However, in Tokyo Mary Rand 's sensational victory in the long jump started the surge to a dozen medals.
With a sister who had already paved the way, and a manager in father Joe Simpson, she jump started her career in 2004 with an MTV reality show.
He jump started his acting career by working as a model and playing small time roles, until he was hired as Sonny in 1993.
Having debuted in 2002, the show is a ratings phenomenon that has jump started the careers of Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood and more, and shows no signs of losing steam.
It's gone a whole lot further than we thought; it was a fantastic experience that jump-started something that without it I don't know what we'd be doing.
