Which Olympic Stars Will Cash In This Summer?

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Gold isn’t the only prize to come out of the Olympics. Even before the cheering stops and the medal counts are totaled, corporations are drawing up contracts and negotiating with athletes to hock cereal, sneakers, cars and more.

Eight-time (and counting) gold medal winner, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, has already scored one of the biggest Olympic endorsements with Matsunichi – an electronics company. The four-year contract is reportedly worth about $ 1 million a year.

Of course some companies do not even wait for the games to begin, and sometimes that does not pay. Remember Reebok’s “Dan and Dave” campaign? That 1992 advertising series fizzled when Dan O'Brien failed to even qualify for the decathlon team. And in 2000 Nike (NKE) and Gatorade (PEP) snapped up Marion Jones and featured her in television ads for which she received an estimated at $1 million. But after winning five medals at that year's Sydney games, she lost the medals, and her deals, after admitting to using performance enhancing drugs, in October, 2007.

It’s a tough call determining who will be on the next Wheaties (GIS) box. What is known is that few will be able to touch Michael Phelps’ deals – Speedo (WRC) for instance, will pay him a $1 million endorsement bonus if he ties Mark Spitz's 1972 single Olympic record of seven gold medals.

Here are ten athletes MainStreet expects to cash in, even if they don't bring home a gold medal.

Dara Torres (USA) Age: 41
Swimming
The oldest Olympic swimming medalist ever, thanks to a 400 meter free style medley relay silver this past weekend, Torres is also a mother of two and was already a nine-time Olympic medalist going into these games.

Liu Xiang (China)
Age: 25
Hurdles
After stunning the world with his 100-meter-hurdle win in Athens, Liu Xiang is back, and this time the once unknown athlete is China’s equivalent to Michael Phelps - a poster boy for Olympic gold. How much does he mean to China? Xiang’s legs were valued by an insurance company for $13.5 million.

Allyson Felix (USA)
Age: 22
Sprints
US Women’s Track & Field is trying to repair its steroid-tainted image with a new generation of stars. Allyson Felix may be the sport’s bright future. She turned pro out of high school, and went on to win silver in Athens. With an impressive record – the second woman to win three gold medals in 200-meter, 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays – Felix also takes part in Project Believe, a program in which your athletes undergo doping tests, surpassing guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s.

Shawn Johnson (USA)
Age: 16
Gymnastics
Johnson is currently the best gymnast in the world, and at 4-feet 8-inches tall, she is poised to dominate in China. Like 1984's Mary Lou Retton and Kerri Strug in 1996, this pint-sized power house is poised to make endorsement-hungry companies flip.

Roman Sebrle (Czech Republic)
Age: 33
Decathlon
Sebrle won gold in Athens, and four years later he enters the Beijing games ready to defend his title as the World’s Greatest Athlete. Sebrle was the first athlete to ever accumulate more than 9,000 points in the decathlon. His sport, a competition of 10 events in two days, is one of the most physical track events.

Tyson Gay (USA)
Age: 25
Sprints
He ran the fastest sprint in history, and one week later suffered a muscle strain that took him out of the running for the 200-meter. It’s an injury that made the world question how well Gay will perform in Beijing, meanwhile Gay's been hanging with his new best Olympic friend, Kobe Bryant.

Asafa Powell (Jamaica)
Age: 25
Sprints
Once the fastest man in the world – a record broken by fellow countryman and teammate, Usain Bolt – Powell doesn’t have a lot to prove at the Olympics, except for making a big finish. With disappointing finishes in Athens and at the 2004 World Championships, Powell still remains a favorite.

Heather O’Reilly (USA)
Age: 23
Soccer
After the US placed third at the 2007 Women’s World Cup, O’Reilly is determined to repeat the Athens’ gold victory instead. Dubbed the “next Mia [Hamm],” O’Reilly scored the winning goal in the semi-final game in 2004, and went on to have stellar career at the University of North Carolina. O’Reilly has won two national titles and scored 59 goals.

Alain Bernard (France)
Age: 25
Swimming
Bernard uses muscle instead of finesse, and it has proven to be a winning strategy. This 6-foot 4-inch, 196lb. Frenchman is favored to win the 100-meter freestyle and will likely place in the 50-meter free.

Marta Vieira de Silva (Brazil)
Age: 22
Soccer
Here comes Pelé in a skirt, according to Brazilians. Marta—last name not needed—was named FIFA’s Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007, and voted best player in the 2007 Women’s World Cup. But Marta has a lot to prove since last year’s tournament: Brazil lost the final game when she missed an important penalty kick.
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