Olympics will kick off on Friday

The Olympics will have some new rising stars competing and going for gold. The XXIX Olympics will be held in Beijing, China.

8 of the Top 9 players will be headed to the Chinese capital, where they will be challenging eachother for the gold medal. Maria Sharapova, who is dealing with injuries from last week's tournament, will miss the Olympics, the event that she has been waiting to compete in for a long time, and the US Open.

The top players competing are Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Venus Williams, and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Ivanovic, Safina and Radwanska are all playing their first Olympic Games.

This is the 13th time that tennis has been officially included in the Olympics.

Listed below are all of the singles gold medalists from 1988 to present:

1988
Medalists
Gold: Steffi Graf (FRG)
Silver: Gabriela Sabatini (ARG)
Bronze: Zina Garrison-Jackson (USA), Manuela Maleeva (BUL)

1992
Medalists
Gold: Jennifer Capriati (USA)
Silver: Steffi Graf (GER)
Bronze: Mary Joe Fernandez (USA), Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (ESP)

1996
Medalists
Gold: Lindsay Davenport (USA)
Silver: Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (ESP)
Bronze: Jana Novotna (CZE)

2000
Medalists
Gold: Venus Williams (USA)
Silver: Elena Dementieva (RUS)
Bronze: Monica Seles (USA)

2004
Medalists
Gold: Justine Henin (BEL)
Silver: Amélie Mauresmo (FRA)
Bronze: Alicia Molik (AUS)