Olympian Stacy Sykora Tried to Give Up Volleyball

After a disappointing 5th-place finish in the 2004 Olympics, volleyball player Stacy Sykora vowed to give up volleyball. She took a job as a paralegal and tried to forget her favorite sport.

But giving up her life's passion was harder than she expected: "My entire life has been volleyball... To have it not there, I had to fill the void with other things. I tried. I had some wonderful experiences; it just wasn’t volleyball."

Three years later, she returned to her sport, but was considered a long-shot for the U.S. Volleyball Team. In July, she surprised everyone by making the team, and now she is on her way to Beijing.

Let's hope she returns with a medal -- and not the sort of disatisfaction that drove her from volleyball in 2004.