Where Are They Now - Famous Olympians

Solid Gold

,,

Every two years, millions of people around the globe tune into the Olympics to watch the agony and the ecstasy of the world's greatest sporting competition. Heroes are born on balance beams and ice rinks, tracks and swimming pools. Keep clicking to find out what your favorite Olympic stars of the past are up to these days!

03. Shawn Johnson 

Then: Pint-sized cutie Shawn Johnson won the gold medal for balance beam and the silver medal for the all-around and floor exercise at the 2008 Olympics.

Now: Johnson won Season 8 of Dancing With the Stars in 2009 and is set to compete in the upcoming DWTS All-Star season. 07, Kristi Yamaguchi  Then: Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal for figure skating at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics.

Now: Yamaguchi was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005 and in 2006 she competed on Dancing With the Stars and won with pro partner Mark Ballas. She is married to former pro hockey player Bret Hedican and has two daughters.Then: 20, Tara Lipinski won the gold medal for figure skating when she was just 15-years-old during the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Now: After the Olympics, Lipinski retired from competitive skating and launched her professional career, touring with Stars on Ice. She made several TV appearances on shows like Touched by an Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Malcolm in the Middle. Lipinski is also a national spokesperson forthe Boys & Girls Clubs of America. 05, Nancy Kerrigan  Then: Just seven weeks after being clubbed in the right knee (allegedly by someone hired by rival figure skater Tonya Harding) Nancy Kerrigan won the silver medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.Now: Kerrigan kept up her ice skating in a variety of ice shows and even had a small part in the movie Blades of Glory. She also created the Nancy Kerrigan Foundation to raise awareness and support for the vision impaired.06, Greg Louganis Then: Greg Louganis won his first diving gold medal when he was just 16-years-old, and went on to win two more in 1984 and 1988. 

Now: Louganis came out of the closet to Oprah Winfrey in 1995 and admitted that he had contracted HIV in 1988. He has become an AIDS activist and also works as an actor, appearing most recently on the IFC seriesPortlandia.01, Kerri Strug  Then: Kerri Strug became one of the most memorable Olympians of all time when she helped the US gymnastics team win the gold medal in 1996 by completing a vault on an injured ankle.Now: Strug worked as an elementary school teacher before moving to D.C. to work with the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention staff. She is married and gave birth to her first child, a son named Tyler, in 2012.

02, Bruce Jenner

Then: Bruce Jenner won the gold medal for decathlon at the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics.

Now: Thanks to Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Jenner is now reality TV's most famous dad. Think Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Rob, Kylie, and Kendall ever wear his gold medal around the house?04, Carl Lewis Then: Sprinter Carl Lewis competed in multiple summer games and won nine medals, eight of which were gold.

Now: These days Lewis has turned to politics. He tried to run for New Jersey state senator in 2011 but did not meet the residency requirements. In 2009, Lewis became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.08, Mark Spitz  Then: Swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelp's eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics.

Now: Spitz occasionally works a commentator for swimming events, but mostly focuses on his Beverly Hills real estate company. He is married with two sons, one of whom swims on the team at Stanford University. 09, Mia Hamm Then: Soccer phenom Mia Hamm won the Women’s World Cup in 1991 and 1999, and won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.

Now: Hamm married baseball player Nomar Garciaparra in 2003 and gave birth to twin girls in 2007. She also penned the novel Go For the Goal: A Champion's Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life and appeared in the HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team.10, Mary Lou Retton Then: In 1984 Mary Lou Retton became the first female American gymnast to win the all-around gold medal.

Now: Following her big win, Retton appeared in various commercials and became the first woman ever to grace the front of a Wheaties box. She is a devout Baptist and has campaigned for Republican candidates like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.11, Michelle Kwan Then: Figure skater Michelle Kwan won the silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and the bronze during the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Now: Kwan was named a public diplomacy ambassador by Condoleezza Rice in 2006 and has played herself in TV shows like TheSimpsons and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.12, Nadia Comaneci Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci won three gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and was the first female gymnast ever to earn a perfect 10 during the Olympics.

Now: Comaneci defected from Romania prior to the country's 1998 revolution and became a citizen of the U.S. in 2001. She wrote a book called Letters to a Young Gymnast in 2003 and welcomed her first son with husband Bart Conner in 2006.13, Tonya Harding was a two-time Olympian (she never medaled), but she became better know for conspiring to assault Nancy Kerrigan with her ex-husband.

Now: Harding released a sex tape in 1994 and endured a series of bizarre legal troubles throughout the 90s and early 2000s. In 2002 she attempted to launch a boxing career but she only boxed six rounds14, Picabo Street  / Then: Downhill skier Picabo Street won a silver medal for downhill at the 1994 Olympics and a gold at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Now: Street retired from skiing and became a spokesperson for products like Mountain Dew and Chapstick. She wrote an autobiography in 2001 titled Picabo: Nothing to Hide, and now she and her family split time between Alabama and Park City, Utah.18, Michael Johnson / Then: Sprinter Michael Johnson won four gold medals over the course of his Olympic career. 

Now: Johnson retired from competitive track and now works as a sports commentator. In June 2008 he voluntarily returned the 4 x 400 relay gold medal he won at the 2000 Games when teammate Antonio Pettigrew admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. Johnson himself was never implicated in steroid use. Johnson also competed on the ninth season of The Celebrity Apprentice and was one of the Olympic torchbearers for the London 2012 Games.16, Jackie Joyner-Kersee / Then: Jackie Joyner-Kersee won six medals in the heptathlon and the long jump (three gold, one silver, & two bronze) over the course of her four Olympic Games.

Now: These days, Joyner-Kersee is involved with many philanthropic organizations, such asAthletes for Hope, and is on the board of the USA Track & Field governing body.17, Sasha Cohen  . Then: Figure skater Sasha Cohen won the silver medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Now: Cohen took a break from competitive skating, then attempted to return for the 2010 Olympics but was unsuccessful. She has participated in Stars on Ice for several years and has done commercials for various products. Cohen also tried her hand at acting, appearing inBlades of Glory and Bratz: The Movie.18,Evan Lysacek / Then: Evan Lysacek won the gold medal for men's figure skating at the 2010 Olympics (remember his snazzy feather costume?).

Now: After the Olympics, he competed onDancing With the Stars, finishing in second place to Nicole Scherzinger. Lysacek, who has endorsement deals with Coca-Cola, AT&T, and Ralph Lauren, has not retired from skating and may compete in the 2014 Winter Games.19, Scott Hamilton/Then: Scott Hamilton's signature backflip helped his win the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics.

Now: Hamilton battled testicular cancer in 1997 and subsequently made a triumphant return to professional skating. He has been a skating commentator since 1985 and hosted Fox'sSkating With Celebrities in 2006. Hamilton has two sons with his wife Tracie, 21 ,Magic Johnson Then: After publicly announcing that he had contracted HIV, Magic Johnson was chosen to compete in the 1992 Olympics as part of the gold medal winning "Dream Team." Though Johnson did not play much because of knee injuries, his presence inspired HIV-positive people around the world.

Now: Johnson uses his Magic Johnson Foundation to support many educational,  health, and social causes in diverse urban communities. He is also a basketball analyst for ESPN and pursues many entrepreneurial ventures through Magic Johnson Enterprises.