title game.

Basketball

Women's
Lisa Leslie, USA: Leading scorer on 1996 Olympic gold medal team. Also led all scorers on Team USA's 31-game exhibition tour last fall and winter. Stands 6-5 and led Los Angeles Sparks to best regular-season record in WNBA this season.

Sheryl Swoopes, USA: No. 3 scorer on '96 Olympic gold medal team. Considered passing on 2000 Olympics to spend more time with her son, Jordan. Helped Houston Comets win four straight WNBA championships. League MVP and leading scorer this season. Top vote-getter in All-Star game.

Men's
Alonzo Mourning, USA: NBA's Defensive Player of the Year the past two seasons is the only true center on the U.S. roster and will have the toughest assignments -- guarding Australia's Luc Longley, among others. Averaged 21.7 points for Miami Heat last season, with 9.5 rebounds and 3.72 blocks.

Vince Carter, USA: Emerged as one of the NBA's superstars last season. Winner of the All-Star slam-dunk contest. Averaged 25.7 points and led the Toronto Raptors to their first playoff appearance in franchise history.

Boxing

Felix Savon, Cuba: Successor to countryman Teofilo Stevenson, who won Olympic gold medals in 1972-76-80. Was an Olympic champion at 201 pounds in 1992 and '96 and also has won five world titles and three Pan American Games championships at that weight.

Ricardo Juarez, USA World champion and two-time U.S. champ at 125 pounds.

Cycling

Lance Armstrong, USA: Winner of two straight Tour de France races. Survived testicular cancer, which had spread to lungs and brain. Posted fastest time in history of the Tour. Winner of USOC's Athlete of the Year award and Jesse Owens Award. Has raised more than $1 million for cancer research through Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Felicia Ballanger, France: Most dominant women's track cyclist in history. Four-time world champion in the 500-meter time trial. Will be heavily favored for gold medals in that event and match sprint. Might also compete in the road race.

Diving

Mark Ruiz, USA: Ruiz, from Orlando, Fla., earned Olympic berths in both the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform, placing first in both events at this summer's U.S. trials in Federal Way.

Gymnastics

Svetlana Khorkina, Russia: Won gold on the uneven bars in Atlanta in 1996. Took all-around at the 1997 World Championships. Followed with gold on uneven bars in last fall's worlds. Gold medalist in European championships in 1998 and 2000.

Alexsei Nemov, Russia: Won gold on pommel horse and floor exercise at 1999 World Championship, and was part of gold-medal team win in 1996 Olympics. At 24, he is a cornerstone on a strong Russian team.

Soccer

Women's
Mia Hamm, USA: Most recognizable woman in the sport with world-record 123 international goals. Star of last year's World Cup championship team with two goals, both game-winners. Member of four NCAA title teams at North Carolina. Soccer's female athlete of the year 1994-98.

Brandi Chastain, USA: Clinched 1999 World Cup, scoring deciding goal against China with penalty kick and then stunning crowd and worldwide audience by ripping off her uniform top.

Men's
Harry Kewell, Australia: Leeds United player is one of hottest properties in club soccer. Has yet to make an impact on an international level only because Australia failed to qualify for the last World Cup. Speedy striker has 21 league goals in three seasons at Leeds and three in eight appearances for his country.

Ronaldinho Gaucho, Brazil: Latest in Brazil's famed line of world-class goal scorers. Heir to Pele, Romario and Ronaldo. Was a member of Brazil's Under-17 World Championship team in 1997, a member of the 1999 South American championship squad and led all scorers at last year's Confederations Cup in Mexico, where Brazil finished second.

Softball

Dot Richardson, USA: Led U.S. to gold medal in Atlanta, batting .273 with three home runs, seven runs batted in, and nine runs scored. Completed medical training, including fellowship at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Clinic in Los Angeles. Moved from shortstop to second base this year. One of eight holdovers returning for Sydney.

Lisa Fernandez, USA: Lost a perfect game -- and game -- in the opening round of the '96 Olympics against Australia on a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer in the 10th inning. Came back to earn the save in the gold-medal game against China. Also batted .348 with five RBI and scored five runs in Atlanta. Finished the 1998 World Championships and the '99 Pan Am Games with a 0.00 earned-run average.

Swimming

Inge de Bruijn, Netherlands: Favored to win three gold medals in the sprint events. Has broken or tied six world records since May. Her world records include 50-meter freestyle (24.39 seconds); 100 free (53.80) -- the first woman under 54 seconds; and 100 butterfly (56.64).

Ian Thorpe, Australia: World record-holder in men's 200-and 400-meter freestyles. Might also swim the 1,500 free in Sydney, an event Australians have dominated the past few years. Nicknamed "Thorpedo." Famous for his size-18 feet. Will be competing in a familiar pool in front of home fans who are fanatics about swimming.

Track & field

Michael Johnson's attempt for an unprecedented second 400-meter title. Johnson was the sensation of the 1996 Atlanta Games. Appropriately wearing gold shoes, he became the first man to sweep the 200 and 400, winning the 200 with an astonishing world record of 19.32 seconds.

Gabriela Szabo's try for a never-achieved women's 1,500-5,000 double. She's the first woman in track and field to surpass $1 million in earnings in one season and the IAAF female track athlete of the year last season.

Javier Sotomayor, the powerful Cuban who was suspended at last year's Pan American Games after testing positive for cocaine, then reinstated this year, will try to regain the Olympic high-jump title he won in 1992. He is the only high-jumper to clear 8 feet.

Merlene Ottey's sixth appearance in an Olympics. Ottey, also recently cleared of drug charges, has won seven Olympic medals, including silvers in the 100 and 200 in 1996, and five bronzes. The 40-year-old Jamaican was the last sprinter to beat Jones in a race, at 100 meters in 1997.

Hicham el Guerrouj's redemption in the 1,500. The world record-holder in the 1,500 and the mile, El Guerrouj appeared primed to win the 1,500 in Atlanta, but he clipped the heels of eventual gold medalist Noureddine Morceli of Algeria and fell, ultimately finishing last. Since then, el Guerrouj has run the three fastest times in history.

Maurice Greene's attempt to solidify his status as the world's fastest human in the 100. He holds the world record at 9.79.

Sergey Bubka, world record-holder and six-time world champion in the pole vault who has been plagued by Achilles tendon and back injuries, makes his final run at an Olympic gold medal at age 36. The Ukrainian's only Olympic victory was in 1988.

Marla Runyan, the first legally blind Olympic runner, will show she can compete with the world's best in the 1,500 meters.

Cathy Freeman's attempt to become the first Aborigine to win gold. She is the two-time world champion and 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 400.

Gail Devers' third try at winning the 100 hurdles. The plucky Devers has overcome a serious physical problem to become one of the sport's all-time greats. After surviving life-threatening Graves' Disease 10 years ago, which required chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Devers has won three world titles in the 100-meter hurdles and two Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter dash.

Haile Gebrselassie's shot at a rare second straight 10,000 victory. Gebrselassie, the tactical-running Ethiopian who owns world records in the 5,000 and 10,000 and is unbeaten outdoors since 1996, won the 10,000 at the Atlanta Games.

Tomas Dvorak's golden opportunity for a record 9,000 points in the decathlon. Dvorak came tantalizingly close in July 1999, setting the world record with 8,994 points. The Czech also won his second straight world title last year and already has scored 8,900 points this season.

Weightlifting

Naim Suleymanoglu, Turkey: Pocket Hercules is 26-time gold medalist in world senior, junior and Olympic championships. Trying to become first weightlifter to win four Olympic gold medals; might have had a fifth if Bulgaria, his former country, hadn't boycotted the 1984 Games. Retired for three years after 1996 Olympics, then unexpectedly announced comeback last year. Finished third in European championships.

Cheryl Haworth, USA: America's queen of the barbells at Olympics' first weightlifting competition for women. At age 17, weighs 308 pounds and stands 5 feet 9. Owns U.S. records for snatch, clean and jerk and overall weight in the 165. pounds-plus (75kg-plus) class.

Wrestling

Alexander Karelin, Russia: Greco-Roman heavyweight hasn't lost a match that mattered since 1987. Unbeaten in major international competitions, winning nine world and three Olympic championships. Signature move is reverse body slam, never copied in his weight class because of the sheer strength involved.

Cary Kolat, USA: Considered best wrestler in the world without a gold medal. Stripped of victories by judges' decisions in 139-pound world championships in 1998 and '99. Lost '97 world finals when Iranian opponent gained unwarranted time-out by untying his own shoes, a stalling tactic later banned.

Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company