Olympian can refer to:

Shelley Rudman (born 23 March 1981) is a British Olympic athlete. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in skeleton; the only medal for Great Britain at the games. She originates from Pewsey, Wiltshire, and now lives in Sheffield, England.

She took up the sport of skeleton after watching Briton Alex Coomber win a bronze medal at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics. A year later in 2003, she was placed 10th in the World Junior Championships for skeleton. In 2004 she won the Europa Cup in Igls, Austria. In 2005 she won gold in the World University Games.

In order for her to take part in the 2006 Olympics, Shelley needed £4000 to pay for a new professional sled. Her home town held a special canoe race to help raise the money, and they succeeded. Rudman also spent some time as a supply teacher in Devizes School, a secondary school located in Devizes, Wiltshire.

By the time the 2006 Winter Olympics began in Turin, Shelley said she was aiming for a top 10 position; however, during a practice run she had the fastest time, even beating the World Champion of the time. This great performance in the practice run made the public become aware of her. In the first heat, she was 4th; however, after a brilliant second heat, she finished with a silver medal. Live television pictures were shown from her local pub, where a large crowd that had gathered to watch her race were cheering and celebrating her victory. The 2006 Olympics were only intended to be a stepping-stone for her as training for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Leryn Dahiana Franco Steneri (born 1 March 1982 in Asunción) is a Paraguayan model and athlete. She specializes in the javelin throw and became an internet sensation during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her personal best throw is 55.66 metres, achieved in June,2011 in Buenos Aires. She is perhaps more famous for her beauty than athletic ability, however, and has appeared, most notably, in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Raised in the capital of Asunción, she broke the national records for the under 17 year age group in 1998 for both the javelin and triple jump. After winning bronze medals in 1999 and 2000, Franco won the South American Junior Championship javelin title in 2001. Franco was South American under 23 champion in 2004.

Her performances at world level are 24th in the 2003 World Championship and 42nd out of 45 at the Athens Olympics. Although she set her personal best in 2007, she finished 12th (last) at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. In 2008, she competed in the Beijing Olympics.

Amy Purdy was born in Las Vegas. She is a double amputee, competitive snowboarder and spokesperson for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

At the age of 19, she contracted Neisseria meningitis, a form of bacterial meningitis. Due to the disease, which affected her circulatory system, both of her legs had to be amputated below the knee. Her spleen and a kidney had to be removed. Two years later, she received a kidney transplant from her father. Her friends now refer to her by the nickname Lucky.

Purdy began snowboarding seven months after she received her leg prosthetics. About a year after her legs were amputated, she came in third place in a snowboarding competition in Mammoth. Subsequently, she received a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), a non-profit organization. Through this grant, she was able to compete in several snowboarding competitions in the U.S.

In 2003, Purdy was recruited by the CAF as spokesperson. She moved to San Diego to be closer to the CAF headquarters. In San Diego, she continued her pre-amputee profession as a massage therapist. She also got involved in the modeling and acting industry. In February 2003, she played a model in a Madonna music video. Later in 2003, Purdy started working for Freedom Innovations, a prosthetic feet manufacturer, as Amputee Advocate. She has gone on to co-found her own non-profit organization, Adaptive Action Sports, for individuals with physical disabilities who want to get involved in action sports (snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing) or art and music.

Meryl Davis (born January 1, 1987) is an American ice dancer. With partner Charlie White, she is the 2011 World champion, 2010 Olympic silver medalist, the 2010 World silver medalist, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2009–2011), two-time Four Continents champion (2009, 2011) and four-time U.S. national champion (2009–2012).

Davis and White teamed up in 1997 and they are currently the longest lasting dance team in the United States. They are the first American ice dancers to win the World title. At the 2006 NHK Trophy, they became the first ice dancing team to earn level fours on all their elements.

At the 2010 U.S. Championships, they were nominated to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics. They won the silver medal in the ice dancing event.

Davis and White are the current world record holders for the short dance.

Meryl Davis was raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan. She lives and attends school in Ann Arbor, Michigan and trains in Canton, Michigan.

In June 2005, Davis graduated from Wylie E. Groves High School. She was a member of the National Honor Society and, upon graduation, received the Phi Beta Kappa Society award. She attends the University of Michigan, where she is majoring in cultural anthropology, and also studying Italian. She is an active member of the sorority Delta Delta Delta. She can play the flute.