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Athletes from all over the world are competing in Olympic trials for the 2000 Olympic Games in order to win a coveted spot on their countries Olympic team. Some athletes train and practice for almost their entire lives in order to get a chance to go to the Olympics and bring home a medal for themselves and their country. If you watched the Olympic trials on Thursday, Aug.10 you caught a glimpse of the excitement that surrounds these games. In the 100-meter butterfly swimming trial Jenny Thompson touched the wall a split-second faster than Dana Torres-two swimmers who are very familiar to the Olympic Games. The two swimmers were even for almost the entire race when Thompson touched the wall at 57.78 seconds and Torres at 57.86 seconds.

Jenny Thompson has won 5 gold medals in swimming events but they have all been in relays. This is the first time that she will have a chance to win her first individual gold medal. Dana Torres decided only late last year to try for the Olympics after she had taken a seven-year break from the sport. Both women won spots on the Olympic team which will make Torres the only female swimmer to compete in 4 Olympic Games. The two women hugged after the event on Thursday in the true spirit of the games. They are competitors, athletes and friends who remind us of how exciting these games can be.