Tracy Caulkins:USA

1963- 

Most versatile swimmer ever and winner of three Olympic gold medals.

Tracy Caulkins was eight when she agreed to join the neighborhood swim club with her older siblings on one condition: She would swim only the backstroke so she wouldn't have to get her face wet.

When Caulkins finally immersed herself in the pool, qualifying for the senior nationals at age 12, records began to fall. Caulkins won national titles in all four strokes -- freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly -- as well as the individual medley that combines all four. She set 63 American records and five world records and won 48 individual national titles.At 14 Caulkins was a U.S. champion and at the 1978 world championships in Berlin she won five gold medals and a silver. The 1980 Olympics should have been her coronation, but the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games denied her a shot at Olympic glory. It was at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that she finally garnered the one honor that had eluded her, winning gold medals in the 200- and 400-meter individual medley and swimming the breaststroke leg of the victorious women's medley relay.

Caulkins, who now lives in Brisbane, Australia, with husband Mark Stockwell (a silver medalist in the 100 free in '84) and four-year-old twins Maddison and William, retired from competition after the '84 Games with a legacy of swimming supremacy that, even today, remains unmatched.

Nadia Comaneci:Romania,First gymnast to receive a perfect score in Olympic competition.

1961- 

First gymnast to receive a perfect score in Olympic competition.

Nobody was ready for the standards that would be set by 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci of Romania at the 1976 Olympics, least of all the scoreboard operators at the Montreal Forum. When Nadia dismounted from the uneven bars in the compulsory round, the scoreboard, lacking the space for the proper number of digits to display her perfect 10.00 score, could only flash 1.00. No gymnast had achieved numerical perfection until Comaneci scored seven 10s in winning five medals, including three golds, that summerin Montreal. Four years later she failed to defend her Olympic all-around crown at the Summer Games in Moscow when Elena Davidova of the Soviet Union outscored her for the gold medal by less than .1 of a point in what some felt was a hometown scoring decision. Judges debated for 28 minutes before awarding Comaneci 9.85 (her score was dragged down by 9.8s from the Soviet and the Polish judges) for what seemed a flawless balance beam routine. She still won individual golds on beam and floor, boosting her lifetime Olympic haul to five gold, three silver and one bronze.

While she became a heroine internationally, at home Comaneci found herself in the uncomfortable position of being a symbol of success in an impoverished country. In 1989 she left Romania, eventually settling in Norman, Okla., with former U.S. gymnastics star Bart Conner, whom she married in '96. Comaneci does TV commentary and writes a column forInternational Gymnast magazine, offering would-be Olympians tips on -- what else? -- perfecting their technique. 

Wilma Rudolph: USA

1940-1994 

Overcame polio to win Olympic gold

Long before becoming the world's fastest female, Wilma Rudolph beat her greatest odds by learning to walk on her own. As a child, Rudolph (the 17th of 21 children) was afflicted with polio, scarlet fever and double pneumonia and grew up wearing a brace on her right leg. To her doctor's shock, she removed the brace and walked unassisted at age nine. By 13 she was outracing neighborhood kids. By 16 she had qualified for the 1956 Olympics (she won bronze in the 4x100-meter relay). In Rome four years later she became a beloved figure when she won the 100 and 200 meters and in the 4x100. She never shied from a cause. She participated in sit-ins at whites-only restaurants, ran a community center and established the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, which sends schools tutors and books about American heroes, a category that surely includes Rudolph.

Bonnie Blair:USA

1964-

Won a U.S.-record five individual gold medals over three Olympic Games.

Her goals were simple. All she ever wanted out of skating, Bonnie Blair once said, was to create the wind around her. And all she ever wanted was to skate.

Among individual Olympians, Blair is the most gilded woman in U.S. history. Her five gold medals are one more than diver Pat McCormick, sprinter Evelyn Ashford and swimmer Janet Evans have. As a 20-year-old in 1984, Blair made her Olympic debut, placing eighth in the 500 meters at Sarajevo. Never again would she lose an Olympic 500-meter race. Blair won consecutive golds in the 500 at the 1988 and '92 Games (where she also won the 1,000) and concluded her career two years later by winning the 500- and 1,000-meter races at the '94 Games in Lillehammer.

Blair never departed from her roots. She first put on skates at age four and learned to race in a ramshackle ice rink in Champaign, Ill. The youngest of six children, including four speed skaters, her success introduced America to a raucous crew of friends and family known as the Blair Bunch who cheered for Bonnie at each Olympics.

Perhaps Blair (now living in Milwaukee with her husband and fellow Olympian Dave Cruikshank and their infant son, Grant) was destined for greatness from the beginning. On the day she was born her father, Charlie, now deceased, dropped his pregnant wife Eleanor off at a hospital in Cornwall, N.Y., and sped off to time a meet at a nearby skating rink. The public-address announcer later offered the following bit of news: "Looks like Charlie's family has just added another skater." Not just another skater. The best ever.

Martina Navratilova1956- and Chris Evert 1954-

Each won 18 Grand Slam titles; together, their rivalry elevated women's tennis.

Just as the NBA had Bird and Magic, as boxing had Ali and Frazier, and as golf had Nicklaus and Palmer, so did women's tennis once boast an epic rivalry. For upwards of 15 years, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova matched each other shot for shot, fighting over the sport's most coveted titles and playing an ongoing game of leapfrog for the No. 1 ranking. "Everywhere I went, Chris was there to meet me," says Navratilova. "Everywhere she went, I was there to meet her."Heightening their rivalry was the fact that Navratilova and her nemesis were a study in contrasts. Martina, a Czech expatriate who embraced America's freedoms, was unabashed about her homosexuality and freely loaned her name to dozens of political causes. Evert, known forever as Chrissy, was, as the nickname implied, the image-conscious girl-next-door with whom fans felt an instant familiarity. Their games betrayed their disparate personalities as well. Evert was the picture of consistency, keeping her foes at bay with classic, impeccably positioned strokes and a will of iron. Navratilova was a relentlessly aggressive athlete who attacked at every opportunity and forced the action.For all their differences, they were remarkably evenly matched. Evert won 157 career singles titles, and Navratilova claimed 167. Evert was the better clay-court player but reached the semifinals or better on the lawn of Wimbledon a staggering 17 times. Navratilova was at her best on grass but twice won on the red clay at the French Open. Appropriately, they each finished their careers with 18 Grand Slam singles titles. Head-to-head, Navratilova held a 43-37 edge, but Evert, who's two years older, won 23 of their first 29 meetings. Replicating the path of a ball in a tennis match, the "who's better?" debate will continue back and forth in perpetuityBeyond the numbers, their rivalry was marked by a profound mutual respect. Chris hated losing to Martina as much as Martina hated losing to Chris, but they felt a shared kinship. "I think we both realized that we pushed each other and, in the end, made the other one a much better player," says Evert, now 44. They were inextricably entwined throughout their playing careers, and it was somehow fitting that when the two players retired, they chose to settle in the same community, Aspen, Colo. As Evert joked at the time, "We just can't seem to shake each other..

Sonja Henie,Norway

 

1912-1969

Dominated figure skating with 10 consecutive world championships and three Olympic gold medals.

With her dimples and soft smile, the petite, blonde Norwegian figure skater was the picture of sweetness and modesty. But Sonja Henie's opponents knew better. Whether on the ice or in the boardroom, the woman who elevated figure skating from winter recreation to spectator sport was a cutthroat competitor and a shrewd businesswoman who was out to win.

Born into wealth, Henie was given every advantage when it came to developing her talent, from private rinks and skating teachers to ballet lessons. (Her artistic style was influenced by Anna Pavlova, the great Russian dancer.) In her first major international competition, the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix, France, 11-year-old Henie finished last. That would never happen again.During the early 1900s, competitive figure skating consisted of compulsory figures and a long program of difficult, unrelated technical movements skated as music played randomly in the background. Henie revolutionized the sport in two important ways: Combining her extraordinary skating skills and her artistic training, she choreographed her programs so that her sits, spins and leaps flowed from one to the other in time with the music. And not only did she skate differently, but Henie also looked different while doing it. The skating outfits of the day ordinarily consisted of long skirts and black skates; Henie wore short-skirted costumes, allowing her the freedom to execute more complicated movements, such as jump-spins. She made white skating boots and fur-trimmed skirts popular.

Henie's 10 consecutive world championships, from 1927 to 1936, and three consecutive Olympic golds, in 1928, 1932 and 1936, will likely never be duplicated. After turning professional, in 1936, Henie went to Hollywood and delighted audiences with her skating, charm and lilting accent in 13 films.

If any of her talents could be said to have rivaled her athletic skills, it was her business acumen. Her most successful venture was producing the extremely popular Sonja Henie Hollywood Ice Revue, which began touring across the United States in 1940 and made her a millionaire many times over. Her personal popularity, in turn, popularized figure skating as a spectator sport in the U.S., which helped lead to the first female world champion from the U.S. (Tenley Albright) in 1953 and the first Olympic woman gold medalist in the sport (Albright) in 1956.

Henie retired permanently from skating in 1960 and shortly after developed leukemia. She died in 1969, at age 57, aboard an airplane that was carrying her from Paris to Oslo for medical treatment.

"She made skating something that every little girl wanted to do," longtime coach Frank Carroll has said of Henie. "She changed the face of skating. There will never be anyone like her."

Mariam Erzouqi, Rifle drives Kuwaiti female shooter

KUWAIT:The 24-year-old, who is set to become the second Kuwaiti woman to compete at an Olympic Games, has an affinity for her rifle and will take dead aim at a medal in the 10 and 50 metres air rifle in London.

She first held a rifle at Kuwait’s shooting club aged 17 and recalls that date — June 16, 2004 — without a moment’s hesitation.

“At the beginning I practiced it was just to fill my time, then afterwards I discovered that I was very attached to the rifle,” said Erzouqi, dressed in multi-coloured team jumpsuit emblazoned with her family name, a black headscarf and heavy duty boots.

“I loved the sport and it quickly turned into a profession rather than a hobby.”

Erzouqi comes from a family of female shooters who helped form her vital support base. All four of her sisters took up the rifle under the guidance of their watchful mother Awatif, who is also a shooter and competition judge.

Mariam and her 14-year-old sister Heba pursued the sport and are now friendly rivals.

“Heba tells Mariam — watch out, I will beat you!” her mother recounts with a laugh in between inspecting Mariam’s scores and checking her rifles.

She makes sure her daughter keeps to a timetable drawn up by her coach which has her juggling training sessions at the Kuwait shooting complex up to six days a week alongside her studies.

“My female friends teased me in the beginning, but when they saw me winning trophies at home and abroad they encouraged me,” Erzouqi said with a small smile.

“Shooting is not just for young men, there are also girls doing it. It is not rough. It calms my nerves and helps me to focus.”

Erzouqi is seen as especially fortunate with the support she has received in Kuwait, where women can find themselves unwelcome at other sporting clubs or on the receiving end of disapproving comments from more conservative corners of society.

There are also questions over Kuwait’s participation in the Olympics this year. The International Olympic Committee suspended Kuwait in 2010, saying there was evidence of political interference in the Kuwaiti sports organisations.

Kuwaiti officials have said they were working with the IOC to solve the issue in time for the Games and that they expected Erzouqi and her teammates to be able to fly the national flag in London.

But a decision by the IOC at a recent meeting in Quebec means that Kuwaiti competitors could participate under the Olympic flag with the title “Independent Olympic Athlete”.

Erzouqi is following in the footsteps of Danah al-Nasrallah, the first female Kuwaiti athlete to compete at an Olympics. Nasrallah took part in the 100m in 2004, ranking 61st of 63competitors in the first round.

Erzouqi’s chances look better.

The petite business administration student finished second in the Asian qualifiers in the 10m rifle category, her best discipline.

She won two gold medals at the recent Arab Games and is competing in one of Kuwait’s traditionally strong sports. The country won its only Olympic medal — a bronze — in the double trap shooting competition at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The Kuwaiti media has been full of positive coverage of her achievements and the shooting club says it encourages female participants to take up the sport.

This is in stark contrast to neighbouring Saudi Arabia which has never sent a female athlete to the Olympics and discourages women from sport altogether.

Around 45 girls and women come to the Kuwaiti shooting club on a regular basis, compared to 160 men on the national team. As an international competitor, Erzouqi receives a 400 dinar ($1,428) monthly stipend from the government.

As the Olympics falls in part during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Erzouqi will be fasting, but she says this should not affect her performance thanks to her training.

“If the tournament or training is held in the morning during my fasting times, my performance is not affected because here in Kuwait, we already used to come and train in the mornings,” she said.

“We used to feel exhausted but now we can overcome that and we can endure tiredness, even while we’re fasting.”

Her mother can testify to her daughter’s focus and endurance, having travelled with her to different countries on many occasions for competitions.

“Sometimes I told her, let’s go look at the market, we want to see the country! But no, for Mariam it is shooting, shooting.”