Natalie Coughlin
Natalie, also a Cal alum, hails from Vallejo. She’s won 12 Olympic medals over her storied career spanning the Athens, Beijing and London Games. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first female athlete in Olympic history to win six medals in a single Games, as well as the first woman to win the 100-meter backstroke in back-to-back Olympics. She added to her staggering medal total in London, winning bronze as a member of the 4X100-meter freestyle relay team.
Allyson Felix
The 26-year-old from Southern California is one of the most decorated sprinters in track and field in history. With eight gold medals and two individual silver medals, Felix has proven that she’s a force to be reckoned with. “Allyson Felix absolutely dominated the 200 meters at Olympic trial,” Sanders said. “She ran the fastest 200 in 14 years, so I think that puts her as the favorite in that event.”
Kerri Walsh
Paired up with Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh-Jennings won Olympic gold at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games and is known as one of the best beach volleyball players to ever compete in the sport. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Walsh-Jennings and May-Treanor started off with a bang, defeating Australia, the Czech Republic and Austria. They advanced to earn another win against The Netherlands, and then defeated Italy in the quarter-finals. They will continue their fight for a third Olympic gold medal against China in the semi-finals round.
Logan Tom
Considering 2012 is an Olympics year, it’s pretty safe to say that this list could be populated solely by hot beach volleyball players. That would be pretty boring, but probably no less sexy. In honor of the United States beach volleyball reps, let’s lay the crown on Logan Tom, who may not have achieved the success of Misty And Kerri, but she’s hanging right with them in the looks department.
Hope Solo
Hope Solo’s good looks are enough to stop most men in their tracks. But on the soccer field, it’s her skills that leave them gaping. One of the most celebrated goalkeepers in international soccer, the 5’9” 30-year-old Washington native once went 1,054 minutes (about 12 games) without allowing a single goal. The U.S. national team’s first-choice goalkeeper since 2005, Solo helped lead the team to a gold in the 2008 Olympics—a feat she hopes to repeat in London.