The class of legends, which is partly determined by fan voting, comprises six Olympians, one Paralympian, one team, a coach, a veteran and a special contributor.

The five Olympians are triple Olympic sprint champion Gail Devers, five-times Olympic swimming gold medallist Gary Hall Junior, double Olympic football champion Kristine Lilly, triple Olympic softball gold medallist Lisa Fernandez (pictured below), Olympic decathlon champion Dan O'Brien and eight-times Olympic swimming gold medallist Jenny Thompson.

The Paralympian inducted is five-times Paralympic wheelchair racing champion Jean Driscoll (pictured top), who also won the Boston Marathon on a record eight occasions.

The women's softball team are also honoured after they secured Olympic gold at Athens 2004 with a perfect 9-0 record and a string of eight consecutive shutouts, making them one of the most dominant teams in Olympic history.


Track and field coaching legend Ed Temple – who served as head coach of two American Olympic teams, at Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, during which time his athletes brought home 23 Olympic medals, 13 of which were gold – is also honoured.

Temple also coached some of the greatest athletes in Olympic history, including Wyomia Tyus, the first woman to successfully defend an Olympic 100 metres title, and fellow sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three track and field gold medals at a single Olympic Games when she triumphed in Rome.

Track and field veteran James Connolly (pictured below), the first modern Olympic champion, is also named.

Connolly is a four-times Olympic medallist in the triple jump, long jump and high jump who participated at both Athens 1896 and Paris 1900 – regarded as the first two modern Games.

Special contributor Ted Stevens is also recognised after he led the charge to pass the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act that appointed the USOC as the coordinating body for all Olympic-related athletic activity in the US.

The act, which would be renamed in his honour as the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, not only protected athletes and centralised control of sports in the US, it also led to the creation of national governing bodies.

This year more than 100,000 public votes were cast as part of the voting.

The US Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will be formally introduced and honoured on July 12 during a special awards ceremony at the Harris Theatre in Chicago.

The Olive Branch Achievement Award – created to honour an individual who best represents the international ideals of the Olympic Movement by working to build a peaceful and better world through sport – will also be introduced and recognised at that ceremony.

The ceremony, to be hosted by sportscasters Jimmy Roberts and Alex Flanagan, will air in a nationwide television broadcast on NBC Sports Network on August 24.

"The Class of 2012 inductees have provided fans of the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams with countless inspiring moments and it's an honour to welcome them to the US Olympic Hall of Fame, where both their achievements and impact will be celebrated," said USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun.

"Together with Allstate and fans of Team USA, we congratulate them on their accomplishments and thank them for their commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Movements."

"I never thought that playing the game of softball that I love so much would allow me to reach this level of accomplishment," said 41-year-old Fernandez, who won her golds at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, and established the Olympic record for the most strikeouts in a game, 25.

"This is bigger than anything I have dreamed of.

"What we have been able to achieve as a sport is incredible and there is no greater honour than being inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame."


This year's class is the 15th to be inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame and will bring the total membership to 96 Olympians, five Paralympians, 10 teams, four coaches, 10 veterans, 16 contributors and two Olive Branch award inductees.

"Over the years, these men and women captured our hearts and inspired us as Americans to strive for greatness, paving the way for today's Olympians and Paralympians who will soon compete in this summer's London Games," said Lisa Cochrane, senior vice president of marketing for Allstate.

"Allstate is proud to support such a prestigious lifetime achievement and extends its gratitude to the fans for their role in determining the very deserving US Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2012."

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