Hard as it is to imagine given the amount of attention certain athletes receive, there are American Olympians other than Michael Phelps and the men’s basketball team with strong chances of winning a gold medal in Beijing.

While Phelps’s pursuit of a record eight gold medals and a revitalized Team USA’s chance at basketball redemption will get their fair share of headlines in the coming weeks, it’s also a near-certainty that an under-the-radar American athlete will emerge to win gold and become part of Olympic folklore.

So without diminishing the likely exploits of LeBron James and the rest of his highly publicized compatriots, here are some lesser-known Americans with serious chances at becoming household names in a matter of days.

Rowing

Anna Cummins: Cummins is part of the U.S. women’s eight-person rowing team, which is coming off consecutive World Championships in 2006 and 2007. She and the rest of the women’s eight are looking to build off a silver-medal showing in the 2004 Athens Games, where the Americans came through as underdogs. In addition, the University of Washington graduate Cummins has an outside chance at medaling in the women’s pair event, alongside partner Portia McGee. The duo won the Olympic trials in the event, but face stiff competition from teams out of China and Belarus.

Shooting

Matt Emmons: All Matt Emmons had to do was hit any part of the target on his final shot in the small-bore rifle event in the 2004 games to become a double gold medal winner. A world-class shooter, Emmons successfully hit a target — except it was the wrong one. He finished eighth and becoming the butt of many competitors’ jokes. But the loss turned into a feel-good story after Emmons went to an Athens beer garden to drink away his devastation and ended up meeting his future wife, the Czech Republic shooter Katerina Emmons. Rejuvenated heading into Beijing, the 28-year-old Emmons has a good chance of defending his gold medal in the three-position rifle event and avenging his loss in the small-bore competition.

Beach Volleyball

Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh: May-Treanor and Walsh have been fixtures in the winners’ circle on the pro beach volleyball circuit for years, but they’ve also dominated at the international level as well. The duo is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in women’s beach volleyball and has won the last three World Championships since the Athens Games. Although there are 24 teams competing in the women’s beach volleyball competition in Beijing, May-Treanor and Walsh’s stiffest test should come from fellow Americans, Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs. But nobody has been able to stop May-Treanor and Walsh, and their reputations have reached awe-inspiring levels. “They’re so much better than everyone else, it’s ridiculous,” their American counterpart on the men’s side, Todd Rogers, said of the duo.

Equestrian

Phillip Dutton: Olympic glory is nothing new to 45-year-old Phillip Dutton, who will be making his Olympic debut wearing American colors at the Beijing Games. A two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996 and 2000) in the eventing competition, which combines jumping, dressage (described as horse ballet), and cross-country riding, Dutton became an American citizen in 2006. Both of his previous gold medals were won representing Australia. In American pro sports terms, Dutton is as close to a premier free agent as you can get in the Olympic Games.

Weight lifting

Cheryl Haworth: Often called the “strongest woman in America,” Cheryl Haworth made headlines at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney when she earned a bronze medal after performing a 319-pound clean-and-jerk lift and a 275-pound snatch lift as a 17-year old. Haworth, who tips the scales at more than 315 pounds and competes in the super heavyweight division of competitive weight lifting, struggled in Athens in 2004, after never fully recovering from tearing two elbow ligaments during training leading up to the 2003 World Championships. Heading into Beijing, she claims to have a clean bill of health and at full strength, she has proven to be one of the elites in the world of weight lifting.

Triathlon

Hunter Kemper: The triathlon is known as the most grueling of Olympic events, and the 32-year-old Kemper has found out the hard way just how difficult the combination of a 1,500 meter swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride, and a 10-kilometer run can be when you come agonizingly close to winning. The 2008 Olympics will be Kemper’s third competing in the triathlon after finishing ninth in 2004 and 17th in 2000. Since those disappointments, Kemper has elevated his status in the triathlon world, even being named the top triathlete in the world for 2005. Kemper has as good a shot as any to capture Olympic gold in Beijing, where the third time may finally be the charm.

Cycling

Sarah Hammer: It wouldn’t be a stretch to call Sarah Hammer the Drew Barrymore of women’s cycling. She began racing competitively as an 8-year-old prodigy and four years later captured her first junior national championship as a 12-year-old. But as is the case with many child stars, Hammer quickly burned out on the sport and quit cycling before the Athens Games. Now back after getting the racing itch again, Hammer captured a silver medal in the 3,000-meter chase at the 2008 World Championships. The time off hasn’t diminished her bravado, though, as Hammer not-so-subtly calls herself a “future Olympic gold medalist” on her Web site.

Wrestling

Dremiel Byers: In 2004, Byers went to Athens with the sole purpose of being Rulon Gardner’s practice partner after losing to Gardner in the Olympic trials. Four years later, with Gardner retired, Byers has his chance to show he’s more than just a practice player in the super heavyweight division in Beijing. Byers, who is an eight-time national champion and currently enlisted in the Army, should battle with Russia’s Khassan Baroev for the gold.

Fencing

Sada Jacobson: As Michael Strahan can attest, going out a champion seems to make all the years of coming up just short a distant memory. Two-time Olympian and the world’s no. 1 ranked sabre fencer, Sada Jacobson, hopes the 2008 games will help to repress one of her few career disappointments. She settled for a bronze medal at Athens in 2004, losing a semifinal match that she still calls “the most challenging of my career.” The Beijing Olympics will likely be Jacobson’s last international competition, as she will be getting married and going to law school following the games. And unless she wants to be known as the Patrick Ewing of fencing, the 25-year-old Jacobson must make the most of her last chance at Olympic gold.

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