Stanford has sent athletes to the Olympics for 100 years. The first was pole vaulter Sam Bellah, a sophomore at the time, who placed sixth at the 1908 London Games. Since then, the Farm has produced 193 Olympic medalists in dozens of events.

The Beijing Games too will feature an assortment of men and women who once ran, jumped, swam and played on the Farm. If they perform like Stanford contingents from previous Olympiads, they will earn, collectively, more medals than all but a handful of nations. (Stanford alums won 17 medals in the 2004 Athens Games—one more than Greece.)

What does it take for athletes to get to the Games? The answer, in many cases, includes overcoming broken or uncooperative bodies, and conquering fear, frustration and self-doubt. Alongside the triumphs, it seems worth considering these, too, when assessing the success of would-be alumni Olympians. Featured at right are five who have strived.

Follow the progress of Stanford's 2008 Olympians.