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Flo Hyman, whom many consider the best woman volleyballer in the country, enhances America's chances of winning the gold. Long jumper Carol Lewis (above, right) will be a strong contender to make the team. Lee Kemp (right), three time NCAA champion, will be a strong addition to America's wrestling team, and is expected to bring back a medal.

Championship and the North American Championship in 1982. Todd Hickman, from Akron, Ohio, decisioned McCrory in the winter of 1982 before moving up to the 119-pound weight class. Hickman was a gold medalist in the Junior Olympics in 1982 and at 17 the future looks very promising. He is expected to have no trouble making the Olympic team in the bantamweight division. Among the featherweights (125 pounds) there are Bernand Gray, from Florida, and Victor Levine, from Indiana. In the lightweight division, Pernell Whitaker, from Norfolk, Va., currently the reigning world champion, is expected to have little trouble winning a medal. Light welterweights (139 pounds), expected to shore up America's chances of repeating its 1976 performance, include Henry Hughes, from Cleveland, and Tommy Rabon, from Broussard, La. Welterweight hopefuls include Mark Breland, from Brooklyn, ranked number one, and Louis Howard, from St. Louis. Middleweight hopefuls include Michael Grogan, from the Bronx, ranked number one, and Vincent Boulware, a tough competitor from Harrisburg, Pa. Among the heavyweights, Henry Tillman looks good, but the real strength is among the super heavys (over 201 pounds) where Tyrell Briggs, out of Philadelphia, is ranked number one. Craig Payne, from Livonia, Mich., and Mike Tyson, from New York, are also excellent prospects to make the team.

GYMNASTICS. Dianne Durham, who will be the first Black woman gymnast to participate in the Olympics, is not simply an Olympic hopeful but is being counted on to walk away with the gold. And while that is a tall order for the 15-year-old, many expect Durham to sail through with ease, if past performances are any indication. Her coach is Bela Karolyi, the former coach of Nadia Comaneci.

WRESTLING. Excellent Black prospects could make the Olympics wrestling team, including several NCAA champions and national champions in their respective weight categories. Darryl Burley, 23, has been a two-time NCAA champion. A graduate of Lehigh University, he is one of only four wrestlers to ever reach the NCAA finals four times. In 1983 he was voted the first annual amateur Wrestling News wrestler of the year. Lee Kemp, 26, of Madison, Wis. and a 1979 graduate of the University of Wisconsin is a three-time NCAA champion and a five-time National Open Freestyle champion. A three-time World Cup champion and a 1981 silver medalist in the World Cup, he won first place this year at the National Sports Festival and was a gold medalist at the Pan American games. Others with better-than-average chances to make the wrestling team include: Nate Carr, from Ames, Iowa; Greg Gibson, from Fairfax, Va; T.J. Jones, from San Diego, Calif.; Pete Lee, from Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Ron Carlisle, from Quantico, Va. 

JUDO. The top three contenders in the 95 kilos (209 pounds) category are Black, and expectations are that each will make the Olympics team. Number one ranked Army Lt. Leo White, 26, has dominated his weight class for the past four years. He was the World Military champion in 1981 and 1982 (the event was not held in 1983) and the National Sports Festival champion the past two years. Frederick Hand, 29, the number two ranked fighter from Philadelphia, is considered an excellent competitor but the rap on him is that he hasn't been able to beat Lt. White. He won second place in the National Sports Festival competition behind White. James Brewster Thompson, 20, ranked third in the 95 kilos class, is expected to make a good showing at the Olympics. Edward Liddie, placed first in the 60 kilos (132 pounds) category and was fifth in the World Judo Championship in Moscow in October and first at the Senior Nationals this year in Los Angeles and at the National Sports Festival in Colorado Springs. Douglas Nelson is also a good bet not only to make the team but to bring back a medal for the United States in the over 209 pounds category. Nelson, 24, won first place in his category at the Senior Nationals this year. He also took first place at the National Sports Festival Games this summer.

SWIMMING. Chris Silva, a UCLA swimmer, is ranked sixth in the country in the freestyle and is given an outside shot to become the first Black to make the freestyle relay team. Silva, 21, is ranked 14th in the world in the 50-meter freestyle.

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