Medal Picks

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

HE'S HOW OLD?
HIROSHI HOKETSU
Japan, equestrian
Coming Back for More
Expected to be the Games' oldest athlete, Hoketsu, 67, is a dressage rider whose first Olympics were in 1964 in Toyko. (He finished 40th in show jumping.) A retired health-care executive with a graduate degree from Duke, the Germany-based Hoketsu kept riding, but bad luck plagued him. Of his hopes for Beijing he says, "I'm not going to the Olympics simply to take part."

FEVER PITCH
DIEGO HYPÓLITO
Brazil, gymnastics

First Sick, Now Sick Good
In rebounding from dengue fever, which he got when it spread through Brazil in March, world floor exercise champ Hypólito, 22, joins a list of Olympians back from medical woes. The hardest hit: Aussie sailor Elise Rechichi, 22, who swallowed sewage-tainted bay water at the Olympic venue in Qingdao in 2006 and dropped from 110 pounds to 90 in a 10-month struggle with intestinal problems.

CHASING HISTORY
EKATERINA KARSTEN
Belarus, rowing

Five for the Books
Karsten, 36, who won bronze in the quad in 1992 and two golds and a silver in single sculls at the last three Games, could become the sixth woman to win medals in at least five Summer Olympics. Russia's Dmitri Sautin, 34, could add to his Games-record seven diving medals. Four-time champ Giovanna Trillini, 38, of Italy could set the mark for medals by a woman fencer. And, of course, Michael Phelps is three golds shy of the record of nine held by Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz, Paavo Nurmi and gymnast Larisa Latynina.

POWER COUPLES
STEPHANIE RICE, EAMON SULLIVAN
Australia, swimming

Love and Complications
The Games' fastest duo (inset) is Rice, 20, who set 200 and 400 IM world records in March, and beau Sullivan, 22, who broke the 50-free mark that month. The title might have gone to 200-free world-record holder Laure Manaudou of France and 400 IM star Luca Marin of Italy, but the pair broke up in bitter fashion last year—and Marin began dating Manaudou's archrival, Italy's Federica Pellegrini.

ACES IN SPADES
ROGER FEDERER
Switzerland, tennis

Big Names Hit the Courts
Three-time Olympian Federer, who has never won a medal, could face a Grand Slam--worthy rematch with Rafael Nadal of Spain, who is playing Olympic singles for the first time. Also headed for the Beijing hardcourts: Russia's Maria Sharapova (right), Serbia's Ana Ivanovic and the U.S.'s Venus and Serena Williams.