Cute alert! What 8 Olympians looked like as kids

Before the gold, before the silver, before the bronze, the Olympians you're watching nightly were just little kids with minds full of hopes and dreams. But through years of hard work and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears, these youngsters grew up to compete on the world stage in the most important event of their lives, with some winning the most coveted award of all: an Olympic gold medal. For an injection of cute in the midst of our collective case of Olympic fever, here are some photographs of Olympians when they were wee ones, from swimming champions Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps to gold-winning gymnasts like McKayla Maroney and Jordyn Wieber. - By Sunny Chanel

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