10 People You Already Know, and Others You Will Know by the End of the Olympics

Some athletes enter the Summer Olympics already established as headliners on the international sports pages. Others emerge during the Games. Olga Korbut in 1972, Nadia Comaneci and Sugar Ray Leonard in ‘76, Valerie Brisco and Karch Kiraly in ‘84, Janet Evans in ‘88, Shannon Miller and Oscar De La Hoya in ’92. Who do we know going into the July 19 opening ceremonies in Atlanta and who else will we know after the Aug. 4 closing?

* You Know: JANET EVANS, United States

Teen sensation from Southern California in Seoul. Gold medalist in swimming’s 800-meter freestyle in ’88 and ‘92, gold medalist in ’88 and silver medalist in ’92 in the 400 freestyle, gold medalist in ’88 in 400 individual medley. With victories in the 400 and 800 in Atlanta, she would eclipse speedskater Bonnie Blair among U.S. women with six Olympic gold medals.

* You Will Know: AMANDA BEARD, United States

Teen sensation from Southern California in Atlanta? Two years ago, swimming observers said that if Beard continued to improve she would be a cinch for the Olympic team--in 2000. A year ago, they said that she might even be a possibility for the 1996 team.

With victories in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke in the Olympic trials in March and a recent upset in the 100 of South African world-record holder Penny Heyns, the 5-foot-3, 92-pound Beard now appears to have a chance to win a medal or two. Perhaps even a gold.

Beard, 14, of Irvine, loves animals. She has two cats, one dog, two rabbits and four birds and donates $1 of her weekly allowance to an animal shelter. But Beard is not particularly keen on swimming history. Asked not so long ago her reaction to breaking a couple of Tracy Caulkins’ meet records, Beard said, “Who’s Tracy Caulkins?”

* You Know: SERGEI BUBKA, Ukraine

World-record holder, five-time world champion and 1988 Olympic champion in the pole vault. He will try in Atlanta to avoid his disappointment of four years ago, when he failed to clear a height in Barcelona.

* You Will Know: OKKERT BRITS, South Africa

The latest and perhaps most threatening challenger to Bubka’s 13-year reign at the top of the world, Brits, 22, is one of three men to clear six meters (19-8 1/4).

He vaulted one inch higher than that for the best mark in the world last year. Although he went 3-5 against Bubka in 1995, one of his losses coming in a fourth-place finish in the World Championships, Brits beat his idol in their last two meetings of the year. If he does it again in Atlanta, he will become South Africa’s first gold medalist in 44 years.

Brits was inspired to pole vault while watching the Ukrainian star on television. He even named his dog “Bubka.” Bubka was eating dinner before a Grand Prix meet the first time the South African saw him in person. Brits shyly admits that he could not take his eyes off him.

* You Know: MICHAEL JOHNSON, United States

Two-time track and field world champion in the 200 and 400 meters, Olympic gold medalist in the 1,600-meter relay in ’92. World-record holder in the 200. He will try in Atlanta to become the first man to win the 200 and 400 in the same Olympics.

* You Will Know: HAILE GEBRSELASSIE, Ethiopia

Gebrselassie, 23, is favored to join an elite group of distance runners, including Emil Zatopek, Lasse Viren and Miruts Yifter, to win the 5,000 and 10,000 in the same Olympics.

The 5-3, 130-pound Gebrselassie has set five world records within the last year--5,000, 10,000 and two miles outdoors and 3,000 and 5,000 indoors. For each of his two world championships in the 10,000 in 1993 and ‘95, he won a Mercedes-Benz but does not drive them because he has no license.

“If I have a good car, maybe the car becomes more important than my running,” he says.

He ran or walked six miles to school as a boy and still runs with a slight crook in his left arm from carrying books clutched closely to his side.

* You Know: MIGUEL INDURAIN, Spain

First man to win the Tour de France five consecutive times. Less than two weeks after winning his sixth in a row--he hopes--he plans to compete in the individual time trial in his first Olympics.

* You Will Know: JEANNIE LONGO, France

In 1992, the International Herald Tribune called Longo a monstre sacre. Meaning sacred monster, the French apply that term to a genius in his or her field who attracts controversy with irascible behavior. Such as Picasso.

Longo, 37, does not mind being called a genius in cycling after multiple victories in every major championship except for the Olympics. The rest, however, she rejects, even though she often changes coaches, sometimes refuses to wear products by sponsors of the French federation and will not participate in team competitions.

Believing that the French federation would not select her for the ’92 Olympics, she threatened to ride for Morocco or Luxembourg. Federation officials told her to go, then named her to the team in two events. She won the silver medal on the road, a race she will enter again this year.

* You Know: KARCH KIRALY, United States

Recognized as the greatest volleyball player ever, he won gold medals with the U.S. men’s team in 1984 and ’88. Now he tries to win another in a new sport on the program, beach volleyball.

* You Will Know: MIREYA LUIS, Cuba

If not the greatest female volleyball player of her time, she certainly is a contender. She was easily recognizable as a future star while playing in her initial World Championships in 1986, three months after giving birth to her first child.

Known for her leaping ability as “the spiker with wings,” Luis, 28, is expected to lead Cuba to its second consecutive Olympic gold medal. She was selected as the MVP and best attacker in the 1995 World Cup.

* You Know: SHANNON MILLER, United States

All-around silver medalist and winner of five medals in gymnastics in the 1992 Olympics and the United States’ only two-time all-around world champion (‘93, ‘94). She clinched a place on the U.S. team this year by winning the all-around national championship.

* You Will Know: LILIA PODKOPAYEVA, Ukraine

Podkopayeva, 17, established herself as the favorite in the women’s all-around gymnastics when she won at last year’s World Championships. She could become the second consecutive Ukrainian to win the title after Tatiana Gutsu’s victory for the Unified Team in 1992.

Podkopayeva, who is from Donetsk, was taken to a local gym when she was 5 by her grandmother. When she was 12, she was invited to the Soviet Union’s famous training camp at Round Lake. But it was decided before she arrived that no new team members would be accepted because of the country’s impending disintegration.

She went instead to Ukraine’s camp at Koncha-Zaspa, near Kiev, and flourished. Podkopayeva likes collecting stuffed animals, detective novels, American soap operas and ice cream. She is not supposed to eat sweets but figures it’s OK occasionally if she skips dinner.

* You Know: CARL LEWIS, United States

Gold medalist in the long jump in 1984, ’88 and 92, gold medalist in the 100 in ’84 and ‘88, gold medalist in ’84 and silver medalist in ’88 in the 200, gold medalist in 400 relay in ’84 and ’92. With a gold medal in the long jump in Atlanta, he would become the first track and field athlete since discus thrower Al Oerter to win the same event in four consecutive Olympics.

* You Will Know: STEVEN REDGRAVE, Great Britain

Redgrave could become the first rower to win gold medals in four consecutive Olympics. In his first, in 1984, he rowed in the coxed fours but since has been in the coxed pairs.

Redgrave, 34, was raised in a working-class neighborhood near the Thames River. Dyslexic, he had difficulty in school, dropping out at 16 to take odd jobs as a gardener and courier. He turned to rowing because it was one thing he did well. But he refused offers for several years to join Henley, the famous rowing club, because he felt it was too sophisticated for him.

He no longer feels out of place in so-called polite circles. His partner since 1988, Matthew Pinsent, 25, is a graduate of Eton and Oxford.

Redgrave, who has two young daughters, is also a former British two-man bobsled champion.

* You Know: JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE, United States

World-record holder, two-time Olympic champion (‘88, ‘92) and two-time world champion (‘87, ‘93) in the heptathlon; 1988 Olympic champion in the long jump. With victories in Atlanta in the long jump and heptathlon, she would equal Blair’s five Olympic gold medals.

* You Will Know: GHADA SHOUAA, Syria

In the absence of Joyner-Kersee because of an injury, Shouaa, 22, won the heptathlon in last summer’s World Championships. No Syrian track and field athlete had ever won a gold medal in either the World Championships or Summer Olympics.

She was offended by speculation that she would not have won if Joyner-Kersee had been healthy and proved her point this spring, scoring an Asian record 6,942 points. Joyner-Kersee holds the world record with 7,291 but has not scored more than 6,900 since 1992.

For her triumph, Shouaa, a former center for the national women’s basketball team, received a Peugeot automobile and a house from Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. “This is a victory for Syria and all women of Arabic countries,” she said. “I hope this will encourage more Arab girls to participate in sports.”

* You Know: ALEXANDER POPOV, Russia

Tarzan. He won gold medals in the 1992 Summer Olympics in swimming’s 50- and 100-meter freestyle. If he wins the 100 in Atlanta, he will become the first man to repeat in that event since Johnny Weismuller (1924, ‘28).

* You Will Know: NAIM SULEYMANOGLU, Turkey.

Hercules. Actually, Suleymanoglu’s nickname is “Pocket Hercules.” Weighing 132 1/2 pounds, he became the first man ever to lift 2 1/2 times his weight in the snatch. He has moved up in weight class, but is still expected in Atlanta to become the first weightlifter to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympics.

A native Bulgarian known as Naim Suleymanov, he is an ethnic Turk who defected in 1986. Two years later, the Bulgarians allowed him to compete for his new country in the Summer Olympics but reportedly only after receiving $1 million from the Turkish weightlifting federation. He set three world records in Seoul, becoming Turkey’s first gold medalist in 20 years.

* You Know: HAKEEM OLAJUWON, United States

The Dream. The 6-10 Nigerian native’s dream came true when he received U.S. citizenship, gaining eligibility for--do we dare say it?--the Dream Team.

* You Will Know: ZHENG HAI XIA, China

The Great Wall. The 6-foot-8 Zheng has lost 30 pounds since the 1994 World Championships and still weighs 220. The United States has effectively countered her recently with 6-5, 170-pound Lisa Leslie’s quickness, but Coach Tara VanDerveer does not have to be reminded that Zheng averaged 28.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games against the Americans three months ago at the Women’s International Challenge in China.

Other women in international basketball have been taller, but Zheng, who wears a size 18 sneaker, is coordinated. “She really has improved a lot in the few years since I saw her in the World Championships,” VanDerveer says. “I think she does a lot of jump rope.”

Zheng, however, is not agile enough to stay out of foul trouble. She also has limited jumping ability. Her vertical leap has been estimated at two inches.