"Dara Torres: An Inspiration!" by Joboy Quintos

Dara Torres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (Photo from Bryan Allison)

Dara Torres is a veteran of five Olympic Games, from the Seoul in 1988 all the way to Beijing in 2008. She had amassed a total of 12 Olympic medals, four of them gold. The then 41-year old Dara won three silver medals in Beijing. At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, the 45-year old placed fourth in the 50m freestyle finals, narrowly missing a ticket to her fifth straight Olympics.

Article by Joboy Quintos

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Ivet Lalova's Comeback

Ivet Lalova at the 2009 Berlin World Championships. (Photo from Erik van Leeuwen)

Ivet Lalova Ивет Лалова was one of the favorites to win a medal coming into the 2004 Athens Olympics. She had just set a new personal time of 10.77s, drawing level with Irina Privalova as the sixth fastest sprinter of all-time. Ivet, however, fell short of the podium in Athens. She finished in fourth place behind Yulia Nestsiarenka (10.93s), Lauryn Williams (10.96s), and Veronica Campbell-Brown (10.97s). 

Read: "Track Beauty of the Week - Ivet Lalova"

Unfortunately, Lalova's career was sidetracked by a freak injury. While warming up for a competition in Greece, Lalova accidentally collided with another athlete. Ivet broke her femur, as a result. 

She struggled to recover in the subsequent years, as her performance dramatically dipped. Lalova's hard work and perseverance finally paid off when she won the European 100m title in Helsinki.

Saori Kimura 木村 沙織 (JPN, Volleyball)

Saori Kimura 木村 沙織 is a veteran Japanese volleyball player. Since making her international debut in 2003, Kimura has competed in three editions of the Volleyball World Championships and two Olympic Games.

Photo from m-louis

Soari was just in high school when she made her maiden Olympics appearance in Athens back in 2004. She was part of the Japanese team that won a bronze medal at the 2010 World Championships. The same year, she was adjudged as Best Scorer at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix.

The talented spiker has won several awards in Japan's domestic professional league. As a 20-year old, Saori was cited as Newcomer of the Year. The spiker then won two Most Valuable Player awards in 2009 and 2010, on top of consistent appearances in the Best Six team of the Women's Volleyball Premiere League.

Kimura plays her club volleyball with the Toray Arrows 東レ・アローズ. Since 2007, the team has garnered a total of nine titles from various high level tournaments.

Source:
Saori's Toray Arrows Profile
Soari's Wikipedia Profile