Great Olympians

Muhammad Ali was the self-professed 'greatest' and he lived up to the tag while still known to the world as Cassius Clay, a brash and friendly...

Only two men retained an Olympic decathlon title in the 20th century, Britain's Daley Thompson and American Bob Mathias. The first to do it was...

Finland produced a plethora of outstanding distance runners in the 20th century, but none as remarkable as Paavo Nurmi and Lasse Virén. Nurmi is one...

Greg Louganis is the greatest diver of all time, but is best remembered for striking his head on the springboard during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul....

One of the most remarkable athletic achievements of the 20th century established Bob Beamon as an Olympic legend on 18th October 1968. The previous...

Nadia Comaneci was just 14 years old when she became the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded the perfect score of 10.0. The Romanian...

It is said there are two certainties in life - death and taxes. Between 26th August 1977 and 4th June 1987 there were three certainties in life -...

Kipchoge 'Kip' Keino recorded the most decisive victory over 1,500 metres ever seen at the Olympics when he finished 20m clear of favourite and world...

The five gold medals won by American sprinter Michael Johnson are an indication of how good an athlete he was, but so too are his world records for...

Jesse Owens is perhaps the greatest Olympian of all. The black American won an unprecedented four track and field gold medals at the Berlin Games in...

What Mark Spitz accomplished at the 1972 Olympics in Munich is unique. The American swimmer won seven gold medals, a feat that has never been matched...