^[1]I am so excited that the Summer Olympics kick off today in Beijing! I almost never watch sports on TV, but come the Olympics, I am glued to the screen every chance I get.

So I thought it’d be interesting to see if there were any athletes from Orlando and Central Florida participating, and would you believe we have nine people representing us this year?

Here’s a quick run-down of the Central Florida Olympians:

• Jenny Barringer ^[2] – Track & Field: 3,000m Steeplechase.
  Barringer, who went to Oviedo High School, looks strong to medal, having set a new U.S. record in the event just three weeks ago.
• Damu Cherry ^[3] – Track & Field: 100m Hurdles.
  Cherry was born in Tampa and currently lives in Ocoee.
• Phil Dalahusser ^[4] – Beach Volleyball.
  This UCF graduate and his teammate Todd Rogers are the defending FIVB World Champions going into the Olympics, so they look very strong to medal.
• Dwight Howard ^[5] – Men’s Basketball.
  Howard is the center of the Orlando Magic when not a part of the Olympic’s Team USA basketball team, which has an excellent chance to medal.
• Hunter Kemper ^[6] – Triathlon.
  Born in Longwood, FL, this will be Kemper’s third Olympics. He placed ninth at the 2004 Olympics, and stands a good chance to medal this time.
• Ryan Lochte ^[7] – Swimming: 200m Backstroke, 200m and 400m Individual Medley, 4×200m Free Relay.
  Though teammate Michael Phelps gets more media attention, Central Florida’s Lochte still has an excellent chance to medal again in one of his four competitions. In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Lochte won the gold medal in the 800m freestyle relay and won the silver in the 200 individual medley (Phelps took gold).
• DeLisha Milton-Jones ^[8] – Women’s Basketball.
  Milton-Jones attended the University of Florida in Gainesville before becoming a member of the LA Sparks. She was also a member of the Gold-medal winning US Olympic team in 2000.
• David Oliver ^[9] – Track & Field: 110m Hurdles.
  This Orlando resident goes into the Olympics as the 2008 US Indoor champ.
• Nancy Rios ^[10] – Sailing: Board (aka windsurfing).
  Cocoa Beach resident Rios came in first at the U.S. Olympic trials and looks strong to medal.

NBC-affiliate WESH has a team, headed by reporter Aixa Diaz, reporting live from Beijing, and you can catch the station’s complete local coverage online ^[11].

The Olympics will kick off with the opening ceremonies live on NBC tonight at 7:30pm, and our local athletes will be among the Team USA contingent walking into the stadium. If you miss it then, the network will be re-airing the ceremonies a few hours later at 2:30am tomorrow morning.

Anybody else going to be watching the Olympics? Got any fave sports or athletes you’ll be looking for?