2004 Olympians: Utah High School Alumni

In 1964, volleyball became an Olympic sport.

Volleyball originated in the United States, yet its popularity on a global basis ranks behind only soccer among participation sports. Today there are more than 46 million Americans who play volleyball and 800 million players worldwide.

In 1895, William G. Morgan, a YMCA instructor in Holyoke, Mass., decided to blend elements of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball to create a game for his classes of businessmen which would demand less physical contact than basketball. He created the game of volleyball, which at the time was called mintonette. Morgan borrowed the net from tennis and raised it 6 feet 6 inches above the floor, just above the average man's head. During a demonstration game, someone remarked to Morgan that the players seemed to be volleying the ball back and forth over the net, and perhaps "volleyball" would be a more descriptive name for the sport.

During World War I, American troops took volleyballs with them for recreation, helping to spread the sport throughout the world.

Today volleyball is so physically rigorous with its jumping, diving and serving that the sport's original inventor might have a hard time recognizing the gentile sport he conceived more than 100 years ago.

Logan Tom

An outstanding server and outside hitter, Logan Tom makes her second Olympic appearance for the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Logan was so good coming out of Highland High School in Salt Lake City that the U.S. team wanted her badly, but Stanford University won out. After leading Stanford to the NCAA final as a freshman, she took a semester off to prepare for the Olympics.

At 19, the youngest player on the roster by two years, she made the Olympic team. Her U.S. teammates called her "Doogie" after the TV's Doogie Howser, a teenage doctor.

After the 2000 Olympics, Logan returned to Stanford and won the Honda Award as the nation's top female collegian. The past two years she has played professionally in Brazil and Italy.

Aug. 20 USA v. Russia

Aug. 24 Quarters

Aug. 26 Semifinals

Aug. 28 Finals

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The men's hammer throw has been in the Olympics since 1900

Hammer throwing has a long history. In the Strathclyde region of Scotland, hammer throwing is said to date back from the time of King Arthur (c. 500 AD), who not only carried a hammer in battle but was called "The Hammer."

As a sport, hammer throwing can be traced back further than King Edward II, son of Edward Longshanks of England, who banned the sport for safety reasons. In England, the sport was continued mostly by miners and blacksmiths who used a sledgehammer and an underhand throwing style.