"I was about five or six-years-old and the swimmer Matt Biondi, who is from my hometown area, came back after winning gold at the 1984 Olympics. He brought a bunch of small Olympic pins with him and gave them out to the neighborhood kids," said Nicole Branagh as she recounted her favorite Olympic memory. "I was so excited to get one, I just remember thinking how cool it was."

It's memories like these that beach volleyball Olympians Branagh and her partner, Elaine Youngs, hope to create for young players all over the world when they play in Beijing.

Youngs remembers watching Olympic diver Greg Louganis, whose 1984 gold medals inspired her to try diving off of the high dive. "1984 was the year that I fell in love with the Olympics," she said.

Twenty years later, in 2004, Youngs was given the chance to forge her own personal Olympic memories as she was a member of that year's bronze-medal-winning beach volleyball team.

While the Beijing Games will be EY's third time in the Olympics, her partner will experience it all for the first time. "When we realized that we'd be going to Beijing, it was such a joy and relief," said Branagh. "I don't know how to describe it. I just remember crying and then calling my parents who'd been watching online and they were crying too."

With all her experience, Youngs has been counseling her partner on what to expect. "You'll hear to just play like it's 'just another tournament' but it's not. Everything is magnified and the whole experience can be mentally exhausting... So, I tell Nicole to just be prepared," explained Youngs.

And prepared is what EY is. She has gotten used to this time of year when she gets to represent the country.

The event she's looking forward to most (besides competition) is the opening ceremonies. She's also interested in meeting and exchanging stories with the athletes that compete in the more obscure sports like archery and fencing because they seem to be "more down-to-earth" than the players in higher profile sports.

The only thing that both women admit to being less-than-prepared for is the language. Branagh can say "good morning" in Mandarin while Youngs thinks she has "hello" and "thank you" down.

If they get the chance, Branagh and Youngs would like to see some of Beijing's sights.

As for souvenirs, both hope to bring a medal, preferably gold, back with them. Other than that, they anticipate bringing home something that might not be a tangible keepsake, but rather an overall memory of the experience.

Youngs says that, if she could choose anything to bring back with her, it would be the knowledge that their participation in these Games has sparked positive change within the country. "I would really like to see an improvement in all the human rights issues going on in China," she said thoughtfully.

However, come August 8th, all of the politics will be set aside and the world will come together to watch the biggest competitions take place.

"This is all such a dream come true," said Branagh as she spoke about what it meant to her to be a representative of the United States. "I'm so proud and we've worked so hard, it's just an amazing feeling."

An even more amazing feeling would be for the duo to be able to stand on the podium, accept a medal and say "xie xie" or "thank you" in Mandarin.