The champion

Rhonda Watkins

University of California, Los Angeles | Age: 20

&amp;quot;I have always had three goals: to win Olympic gold, to become a doctor and to make my mother happy.&amp;quot;

What changed her life: In 1996, as eight-year-old Watkins watched TV in her family&amp;#39;s home in Trinidad, a runner from her country missed Olympic gold by tenths of a second. She told her family, &amp;quot;Don&amp;#39;t worry, one day I&amp;#39;ll win a gold medal for Trinidad.&amp;quot;

What happened next: Watkins went to UCLA on a full scholarship--and today she&amp;#39;s a world-ranked track-and-field star. In 2007 she won both the indoor and outdoor NCAA long-jump titles, and became the first woman in UCLA history to earn All-American honors in the long and high jumps at the NCAA national championships. At press time, Watkins was set to go to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. If she medals there, she&amp;#39;ll be the first woman from Trinidad and Tobago ever to do so. The psychobiology major also gives motivational speeches to schoolchildren. &amp;quot;I want to encourage young women to dream big,&amp;quot; she says.

Where she&amp;#39;ll be in 10 years: &amp;quot;Treating other athletes as a sports medicine doctor.&amp;quot;