Atlanta, Ga. - Two-time Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist John Smith was honored on Thursday evening at the Bank of America Hometown Hopefuls Night of Champions at the Atlanta History Center.    In addition to Smith, the U.S. Olympic Committee also honored gold medal boxer Joe Frazier, Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner, taekwondo's Arlene Limas, weightlifter Frank Spellman, judo's Leo White and fencing's Felicia Zimmermann. Atlanta's Billy Payne was honored as a Special Contributor.    
John Smith speaks after being honored at the Night of Champions
Smith is one of American wrestling's living legends. Earning an unprecedented six consecutive world titles, and two Olympic gold medals, Smith set the tone for the current U.S. Olympic wrestling teams. Known as a master of technique, Smith won gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Games and 1992 Barcelona Games in convincing fashion.    Since his retirement, he has gone on to become a national team coach and top NCAA coach. He has coached Oklahoma State to three NCAA team titles, including the last two.    "I am extremely honored to be up here among these great Olympians," Smith announced to the audience. "There have been a lot of great wrestlers that came before me. I am thankful to USA Wrestling for giving me the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games."    Smith also joked about the start of his career, when he was pinned in his first five matches as a youth.    "I had a very positive family. My dad told me I won those matches, so I just kept going back out there."     Payne was the architect behind the highly successful Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. He was instrumental in rallying civic and corporate leaders of the southeast together for the successful bid to host the 1996 Games that marked the100th anniversary of the modern Olympics. Payne's legacy, along with the thousands of people that made the Atlanta Games special, is memorialized at Centennial Park, the site of the Friday night's city celebration and global Olympic Torch Relay, which includes the Titan Games' shot put competition.    Known mostly as the former professional heavyweight world champion, Frazier first came into international prominence when he won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Frazier's rise to the Olympic level began with Golden Gloves national titles in the early 1960s, which led to his prolific Olympic career. His professional career spanned almost 15 years and resulted in some of the most memorable heavyweight bouts of all time.     Jenner is an American Olympic icon. Following the civil strife of the late 1960s and early 1970s, America was looking for heroes and Jenner came calling. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Jenner broke the 8,000-point barrier en route to winning the gold medal in the decathlon. Many Americans remember his final effort in the 1,500 meters to capture the gold.    Limas is a pioneer of American taekwondo. One of the sport's top athletes for more than a decade, Limas won an Olympic gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. A long-time activist for athlete's rights, she has been instrumental in the Olympic movement in the United States since her retirement after 2000.    Spellman is America's original strongman. He was the first U.S. weightlifter to win an Olympic gold medal, which he accomplished at the 1948 London Games, breaking two Olympic records and lifting a total of more than 800 pounds en route to paving the road for a new era of American weightlifters.    White is one of the legends of U.S. Judo. During his career, which spanned more than two decades, he won 15 major domestic titles, including numerous national championships. Despite never winning an Olympic medal, partly due to untimely injuries, the current Atlanta resident remains an icon in the sport.    Two-time Olympian Zimmerman has the distinction of being the only active athlete among the Bank of America Night of Champions honorees. Consistently one of the top female fencers in the United States over the past decade, the resident of Rochester, N.Y. represents the many hometown heroes who aspire to represent the U.S. at Olympic Games. Her sister, Iris, is also an U.S. Fencing National Team member.