When the 2008 Summer Olympics begin on Aug. 8, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will be well-represented.
Four current students, 10 alumni and former students, and one UT coach will be involved in the games.
Former Lady Vol and UT alumna Tamika Catchings is one of them. It's her second Olympics; she also played on the gold-medal winning women's basketball team in 2004.
"It is very exciting being able to represent your country and be on a stage which the whole world is watching," she said. "The experience itself is unbelievable, and one that, even as I talk about it, my emotions well up inside of me because it truly was, and will be, an amazing time!"
Here's a look at the Vols in Beijing:
An award-winning softball pitcher at UT, Abbott is a senior in communications. This is her first Olympics.
After finishing her collegiate softball career in 2007, Abbott helped Team USA win a gold medal in the Pan Am Games in Brazil. She played professionally with the Washington Glory and, in August 2007, was selected the Playoff MVP of the National Pro Fastpitch Softball League. In September 2007, Abbott was one of 18 women chosen for the Olympic team.
Abbott is from Salinas, Calif. When she was there this spring to play an exhibition game with the Olympic team, she was presented with a key to the city and was told that May 23 would be proclaimed Monica Abbott Day in Salinas.
Addy graduated from UTK in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and electronic media.
He will represent Liberia in the decathlon. The 23-year-old was born in Sacramento and now lives in Norcross, Ga. He is eligible to represent Liberia because he is a direct descendant of two Liberian citizens.
"The Olympics are a great opportunity to compete against the best athletes in the world, and I'm proud to honor my parents by representing Liberia," he said.
At UT, Addy was a UT team captain and an SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He set a collegiate decathlon record in the 110-meter hurdles and a world heptathlon record in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2008 SEC Outdoor Championships.
Alesi, a native of Barinas, Venezuela, will compete for his homeland in the Olympics. He will swim the butterfly.
Alesi is a senior in interdisciplinary programs.
In April, Alesi was named to the 2008 SEC Men's Swimming and Diving Community Service Team. The team honors student athletes who give back to the community through superior service efforts. Alesi has been active with Habitat for Humanity, the Campus Beautification Program and the Race for the Cure.
Alesi qualified for the Olympics by posting a time of 52.24 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly in the Pan Am Games. That time ranked him 19th in the world at the time.
Former University of Tennessee swimmer Andrew Bree, 27, will be representing his home country, Ireland, in the Olympics for the second time. He swims the 200-meter breast stroke.
Bree competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but he failed to qualify for the Athens games.
In April, it looked like Bree's trip to Beijing was off because of a failed drug test. Bree attributed the result to using the U.S. version of a Vicks inhaler and, in late May, the swimmer was cleared.
"The U.S. version of this product contains a banned substance and the Fina (the Federation Internationale de Natation) doping panel has stated it is 'convinced that the use of Levmethamfetamine was not intended to enhance his performance' and that Andrew had gone to 'all possible lengths to check that the medical product that he was using contained no such banned substance,'" the BBC reported. "Having accepted Andrew's explanation and noted his open and frank approach to the issue, the panel has issued him with a reprimand and warning -- the least possible sanction open to it according to its rules."
Catchings, now 29, played basketball with the Lady Vols from 1997-2001. She graduated in May 2005 with a degree in sport management.
She helped the USA team win gold in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She had 22 steals, was second in free throw percentage (.833) and third in rebounds per game (5.4).
Catchings was drafted in 2001 by the Indiana Fever. Still wearing #24 for the Fever, Catchings has accumulated many honors including WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2002. She spent part of this season recovering from a torn ACL and returned to the court in June.
Born in Stratford, N.J., Catchings is the daughter of former Harvey Catchings who played 11 seasons in the NBA. Her sister, Tauja, played basketball at the University of Illinois, was drafted by the WNBA and played in Sweden.
Catchings operates the Catch the Stars Foundation which provides academic and sports-related help for underprivileged children.
Catchings said being chosen for the Olympic team turns a professional athlete's life upside down: "Both times we've had to stop our WNBA season, come together to train and play as an Olympic team, and then go back to our teams. Within a matter of weeks we have to build great team chemistry, which most countries have spent the past four years building."
She thinks the U.S. has a good chance at bringing home another gold. "I feel like we have put together a great Olympic team in which people can go out and not be selfish and do whatever is asked of them on this team. We have the scorers, the defensive stoppers, the rebounders, etc. Now it's just a matter of putting it all together and there's not a country out there that can compete with us. My goal is to be the best defensive stopper on this team. Whatever it is that I need to do to help us win, that's what I will do."
Cathings' sister, Tauja, and her nephew, Kanon, will be with her in China early on. Later, her mother, Wanda, will join her.
Despite her professional and Olympic experiences, Catchings said she still relishes her time at UT. "They say that college is the best four years of your life, and I would definitely have to agree," she said. "I am the person that I am today because of the experiences that I had there. The people that supported me, the fun times that I had, and just the whole experience overall always brings a smile to my face."
Tennessee Lady Vols track coach J.J. Clark will be an assistant coach for the women's Olympic track and field team. He will work with athletes in middle distance events.
Clark has been UT's coach for six years. The winningest women's cross country coach in UT history, he is a four-time South Region Coach of the Year and a three-time SEC Coach of the Year.
The Olympics have been a family affair for the Clarks for many years. This year, his sister, Hazel Clark, will compete in the 800-meter race. This is her third Olympic appearance.
His sister Joetta competed in the 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics before retiring. His wife, Jearl, is a five-time Olympian, having competed in the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 games and having been a noncompeting member of the relay pool in 1988.
In 2000, he coached his sisters and wife for their Olympic competitions.
Clark's father is Joe Lewis Clark, the bat-wielding principal of Paterson, N.J.'s Eastside High School, portrayed by actor Morgan Freeman in the 1989 movie "Lean on Me."
A three-time All-American track and field star at UT, Famiglietti graduated in 2001 with a degree in psychology.
He is competing in his second Olympics. His event is the 3000-meter steeplechase, a race that involves hurdles and water jumps; he finished eighth in the first round of the steeplechase in Athens in the 2004 Olympics.
According to his athlete profile on www.nbcolympics.com, Famiglietti's childhood dream was to become a professional skateboarder, but he suffered so many injuries -- including concussions and broken bones -- that his family made him give it up.
Famiglietti, 29, lives in New York City. His hobbies include composing music and creating abstract art.
His profile describes him as very independent and private about his running: "The 2004 Olympic trials were the first time his father had ever seen him race in person in his life, and afterward his father said it was the proudest moment of his life."
Kikaya, 28, was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and will be representing that country in the Olympics. He graduated from UT Knoxville in 2005 with a degree in sociology and a minor in French.
Kikaya will be competing in the 400-meter race. This is his second Olympics; he was his country's flag bearer in in Athens in 2004, but finished 14th in the semifinals.
At UT, Kikaya earned seven All-America honors while lettering for the Vols in 2002 and 2003.
In 2006, he won the silver medal at the World Athletic, the silver in the 2006 World Cup in Athens, the gold at the 2006 African Championships and the bronze at the 2004 World Indoor Championships.
His personal best in the 400-meter is 44.10 seconds.
Kikaya transferred to UT after attending his freshman and sophomore years at Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During his senior year, in an interview with TrackShark.com, Kikaya was asked about his adjustment to the American culture and the university. "I love it here in Knoxville," he replied. "At first I had a hard time adjusting because of the winter season. It was my first time seeing snow and running the indoor season. At Tennessee I found the Southern hospitality was very welcoming from the day I arrived."
Kikaya's father, Ambassador Kikaya bin Karubi, has served as Information Minister of Congo and Special Assistant to President Joseph Kabila.
Lawson played basketball for the Lady Vols from 2000-2003, and was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. She graduated from UT Knoxville in 2003 with a degree in finance.
This is Lawson's first Olympics.
She was drafted by the Detroit Shock in the 2003 WNBA draft, then traded five days later to the Sacramento Monarchs. She's now in her sixth season with the Sacramento Monarchs.
When she's not playing, Lawson is on the NBA's Sacramento Kings' broadcasting team and works as a NBA sideline reporter for ESPN.
Lawson, 27, married Damien Barling on April 12. They got engaged in July 2007 at a Kenny Chesney concert.
A senior majoring in exercise science, Magnuson won a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly during the first weekend of competition in Beijing. These are her first Olympics.
She will be part of the 4x100-meter medley relay, too.
Magnuson is from Tinley Park, Ill., where her father -- who swam at Southern Illinois University -- is now a swim coach.
Magnuson grew up swimming and was the two-time Illinois state champion in the 100-yard freestyle. At UT, she holds eight school records, was SEC Swimmer of the Year and won the 2008 NCAA title in the 100-meter butterfly.
During the Olympic trials, she was third at the 50-meter mark, but pulled ahead to win the 100-meter butterfly.
In her profile on www.nbcolympics.com she said, "If you had asked me two or three years ago if I was going to make the Olympics, I would have given you a very strange look."
Fabiola Molina graduated from UT Knoxville in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in theater.
She is representing Brazil in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She finished fifth in her 100-meter backstroke preliminary heat and 18th overall in the event. Of the 49 entrants in the 100m back, Molina, 33, was the oldest competitor by at least five years.
This is Molina's second Olympic Games. She finished 24th in the 100-meter backstroke and 36th in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2000 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Molina, who has been swimming competitively since age 10, is also a businesswoman. She has designed her own lline of Brazilian swimwear.
Molina was a five-time All-American at UT.
Pappas, 31, graduated from UT Knoxville in 2000 with a degree in recreation and leisure studies. He is now an assistant track and field coach for jumps and combined events at Kansas State University
This is the third time he's qualified to compete in the decathlon at the Olympic games. In 2000, in Sydney, he finished fifth. Four years later in Athens, he was an incoming favorite, but a foot injury forced him to drop out.
The two-day decathlon -- a two-day event consisting of 10 different track and field events -- begins on Aug. 21.
Pappas' other career highlights include winning the gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, being a four-time U.S. champion (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006) and being the 1999 NCAA champion while attending UT.
During an interview with KSNT Channel 27 in Topeka, Pappas said he thinks, given his age, this may be his last Olympic competition. "I really want to get a medal and so I feel like I have unfinished business as far as that goes," he said.
This former Lady Vol superstar is making her Olympic debut as part of the lady's basketball team, which is favored to win gold.
Parker graduated from UT Knoxville in spring 2008 with a degree in sport management.
Last spring, in her third season at Tennessee, Parker led the Lady Vols to its second district NCAA national title and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four for the second year. She also received the Honda-Broderick Cup for being the collegiate woman athlete of the year.
Parker was the No. 1 choice in the WNBA draft and now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks.
Parker's brother, Anthony, is a guard for the NBA's Toronto Raptors. Her fiancé is Sheldon Williams, a center for the Sacramento Kings.
Parker's hometown is Naperville, Ill.
Persson, 25, is senior in marketing and international business from Malmo, Sweden. He will be swimming for Sweden and will compete in the 100-meter freestyle individual and the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
Persson swam his freshman and sophomore seasons for Arizona, then transferred to UT. He sat out the 2006 season, and then starting swimming for the Vols during the 2007 season.
Persson and the Sweden relay team qualified for the Olympics after winning gold in the 4x100-meter relay at the 29th LEN European Championships.
At UT, Persson broke UT's 100-meter freestyle record three consecutive times at the NCAA Championships last year. He was the SEC Swimmer of the Week award twice last year.
Smith, who will compete in the javelin in his first Olympics, graduated from UT Knoxville in 2005 with a degree in wildlife and fisheries biology.
Born into an Air Force family, Smith lived all around the U.S. while growing up. He now lives in Destrehan, La., where he is a professional pilot with multi-engine and jet-aircraft ratings.
While at UT, Smith was a three-time All-American and a three-time Southeastern Conference champion. He holds every Tennessee and Southeastern Conference championship record in the event. He was named Tennessee's Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year for 2003-2004.
He threw a personal best 83.74 m (274.7 feet) at Athens, Ga., on May 9.
Tarantino attended UT Knoxville and won the NCAA and SEC titles on 1-meter springboard diving in 2004. He dropped out in 2005 because of health problems.
Tarantino is going to the Olympics for the first time. He will compete in the 3-meter synchronized springboard with Chris Colwill, his longtime friend and diving partner.
Tarantino, who now lives in Florida, qualified for the Olympics in Knoxville in July. And, according to various published reports, he couldn't have been happier.
"This pool was like heaven for me," he told the News Sentinel after learning he'd qualified in the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center. "I had a lot of people supporting me …. It has been great."
Taratino and diving partner, Chris Colwill, placed fourth -- just short of a medal -- in the 3-meter synchronized diving competition in the Water Cube in Beijing.
Trotter, who graduated from UT Knoxville in 2005 with a degree in sociology, won a gold medal in the 4x400-meter relay and will be running in the 400-meter this year. An American woman hasn't medaled in the 400-meter since 1984.
Despite suffering a broken bone chip in her left leg when a car door closed on her this spring, Trotter finished third in the Olympic trials. She ran her race in 50.88 seconds.
In addition to holding an Olympic gold medal, Trotter has a gold medal from the 2003 Pan Am Games and the 2003 World Championships.
Trotter's hometown is Decatur, Ga., but she now lives in Knoxville.
In her athlete profile on www.nbcolympics.com, Trotter said she relaxes by doing crafts and jokes that she's "a little Martha Stewart … without the jail time."
Wilkinson, 25, who graduated from UT Knoxville in 2005 with a degree in speech communications, will compete on the Canadian women's soccer team.
She was born and raised in Quebec, Canada, and began playing hockey at age 5 with a team in her hometown called the Strawberries. She played soccer for UT from 2000-2003. Professionally, she has played for the Ottawa Fury and the Strommen FK in the Norwegian Premier League.
This is her first Olympics. She won a silver medal at the 2003 Pam American Games in Santo Domingo and a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio. She also won the 2007 Canada Soccer Fans' Choice Award.
Wilkinson speaks both French and English. Her hobbies include canoeing and rock climbing, as well as playing the cello and trumpet.
Wilkinson says she plans to play soccer as long as possible and then pursue a teaching career.
