The 2008 Beijing Olympics open on Friday, and by now, even the most casual sports fan is probably familiar with the swimming pool dramas of Michael Phelps, aiming to win a record-eight gold medals, and Dara Torres, the 41-year-old Parkland Supermom and five-time Olympian whose goggles are older than the women she beats.
No doubt they are aware that NBA stars Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are in China to reclaim their sport. And that America's latest gymnastics darlings -- Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin -- are prime candidates for gold medals and Wheaties box covers.
But there are 10,500 athletes from 202 countries in these Olympics, athletes from Argentina to Zimbabwe, which means 10,500 stories to unearth, many of them unfamiliar to American sports fans.
Here are 10 worth noting:
NADER AL MASRI
Palestinian territories
Runner
That al Masri made it to Beijing at all is remarkable. He lives in the Beit Hanoun refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and has found himself ducking crossfire between Hamas members and Israeli soldiers. Al Masri, 28, trains on a rock-covered track, and his best time in the 5,000 meters (14 minutes, 24 seconds) falls short of the Olympic qualifying standard. But the International Olympic Committee offers dozens of spots to athletes from developing nations, and Al-Masri was thrilled to accept. He was initially forbidden by the Israeli army to leave the volatile area, but Israeli human rights activists interceded on his behalf, and Al-Masri was on his way to Beijing.
NATALIE DU TOIT
South Africa
Open Water Swimming
She became the first amputee to qualify for the Olympics when she finished fourth at the world championships, 5.1 seconds behind the winner. Du Toit had almost made South Africa's 2000 Olympic team, but then in 2001 her left leg was amputated at the knee after she was hit by a car while riding her scooter home from practice. Du Toit, 24, won five gold medals at the 2004 Paralympics. The open-water 10K (6.2 miles) event makes its Olympic debut in Beijing. She swims without a prosthetic leg.
LIN DAN
China
Badminton
The subject of awe for his skills and of scorn for his tantrums, Lin has one of the most recognizable faces in China -- aside from Mao, that is. The ''bad boy of badminton'' is the two-time defending world champion. Often compared to John McEnroe for his temper on court, he breaks racquets, argues with linesmen and yells at himself. The spiky-haired Lin, known as ''Super Dan'' by his legions of fans, can smash the shuttlecock 200 mph. His girlfriend, Xie Xingfang, is the No. 1 women's player. They are a popular celebrity couple in China, along with diver Guo Jingjing and her beau Kenneth Fok, playboy grandson of a Hong Kong tycoon.
ASAFA POWELL
Jamaica
Track and Field
He was the World's Fastest Man until countryman Usain Bolt broke his world record with a time of 9.72 seconds in the 100 meters on May 31. Can Powell reclaim his crown at the Olympics after dominating the glamour sprint since 2004? Expect a showdown among Powell, Bolt and American Tyson Gay.
Powell has never won gold at a major competition; Beijing is his big chance. He finished third at the 2007 world championships after admitting he ''panicked'' when Gay pulled even with him. He set the world record of 9.74 seconds a month later to make up for the disappointment. The soft-spoken Powell, 25, grew up in Linstead, one of six sons of pastors. Unlike Ben Johnson, Donovan Bailey, Linford Christie and Merlene Ottey, he has remained in Jamaica, where he trains on an old grass track under coach Stephen Francis. He's inspired by the memory of two brothers who died young, one shot by a mugger, the other struck by a heart attack.
LAURE MANAUDOU
France
Swimming
''The French Mermaid,'' as Laure Manaudou is known, made as big a splash out of the water as in the pool in recent months. The 21-year-old triple-medalist from the 2004 Olympics went through a highly publicized breakup with Italian swimmer Luca Marin, who began dating her archrival, Federica Pellegrini of Italy. Days after the split, a raunchy video and nude photos of Manaudou showed up on the internet. Manaudou, the world-record holder in the 200-meter freestyle, had an up-and-down spring. In fact, she won't be competing in her best event because she had a meltdown at the French Olympic trials and finished third. But she will still race in four events -- the 400-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke, and 400-meter relay. Pellegrini, by the way, is favored in the 400 free, which should make for a very spicy final.
LIU XIANG
China
Track and Field
By winning gold in the 110-meter hurdles at the Athens Olympics and setting the world record of 12.88 seconds in 2006, Xiang ''proved to all the world that Asians can run very fast,'' he said. His given name (pronounced Shee-ang) aptly means ''to soar'' in Chinese. A Communist Party member and Shanghai native, only child of a truck driver and waitress, he was China's first male Olympic gold medalist in a track and field event. He's a big celebrity in China, where he endorses Coca-Cola, Nike, VISA and Nutrilite.
Xiang, whose world record was shaved by .01 seconds by Cuba's Dayron Robles in June, will be under intense pressure to defend his 2004 gold and make up for a poor season so far. A Chinese insurance company reportedly insured his legs recently for $13.5 million.
DAYRON ROBLES
Cuba
Track and Field
All of China will be rooting against Cuban world-record holder Dayron Robles in a mouth-watering 110-meter hurdles clash against Chinese mega-star Liu Xiang, the man whose record Robles broke in June. ''Flying Robles'' is a 21-year-old from Guantanamo who clocked a world-best 12.87 seconds at a meet in June, and came .01 seconds from breaking it again a month later. He is the only man to run sub-12.9 twice, and he races in prescription glasses, which makes him easy to spot on the track. The 6-foot-3 Cuban beat Liu twice last year, and their Olympic race is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the Beijing Games.
TOM DALEY
Great Britain
Diving
He will be portrayed as the ''little brother'' of the Olympics. Just 14 years old, 5 feet, 2 inches and 105 pounds, Daley has created a sensation in diving and in his home country, where he's projected to be the star of the 2012 London Games. The Plymouth prodigy, ranked sixth worldwide in the 10-meter platform event, became the youngest diver to win a European title in March. He will be the youngest British Olympian since a 13-year-old coxswain made the team in 1960.
VANESSA FERRARI
ITALY
Gymnastics
Ferrari, the 2007 European all-around and floor champion and the 2006 world all-around champion, could be the wild card against the favored Americans, Chinese and Romanians. Ferrari fell from the balance beam but came back with a spectacular floor routine to take the gold medal in a controversial finish ahead of Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek (an alternate for the U.S. team) at worlds in 2006. Ferrari, 17, has an Italian father, Bulgarian mother and twin brothers.
DIEGO HYPOLITO
Brazil
Gymnastics
When you think Brazil, you think soccer. And beach volleyball. But men's gymnastics? Absolutely. Diego Hypolito is the two-time world champion in the floor exercise and the heavy favorite to win gold. If he does, he will become the first Brazilian gymnast -- male or female -- to win a gold medal.
When he won his first world title in 2005, he was the first South American male gymnast to take a medal. He had a difficult spring, first undergoing surgery on his right knee in March, then having to be hospitalized with dengue fever in April. Hypolito, 22, is the younger brother of two-time Olympian Daniele, who was the first Brazilian woman to medal at a world championship. Daniele is back for a third Olympics.