*Medals weren't awarded to swimmers who only competed in heats of relays at the time
Donald Arthur Schollander was born on April 30, 1946 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where his uncle taught him to swim, before the family moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon. He originally wanted to play football, but was too small to make the team, so he joined the swim team instead, winning the state championship as a freshman.
When he was 18, he qualified for the American Olympic team in 4 events. His first event was the 100m Freestyle, and he was considered one of the favorites despite his age. He won both of his heats to advance to the final, where fellow American Mike Austin led at the midway point. Schollander took the lead right after the turn, then gave himself a solid lead before he was nearly caught by Bobby McGregor of Great Britain at the end. Schollander still ended up winning by 0.1 seconds, and his time was also a new Olympic record.
His next event was the 4x100m freestyle relay, which was being contested for the first time in the Olympics, and the Americans were big favorites. Steve Clark started them out by tying the world record on the first leg, and by the time Schollander jumped in on the anchor leg, their lead was 4.6 seconds, and Schollander only needed to swim a decent time to win, which he did, while the team set a new world record in the event.
Up next was the 400m, where he had recently broken the world record, so he was again favored to win. He actually trailed by 0.1 seconds after the first 100m, but pulled ahead slightly by the halfway point. He was still slightly ahead at the 300m mark, but then he turned on the jets, and by the end of the race, he had won by 2.7 seconds, and set another world record.
His final event was the 4x200m freestyle relay, where there was no doubt that the Americans would win. They were ahead by a full second after the first leg, then 3.5 seconds at the midway point. The lead was nearly 5 seconds before Schollander entered the pool on the anchor leg, and he extended the lead to 7.2 seconds by the end, destroying the old world record. Previously, no team had ever beaten 8 minutes in the event, but the Americans new record was 7:52.1. Schollander also became the first swimmer ever to win 4 golds in the same Olympics.
He wasn't able to train quite as much in the ensuing years, as he came down with mononucleosis, and later the Asian flu, which sapped his energy somewhat. He still made the Olympic team for 1968, where he would again compete in 4 events. His first was the 4x100m freestyle relay, where he swam anchor in the heats, giving America the best time of the round, before being replaced in the final, where America won easily. At the time, you weren't awarded a medal if you only competed in the heats, so he wasn't given a gold medal, but under today's rules, it would have been his 5th gold medal.
Next was the 4x200m freestyle relay, he was chosen to swim the anchor leg in the final. They were slightly behind East Germany after the first leg, but had pulled far ahead at the midway point. Mark Spitz kept the lead at 1.7 seconds before giving it to Schollander, who also kept the lead, giving America the gold by 1.4 seconds.
His next event was the 200m freestyle, which was his best event, but had not been contested in the Olympics before. He had set the world record 9 times over the past few years, most recently at the Olympic trials, so he was expected to win easily. Mike Wenden of Australia took a lead of 0.7 seconds in the first half of the race, then Schollander closed the gap somewhat during the next section, but Wenden closed it out down the stretch, upsetting Schollander by 0.6 seconds and setting a new Olympic record, while Schollander won his first-ever silver.
His final event was the 4x100m medley relay, where he again swam only in the initial heat. He swam the anchor leg, and the Americans had the best time, and then they went on to win gold by more than 2 seconds in the final leg with a different team of swimmers, meaning Schollander wasn't awarded a gold because of the old rules.
He retired after the 1968 Olympics, having already been inducted into the Hall of Fame 3 years earlier. He later wrote a couple of books about swimming, and eventually started a real estate development company. In his Olympic career, he swam in 8 events, and was only beaten once. Being the first swimmer to win 4 golds was huge, and helped make him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Ian James Thorpe was born on October 13, 1982 in Milperra, Australia, and began swimming at age 5. By the time he was 13, he was winning youth championships and trying out for the Olympic team, which didn't happen at that point, but it gave him good experience. 2 years later, at age 15, he won the 400m freestyle at the World Championships, and expectations were huge for his first Olympics at home in Sydney.
He was just 17 in his first Olympic appearance, but he was also the favorite, as the defending world champion in the 400m. He had the fastest time in the heats to advance to the final, where he took the lead by more than a second at the first turn, and kept extending his lead throughout the race, which he won in world record time, nearly 3 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, to start off his Olympic career with a gold medal.
He swam in the final of the 4x100m Freestyle relay that same night, and the USA was the favorite, as they nearly always won this race, but the Aussies were expected to challenge them. Michael Klim of Australia broke the world record in the first leg, but in both the second and third legs, the USA caught up by the midpoint, then lost the lead to Australia before the end. Thorpe swam the anchor leg, starting with a lead of only 0.25 seconds, which Gary Hall Jr quickly overcame, but Thorpe chased him down in the final stretch and won the race by 0.19 seconds, again in world record time.
His third event was the 200m freestyle, where he was the world record holder, but in the semifinal round, Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands broke his world record. Thorpe nearly matched it in his semi a few minutes later, falling 0.02 seconds short, and they were set for a showdown in the final. Three swimmers broke away early in the final, and Thorpe was in third but only down by 0.06 seconds at the first turn, then closed it to 0.05 seconds at the halfway point, and by the final turn, he and Hoogenband were tied, but Hoogenband turned it up on the homestretch, and finished in a tie with his earlier world record, while Thorpe ended up with the silver medal, 0.48 seconds behind.
Next up was the 4x200m freestyle relay, where Thorpe swam leadoff in the final. He pretty much put the race out of reach on his own, giving his team a lead of 3.5 seconds after the first leg, and they were never challenged, beating the USA by 5.59 seconds and setting yet another world record in the process, earning Thorpe his third gold of the games.
Thorpe also swam the freestyle leg in the heats of the 4x100m medley relay, which they won to advance to the final, but he was replaced by Klim in the final, where the Australians lost by 1.54 seconds to the Americans, leaving Thorpe with a second silver to finish off his first Olympic games.
The next year, he won 6 gold medals at the World Championships, 4 of them coming in world record time. He switched coaches in 2002, then won 5 medals at the 2003 World Championships, but only 3 of them were gold, and none of them were world records. He was still among the best in the world, but appeared to have fallen off somewhat.
He was still considered the top 400m swimmer in the world heading into the 2004 Olympics, but he false started at the Olympic trials, meaning he wouldn't get to compete, but one of the other swimmers gave up his spot to allow Thorpe to swim the event in Athens. In the Olympic final, Grant Hackett of Australia and Klete Keller of the USA both held the lead over Thorpe during the first half of the race, but by the midway point, Thorpe had pulled ahead of them both, and he kept the lead the rest of the way, although Hackett made a strong push toward the end. He won by 0.26 seconds, giving him a repeat gold medal.
In the 4x100m relay, Australia was missing one of their best swimmers due to illness, and another had just returned from injury, so when Thorpe jumped in on the anchor leg, they were in 6th place, and with no chance of winning, he didn't push too hard, keeping that spot at the finish.
The 200m was expected to be a great race, with Thorpe and Hoogenband coming back after their showdown in Sydney, this time with a new challenger named Michael Phelps to worry about. Hoogenband took off at a blistering pace, and was ahead of world record pace up to the final turn, but he was already starting to fade by that point, and Thorpe pulled ahead early in the homestretch and brought it home for a gold medal in Olympic record time, while Phelps nearly caught Hoogenband for the silver.
Next, the Aussies tried to defend their 4x200m freestyle relay gold medal, with Thorpe again swimming the anchor leg. Phelps swam first for the USA, giving them a full second lead, which was up to nearly 1.5 seconds when Thorpe jumped in. He swam the fastest time of the event by more than a second, but it wasn't quite enough, as the USA held on to win by 0.13 seconds, leaving Australia with the silver.
His final event in Athens was the 100m, which was not usually his strongest event. He qualified for the final, but was in a distant 6th place at the turn, but a strong second half helped him move up and narrowly grab the bronze medal, his ninth overall Olympic medal.
Thorpe took a break after the 2004 Olympics, returning late in 2005, but after a couple of disappointing meets, he retired in 2006. He came out of retirement in 2011, hoping to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, but failed to make the team. He planned to keep competing, but a shoulder injury kept him out of major competitions, and by 2014 he had permanently retired.
He only competed in the Olympic Games twice, both when he was 21 years or younger, but he medaled in 9 of his 10 events, with 5 gold medals, all of which broke either world or Olympic records. His career may have been short, but he was great in nearly every race he swam, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Karin Enke was born on June 20, 1961 in Dresden, East Germany, and was a competitive figure skater when she was growing up. After finishing 9th in the European Championships when she was 15, she decided to change sports, becoming a speed skater, and it was a good move.
She went into the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid as a relative unknown, but that changed fast. In the first pair of the 500m event, Ann-Sofie Jarnstrom of Sweden set a new Olympic record of 42.47 seconds, setting a high bar. Enke skated in the second pair, and she finished in 41.78 seconds to break the Olympic record that had only stood for a few minutes. 26 more skaters took their turn on the ice, but none got under 42 seconds, and Enke had a gold medal in her first race.
In the 1000m event, the Olympic record was broken twice as well, also in the first two pairings. Enke, unfortunately, was in the sixth pairing, and though she beat the old Olympic record time, she was more than 2 seconds behind the time to beat, and was sitting in 4th place, 0.2 seconds behind the medals, and that is where she would finish, as none of the remaining 25 skaters beat her time. She was very close to winning two medals in her first Olympics.
By 1984, she was no longer an unknown. She was known as the best female figure skater in the world, and was the favorite to win all 4 Olympic events. She started with the 1500m, where her teammate, Andrea Schone, broke the Olympic record in the first pairing by more than 5 seconds. A couple of skaters got close in the next couple of pairs, but when Enke skated in the 5th pair, her time was ahead of Schone's pace throughout, and by the end, she had broken the world record, and was nearly 2 seconds ahead of Schone. No one else got within 4 seconds of her, and she easily won the gold.
In the 500m, her major challenger was expected to be Christa Rothenburger, also from East Germany, who had set the world record the year before. Rothenburger skated in the 5th pair, and broke Enke's Olympic record, lowering it to 41.02. Enke was in the next pair, and she got off to a slightly slow start, and was unable to make up for it, finishing in 41.28, which ended up being enough for silver, but not the gold she expected.
In the 1000m, her biggest challengers were Schone and Nataliya Petrusyova of the USSR, who was the defending champ and world record holder. Rothenburger set a new Olympic record in the first pair, which Schone then broke in the second pair. Enke was in the third pair, and she was able to drop the Olympic record again, this time by over a second, and nobody else was able to come close as she won another gold medal.
She finished up with the 3000m, where Schone was again a big challenger, along with another East German, Gabi Schonbrunn, who held the world record. Schone was in the first pair, and she set a new Olympic record by more than 7 seconds, making it tough on everyone else. Enke was in the third pair, and she was ahead of pace up to the 600m mark, but was unable to keep it up, and she finished 1.52 seconds behind, but nearly 7 seconds ahead of anyone else who took the ice, which got her her second silver medal in Sarajevo.
Later that year, she married her trainer, Rudolf Kania, and began competing with his surname. In the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, the 500m was the first event. The world record had been passed back and forth between Kania, Rothenburger, and Bonnie Blair over the past several years, and those three were expected to medal, which is exactly what happened. Rothenburger went first among them, and set a new world record, but then Blair broke it again a few minutes later. Kania had her usual slow start, and it was just enough to keep her from catching the others, leaving her with a bronze medal, 0.14 seconds short of the gold.
Next was the 3000m, where the same 3 medalists from the previous Olympics were the favorites, though all 3 were now competing under new surnames, as all 3 had married since the last Olympics. Schone was now Ehrig, and she went out first, setting a new world record to start off the event, while Kania finished more than 6 seconds behind in the same pair after starting too fast to try to destroy the world record. Sange, formerly Schonbrunn, was in the third pair, and finished between the two other East Germans. In the next pair, Yvonne Van Gennip of the Netherlands was behind the pace clear up to the final lap, then had an amazing final lap to pull ahead and take the gold medal in world record time, knocking Kania off the podium and into 4th place, where she finished.
She was the favorite in her best event, the 1000m, a couple of days later. Bonnie Blair set a new Olympic record in the third pair, beating Kania's old time, but Kania went under that in the very next pair to set a new world record. Rothenburger was in the next pair, and she skated ahead of Kania's pace throughout most of the race, but started to fade in the final lap, though she still had enough left to finish just ahead of Kania, winning the event by 0.05 seconds, another new world record, which left Kania with the silver medal.
She was also the favorite in the 1500m, where she held the world record and was the only woman ever to break 2 minutes. Ehrig set a new Olympic record in the second pair, but Kania had a strong final lap in the 4th pairing to lower the Olympic record again. In the next pair, Von Gennip surprised everybody again, beating Kania's time with a very strong second lap, taking her second gold in Calgary, and leaving Kania to take another silver.
Kania retired after those Olympics, finishing her Olympic career with 8 medals in 10 events, with two 4th place finishes in her only medal failures. Allegations came out decades later that she had been doping during her career, particularly during the 1984 Olympics, but drug testing was not as advanced at the time, so it remains only an accusation. She had the most speed skating medals when she retired, though that has now been broken, but she never finished worse than 4th in an Olympic event, making her one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Otis Harris Jr. was born on June 30, 1982 in Edwards, Mississippi, and was a track All-American in high school. He attended the University of South Carolina, where he won a relay gold in the NCAA Championship, along with an individual silver.
He made the US Olympic team that went to Athens in 2004, where he would compete in 2 events. He started with the 400m, where he lost his first heat by 0.02 seconds, then had the exact same result in his semifinal heat, but automatically advanced to the final. In the final, he took an early lead, and held it for more than half the race, before his two American teammates caught him by the end of the final curve. Down the homestretch, Jeremy Wariner had a little more left in the tank, and Harris took the silver medal, 0.16 seconds behind.
The three Americans who swept the 400m medals joined together a few days later in the 4x400m relay. Harris took the leadoff leg, and gave the Americans a lead of almost a full second after his lap was done. Derrick Brew (#80) extended it to 2.5 seconds by the midway point, Wariner made it 3.5 seconds, and by the end, they had won the gold medal by 4.69 seconds, the most dominant relay performance in Olympic history.
Harris retired from competition at the end of the year, first returning to South Carolina to serve as an assistant track coach, then becoming a high school track coach. He has recently moved into law enforcement, serving as courtroom security. Even though his Olympic career was very short, he was part of the most dominant relay team in history, and nearly won an individual gold as well, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Caeleb Remel Dressel was born on August 16, 1996 in Green Cove Springs, Florida, into a family of swimmers. He learned to swim at age 4, and by age 8 was swimming competitively while training daily. He competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials when he was just 15 years old, but wasn't close to making the team, but he made it a goal to get there by 2016.
The following year, he earned 6 medals at the World Junior Championships, then began attending the University of Florida the next year, and when the 2016 Olympic Trials came around, he placed 2nd in the 100m freestyle, which earned him a spot on the team, where he was also included on 2 relay teams.
In the 4x100m Freestyle Relay, the French were the favorites, as they were defending world and Olympic champions. In the final, Dressel swam the first leg, and finished just .02 seconds behind the French swimmer to put the USA in a great spot. The next swimmer was Michael Phelps, who gave the Americans a lead of more than a second, which the French were able to cut in half, but never overcome, and the USA ended up winning by 0.61 seconds, earning Dressel his first gold medal.
In the 100m Freestyle, Dressel finished just behind Kyle Chalmers of Australia in his first heat, then came in third in his semifinal, but still qualified through to the final. In that race, he was in third place at the turn, but slowed down a bit on the back half, and ended up finishing in 6th place. He also swam the freestyle anchor leg in the heats of the 4x100m Medley relay, which the USA won to advance to the final, where a new set of swimmers won the gold by over a second, getting Dressel his second gold at just 19 years of age.
In the NCAA Championships the next year, he won 3 golds and 2 silvers, and then won 7 gold medals in the World Championships the same year. He followed that up with 6 golds and 2 silvers in 2019, and he looked primed for a breakthrough in the 2020 Olympics, which ended up being postponed by a year.
His first event in Tokyo was the 4x100m Freestyle relay. The held him out until the finals to preserve his energy, as he was competing in 6 events, and he swam the first leg of the final, finishing with a lead of 0.26 seconds, which remained steady through the next two legs, before Zach Apple pulled away on the final leg to give the Americans a win by 1.14 seconds, and Dressel his third gold medal.
In the 100m Freestyle, he was a co-favorite with defending champion Kyle Chalmers, and in the semifinal round, he had the second-fastest time, giving him one of the prime lanes for the final. He had a great start, and led by 0.1 seconds at the turn, but Chalmers came charging from third place on the back half, and nearly caught him, but Dressel was slightly too fast for him, winning by 0.06 seconds to set a new Olympic record and win another gold medal.
His next event was the 100m Butterfly, where he put on a show. In the preliminary heat, he tied the Olympic record with a time of 50.39 seconds, they destroyed that in the semifinal with a new record of 49.71 seconds. In the final, he took a huge lead early, leading by 0.65 seconds at the turn, then he cruised to the finish in a time of 49.45 seconds, which was a new world record.
His next event was the final of the mixed 4x100m Medley relay, where he swam the anchor freestyle leg. Ryan Murphy was tied for the lead on the opening leg, but the next two Americans were much slower, and they had fallen to last place by the time Dressel entered the water. He swam the fastest split in the freestyle, but it was only enough to get them up to 5th, as he was 8 seconds behind at the start.
He next swam in the 50m freestyle, where he was the favorite, and he didn't disappoint. He had the best time in each of the first two rounds, and even after a slow reaction time in the final, he took the lead quickly, and pulled away from the field, winning by 0.48 seconds and setting a new Olympic record while also getting his 4th gold medal of the games.
His final event was the 4x100m medley relay, where he swam the third leg, the butterfly. Ryan Murphy again gave the USA the lead after the first leg, but they dropped back to third after the breaststroke, which is when Dressel jumped in. He was the fastest swimmer in his leg by far, and gave a lead of 0.6 seconds to the anchor, who brought home the gold by 0.73 seconds, and set a new world record by more than a full second. It was Dressel's fifth gold medal in Tokyo, and 7th overall.
He won 2 gold medals in the 2022 World Championships before withdrawing from his other events for medical reasons, but he still performed well enough in the Olympic trials to make his third straight Olympic team, competing in 5 events.
His first event in Paris was again the 4x100m relay, where he swam the anchor leg in the final, but he really wasn't needed. The Americans were second after the first leg, behind China by 0.75 seconds, but they had a lead of nearly half a second at the midway point, which exploded to more than 2 seconds before Dressel entered the water. He swam a very controlled leg to bring home the gold by more than a second over Australia.
Because he was just returning from more than a year off dealing with injuries, people were unsure how he would perform in his first individual event, the 50m freestyle, where he was the defending champ. He made it to the final, but in that race, the two leaders had pulled away from the pack, while the other 6 were all practically even to the end, all finishing within 0.08 seconds of each other, and after it was all reviewed, Dressel ended up being the 6th to touch the wall.
He then swam in the 100m Butterfly, but came in 5th in his semifinal and failed to make the final for the first time in his Olympic career. He then swam in the prelim of the 4x100m mixed medley relay, where the USA won its heat to advance to the final, where they won gold narrowly over China, which earned Dressel his 9th overall gold medal.
His final event was the 4x100m medley relay, where he swam the butterfly third leg in the final. The Americans had never lost this event when they had competed, but they were in 4th place when Dressel entered the pool. He swam the fastest butterfly leg, moving the Americans up to 2nd place, just 0.03 seconds behind France, but the Chinese anchor swam an insanely fast final leg to jump from third to first and beat the Americans by 0.55 seconds, giving Dressel his first-ever silver medal.
Dressel is still actively swimming and hopes to qualify for his 4th Olympic games in 2028 in Los Angeles, but whether he makes that team or not, he has already shown his greatness by winning 9 gold medals in the past decade, which makes him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Olga Valentinovna Korbut was born on May 16, 1955 in Hrodna, USSR, which is now part of Belarus. She began training at age 8, and enrolled in a sports school the next year, and by age 14 was participating in national competitions. In 1969, she was the first gymnast ever to complete a backflip followed by a catch on the uneven bars, and she made her Olympic debut in 1972, when she was 17 years old.
The Soviet Union had won the team gold in each of the past 5 Olympics, and they were expected to do it again, with only East Germany considered a threat at all. Korbut was the #2 scorer on the Soviet team, behind Lyidmila Turishcheva, and they won their 6th straight team gold by 3.95 points over the East Germans.
She was the #3 qualifier headed into the individual all-around, and she had the top score on the balance beam during the final, along with the #2 score in floor exercise and vault, but she fell twice during her very difficult uneven bar routine, which dropped her down to 7th place overall, and leaving her without a medal.
She did qualify for all 4 of the individual event finals due to her high scores in the team event. In the floor exercise, she was the #2 qualifier behind Turishcheva, who had a great score of 9.8 in the final, but Korbut put on a great show in her performance, and her score of 9.9 pushed her ahead of her teammate and earned her the gold medal.
She went into the vault final tied for 4th, but was unable to move up, and scored lower than the other 4th place starter, so she ended up in 5th place. In the uneven bars, she started out tied for 2nd, and performed the same routine she tried in the individual all-around, and this time avoided any falls, earning a 9.8, but it wasn't enough to catch Karin Janz of East Germany, who scored a 9.9, and Korbut ended up with a silver.
In the balance beam, she was also the #2 qualifier, behind Tamara Lazakovich (#106), her Soviet teammate. Lazakovich scored a 9.8 in the final, but Korbut again amazed everybody, scoring a 9.9 and passing her teammate to take her second individual gold and third overall of the games.
In the 1974 World Championships, she won medals in all 6 events, with 2 golds and 4 silvers, and was again selected for the Soviet Olympic team in 1976. They won the team event again in Montreal, for the 7th time in a row, with Korbut as the 3rd-highest scorer on the team, as they overcame Nadia Comaneci and Romania by 3.2 points in the end.
She was the #5 qualifier in the individual all-around, and she looked like she might move up and possibly even earn a medal, but a score of 9.5 on the balance beam ended her chances, and she ended up finishing in 5th place, again short of the medals in the all-around. She did, however, qualify for two event finals, the balance beam and uneven bars.
In the uneven bars, she had qualified in second place, but she was competing hurt, and ended up scoring only a 9.4, which dropped her to 5th place at the end. She had also been the #2 qualifier in the balance beam, but a 9.9 in the final wasn't enough to overcome Comaneci's perfect score, and she ended up with a silver medal.
She retired from gymnastics the next year, even though she was only 22 years old, and became a teacher. In 1991, she and her family emigrated to the United States, first living in New Jersey, and finally moving to Atlanta, where she coached gymnastics. Her performances helped usher in the more modern acrobatic style of gymnastics, and her 6 medals helped make her one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Serena Jamika Williams was born on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, and began playing tennis when she was 4 years old. She played in her first professional tournament when she had just turned 16, and upset two of the top 10 players in the world, Mary Pierce and Monica Seles, reaching the top 100 before the end of the year.
In 1999, she won the US Open singles and doubles titles, becoming just the 5th woman in history to do that, and she was still just 17 years old. The next year, she went to Sydney to compete in her first Olympics, but only in the doubles with her sister Venus, as only the top 3 players from each country could qualify for singles.
In the Olympic doubles tournament, the Williams sisters completely dominated, losing only one set in the entire tournament. In the gold medal match, they beat Boogert and Oremans of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-1 to cruise to the gold medal. Venus became the first woman in 76 years to win gold in both tennis events, and Serena had her first gold medal.
Between 2002 and 2003, she won all 4 Grand Slam finals in a row, defeating her sister Venus in the final in each, becoming just the 5th woman ever to hold all 4 titles at once. Late in 2003, she injured her knee, which required surgery, and ended up not qualifying for the 2004 Olympics as a result.
She battles through several other injuries in the ensuing years, but was finally healthy in time for the 2008 Olympics. She was seeded 4th in the singles event, and made it to the quarterfinals with only one set lost, but she lost to Yelena Dementyeva, the #5 seed, in that round, ending her first Olympic singles run a little early.
In the doubles, she and Venus were the #2 seeds, and they lost their very first set, before turning it around and winning the match, then winning the next 2 matches in straight sets. In the semifinal, they lost one set to the Ukrainians, but won the final set 6-1 to advance to the final, which they won 6-2, 6-0 to win their second gold medal as a pair.
By the time 2012 came around, she had reestablished herself as one of the best women's tennis players in the world, and she showed it at the Olympics. She went through the entire singles tournament without losing a set, and only giving up 17 total games in 6 matches, including a 6-1, 6-2 win over world #1 Vika Azarenka in the semifinal, and a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match. It was the most dominant performance in the history of Olympic tennis.
In the doubles tournament, the Williams sisters were almost as dominant, again winning every single match without losing a set, and not a single set went to a tiebreaker, though some of them were a little closer than Serena's singles run, like their 6-4, 6-4 win in the gold medal match. Either way, it was a great performance, and the third gold medal won by the pair at the Olympics.
Between 2014 and 2015, Serena again won all 4 Grand Slam titles in a row making her the first woman ever to achieve the feat twice. She competed once more in the Olympics, in Rio in 2016, but was surprisingly upset in the third round of the singles event, and then even more shockingly knocked out in the first round of the doubles.
She has not competed in the Olympics since, and took nearly 4 years off from tennis completely before making a return earlier this year. It's unlikely that she will qualify to compete in the Olympics again, but with the 4 gold medals she has already won, and the dominant way that she earned each of them, she has shown that she is one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Mariya Kondratyevna Gorokhovskaya was born on October 17, 1921 in Yevpatoriya, USSR, which is now part of Ukraine. Due to World War II, and the Soviet Union not participating in the Olympics until 1952, she was 30 years old before she made her Olympic debut.
Those Olympics were held in Helsinki, and 6 of the 7 events were held concurrently. In the team event, the Soviet Union finished with the top score in 3 of the 4 sections, and had 7 of the top 9 scorers overall, so they ended up winning the gold medal over Hungary by 4.67 points.
In the individual all-around, Gorokhovskaya ended up with the top overall score, beating Nina Bocharova, her teammate, by 0.84 points to win another gold medal. In the floor exercise, she won the silver medal, coming in only behind Agnes Keleti (#110) of Hungary in that event.
In the vault, the Soviets had the top 6 overall, and again, Gorokhovskaya came in second and got the silver, .01 points behind Yekaterina Kalinchuk. In the uneven bars, she finished 0.14 points behind Margit Korondi of Hungary to take home yet another silver. In the balance beam, she was beaten by Bocharova by 0.09 points, which earned her a 4th individual silver.
The next day, in the team portable apparatus event, which is basically what we know as rhythmic gymnastics today, the Soviets came in behind Sweden by 1.2 points, meaning that Gorokhovskaya had won her 5th silver medal, which is still the most for any athlete in a single Olympics in history.
She competed just once more, at the 1954 World Championships, where she won a pair of medals before retiring and becoming a coach. In 1990, she emigrated to Israel, where she coached until she passed away on July 22, 2001 in Tel Aviv. She was the first woman ever to win 7 medals in a single Olympics, and it would be 69 years before her feat was matched. Even though she only competed in the Olympics once, she was so great in that appearance that she is definitely one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Shelly-Ann Fraser was born on December 27, 1986 in Waterhouse, Jamaica, and was a good sprinter from the time she was a small girl. As a young adult, she was somewhat nervous about competing in big competitions, and wasn't super dedicated to training, but after going to the World Championships in 2007 as a relay alternate, she realized that she enjoyed the experience, and became more focused on her craft, and the results were almost immediate.
The next year, she finished second in the Jamaican Olympic trials in the 100m, earning a coveted spot on the team headed to Beijing. Once there, Fraser won each of her 3 heats to advance to the final, along with her two Jamaican teammates. In the final, Sherone Simpson of Jamaica had a slight lead on Fraser early, but Fraser pulled away in the second half to win easily by 0.2 seconds, with Simpson and Kerron Stewart of Jamaica tying for the silver medal, giving Jamaica all 3 medals, and Fraser her first gold in her first Olympic event.
With the top three 100m runners on the team, Jamaica was expected to cruise to victory in the 4x100m relay, and they had the fastest time in the semifinal heat, but in the final, after Fraser had given them the lead on the first leg, they missed the second handoff and were disqualified.
She won the 100m World Championship the next year, becoming just the second woman ever to win the two major titles in back-to-back years. The following year, she was suspended for 6 months for testing positive for oxycodone, which is not performance-enhancing, but required to be disclosed, which she failed to do. She was married in early 2011, and changed her last name to Fraser-Pryce, then spent much of the year recovering from a calf injury.
Because of the rough couple of years she had endured, it was a bit of a surprise when Fraser-Pryce won both the 100m and the 200m at the Jamaican Olympic trials, earning her spot on the team headed to London. In the 100m, she won both of her heats to get back to the final, and she had the best start in the final, but by the halfway point, Carmelita Jeter of the USA had pulled even, and the two remained tied right through the finish, where Fraser-Pryce was able to win the gold with a lean at the line, triumphing by .03 seconds to become the third woman ever to repeat as 100m champion.
In the 200m, she won her first heat, but came in second to Sanya Richards-Ross of the USA in her semifinal, though both advanced to the final. In the final race, Allyson Felix of the USA took a slight lead by the end of the turn over Jeter, then pulled away down the stretch to win gold, while Fraser-Pryce came from behind to pass Jeter at the finish to end up with a silver medal.
Her final event in London was the 4x100m relay, which was expected to come down to Jamaica and the USA, who had the top five 100m runners between them. Fraser-Pryce gave Jamaica a small lead after her lead-off leg, but on the second leg, Felix pulled away from Simpson, and the USA had a solid lead the rest of the way, beating Jamaica by 0.59 seconds in world record time, giving Fraser-Pryce another silver medal.
She had graduated from college just before the London Olympics, and felt that she was able to focus more fully on her training after that. In 2013, she won all 3 of her events at the World Championship, the first woman ever to do that. She also became the first woman ever to own the Olympic and WC 100m titles at the same time twice.
In early 2016, she injured her toe, which made running difficult, so she didn't run in many events, but she still was able to qualify for the Olympic team. She was attempting to become the first woman ever to win the 100m three straight times, and she won both of her heats to reach the final, but in the last race, her teammate, Elaine Thompson, got off to a better start and would not be caught, while Fraser-Pryce finished third to take the bronze medal.
She also ran the anchor leg for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay. It was again expected to be a battle between Jamaica and the USA, but the Americans held the lead the entire way, despite Jamaica's efforts to catch up on the middle legs. Fraser-Pryce was behind by a bit when she took the baton, and was unable to catch up, and Jamaica ended up 0.35 seconds behind and took another silver medal in the event.
In 2017, Fraser-Pryce gave birth to her first child via emergency C-section, which took her away from training for a long time, but she started training again 11 weeks after giving birth, and ran in her first meet in Jamaica in May 2018. By 2019, she was back to form, and even won the 100m World Championship, becoming the oldest woman ever to win the event, and the first mother to win it in 24 years.
In early 2021, she ran a new personal best in the 100m, then won the Jamaican Olympic trials in both the 100m and the 200m, despite being 34 years old. She went to Tokyo for her 4th Olympics, where she and Thompson, now Elaine Thompson-Herah, were the favorites in the 100m. Both won their heats to advance to the final, and they were even early, but Thompson-Herah maintained her top speed longer, and Fraser-Pryce finished 0.13 seconds behind to take silver, her fourth straight medal in the event, making her the first athlete ever to win four 100m medals, regardless of gender.
In the 200m, the first half went almost the same as the 100m, with an even start, followed by Thompson-Herah pulling away by the end of the turn. On the straightaway, she pulled away to win in the second-fastest time ever, while Fraser-Pryce was passed twice on the way home, finishing 0.07 seconds short of a medal in 4th place.
Jamaica had swept the medals in the 100m, making them clear favorites in the 4x100m relay. Fraser-Pryce ran the third leg, and Jamaica had the lead through the first half, though just barely ahead of the USA. Fraser-Pryce was also unable to pull away, handing off to Shericka Jackson with a tiny lead, but the USA had a rough handoff, and that enabled Jamaica to finally create some space, and they won by 0.43 seconds, finally getting Fraser-Pryce her first relay gold.
She considered retirement after the Olympics, but decided to keep competing since she had run personal bests in both of her events in 2021, and she made history again in 2022 when she won her 5th 100m World Championship, becoming the first ever to win 5, and the oldest athlete ever to win a track world championship. She suffered a knee injury in 2023, which hampered her training over the next year, but she still qualified for her 5th Olympics.
She went to Paris in 2024 to try for a fifth medal in the 100m, and she got off to a good start, leading early in her first heat, but she injured her hamstring late in the race and finished second, which advanced her to the semifinal, but she was unable to continue and withdrew from the competition.
She competed through the world championship in 2025, after which she retired at age 38. Her longevity was legendary, and she won medals at 4 straight Olympic games, finishing her career with 8 total medals, including the pair of 100m golds she won to kick off her career. She is obviously one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Ole Einar Bjorndalen was born on January 27, 1974 in Drammen, Norway, and left home at 16 to study at a sports academy, where he specialized in cross country skiing and biathlon, eventually shifting his focus completely to biathlon. At age 19, he won 3 gold medals at the Junior World Championships, and that helped him earn a spot on the Olympic team in 1994, just after his 20th birthday.
His first event was the relay, where he took the first leg, and even though he didn't miss a shot, he still was in 10th place at the end of his turn. His teammates were also perfect in shooting, but weren't able to get any higher than 7th place, which is where they finished. He also competed in the individual 20 km and the 10 km sprint, but wasn't close to the top in either, a disappointing start to his Olympic career.
He kept working hard, and by 1997, he won a bronze medal in the pursuit at the World Championships, and again made the Olympic team heading to Nagano in 1998, competing in the same 3 events. His first event that year was the 20 km individual, and he had the fastest skiing time in the event, but he missed 4 shots, which were each assigned a 1-minute penalty, which dropped him to 7th place overall.
Next was the sprint event, which had to be postponed by a day after heavy fog made the shooting impossible. With better conditions the next day, Bjorndalen dominated, with the fastest time at both shooting checkpoints, and no misses, and he ended up winning the race by over a minute, making his first gold medal one of his most dominant.
Norway and Germany were expected to battle for gold in the relay, but Norway got off to a rough start, sitting in 6th place after the first leg. The next two skiers moved them up to 4th, but they were still a minute and 43 seconds behind the Germans when Bjorndalen started his anchor leg. He flew past Russia and Belarus, and made up a lot of ground on Germany, but there just wasn't enough time, and Norway ended up taking the silver medal, 20 seconds behind Germany.
He won several more world championship medals over the next few years, but no individual golds, so what happened in Salt Lake City was a bit of a surprise. He started out by doing a cross-country skiing event, the 30 km. In that event Johann Muhlegg of Spain was far ahead of the field, winning by over 2 minutes, with Bjorndalen leading the rest of the pack heading into the final lap, but he was passed by 4 others before the finish. He originally finished in 6th place, but was moved up to 5th when Muhlegg failed a drug test, meaning that Bjorndalen finished only 13.5 seconds behind the true champion while racing in an event that wasn't even his main sport.
After that, he never skied another Olympic cross-country race, but he was about to make history in the biathlon. He started with the 20 km individual, where he was again the fastest skier in the event. He did miss 2 shots, down from 4 in the previous Olympics, and luckily this time, the two athletes that were within a minute of him on the skiing portion also missed at least 2 shots, so Bjorndalen won gold by 36 seconds over Frank Luck of Germany, who hadn't missed a shot but skied slower.
Next, he attempted to defend his gold medal in the sprint. He was one of the final athletes to start, and Sven Fischer of Germany held the lead for most of the race, but a miss at the final shooting station forced him to ski a penalty loop, and Bjorndalen made it through without a miss, which enabled him to win by 29 seconds, which was almost exactly the time Fischer lost to the penalty loop, giving him his second gold medal of 2002.
The next event was the pursuit, which was being contested for the first time in the Olympics. Skiers started according to their finish in the sprint, so Bjorndalen started with a 29 second lead. He missed two shots during the event, and was only the 6th fastest skier, but his head start was enough that noone was ever able to catch him, and he ended up winning by 43 seconds to become the first biathlete ever to win 3 golds in a single Olympics.
He finished up his Olympics with the relay, where his team was favored. They started out 18 seconds behind Russia after the first leg, but they took the lead early in the second leg, and never gave it up. They led by 21 seconds at the midway point, and by just over a minute when Bjorndalen started the anchor leg, and he was able to race without pushing too hard, bringing home the gold medal by just over 45 seconds. He thus became the only man ever to win ever biathlon event in a single Olympics.
At the 2005 World Championships, he won 4 golds, only missing out in the individual 20 km, which was his first event in Torino in 2006. For the third straight Olympics, he was the fastest skier in the event, but Michael Greis of Germany had missed only one shot, while Bjorndalen missed 2, dropping him behind by 16 seconds and leaving him with the silver medal.
Next was the sprint, which he had won twice in a row, both times without missing a shot, but he was unable to repeat that again. He missed 3 shots this time, and the 3 resulting penalty loops dropped him out of contention, finishing in 11th place, though he was probably fast enough to win if he had shot cleanly.
He started 1:14 behind in the pursuit, but was again the fastest skier in the event, which allowed him to make up a lot of ground, but he was again betrayed by his shooting. He missed 3 shots, and the penalty loops caused him to end up losing by 2.7 seconds, but he still ended up with a silver medal, which was impressive when you consider where he started.
He was again the anchor on the relay team, but his teammates all struggled with their shooting, and Norway was in 10th place by the time he got on the course. He skied the fastest leg of anyone by over 30 seconds, but was only able to move his team up to 5th place by the finish.
After that was an event new to the Olympics, the mass start 15 km race. Bjorndalen led the entire race until the final shooting station, where he missed twice, and the ensuing penalty loops caused him to lose his lead, and he was unable to catch back up before the finish, and he ended up with a bronze medal, 12 seconds behind the winner.
He again won 4 gold medals at the 2009 World Championships, giving him good momentum heading to Vancouver in 2010. The first event that year was the sprint, and the weather got worse throughout the event, and Bjorndalen started near the middle of the event. After 3 missed at the first shooting station, he was basically out of the running, and he finished in 16th place.
This meant that he started the pursuit 1:41 behind the leader, and despite a good race time and only 2 misses, he was only able to move up to 7th by the end of the event. In the 20 km individual, he was the fastest skier in the event for the 4th Olympics in a row, but Emil Hegle Svendsen, also of Norway, missed 1 less shot, and Bjorndalen ended up with a silver medal.
He also competed in the mass start, but with 7 missed shots out of 20, the worst in the competition, he only managed to finish in 26th place. He was assigned to the anchor leg in the relay again, and this time, despite a slow start, Norway was able to take a small lead after 2 legs, which was a virtual tie with Austria when Bjorndalen started. He had a really good ski time, and missed only 2 shots, while his rival missed 4, allowing him to have a comfortable victory by 38 seconds to finish with his only gold of the games.
He returned for another Olympic run in 2014, when he was 40 years old. He started out with the sprint event, where he was in 5th place for most of the race, but thanks to missing only a single shot, he was in position to sprint to the finish with a chance at a medal, and he ended up pulling it off, winning the gold medal by 1.3 seconds, which was his 12 total Olympic medal, which tied him for the most ever for a Winter Olympian at the time.
He took that tiny lead into the pursuit, but he missed 3 total shots over the course of the event, and ended up finishing 4th, just 1.7 seconds away from earning a record-breaking medal. In the individual 20 km, he missed 4 shots, one at each station, and the 4 penalty minutes dropped him from 6th to 33rd place.
He struggled again in the mass start, missing 6 shots, the most in the event, and he finished 21st out of 26 who finished the event. Next was a new event, the mixed relay, with 2 women doing a 6 km leg, followed by 2 men skiing 7.5 km each. Norway was only a second behind when Bjorndalen took off on the third leg, and he gave them a huge lead of 43 seconds, and it was more than enough for the anchor to bring home for another gold, making him the most decorated Winter Olympian ever.
His final event was the relay, where he again took the third leg. The Bo brothers took the first two legs, and had Norway in the lead for the entire first half, and they gave Bjorndalen a 20 second lead. He didn't miss a shot, but his skiing was slower than usual, and by the time he finished, the lead was down to 2 seconds. On the final leg, his teammate missed 4 times, and the Norwegians ended up in 4th place. That would change in 2020, when it was discovered that the Russians had been doping, and Norway was moved up to the bronze medal position, giving Bjorndalen his 14 medal overall.
He tried to make the team again in 2018, but was chosen for the team, so his Olympic career ended after 6 trips to the Olympics. He retired later that year, but by then he was no longer the most decorated Winter Olympian, as Marit Bjorgen had surpassed him by winning her 15th Olympic medal that year. He is known as the King of Biathlon, and it is well-deserved, as he is the greatest Olympic biathlete in history, and one of the greatest Olympians ever.
Frank Kent Foss was born on May 9, 1895 in Chicago, Illinois. He won the I4CA Championship in 1915 and 1916 while attending Cornell University, and then won the AAU championships in both 1919 and 1920. He had vaulted 4.05 meters in 1919, which was higher than the world record, but it was never officially verified to count as a world record.
He went to Antwerp in 1920 to compete in the Summer Olympics, where he was the favorite going in, and he didn't disappoint. 9 vaulters cleared 3.6 meters in the qualifying round to advance to the final, but two of them were unable to repeat that in the final round. Of the 7 who did clear 3.6, only two made it any farther, with Henry Petersen of Denmark joining Foss in making it over 3.7, but Petersen was unable to clear any further heights. Foss continued to raise the bar, both literally and figuratively, and by the end he had cleared 4.09 meters, setting a new world record, and winning the gold medal by 0.39 meters, or 15.4 inches, which is still the largest margin of victory in Olympic history.
After the Olympics, Foss stopped competing, and started working in the meatpacking industry for the rest of his life. He passed away on April 5, 1989 in Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Even though he only competed in one Olympic event, he set a world record in that event, and had the largest margin of victory ever, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Eizo Kenmotsu was born on February 13, 1948 in Okayama, Japan, and was a phenom at gymnastics, as he was the youngest Japanese gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal at the time, a mark he held for 48 years. He made his Olympic debut when he was just 20 years old.
He started out with the team event in Mexico City in 1968, where the Japanese had won the past 2 gold medals, and he helped to keep that streak alive, as Japan came out 4.8 points ahead of the USSR, and Kenmotsu was the third-highest scoring member of the team. This was the win that made him the youngest Japanese gold medal gymnast for so many years.
The individual all-around was determined by each gymnast's scores in the team event, and even though he was #3 on the Japanese team, he was #4 overall, missing out on a medal by 0.75 points. He qualified for the event finals in every event except the rings, which was quite a feat at his age.
In the floor exercise, he was 4th after qualifying, but only scored a 9.3 in the final, dropping him to 6th. The vault was exactly the same story, except that his final score was a 9.18. He was the 5th qualifier in the parallel bars, and he held that position after the final as well, and the exact same thing happened in the pommel horse.
He also qualified 5th in the horizontal bar, but a strong final performance earned him a 9.7, which moved him up to the bronze medal, his first individual Olympic gold. While he qualified for five finals, he wasn't in medal position in any of them beforehand, so the fact that he was able to take one anyway was impressive.
In the 1970 World Championships, he won the individual all-around gold, along with three individual event silvers, so he was one of the big stars to watch in Munich in 1972. He was a big part of the Japanese winning their 4th straight team gold, and this time they beat the Soviets by 7.2 points.
For the first time, the individual all-around held a final round, with the top 36 gymnasts from the team event qualifying. Kenmotsu qualified in 2nd place, behind Sawao Kato, his teammate, by 0.35 points. In the final, he finished in the top 7 in every apparatus, and had the high score on the pommel horse, but he only outscored Kato by 0.1 overall, so he remained in 2nd and took the silver medal.
This time, he qualified for all 6 event finals. In the floor exercise, he was part of a 5-way tie for second after qualifying, but a 9.4 in the final left him in 4th place, 0.1 short of a medal. In the vault, he started out in 4th, and held his position after the final, again leaving him short of a medal, this one by 0.25 points.
He was #2 in qualifying in the parallel bars, and had a good performance that earned him a 9.6 in the final, but his teammate, Shigeru Kasamatsu, scored 9.75 in the final to pass him, dropping Kenmotsu down to the bronze. In the horizontal bar, he was again unable to move up from 4th place after qualifying, leaving him with his 3rd close call of the games.
In the rings, he had been tied for third after qualifying, but had the worst performance of the final, and finished in 5th. He had been the top qualifier in the pommel horse, but a final score of 9.4 allowed two others to pass him, and he ended up finishing with yet another bronze medal, his second of the games and third overall.
In the 1974 World Championships, he won all-around bronze, along with a gold and 2 bronzes in the individual events. In the 1976 Olympic in Montreal, he helped the Japanese win their 5th straight gold medal, but this time it was close, with the USSR coming up just 0.4 short of overtaking their long-time rivals.
That year, the individual all-around was updated again, this time allowing only 3 competitors from each country, so even though he was 6th in qualifying, he was 4th among the Japanese gymnasts, and didn't get to compete. He did, however, qualify to compete in 4 of the individual event finals.
The individual finals now only allowed 2 gymnasts per nation, which allowed Kenmotsu to compete in the floor exercise, where he was 7th in qualifying, but since 3 Soviets ahead of him were left out, he was #4 going into the final. His final score was lower than the other 5, however, leaving him with a 6th place finish.
In the horizontal bar, he was #2 in qualifying behind Mitsuo Tsukahara, who ended up having a great final score, so Kenmotsu was forced to accept the silver, his first in an individual event final. He was the lowest qualifier in the rings, and only moved up one spot in the final. In the pommel horse, he had qualified #2, and scored a 9.8 in the final, but a 9.9 from Zoltan Magyar of Hungary prevented him from moving up, leaving him to take another silver.
He won 4 more World Championship medals in 1978, but retired in 1979, before the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, which Japan ended up boycotting anyway. He went on to coach gymnastics for many years. Even though he never won an individual gold, he won three silvers and three bronzes, and reached 15 of a possible 18 event finals during his Olympic career, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko was born on February 17, 1988 in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, USSR, which is now part of Ukraine. His father was a boxing coach, but he didn't allow Vasyl to box until he had trained in dancing and gymnastics. His first major competition was the 2007 World Championships, where he made it all the way to the final before losing, in what would be the only loss of his amateur career.
He made his Olympic debut in 2008 in Beijing, fighting in the featherweight division, and because Olympic boxing does not seed its athletes, Lomachenko had his first bout against Albert Selimov of Russia, the man who had beaten him the year before. It was his closest match of the tournament, ending up with a 14-7 win to avenge his previous loss. His next three matches were all blowouts, with margins of at least 9 in each, and the gold medal match was headed that way, with a score of 9-1, when he scored a TKO to end the match. Along with his gold medal, he was named outstanding boxer of the Olympics.
He won the 2009 World Championship, then, after the featherweight division was discontinued, he moved up to lightweight and won the 2011 World Championship in his new division. He competed at lightweight in the 2012 Olympics, and after a huge win in his first bout, he had a couple of slightly closer matches, winning by 5 and 3, before a 19-9 win in the gold medal match, earning him a second straight gold, and the very rare feat of winning gold in two different weight classes.
He turned pro in 2013, and didn't compete in the Olympics again, but compiled an 18-3 record as a pro over 11 years, and was the quickest to ever win a world title, which he achieved in his third pro fight. His second Olympic gold was very strong, but his first was legendary, with big margins in every fight, making him the greatest Olympic boxer ever, and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Maurice Greene was born on July 23, 1974 in Kansas City, Kansas, and played football and ran track in high school, but focused exclusively on track after getting a scholarship to the University of Kansas. He competed in his first World Championship in 1995, and won his first one in 1997. In 1999, he won the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay at the world championships, just the third man ever to do that, after Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson.
He also set the world record in the 100m in 1999, dropping it to 9.79 seconds. In the Sydney Olympics, he opened with the 100m, and after winning his first two races easily, he had the fastest time in the semifinals, then went on to win the final in a time of 9.87 seconds, 0.12 seconds ahead of the silver medalist, to earn his first Olympic gold medal.
Greene also ran the anchor leg for the USA in all 3 rounds of the 4x100m relay the next week. They had the fastest time in each of the first two rounds, and weren't challenged in the final, where Greene was handed a comfortable lead and coasted to the finish for another gold medal, this one by 0.29 seconds over Brazil.
Greene repeated as 100m World Champion in 2001, but struggled with injuries over the next couple of years. He watched Tim Montgomery break his world record in 2002, but then he got it back when Montgomery failed a drug test. He recovered in time to make the Olympic team that was headed to Athens in 2004.
He again started with the 100m, and he again won his first two heats, but in the semifinal, he came in 3rd, even though he ran it in 9.97 seconds. In the final, it was an extremely close race, with 4 runners within .04 seconds of each other, but Greene ended up taking the bronze medal in that mass finish, .02 seconds short of another gold.
Greene again ran the anchor leg for the favored Americans in the 4x100m relay, in which they easily made the final. In that race, the first two handoffs for the USA were clunky, and it allowed the British team to gain the lead, but after a good handoff to Greene, he bolted for the finish, but came up just short, losing by .01 second to end up with a silver medal.
His world record was beaten in 2005 by Asafa Powell, who lowered it to 9.76 seconds, and by 2008, Greene had retired from athletics. He has since worked as a track coach and PE teacher. He had a very strong peak, but it only coincided with one Olympic games, which is why he only has 2 gold medals, but he was extremely close to 2 more while coming off nagging injuries, and for all of that, he is one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
