Thanks for checking in. Post your comments and Olympic nominations below.

Over at the Fresno Famous site, Famous Whitewater posed this question to visitors: "Who is Fresno's (you can make it the Central Valley) greatest Olympian?"

Famous Whitewater then served up his top five, led by Winter Games snowboarder Andy Finch.

Here is my definitive Baker's Dozen of Summer Olympians (complete with pictures, video and context):

1. Rafer Johnson, Kingsburg, decathlon gold (1960) and silver (1956) winner, was chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee to light the flame during Opening Ceremonies of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

In the 1960s, Johnson was one of the best well-known athletes in the world. He graced the cover of Time magazine after winning the decathlon in Rome and went on to a career in entertainment and politics. He was the natural pick to light the flame 24 years later at the Los Angeles Games, and I'll never forget him, torch in hand, running into the Coliseum. I covered the Olympics that year for The Bee, and Johnson provided a local angle to highlight my Opening Ceremonies story.

You can view video of Johnson lighting the torch here.

2. Bob Mathias, Tulare, won the decathlon as a 17-year-old in the 1948 Games in London, the first Olympics following World War II. Then he repeated as gold medalist four years later. Mathias had a brief career in Hollywood, starring in a movie about his life, and then went to Congress. Like Johnson, he is among the greatest track and field athletes of all time. Mathias died in 2006.

3. Randy Williams, Fresno, at age 19, became the youngest Olympic long jump champion, winning the Munich Games in 1972. Williams followed up four years later with a silver medal in Montreal and, amazingly, qualified for his third Olympics in 1980, but was denied a chance for another medal because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games.

4. Sammy Lee, Fresno native and Occidental College graduate, was the first American-born athlete of Korean descent to strike Olympic gold, winning platform diving in 1948 and 1952. Lee won his first medal at age 28 after the Games were suspended in 1940 and 1944 because of World War II. Four years later, he became the oldest diver to win a gold medal. He also introduced "the Sammy," a small absorbent towel used by divers in practice and at meets. Later, he coached Olympic great Greg Louganis.

5. Tommie Smith, Lemoore, set the world record in the 200 meters and won the gold at Mexico City in 1968. His black-power salute on the victory stand alongside bronze medalist John Carlos, divided the nation and still sparks debate today.

6. Sim Iness, Tulare, dominated the discus at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, eclipsing the Olympic record on all six of his throws. It was a remarkable victory for the second of five children of an Oklahoma sharecropper. When he won the gold, the 6-foot-6 Iness was married with a baby daughter and attending USC. Before returning to school Iness had worked two jobs -- at a rubber factory and for Western Union -- to support his family.

7. Laura Berg, Fresno, has won three golds (1996, 2000, 2004) and one silver (2008) as an outfielder on the U.S. Olympic softball team. The Fresno State graduate, center in the photo above, is the only four-time softball Olympian.

8. Richard Schroeder, Lindsay, twice grabbed gold as a member of the U.S. 400-meter medley relay team (1984, 1988). He also was fourth in the 200 breaststroke in '84 and sixth in the 100 breaststroke in '88. Schroeder is second from right in the photo above.

9. Maxie Parks, Fresno, ran the anchor leg of the victorious 1,600 relay team at Montreal. The relay team -- which also Herman Frazier, Benny Brown and Fred Newhouse -- won in 2 minutes, 58.65 seconds -- second-fastest in history at the time.

10. Tommy Goodwin, Fresno, started in center field for the U.S. baseball team that defeated Japan 5-3 for the 1988 gold in Seoul and reclaimed international supremacy in the sport for the USA at the time.

11. Gordon Dunn, Fresno, was second in the discus at the Berlin Games in 1936. He is better known as "Slinger" Dunn and "No-Fun" Dunn, who campaigned on cleaning up graft and prostitution in Fresno and served two terms as mayor (1949-57).

12. Stephen Abas, a former Fresno State wrestling standout, brought home a silver medal in the 55-kilo freestyle division from Athens in 2004.

13. Barbara McAlister, the Fresno native attended Roosevelt High School, then moved to Southern California to train. The platform diving specialist didn't medal in her two Olympic appearances -- finishing 8th in 1964 and 10th in 1968 -- but she made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1962.