When the summer Olympics rolled around in 2004, we all knew who was competing. Michael Phelps, Jennie Finch, Amanda Beard, Lisa Fernandez, Maurice Greene, Diana Taurasi, Allen Iverson, Carly Patterson, Paul Hamm, Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm, to name a few, all became household names during that summer.

This year, for the 2006 Winter Olympics, do we know who is competing? Sure, we can name the members of the USA men's hockey team, but who else is out there?

Here is a breakdown of some of the athletes to watch when the Games begin next week:

Figure skating: Sasha Cohen is returning to the Olympics this year after a heartbreaking fourth-place finish in 2002.

Since then, Cohen has had a stellar career by placing second at Nationals twice and by winning the competition this year to qualify for the Games. She also has placed second at the last two World Figure Skating Championships.

Cohen is a favorite to win the gold this year, as long as she can outlast that Russian judge and the drama that figure skating normally brings to the Olympics.

Speaking of drama, figure skating legend Michelle Kwan is also back this year. Kwan did not compete at Nationals due to a right groin injury, but petitioned for a spot on the team and won it at the end of January.

Kwan has been around for a while, but has never won a gold medal. In her career she has won nine U.S. titles, five world titles, and has won silver (1998) and bronze (2002) in the last two Olympics. If she wins gold this year, watch for Kwan in plenty of commercials and late-night talk shows.

Snowboarding: New to the Olympics this year is Gretchen Bleiler. This half-pipe sensation was left off the 2002 Olympic roster after falling victim in a tiebreaker to Tricia Byrnes. Since then, she has gone on to win the X Games, the Gravity Games and the U.S. Open.

Another half-pipe star, Shaun White also just missed the Olympic team by falling short (.3 points) in 2002. Since then the 19-year-old daredevil has devoted his training to qualifying for this year's Games. After a rough four years, his training paid off when he became an unprecedented five-event winner at the U.S. Grand Prix.

First-time Olympian Seth Wescott also will be looking to make an impact in the Games. The reigning world champion on the snowboard cross has been going to extreme measures to prepare for the Olympics.

To train for his event, Wescott participates in the dangerous sport of big mountain riding, where an athlete is dropped from a helicopter onto a mountain.

By going where no one has gone before, Wescott will be looking to win a medal that he has never won before.

Alpine skiing: It is hard not to ignore this sport, especially with Bode Miller stirring up all kinds of trouble by traveling to Mexico to visit "special" doctors, as well as declaring he competes with a hangover and accuses everyone of doing steroids.

But the man does know how to ski. With four World titles under his name and two silver medals from Salt Lake City, Miller is not one to mess with. If he can stay sober, he will be an unbeatable threat to any of his competitors.

As the only American female to win a medal at the 2005 World Championships (bronze in the super-G and giant slalom), Julia Mancuso looks to be the class of Team USA. Mancuso grew up on the slopes in Lake Tahoe and has been a skiing phenom since she was a teenager. Growing up, she won eight medals (five gold) at the World Junior Championships, a U.S. record.

Speed skating: There must be something about Wisconsin, because four athletes on the U.S. speed skating team all hail from the Dairy State.

Out of the quartet, Casey FitzRandolph highlights the crew. At age 31, FitzRandolph will be competing in his second Olympics; last time around, he won gold in the men's 500-meter. Look for this Madison native to prove age does not matter as he tries to defend his title.

Also back defending her title is Chris Witty. In 2002, the Waukesha native took gold in the women's 1,000-meter in world-record time at the Salt Lake Games. Witty, also 31, has two more medals under her belt. She won silver in the 1,000-meter and a bronze in the 1500-meter at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Last but by far not least, Maria Lamb will be making her first trip to the games along with Catherine Raney, who will be competing in her second Olympics in the 5000-meter and 3000-meter event.

Ice Badgers: The UW hockey tradition carries on as eight Badgers will represent two different countries at the Olympic Games.

Dany Heatley will make his first Olympic appearance and joins three former Badgers, Curtis Joseph, Pat Flatley and Bruce Driver, on Team Canada.

Two other UW alums, defensemen Chris Chelios and Brian Rafalski, were named to Team USA.

For the women, former Badger Carla MacLeod will play for Team Canada, and former Badger defenseman Molly Engstrom will be making her Olympic debut for Team USA.