The HOME TEAM

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA is the hotbed of American Olympic talent. An amazing one-quarter of the 650-member 1988 United States team hails from California, and about two-thirds of those athletes--more than 100 American Olympians--are from the Southern California area. (The state of New York is a distant second with about 30 Olympians.)

The locals will participate in more than 20 of the 27 Olympic sports. We will send to Seoul swimmers, divers, equestrians, rowers, sailors, baseball players, soccer players, team handball and basketball players. The water polo team and the men’s volleyball team seem to require a California driver’s license for entry, and the U.S. track and field squad--the largest American contingent--has drawn about 20% of its members from Southern California.

To represent this extraordinary home team, we’ve chosen 16 athletes. Some of them will undoubtedly take the gold medal in their sport. Others are more likely to place. A few are definitely long shots. But all are local heroes just the same. Each represents the aspirations, the long years of training and the remarkable dedication of the many.

FLORENCE GRIFFITH-JOYNER

LOS ANGELES

Track and Field

Florence Griffith-Joyner, 28, used to be known for her long, glitzy fingernails and sexy one-legged tights. Now she’s known for the nails, the clothes and for being the fastest woman in the world, with her record-shattering, warp-speed time of 10.49 seconds in the 100 meters. In Seoul, she is favored to win the 100- and 200-meter sprints and to help the 4x100 relay team to a gold.

Griffith-Joyner grew up in Watts, where she began her track career at age 8 with the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation. She excelled in track at Cal State Northridge and UCLA and won a silver medal in the 200 meters in the ’84 Games. But by 1986 she was out of training (“She was this wide,” says ex-coach Bob Kersee) and into a bank job. She’s since trimmed her weight and her nails (they used to be six inches) and, ironically, used long-distance running to improve her sprint speed. Griffith-Joyner says she’ll maintain that strategy in Seoul. But it looks like she’ll have to lose at least part of her trademark flash. The legless U.S. uniforms, she says “are really cute and I like them. I just wish one was long--so I could cut off a leg.”

GREG LOUGANIS

MALIBU

Diving

Greg Louganis says he doesn’t analyze his fellow divers; he doesn’t even watch them. But don’t other divers always peek at their competition? More exasperated than immodest, Louganis replies, “I don’t know--I’m not any other diver.”

In fact, Louganis, 28, is generally considered the best diver ever . He won a silver medal in the ’76 Olympic platform event, then, stymied by the 1980 boycott, waited eight years for his 1984 golds in platform and springboard. This year, although he’s nursing an injured wrist and faces stiff competition from Chinese and American divers, he is favored in both events again.

Louganis may be around for the 1992 Games, but first he’s going to try out his dancing and acting skills in musical theater. He does watch others perform in that field, and his heroine is Angela Lansbury, whom he’s never met. “She did send me a telegram when I made my professional dance debut,” says Louganis, more animated than when talking about diving. “She said, ‘Welcome to the theater, break a leg.’ I thought that was really wonderful.”

EDWIN MOSES

NEWPORT BEACH

Track and Field

Edwin Moses admits that the science of physics has changed so much in the past decade that his 10-year-old bachelor’s degree in the subject is hopelessly outdated. But Moses’ seemingly scientific understanding of the 400-meter hurdles remains entirely current. The world-record holder in the event hasn’t lost a step (and rarely a race) since he first won an Olympic gold medal in 1976. And though he just turned 33, Moses is still the favorite. “Age will not affect me in the next two months,” he quipped after winning the trials against Andre Phillips and Kevin Young, who, with West Germany’s Harald Schmid, should be his Olympic competition.

Moses is a standout as much for his sunglasses and gold neck chains as for his extraordinarily long stride. And although his rivals have begun to close the gap, he says that stride won’t fail him: “They’re waiting for me to slow down, but when I’m at my best (in Seoul), you’ll see a lot more space (between us) at the finish.”

STEVE LEWIS / FREMONT

MIKE MARSH / INGLEWOOD

KEVIN YOUNG / LOS ANGELES

DANNY EVERETT / LOS ANGELES

Track and Field

When Danny Everett and UCLA teammate Steve Lewis round the final curve in a 400-meter race, they “try to pull each other to the finish line together.” With that spirit, the Bruin track squad won a second straight NCAA title in ’88. But more remarkable, four members pulled each other all the way to Seoul: Lewis, 19; Kevin Young, 21; Mike Marsh, 21, and Everett, 21 (left to right). Everett and Lewis will compete in the 400 and 4x400 relay; Young in the 400-meter hurdles, and Marsh in the 4x100 relay.

The antithesis of over-pampered stars, these four were drawn to UCLA for its academics as much as for its athletics and by sprint coach John Smith, a 1972 Olympian, who promised that the four would “evolve” together. Only Lewis went to UCLA on a full scholarship; Young and Marsh joined the team as “walk-ons,” with no financial support, and Everett settled for a half-scholarship.

Young, Everett and Lewis will certainly contend for medals in their events (if no one drops the baton, bet on a gold and perhaps a world record in the 4x400 relay), while Marsh may run only preliminary heats as a relay alternate. But these guys are the nothing-to-lose boys of Seoul, because making the mostly veteran Olympic track team was an accomplishment in itself. “I’m going to go for a medal,” Everett says, “but if I don’t get one, it won’t be a disappointing season at all.”

GREG BARTON

NEWPORT BEACH

Kayaking

On Greg Barton’s sturdy shoulders rest not only his own gold-medal aspirations, but those of all U.S. flat-water kayak enthusiasts. No American man or woman has won a gold in a kayak event, and Barton’s 1984 Olympic bronze in the 1,000-meter singles--which will be his main event in Seoul--was the best American finish since 1936. “It’s such a small sport in this country,” says Barton, 28, “so it’s really difficult to have a world-class team.” In comparison, Hungary--home of one of Barton’s chief rivals--has practically made paddling the national pastime.

Barton grew up in Homer, Mich. Operations to correct clubfeet in childhood left him with a malformed leg, but fortunately, his sport relies on arm power. A year and a half ago, Barton moved to Newport Beach to work as a mechanical engineer for the Fluor Daniel Corp., which gives him time off to train and compete. He broke through to gold-medal stature by winning both the 1,000-meter and 10,000-meter (not an Olympic event) races at the 1987 World Championships.

Even if Barton--who still answers to Buck, his childhood nickname--wins a gold, don’t expect to see him on a Wheaties box. “I’m not expecting to make a million dollars from the Olympics,” Barton says. “In other sports, you may get some people who see a chance for glory and money, but in this sport most of the people do it just because they like it.”

KEBA PHIPPS

LAKEWOOD

Volleyball

Keba Phipps, the least experienced and youngest member of the women’s volleyball team, may be the key to making the U.S. team a medal contender. Phipps joined the squad as a 17-year-old high school dropout with a little growing up to do. She had to overcome a rebelliousness that conflicted with a Spartan regimen, recover from a kidney ailment and finish high school. But at 19, she has become a potent offensive weapon, powering sledgehammer spikes past her opponents with metronomic regularity.

To reach the medal round in Seoul, the U.S. women will need every spike they can get against opening-round opponents such as the Chinese and Peruvians. At least Cuba--the best team in the world--won’t be there. (“Thanks, Fidel,” says Phipps of the boycott.) Besides giving Phipps a chance to show off her spikes, the Games may also prove whether she’s the rightful heir to the late Flo Hyman, star of the ’84 team. “I would love to be the player she was. Oh God, I would just die to be that player,” Phipps gushes. Then she adds, with disarming self-confidence: “They say that when she was 19, she wasn’t half the player I am.”

KARCH KIRALY

SANTA BARBARA

Volleyball

Karch Kiraly, 27, does everything well: spike, serve, defend, set and receive serve. Along with his team-unifying leadership, his versatility makes him the cornerstone of a squad seeking its second consecutive gold medal. He learned the game on Santa Barbara beaches from his dad, Laszlo, a former competitor in Hungary. At UCLA, Kiraly’s team lost only five matches in four years. And since he joined the national team in 1981, the United States upped its international ranking from a miserable 19th to an undisputed No. 1. Having boosted the marketability of men’s volleyball, a few Olympic “amateurs” like Kiraly are now making about $150,000 a year. “The money is still better outside the team,” says Kiraly, pointing out that he could earn $150,000 in six months with an Italian club team. “But I want to see the sport grow (here), and going to Italy does American volleyball no good.”

In Seoul, the second-ranked Soviets should give the Americans their closest match, but the two teams are hardly bitter rivals. “We get along really well,” Kiraly says, “(although) we find it difficult to socialize with them before the competition.” Afterward? “Somehow after a few vodkas, the language barrier always seems to disappear.”

CHARLES LAKES

NEWHALL

Gymnastics

Even if the gymnastics team’s leading man, Charles Lakes, can’t pull in 10s from the judges, he’ll no doubt earn them from the crowd with spectacular feats such as his Jaeger on the high bar, a stratospheric front flip and re-catch. Lakes, 24, is back in California after four years at the University of Illinois, Champaign, and he’s finally fulfilling his potential. “I didn’t necessarily want to be No. 1 five years ago,” says Lakes, who has been accused--unfairly, he feels--of under-training. “I’m very dedicated, and I do whatever it takes to accomplish my goals,” he insists.

In Seoul, Lakes will make history by being the first American black gymnast in Olympic competition, and his high bar and floor exercise may leave championship impressions on the judges. The impression he hopes to make on the crowd? “The way I feel looking at works of art, movies, other great athletes--that’s the feeling I’m trying to inspire,” he says.

WILLIE BANKS

LOS ANGELES

Track and Field

Revenge has been sweet for Willie Banks. After finishing a lackluster sixth in the 1984 Olympic triple jump, he was “dumped like a hot potato” by the shoe company that had supported him, by meet promoters and even by his girlfriend. Fast-forward to 1988: Banks, 32, is atop the world again--as the world-record holder in his event, as a new husband and father and as the odds-on favorite for an Olympic gold medal.

A former law student at UCLA (he’ll try to pass the Bar after the Seoul Games, but he plans to go into politics rather than practice), Banks has been variously dubbed the “leaping lawyer” or the “bounding barrister.” But he’s best known for his rousing pre-jump routine in which he exhorts crowds to clap and cheer for him. “You need the home-crowd advantage,” Banks says, “and no matter where I am, I’m at home.”

He admits that he’ll be disappointed if he can’t turn that advantage into gold in Seoul. “I don’t say that to young people,” he explains, “because I don’t want them to get the idea that you have to be absolutely the best or else it’s worthless. I would be satisfied with just going to the Olympics in terms of having pride in myself. But in terms of reaching for the highest heights, I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I absolutely did my best. And if I do my best, I can’t help but come away with the gold medal.”

CATHY TIPPETT / IRVINE

MONICA HAVELKA / LOMITA

Rowing

A year ago, Cathy Tippett (left) was just beginning to emerge from a two-year bout with the Epstein-Barr virus. Eight months ago, Monica Havelka tripped over a dog while jogging at night and broke both elbows. Whether these women win a medal in the Olympic double sculls in Seoul, they’re already the comeback duo of the Games.

Tippett, 31, rowed double sculls (two rowers with two oars each) in the ’84 Games. Havelka, 32, a junior high school teacher, first tried for the Olympics in basketball, just missing the cut for the ’76 team. She went on to become an All-American center (she’s 6-foot-1; Tippett’s 5-foot-11) at Cal State Long Beach. She took up rowing in 1981 just to stay in shape. The two paired for the first time this year and quickly got into sync. “It’s got to be two as one,” Havelka says.

On Seoul’s Han River, the pair’s toughest competition should come from the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc and Canada. And though they are America’s best, for Tippett and Havelka to take a medal, they’ll have to pull together better than they have before. It will be an all-out effort. “If you’re not willing to do that, you shouldn’t be there,” Tippett says. “Even if your best doesn’t get you where you want to be . . . what more can you ask?”

JANET EVANS

PLACENTIA

Swimming

If Janet Evans wins medals in all three of her Olympic events and then drapes them Mark Spitz-style around her neck, they just might sink her. No more than 100 pounds dripping wet, the 5-foot, 6-inch Evans is tiny compared to the East Germans, who are her closest rivals. But her size deceives: Evans, 17, holds three world records and is favored for gold in Seoul.

An indefatigable trainer, she began to achieve world-class times by age 14, even though she was a twiggy 5-foot-1, 87 pounds, making up with furious stroke speed what she lacked in strength. The records she broke--the 1,500-, 800- and 400-meter freestyle--had been untouched so long that they’d practically mildewed in the books. Because the 1,500 meters is not an Olympic event for women, Evans will compete at the two middle distances and in the 400-meter individual medley in Seoul. Her competitive strategy is uncomplicated. “If I’m ahead, I’ll just try to keep getting farther ahead.” And if she gets behind? “That’s when I like to catch up.”

JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE

LONG BEACH

Track and Field

Jackie Joyner-Kersee exemplifies the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius --”faster, higher, stronger.” Since 1986, she has broken the world record in the seven-event heptathlon three times, co-owned the long-jump record for a while and tied the American record in the 100-meter hurdles. In Seoul, she’s the gold-medal favorite in the heptathlon and a contender in the long jump.

Joyner-Kersee, 26, grew up poor in East St. Louis, Ill., excelling in high school volleyball as well as basketball and track. Although she once dreamed of becoming a dancer in Hollywood, it was a UCLA basketball scholarship that brought her to Southern California. Keeping one foot on the track, however, led her to coach Bob Kersee--now her husband--and a silver medal in the 1984 Olympic heptathlon.

She won’t take anything for granted in Seoul against the East Germans and Soviets. “My being in a race can inspire someone,” she says. “But they’ll have to be pretty tough to beat me. It makes me more motivated knowing they’re after me.”