Gold medals to be awarded: 16

Dates of Competition: Aug. 11-23

In a sport usually dominated by Europeans, the United States came up with a rare Olympic medal in Athens.

Rebecca Giddens won a silver in the kayak singles -- one of only 16 canoe/kayak medals ever won by Americans in a sport that made its Olympic debut 72 years ago.

There will be flatwater sprints and whitewater slalom events in Beijing. The United States' best hopes for medals should be Carrie Johnson and Rami Zur, both of whom will take part in the kayak singles. Johnson finished 10th in her race four years ago.

Hungary and Germany dominated at the World Cup in July, both nations winning 12 medals overall.