Great Sports Name Hall of Fame Nominee - Misty Hyman

Credit for this image goes to http://www.hogwild.net/Rants/misty-hyman.htm

The Great Sports Name Hall of Fame has, up until this point, been very male-centric. While I do have fewer female names available to choose from for each post, there are quite a few, and I figured it was about time that I actually posted a hilarious female name. And so I bring you Misty Hyman.

Misty would have lived a pretty obscure life with just her unfortunate name giving her recognition were it not for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Misty was expected to compete for a silver medal at best in the Women's 200 Meter Butterfly, given the dominance of Aussie Susie O'Neill. While O'Neill did set a new world record, Misty, who had been diagnosed with asthma as a child, bested O'Neill and set her own record, much to the surprise of everyone in Sydney. Hyman may have been most surprised of all, as she was heard to exclaim "Oh my god" about eleven times by many of the onlookers present. Truly an unbelievable upset.

Hyman's story ends there, however. She graduated from Standford University in 2002, failed to make the 2004 Olympic team, and then retired from the sport of swimming. She now works as a swim coach at Buckley School preparatory school in Los Angeles, home to famous alumni including Paris Hilton, Alyssa Milano, Laura Dern and Tatyana Ali, among others. So not a bad ending point for Mrs. Hyman, though I'm sure she will always look at her time in Sydney as the high point of her life. Welcome to Ballot 3 of the GSNHOF, Misty Hyman.

Little bonus: Misty Hyman "Dolphin Kicking."

To see the best sports names of all time, visit the Truly Great Names page.
To see some good sports names that were voted out, visit the Good Names page.
To see the current voting ballot, visit the Ballot page.