Age: 25. College: University of Illinois.
Event: 400-meter hurdles.
Buford-Bailey, a native of Dayton, Ohio, blossomed into a world-class hurdler at Illinois, where she collected 25 Big Ten titles. She won a silver medal at the 1995 world championships, finishing .01 seconds behind Kim Batten as both broke the previous world record. Buford-Bailey maintains homes in Champaign and Kansas City. Barring disaster, Buford-Bailey and Batten should line up again in the finals this summer. Unlike last year, however, they’ll likely have to contend with 1992 Olympic gold medalist Sally Gunnell of Great Britain, who missed last season due to injury.
JAMES CARPENTER
Age: 34. College: Northwestern University.
Event: Fencing.
Carpenter, an advertising account executive in the New York area, will compete in men’s epee.
BILL CLAY
Age: 22. Born: Vernon Hills (Libertyville High School). Event: Cycling.
Clay was a bronze medalist at the 1995 World Velodrome Championships and has won events in Trinidad and Germany within the last year. He finished second to Marty Nothstein in the match sprint event at the Olympic Trials. They should contend for a medal along with riders from France, Germany, Canada and Australia.
MIKE CONLEY
Age: 33. Born: Chicago (Luther South High School). Event: Triple jump.
Conley, the defending Olympic gold medalist, has one of the most distinguished resumes on the U.S. track and field roster, having competed in two previous Olympics. He won a silver medal in 1984 and sailed 59 feet, 7 1/2 inches in one of his jumps in 1992–a distance that would have set a new world record were it not for a barely illegal wind. Conley, who lives in Fayetteville, Ark., has been ranked in the top 10 in his event for the last 13 years and has held the no. 1 ranking six times.
YARO DACHNIWSKY
Age: 33. Born: Chicago (Gordon Technical High School/University of Illinois-Chicago). Event: Team handball.
Dachniwsky played soccer at UIC before embarking on a 13-year professional indoor soccer career. He was recruited by the U.S. team handball federation and made the Olympic team as a reserve goalkeeper. The U.S., which has never won an Olympic medal in this sport, qualified automatically as the host country and will have an uphill battle against the European powers. France is the world’s top-ranked country.
DAVID DIAZ
Age: 20. Born: Chicago (Carl Schurz High School). Event: Boxing.
Diaz, a light welterweight (139 pounds), is a former Junior Olympic, Olympic Festival and three-time National Golden Gloves champion. He represents the Hamlin Park Club.
ROB EITER
Age: 28. Born: Arlington Heights (St. Viator High School). Event: Freestyle wrestling.
Eiter is a five-time national champion in the 105.5-pound weight class. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1991 with a psychology degree and is an assistant wrestling coach at Clarion (Pa.) University. The United States has not won an Olympic medal in this weight class since 1984, but Eiter should be in the mix if he makes the team, having beaten most of the major players at least once–with the notable exception of Russia’s Vugar Orudjev, the reigning world champion.
LINDA FRENCH
Age: 32. Born: Elmhurst (York Community High School). Event: Badminton.
French, a 1992 Olympian and 12-time national champion, will compete in doubles with partner Erika Von Heiland. She is a lawyer who plans to pursue a career in immigration or sports law after the Games. Badminton, traditionally dominated by Asian, Scandinavian and former British Commonwealth countries, made its Summer Olympics debut in 1992. No U.S. player made it past the second round. French and Von Heiland are currently ranked 38th in the world.
ROBERT GARY
Age: 23. Born: Evanston (Evanston Township High School). Event: Steeplechase.
Gary ran track and cross-country at Ohio State University, where he was an All-American and Academic All-Big Ten. Gary won the steeplechase at two national meets last year and was 4th at the NCAA championships. He trains in Columbus with U.S. steeplechase champion Mark Croghan.
NATE JONES
Age: 23. Born: Chicago (Lincoln Park High School). Event: Boxing.
Jones, a heavyweight (201 pounds) is a former national Police Athletic League and two-time National Golden Gloves titlist. He represents the Matadors club and trains at the Northwest Settlement House.
CAREN KEMNER
Age: 31. Born: Quincy (Notre Dame High School). Event: Volleyball.
Kemner, an outside hitter, will be competing in her third Olympics. Injuries have limited her playing time, but she is considered a key veteran on a team that should contend for a medal this summer along with Cuba, Brazil and Russia. Kemner has played professionally in Italy, Brazil and Japan.
MARKO KOERS
Age: 23. College: University of Illinois. Event: Track.
Koers, the NCAA champion at 1,500 meters and runner-up in the 800, will compete for his native Netherlands in one or both of those events in Atlanta.
TARAS ”TERRY” LISKEVYCH
Age: 47. Born: Chicago (St. Ignatius High School/Loyola University). Event: Volleyball.
Liskevych, the head coach for the U.S. women’s team, will be on the sidelines for his third Olympics. He now lives in California.
ANTOINETTE LUCAS
Age: 27. College: Northwestern University. Event: Field hockey.
An All-American in field hockey and lacrosse for the Wildcats, Lucas, a midfielder/defender, has played in more than 90 international matches for the U.S. since joining the national team six years ago. She is a native of Virginia. The U.S. ranks third in the world behind Australia and South Korea.
BARRY MCDONALD
Age: 24. College: University of Illinois-Chicago. Event: Gymnastics.
McDonald, a UIC graduate who is now an assistant coach, will be the first-ever gymnast to represent his native country of Ireland.
CARLA MCGHEE
Age: 28. Born: Peoria (Peoria Manual High School). Event: Basketball.
After playing for the University of Tennessee’s 1987 NCAA championship team her freshman year, McGhee survived a near-fatal auto crash to start for the 1989 NCAA champions. She is a reserve center/forward who sees substantial minutes for the women’s Dream Team. The U.S. is hoping to regain the gold medal that went to the former Soviet Union in 1992.
NANCY NAPOLSKI
Age: 22. Born: Downers Grove (Benet Academy). Event: Shooting.
Napolski, who had her sights set on the 2000 Games, shocked even herself in April when she qualified for the Olympic team in air rifle, then won a gold medal at a World Cup event in Atlanta. She graduated from the University of Kentucky this spring with a degree in horticulture. Her fiance, Josh Lakatos, also made the team in trap shooting. Air rifle is the first event on the first day of the Olympics. Napolski will face stiff competition from European powers such as Germany and Bulgaria.
KATE NELSON
Age: 18. Born: Arlington Heights (Downers Grove North High School). Event: Rhythmic gymnastics.
Nelson is one of six women who will compete in the rhythmic gymnastics group event, which is debuting as a medal discipline in Atlanta. The group team lived and trained together for a year in Downers Grove.
SCOTTIE PIPPEN
Age: 30. Pro team: Chicago Bulls. Event: Basketball.
Despite entreaties from the Bulls front office, who would prefer that he rested his aching legs, Pippen will try to earn a second Olympic gold medal as a forward on this year’s version of the Dream Team.
TOM PUKSTYS
Age: 28. Born: Palos Hills (Stagg High School). Event: Javelin.
A 1992 Olympian, Pukstys set a new U.S. record (282 feet, 3 inches) at a meet in Paris last month. He is a two-time national champion. He recently resigned his position as an assistant track coach at Brown University. Defending Olympic champion and world record holder Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic is favored to win the gold. Pukstys, who finished 10th at the Barcelona Games, wants to crack the top six.
NANCY RENO
Age: 30. Born: Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West High School). Event: Beach volleyball.
Reno, an All-American at Stanford University, began playing on the beach circuit in 1990 after being cut from the indoor national team. Playing as part of various tandems, she has won 28 events and amassed more than $345,000 in career earnings. Reno lives outside San Diego, has a strong interest in the environment and has completed some graduate work in animal biology. Reno and partner Holly McPeak were among the best in the world last year, but they will have to overcome a well-publicized temporary split and erratic play this season to overcome the powerful Brazilians.
CHALLEN SIEVERS
Age: 17. Born: Downers Grove (Downers Grove North High School). Event: Rhythmic gymnastics.
Sievers, a former junior national champion in individual competition, is part of the six-member group team that will compete in Atlanta in the event’s Olympic debut. The U.S. team placed 17th at the 1994 World Championships and third at last year’s Pan American Games, but the sport is overwhelmingly dominated by the European nations.
JENNY SPANGLER
Age: 32. Born: Gurnee (Rockford Guilford High School). Event: Marathon.
Spangler chose a good time to win her first marathon in 13 years, stunning the field at the Olympic Trials in Columbia, S.C. last February by finishing first in a course-record 2:29.54. She is coached by former Cook County criminal defense lawyer Willie Rios and this spring has been training with the Santa Monica Track Club. Spangler was an All-American in track and cross-country at the University of Iowa. She is on leave from her job as a computer systems analyst for the Trustmark insurance company.
DANI TYLER
Age: 21. Born: River Forest, (Oak Park-River Forest High School). Event: Softball.
Tyler is expected to start at second base for the powerful U.S. team, which has lost only once in 111 international games in the last 10 years. She was an all-state prep player and hit .395 over three seasons as the starting shortstop at Drake University. Tyler, an accounting major and one of the youngest members of the squad, took the last academic year off to barnstorm on an exhibition tour with the team.
DERRICK WALDROUP
Age: 33. Born: Midlothian (Bremen High School/Triton Junior College). Event: Greco-Roman wrestling.
Waldroup, a light-heavyweight, is a four-time national champion. He defeated another Chicago-area native, Michial Foy, in the Olympic Trials to make his first Olympic team. Russia dominates this sport, which was one of the original events in the first modern Olympics in 1896. The only U.S. gold medal ever in this weight class was won by Steve Fraser in 1984, the year of the Russian boycott. Turkey’s Hakki Baser is the reigning world champion. Waldroup is a staff sergeant stationed at Ft. Benning, Ga.
CAMERON WRIGHT
Age: 23. Born: Creal Springs (Marion High School/Southern Illinois State University). Event: High jump.
Wright, a former Missouri Valley Conference champion who finished 6th in the NCAA championships and 12th at the U.S. championships last year, surprised observers by qualifying for the team with a personal best jump of 7-6.
