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What: “Fred Roggin’s Road to Athens.”

Where: Channel 4, Friday, 7 p.m.

Southern California is home to about 120 Olympic athletes who will be competing in Athens, and a number of them are featured in this one-hour special that precedes NBC’s opening-ceremony coverage.

Among those profiled is softball pitching sensation Jennie Finch of La Mirada. She tosses a ball 71 mph and at Arizona set an NCAA record of 60 victories in a row while twice winning the pitcher of the year award.

In the Pepsi Major League All-Star softball game held this year at the Big League Dreams complex in Cathedral City, Finch struck out six major leaguers, including Mike Piazza and Albert Pujols.

Finch is engaged to Casey Daigle, a pitcher in the Arizona Diamondback organization, who says in the special, “What first attracted me was how good she was on the mound.”

Finch, hoping to lead the U.S. team to a gold medal, says, “I can only hope and dream what it will be like.”

Others featured include gymnast Jason Gatson of Upland, swimmer Amanda Beard of Irvine, Greek baseball player Nick Theodorou of Rialto and sprinter Maurice Greene of Chatsworth.

-- Larry Stewart