Zagunis, who fenced collegiately at Notre Dame, was the first American fencer to win gold in more than a century when she took home the top prize in individual sabre in Athens in 2004. She repeated the feat in Beijing in 2008 as well as at the World Championships in 2009 and 2010.

Lomong was a Lost Boy of Sudan displaced in the United States in 2001 after ten years in a Sudanese refugee camp. He was put in a New York State household and introduced to track at Tully High School in Tully, N.Y. Lomong ran track at Northern Arizona University and gained citizenship on July 6, 2007. Exactly one year later, he qualified for the Olympics. "Now I'm not just one of the 'Lost Boys.' I'm an American," he said. Lomong's story resulted with his flag bearing at the Olympics. He is a member of Team Darfur, an international association of athletes who work to raise awareness of the violence in Darfur.

A three-time Olympian, Staley won three gold medals in basketball from 1996-2004. She says she gave her 1996 gold medal to her mother, Estelle, as a gift for being the biggest influence in Staley's life. She was named the 2004 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year. Staley was an assistant coach for the USA basketball team at the 2008 Olympics.

Meidl, at age 20, suffered near-fatal electrical burns and other injuries in a construction accident that sent 30,000 volts through his body. Despite the odds, Meidl overcame his injuries and competed in kayaking at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. After carrying the flag in Sydney, Meidl has worked in asset management and been a motivational speaker.

The New Jersey-born wrestling legend won four medals, two gold, one silver and one bronze, in freestyle (130 kg) between the years 1984 and 1996. He served as the host flag bearer in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Baumgartner is the current Director of Athletics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Larrieu Smith never medaled in the Olympics, but she was one of the most durable long-distance runners of all-time, representing the United States at every Olympics from 1972-1992 with the exception of the boycotted 1980 Games. She finished fifth in the 10,000 meters in 1988. Larrieu Smith has been the cross-country coach at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, since 1999.

In 1984, Ashford became the first woman to ever run the 100 meters in under 11 seconds at the Olympics, clocking a time of 10.97 seconds. Ashford added three 4x100 relay gold medals in 1984, 1988 and 1992 games. She also won a silver medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. As good as Ashford was, her prime may have been in 1980 when the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics. She had previously finished in fifth place in the 100 at the 1976 Olympics.

Burke finished seventh in the hammer throw at the 1964 Olympics and was a favorite in 1968. But Burke walked away from the sport after Mexico City because he felt unfairly judged for a disappointing performance. In 1979, 15 years later, while watching the World Cup with his daughters, Burke claims one of them asked, "You did that?" Burke, almost 40 at the time, decided to give hammer throwing a try again. He made the U.S. team in 1984 for his third Olympic appearance, and his comeback story earned him the flag in Los Angeles.

Hall carried the flag at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The swimmer entered the Games with two silver medals (400 meter medley in 1968 and 200 meter butterfly in 1972) and added a bronze medal in Montreal in the 100 butterfly. After his swimming career ended, Hall became an ophthalmologist. His son, Gary Hall, Jr. competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning ten medals, including five gold.

Fikotova's claim to fame came at the 1956 Melbourne Games as a representative of Czechoslovakia. She won gold in the discus throw and simultaneously fell in love with Harold Connolly, the American hammer gold medalist at the same Olympics. When the couple's relationship went public, the West embraced it, while the communist side of the Iron Curtain scoffed at the romance. Fikotova soon married Connolly and moved to the United States. "We believe in love," U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said after Connolly's proposal. Fikotova's wish to continue representing Czechoslovakia was disallowed by the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee, and Fikotova began representing the United States. Fikotová competed as an American in every Olympics up until 1972 when she carried the flag in Munich. Outside of the Olympics, Fikotova, who had been training to be a doctor in Czechoslovakia, worked cleaning the offices of The Boston Globe, while Connolly sold insurance. The couple divorced in 1973.

Fencer Romary became the first female flag bearer for the United States at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The Games were Romary's sixth Olympics. Although she never won a medal, Romary finished fourth in women's individual foil in 1952 and 1956. After her Olympic career as a competitor, Romary was the women's administrator for the United States Olympic Committee for the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the commissioner of fencing at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

O'Brien arrived at the 1964 Tokyo Games a three-time shot put medalist after winning gold medals in Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956 and a silver medal in Rome in 1960. At the Tokyo Olympics, O'Brien finished fourth. The Santa Monica, Calif., native practiced shot put deep into his life, throwing a 6-kilogram shot put 17.72 meters in his early 50s.

A decathlete from Hillsboro, Texas, Johnson became the first African-American flag bearer for the United States at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He won two Olympic medals in his career, a silver in Melbourne in 1956 and a gold in Rome, both in the decathalon. Johnson was the 1958 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Outside of track and field, Johnson was a 28th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams, a film/TV actor (his most famous appearance was as a DEA Agent in the James Bond film License to Kill) and a member of the Peace Corps. He also worked on Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign and was part of the group that grabbed Sirhan Sirhan after assassinating Kennedy. Reporter Andrew West of KRKD in Los Angeles famously shouted "Get the gun, Rafer, get the gun!" His brother Jimmy is a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and his daughter Jenny represented the U.S. in beach volleyball at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Armitage, a fencer, won his only Olympic medal, a bronze, in the sabre team event at the 1948 London games. He competed in six Olympics from 1928-1956 and would have been part of more Olympics if it were not for the suspension of the 1940 and 1944 Games during World War II. During Armitage's fencing career, he doubled as a chemical engineer and a patent attorney. The Albany, N.Y., native was also Jewish and known for his waxed mustache.

Craig became a hero at the 1912 Stockholm Games when he won two gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters. He retired from track and field after the Olympics. Craig returned to the Olympics in 1948 as a U.S. yachting team alternate. The 59-year-old did not compete in the games, but carried the flag at the Opening Ceremonies in London.

Jochim, a gymnast born in Berlin, became the second foreign-born Olympian to carry the American flag at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Jochim was coming off a two-silver medal performance at the 1932 Los Angeles Games in the vault and team all-around. But he failed to medal in his birth city.

Taylor, a hurdler from Sioux City, Iowa, carried the American flag into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at the 1932 Olympics. He won three medals in three different Olympics, all in the 400 meter hurdles: a gold at the 1924 Paris Games and bronzes at the 1928 Amsterdam Games and 1932 Los Angeles Games. Along with track and field, Taylor also played football at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

A track and field athlete from Missouri, Houser won three Olympic medals -– all gold. He claimed two gold medals at the 1924 Paris Games, one in the shot put and one in the discus throw. As the flag bearer at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, he successfully defended his discus throw crown for another gold. After his Olympic success, Houser became a dentist.

In the first Olympics after World War I, McDonald, born in County Clare, Ireland, became the first foreign-born American flag bearer. Like Bonhag, McDonald was a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department. For many years, his police work consisted of being a traffic cop in Times Square. McDonald, the third consecutive track and field flag bearer, kept up the trend of also winning a gold medal. he won gold in the 56-pound weight throw. McDonald ended the streak when he failed to medal at the 1924 Paris Games. McDonald also won a gold in the shot put and a silver in the two-handed shot put at the 1912 Stockholm Games along with his 1920 gold.

A member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department, Rose won his first Olympic medal at the 1908 London Games, a silver in the 3-mile team race. In the 1912 Stockholm Games, Bonhag won his only gold medal in the 3000 meter team race. He also competed in individual races, steeplechase events and cross-country competitions but failed to medal in those events. Bonhag also played first base in an exhibition baseball tournament played at the 1912 Olympics (baseball had not become an Olympic sport yet). Jim Thorpe was one of his baseball teammates.

Rose won three gold medals, two in the shot put (1904 in St. Louis and 1908 in London) and one in the two-handed shot put (1912 in Stockholm). He also won a discus throw silver in St. Louis, a shot put silver in Stockholm and a bronze in the hammer throw in St. Louis. In 1908 in London, Rose also took part in the tug of war competition but failed to medal. The Healdsburg, Calif., native competed for the famed Olympic Club in San Francisco.