Trivia

• Diggers needed

  Volleyball teams feature one player wearing a different colored jersey: the libero, a defensive specialist adept at digging. Meaning "free" in Italian, the libero is not allowed to serve, spike the ball, or to rotate into one of the front-row positions.

• Diggers needed

  Volleyball teams feature one player wearing a different colored jersey: the libero, a defensive specialist adept at digging. Meaning "free" in Italian, the libero is not allowed to serve, spike the ball, or to rotate into one of the front-row positions.

• Like mother, like daughter

  Ronda Rousey became only the second woman to ever medal at the judo world championships when she took silver in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro.  The only other woman to do so?  Her mother, AnnMaria Rousey, who won gold in 1984. 

• Beach bragging rights

  Brazil has won more Olympic medals in beach volleyball (7) than any other nation, but the United States (five total medals) is the only country to win gold at each of the three Olympics in which the sport has been contested.

• True multi-sport enthusiast

  When Sheila Taormina competes in the modern pentathlon in Beijing, she will add four new disciplines (shooting, fencing, equestrian show jumping, cross-country running) to the four she has already performed (pool swimming in the 4x200m relay; open-water swimming, cycling, road running in the triathlon) on the Olympic stage.
  

• Olympian parents

  Both parents of 2004 Olympic sabre champion Mariel Zagunis, Robert and Cathy, competed in the rowing competition at the 1976 Montreal Games. Both rowed in the fours with coxswain event. Robert's boat finished 11th, and Cathy's finished 6th.
  

• Teen apprenticeship

  As a 14-year-old, U.S. water polo player Tony Azevedo lent his services as a poolside ball-boy at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
  

• Oly original

  Goalkeeper Briana Scurry has outlasted even the 'Golden Girls', playing in every Olympics for the United States since the inaugural women's tournament in 1996.
  

• Team Handball?

  The Americans have never won a medal in Olympic team handball. Their best finish was in 1984, when the women tied for fourth out of six teams. Even that team managed to make their mark in futility: in one game Yugoslav Jasna Kolar-Merdan torched the U.S. women for an Olympic record 17 goals.

• Age is a trivial matter

  Norbert Schemansky remains the oldest weightlifter (40 years, 141 days) to win an Olympic medal for the bronze he captured in the heavyweight (110kg) division at the 1964 Tokyo Games.  The youngest female lifter to win an Olympic medal is Cheryl Haworth, who was 17 years, 156 days when she captured bronze in the super-heavyweight class in Sydney in 2000.

• Twin golds

  At the 1992 Games, the U.S. won gold in the duet and Canada won silver. Both duets were teams of identical twin sisters: Americans Karen and Sarah Josephson and Canadians Penny and Vicky Vilagos. Their wins marked the first time two sets of twins took gold and silver since the 1980 Games.
  

• First American woman shooting medalist

  It wasn't until 1984 before women had their own shooting events, so when Margaret Murdock won silver in 1976, she bested female and male competitors to earn the medal.
  

• Oldest track & field gold medalist

  Pat McDonald was 42 years, 23 days when he won the gold medal in the 56-pound weight throw at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp. McDonald, who was born in Ireland, first competed at the Games for the U.S. in Stockholm in 1912, winning gold in the shot put.
  

• Ending a 40-year drought

  When the men's eight won gold in Athens, it was the first time the men had won the event since 1964.
  

• American gold in archery

  American Darrell Pace is the only archer to own two individual gold medals in the modern era of Olympic archery since 1972. He won gold in 1976 and 1984.
  

• A complicated gold

  In 1988, American Greg Barton and Australian Grant Davies paddled a close race in the K-1 1000m. After crossing the finish line, Barton was told he had won, but the scoreboard pegged Davies the winner. After the International Canoe Federation examined the finish-line photo, Barton was once again determined the victor, making him the first American paddler to win an Olympic gold medal.
  

• Youngest diving gold medalist

  American Marjorie Gestring, who was 13 years, 268 days old when she won springboard gold in 1936, is the youngest ever diving gold medalist.
  

• Most golds by a female swimmer

  American Jenny Thompson holds the record for most gold medals won by a female swimmer. She won eight golds over three Olympics -- all of which came in relays.
  

• Trampoline history

  The trampoline event made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000. The American women have qualified three times, but the Beijing Games mark the first time the American men will participate.
  

• Most times participating in the Olympics

  The record for most Olympic appearances by an American athlete is seven. Mike Plumb competed in equestrian from 1960-1976, then again in 1984 and 1992.

• Summer Games in the United States

  Three different U.S. cities have played host to the Summer Olympics: St. Louis (1904), Los Angeles (1932, 1984) and Atlanta (1996). Chicago is a candidate to stage the 2016 Games.

• Most Golds, American man

  Entering the 2008 Olympics, the record for most gold medals won by an American man is 9, shared by Mark Spitz (swimming) and Carl Lewis (track and field).

• Jean Lopez

  U.S. Olympic team coach and oldest of the Lopez siblings Jean was a top-ranked taekwondo player in his own right, winning a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships. But, unlike his younger siblings, Jean never got the opportunity to compete in an Olympic Games. Taekwondo was a demonstration sport in Seoul in 1988, and became a medal sport in 2000.

• Badminton's not-so-eligible bachelor

  Howard Bach, a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic badminton team, was also named as one of People's 50 most eligible bachelors at that time. He is currently engaged to his girlfriend of 11 years and will be married shortly after the Beijing Games.
  

• No 'Dream Team' in baseball

  The United States Olympic baseball team does not have the luxury of its basketball counterparts and cannot draw from anyone on a Major League Baseball 25-man roster.
  

• Quite the haul

  Since 1988, the U.S. tennis team has at least won one medal at each Olympic Games. Though 2004 marked the only time since tennis rejoined the Olympic schedule in Seoul that the U.S. won just one medal (silver -- Mardy Fish).
  

• The largest medal collection in Olympic sailing

  With 57 Olympic medals, the U.S. is the most successful nation in Olympic sailing history. Americans have won a medal at every Games at which it competed, with the exception of the 1928 and 1936 Games.
  

• Women's all-around champions

  Both sixteen at the time, Mary Lou Retton in 1984 and Carly Patterson in 2004 are the only American women to claim Olympic all-around gold in gymnastics.
  

• A rare hockey medal

  At the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, the United States men won bronze in field hockey, despite being outscored 33-3 in two matches, including a 24-1 drubbing at the hands of India. How did they win a medal? Easy, only three nations competed in the sport.

• Rhythmic gem

  In a sport dominated by eastern Europeans, the best Olympic finish for the U.S. in rhythmic gymnastics came from Mary Sanders, who placed 14th in Athens.
  

• America's borrowed Olympic medalist

  Gao Jun is the only member of the 2008 U.S. table tennis team with an Olympic medal -- a silver won for China in 1992. Gao has never advanced past the round of 32 while playing for the U.S. No American has medaled in the sport.
  

• A medal for the natives

  The first ever triathlon following the swim-bike-run format took place in San Diego, California on September 25, 1974. Triathlon has been an Olympic event since 2000. One American has won a medal: Susan Williams won bronze in 2004.

• A boost on the track

  In 1984, 20-year-old Steve Hegg came out of nowhere to win the 4000m individual pursuit. A former downhill skier, Hegg took up the sport when he learned that his hero, Olympic legend Jean-Claude Killy, liked to ride. Turns out he had a bit of help. Like 7 other members of the U.S. team, he participated in blood-boosting. The practice was banned in 1985.