Many students who watched the summer games in Beijing this year had yet to step onto the WSU campus when they last had the chance to see the the world's premier athletes compete for the Olympic gold. A good number of them may even have been nervously looking forward to their first high school year. Four years is almost a quarter of a lifetime for the 18-, 19- or 20-something-year-old majority of college students who attend WSU today.

School, the primary factor in dictating our lives, teaches us to live in spans of four years. The Olympics too, summer or winter, come every four years. In this way athletes hoping to make the games and take home a medal share something with all of us as students.

There were some athletes in the 2008 Beijing summer games who share much more with us than a four-year schedule. Five of the world's best athletes in these games graduated from or currently study at WSU.

Three of the former Cougars competed in track and field events.

Bernard Lagat, a 1999 alumnus and 2007 world champion in both the 1500-meter run and the 5000-meter run, was a favorite to medal in both events. But the two-time Olympic medalist came up short in both events. After failing to make it to the finals in the 1500, Lagat won his heat in the 5000. According to The New York Times, Lagat was suffering from a viral infection in his throat and a sore achilles tendon preceding his final in the 5000. When race time came he could not muster the kind of race that was expected of him by so many.

Medals eluded all five of the Olympic hopefuls from WSU.

Diana Pickler, another former WSU track star, competed in the women’s heptathlon. But in the 100-meter hurdles, the opening event, she pulled her hamstring and finished more than a second off her personal best. The injury prevented Pickler from further competition.

Ian Waltz, the 2005 and 2006 U.S. champion in the discus throw, came into Beijing looking to improve on his 22nd place finish at the 2004 Athens games. Waltz – winner at the 2008 Olympic trials – took 12th in his heat and 25th overall in Beijing. He did not advance to the finals.

Anson Henry, a 2002 WSU graduate, competed in both the 100 and the 4x100 relay for his home country Canada. According to a WSU news release, Henry placed third in the 100 at the Canadian Olympic trials. He placed fourth in his preliminary heat in the 100 missing the finals by .02 of a second, right behind American Walter Dix. In Henry's other event, the 4x100, the Canadian team placed sixth in the finals.

Swimming for her native country of Lithuania, Rugile Mileisyte was the sole WSU undergraduate to compete in the 2008 Olympic games. Mileisyte, a sophomore this fall, won her heat by more than a quarter of a second but did not advance to the semifinal rounds.