Thompson is Olympic women’s swimming’s most decorated athlete ever. She’s now a practicing anesthesiologist in Portland, Maine, and the mother of two.

U.S. Olympic Swimmer Jenny Thompson, 8-Time Gold Medalist, Reflects On Her 4 Games

Jenny Thompson of USA in action during the Women's 4x100 Medley Relay Final at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney Australia. (Hamish Blair/Allsport via Getty Images)

Life After Olympics

2016 Rio Olympics

Sports

Sada Jacobson Baby won a bronze medal in the individual women’s sabre event in 2004 in Athens, along with a silver and bronze in 2008.

3-Time U.S. Olympic Medalist: Fencing Experience 'Translates To Everything Else In My Life'

American Sada Jacobson (L) competes against France's Leonore Perrus during the women's team sabre bronze medal match France vs. USA on August 14, 2008 at the Fencing Hall of National Convention center, as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images)

Shorter won the 1972 Olympic Marathon and helped establish the first anti-doping agency in the U.S. But his public persona hid a dark secret.

Olympian Frank Shorter's Entire Life Has Been A Marathon

For Olympian Frank Shorter, Running Was An Escape From A Home That Was 'A Prison'

Frank Shorter, left, winner of the grueling Olympic marathon race in Munich on Sept. 10, 1972, and his teammate and countryman Ken Moore, who placed fourth, face the cheering crowds after the event. (AP)

Here & Now's bookshelf, which includes excerpts of books that we cover on our show.

Book Excerpt

After the 2008 Olympics, Johnson struggled with the constant spotlight, and, for a time, with an eating disorder.

Eight Years After Beijing, Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson Reflects On Post-Games Life

Shawn Johnson of the USA in action during the Women's Artistic Gymnastics at the Nissan Gymnastics Complex during Day Ten of the XVI Pan American Games on October 24, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.  (Scott Heavey/Getty Images)