Our Favorite Olympic Athletes_ Alex, April and Kayla, et al

The 2012 London Olympics are gradually drawing to a close, which means the time that was spent watching water polo and fencing can now be spent mowing the lawn or taking the cat to the vet.

Here is a look at some American women athletes who left an impression at the Olympics, irregardless of their medal tallies:

1) Kayla Harrison, 22, Boston, Mass., judo (pictured above)_ Even before she won gold at the summer games by winning over Gemma Gibbons of Great Britain, the story of Harrison was a very moving one. The judoka was sexually abused by her former judo coach during her teen years; and he got a ten-year sentence for that crime. Harrison is also the first American, of either gender, to win gold in judo for the United States.

2) Mariya Koroleva, 22, San Francisco, Calif. (born in Russia), synchronized swimming_ Americans and Canadians dominated synchronized swimming, one of only three sports in which only one gender competes, when the sport was first recognized at the Olympic level. But, in recent years, Russia, China and Spain have been among the top competitors in the sport. Koroleva is, along with fellow Stanford alum Tony Azevedo (born in Brazil) who is captain of the American men's water polo team, one of several athletes representing the United States who was born in a foreign country. Koroleva and her teammate Mary Killman finished 12th in the det competition. The same team won silver at the 2011 Pan American games.

 3) Alex Morgan, 23, Diamond Bar, Calif, soccer_ Morgan kicked the game-winning goal in extra time in a semi-final match against Canada that was won by the Americans by a 4-3 margin. Morgan scored 14 gols during a 12-game international stretch earlier this year. Team America won gold over Japan yesterday by a 2-1 score. Her teammates include the always colorful and out-spoken goalie Hope Solo.

4) April Ross, 30, Costa Mesa, Calif., beach volleyball_ Ross and teammate Jennifer Kessy won silver at the 2012 London Olympics. Earlier in her career, Ross was a stand-out at Stanford University where she helped the Cardinal get to the semi-finals/final four in indoor volleyball.

5) Brittany Viola, 25, St. Paul, Minn., platform diving (pictured below)_ Viola, who is the daughter of former baseball pitcher Frank Viola, trained as a gymnast before switching to diving in her teen years. Viola finished 14th in London; she won the U.S. Olympic trials and competed for the University of Miami (Fla).

6) Dana Vollmer, 24, Syracuse, NY, swimming (pictured center)_ Vollmer had one of the best Olympics of any athlete for the United States. She won three gold medals: 100-meter butterfly, 4 x 100 medley and 4 x 200 free-styler. She previously won a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In total, Vollmer has won 30 international medals.

http://www.kessyross.com

http://www.alexmorgan.com

http://www.kaylaharrison.com

http://www.usasynchro.org

http://www.usasoccer.com

http://www.brittanyviola.com

http://www.usadiving.org

http://www.danavollmer.com

UPDATE: Since this entry was posted this afternoon, we learned that "The Bleacher Report" posted a list of the 50 hottest American Olympic athletes, and much to our surprise, four of the athletes mentions here, plus Jennifer Kessy, who is the beach volleyball teammate of April Ross, made the list. Kessy was actually number one; the list included both male and female athletes. Also making the list were: Brittany Viola (#8), Alex Morgan (#9), Dana Vollmer (#13), Mariya Koroleva and her teammate Mary Killman (#16).

http://www.thebleacherreport.com