The big names at the summer games are pros or well-marketed brands. These international athletes deserve support SLIDE SHOW
(Credit: Reuters/AP/Salon)
The three-minute biography is as indispensable to NBC’s Olympic coverage as Bob Costas thoughtfully stroking his upper lip. Sporting careers are short, Olympic sports are obscure, and the games are a quadrennial happening — so most athletes have only one chance to win a medal. Which means we have only one chance to learn about them.
These are the eight athletes Salon would most like to see profiled on the Olympic broadcast. Not all of them have a chance to win a medal — although Dawn Harper already has a gold — but they all represent how sports can inspire a nation, a gender or a generation.