Candace Parker

Here is former University of Tennessee star and current WNBA star Candace Parker accepting the 2008 ESPY as female athlete of the year.

Angela Tincher

Angela Tincher walks the red carpet at the 2008 ESPYs. Angela is a softball pitcher who played collegiately for Virginia Tech from 2005 through 2008, and earlier this year was the No. 1 draft pick of the NPF Akron Racers.

In March of 2008, Tincher no-hit the U.S. Olympic softball team. The no-hitter, according to Wikipedia, ended the U.S. squad's 185-game pre-Olympic exhibition game win streak, a streak that dated to 1996.

Tincher was at the ESPYs as a nominee in the category of Best Collegiate Female Athlete.

Gretchen Bleiler

Snowboarding legend Gretchen Bleiler shows off the ESPY award she won as "best female action sports athlete." Seems like a good choice. Bleiler is only one of the most accomplished, most influential athletes of the past quarter-century within her own sport.

Lindsey Vonn

Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn on the red carpet at the ESPYs. Vonn is a two-time Olympian and the 2008 Alpine Skiing World Cup overall champion.

Michelle Kwan

American figure skating legend Michelle Kwan arrives at the ESPYs.

Softballers

From left, it's softball players Mallory Holtman (Central Washington), Sara Tucholsky (Western Oregon), and Liz Wallace (Central Washington). The three won the ESPY for Best Moment/Great Sportsmanship.

Malia Jones

Surfer and model Malia Jones. Somehow, neither of her vocations is a surprise.

Chloe Sutton

It's no surprise that Chloe Sutton, a California girl, loves to surf. But surfing is not yet an Olympic sport. So Chloe had to get to Beijing a different way. By swimming. Really far. In open water.

Chloe Sutton is America's top open-water distance swimmer. She was the national champion in the Open Water 10k in both 2006 and 2007; won gold in the Open Water 10k at the 2007 Pan American Games; and won the 10k Beijing Test Event to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

Chloe also earned a bronze medal in the recently completed U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in the 800m freestyle. In her younger days, Chloe set four national age-group records (for ages 11-12) that still stand.

So, how does one become a top-ranked distance swimmer? Training, training and more training. Chloe's training regimen involves swimming 10,000 to 15,000 yards per day - four hours a day, six days a week.

Lolo Jones

Lolo Jones is an American hurdler who is heading to Beijing as one of the favorites in the 100-meter hurdles. As a collegian at Louisiana State University, Lolo won three NCAA titles, six SEC championships, and was an 11-time All-American.

She won the 60-meter hurdles gold medals at the 2007 and 2008 USA Indoor Championships, and won the 60 at the 2008 World Indoor Championships.

At the recently completed U.S. Track & Field Trials, Jones won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.29, below Gail Devers' American record of 12.33, but wind-aided.

Dara Torres

For an Olympic hopeful - for an athlete in just about any sport - age 41 is ... well ... old. But 41-year-old Dara Torres isn't acting her age in the swimming pool. Torres made the U.S. Olympic swim team for the fifth time, winning the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle, and setting American records in both. The 50 free is an event she first set an American record in way back in 1983! Torres is the first swimmer to make five U.S. Olympic teams.

Amy Acuff

She's back on another Olympic team. Amy Acuff will be high jumping in Beijing after qualifying at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Acuff finished second in the trails with a score of 6 feet, 4 inches (1.93 meters). This will be her fourth appearance as a U.S. Olympian.

Acuff is having a bit of a resurgence in her 30s, winning the 2008 National Indoor Championship, her first national title (Indoor or Outdoor) since 2005.

Sanya Richards

Sanya Richards is heading to Beijing. Anyone surprised? Of course not. Richard, the American record-holder in the 400m, won golf at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, in the 400, winning by nearly a full second.

Richards is engaged to New York Giants defensive back Aaron Ross:

Katie Hoff

Baltimore's Katie Hoff was the first swimmer at the U.S. Olympic swim trials to earn Olympic berths in two races - the 400 freestyle and the 400 individual medley.

Her win in the 400 IM also set a new world record at 4:31.12. Hoff will attempt to qualify in four more events before the Trials are over.