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UT athletes in the 2008 Olympics

Candace Parker, women’s basketball: What a year: Women’s collegiate athlete of the year, NCAA national championship, NCAA player of the year, first selection in the WNBA draft ... here’s guessing the Los Angeles Sparks star can still find room in her trophy case for an Olympic gold medal. The U.S. team is hugely favored to bring one home despite a definite upgrade in the competition.

Photo by Elizabeth Dalziel

Candace Parker, women’s basketball: What a year: Women’s collegiate athlete of the year, NCAA national championship, NCAA player of the year, first selection in the WNBA draft ... here’s guessing the Los Angeles Sparks star can still find room in her trophy case for an Olympic gold medal. The U.S. team is hugely favored to bring one home despite a definite upgrade in the competition.

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  • Monica Abbott, softball pitcher: The USA collegiate player of the year in 2007, Abbott owns nearly every NCAA pitching record including career strikeouts (2,440). She went 16-0 during the team’s exhibition tour. Anything but gold for this team would be a disappointment.
  • Octavio Alesi, 100-meter butterfly: A senior with the UT team last year, Alesi will compete for Venezuela. His time of 52.54 at the Pan Am Games qualified him for the team. The time is well off Michael Phelps’ world best 50.89. He won All-America honors at UT as a junior and senior.
  • Tamika Catchings, women’s basketball: An All-American when she left UT in 2001, Catchings has been a perennial all-star for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. She owns a gold medal from the 2004 Games, starting on that team. A spot was held open this time while she recovered from an Achilles tendon injury. Catchings is a two-time WNBA defensive player of the year, an indication of why Olympic team coaches find her almost indispensable.
  • Hazel Clark, women’s 800 meters runner: Sister of UT women’s track coach J.J. Clark, Clark lives and trains in Knoxville. This will be her third Olympics. She finished seventh in 2000 and was eliminated in the first round at Athens. Her best time of 1:57.99 was achieved in 2005. Although she wouldn’t appear to be a medal contender in a race dominated by Russians, she is coming off an impressive win in the trials.
  • Anthony Famiglietti, steeplechase: Famiglietti has the distinction of being the best in America at a race in which Americans do not traditionally excel. He dominated the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., dashing off to a big lead early and keeping it. At the Athens Games, he didn’t make it to the finals landing eighth in the qualifying round after bumping a hurdle hard. A New Yorker, Famiglietti has been training in Knoxville. His best time this year of 8:20.24 is well behind that of top dog Kenya’s Paul Kipsiele Koech (8:00.57).
  • Gary Kikaya, Congo 400 meters runner: A seven-time All-American at UT before leaving in 2003, Kikaya is headed to his second Olympics after serving as his country’s flag bearer in 2004. He reached the semifinals in Athens. His best time this year of 45.36 is well down in the world rankings.
  • Kara Lawson, women’s basketball: Lawson, who finished at UT in 2003, has worked her way on to the Olympic roster with great effort during the team’s exhibition tour. The Sacramento Monarchs guard and ESPN analyst has long been known as a smart player and floor leader. Lawson figures to come off the bench in Beijing and provide a calming influence should the game get crazy. Kara married in April to Damien Barling.
  • Christine Magnuson, 100 butterfly: It’s been an incredible 2008 for the Tinley Park, Ill., product. She won the NCAA 100-meter fly, was named SEC Female Swimmer of the Year, won the event in the Olympic Trials and set a trials record of 57.50. Her time is the third fastest in the world this year, but she’ll be in a pool full of speedy Australians at Beijing.
  • Tom Pappas, decathlon: The heartbreak kid of the 2004 Olympics, dropping out with injury during the pole vault, Pappas will be in his third Olympics. An NCAA champion at UT 1999, Pappas now lives in Manhattan, Kan., where he is an assistant coach on the Kansas State track team. He is considered a long shot after finishing third in the U.S. Olympic Trials but he won his fifth USA Outdoor title last year and has shown when not injured he is capable of challenging for a medal.
  • Candace Parker, women’s basketball: What a year: Women’s collegiate athlete of the year, NCAA national championship, NCAA player of the year, first selection in the WNBA draft ... here’s guessing the Los Angeles Sparks star can still find room in her trophy case for an Olympic gold medal. The U.S. team is hugely favored to bring one home despite a definite upgrade in the competition.
  • Chris Robinson, Canada baseball team: The Tennessee Smokies catcher is hitting .214 in the Southern League but it’s his defensive prowess that earned him a spot on the squad. He excels at blocking balls in the dirt and has a strong arm. The University of Illinois product batted .362 in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
  • Leigh Smith, javelin: Smith, who lives in Destrehan, La., has had a respectable career but is still looking for the one break-out performance in a huge meet. He placed fifth in the Olympic Trials and made the team because several who finished ahead of him had not met the Olympic 'A' qualifying standard. He ended up on the other side of that rule in 2004, finishing third at the trials but missing the standard. He has the best throw by a U.S. athlete this year at 274 feet, 9 inches — a mark four feet longer than his previous personal best.
  • Jevon Tarantino, synchronized 3-meter diving: An NCAA champion in 2004 and a six-time national team member, Tarantino has found his event. The Boca Raton, Fla., resident has teamed with former Georgia standout Chris Colwill to form the U.S.’s best chance in synchro platform diving. They were named to the team after outstanding performances at the recent selection camp at UT’s Allan Jones Aquatic Center. The two are certainly medal contenders.
  • Dee Dee Trotter, 400 meters runner: Trotter, who lives in Knoxville, owns a gold medal as part of the 4x400 relay team at Athens; she was also fifth in the 400 there. An NCAA champion at UT in 2004, she grabbed a national title in the USA Outdoor Championships last year in a world-best time of 49.64. She’s nursing a leg injury and finished third at the trials. The U.S. is strong in the 400 and Trotter is a medal contender.

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