Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #42 - Paavo Nurmi

Paavo Nurmi

Finland

Athletics

Overall Ranks

#10 among Track & Field Athletes

#7 among Male Track & Field Athletes

#2 among Finnish Olympians

#1 among Finnish Track & Field Athletes

Olympic Results

1920

5000m - Silver

10000m - Gold

Cross Country - Gold

Cross Country Team - Gold

1924

1500m - Gold

5000m - Gold

Team Race - Gold

Cross Country - Gold

Cross Country Team - Gold

1928

5000m - Silver

10000m - Gold

Steeplechase - Silver

Total

Events - 12

Gold - 9

Silver - 3

Paavo Johannes Nurmi was born on June 13, 1897 in Turku, Finland, into a poor family, where running was just a part of everyday life. He dropped out of school at age 12 to help support his family, and began training as a runner after hearing about the successes of Hannes Kolehmainen, a fellow Finn, at the 1912 Olympics. After a stint in the army during the Finnish civil war, he qualified to compete in the 1920 Olympics.

His first Olympic event was the 5000m, where he was one of 12 runners to qualify for the final. In the final race, he and Joseph Guillemot of France pulled away from the field after just two laps, and the two ran together for the rest of the race, until just 200m remained, at which point Guillemot had a finishing kick that left him 4.4 seconds ahead of Nurmi, who took the silver medal. It would be the only race in his career in which he lost to a runner from another country.

The 10000m was next, and since the world record holder had been killed in World War I, the two leaders from the 5000m were the favorites. Those two, along with James Wilson of Great Britain, led the way for most of the race, and when the pack nearly caught them with 5 laps to go, they picked up the pace and pulled away. Nurmi took the lead at the beginning of the final lap, and didn't allow the others a chance to pass him, and he won the race by 4.7 seconds to earn his first gold medal.

Next was the cross country race, which was supposed to be 10000m, but ended up closer to 8000m. Medals were awarded for the top 3 individuals, as well as the top 3 teams, which were scored based on the finishing order of their top 3 runners. Guillemot sprained his ankle halfway through the race, and Nurmi only had one real challenger, Eric Backman of Sweden, but he came through and won by 2.6 seconds to take another gold medal. Since the next two Finns finished 3rd and 6th, the team won gold solidly, as their placements added up to 10, far ahead of the Brits, with 21.

After the Olympics, Nurmi was able to afford to get electric lighting and running water for his family. He also began experimenting with his pace, running with a stopwatch for the rest of his career, in an attempt to make himself impossible to beat. Over the next 2 years, he set world records in the mile, the 1500m, 2000m, 3000m, 5000m, and 10000m. He is still the only athlete in history to hold world records in the mile, 5000m, and 10000m at the same time. He also graduated with an engineering degree in 1923.

He suffered a knee injury early in 1924, but was able to recover in time for the Olympic trials, where he qualified while setting new world records in the 1500m and 5000m just an hour apart. In the Olympics, which were contested on a 500m track, rather than today's familiar 400m version, he started with the 1500m. Ray Watson of the USA was able to keep pace with him through 2 laps, but fell back at the start of the last lap, and Nurmi coasted to the finish to conserve energy, still setting a new Olympic record in the process by 3 seconds.

42 minutes later, he competed in the 5000m. Ville Ritola (#89), and Edvin Wide of Sweden tried to tire him out by setting a fast pace early, so Nurmi abandoned his stopwatch and pushed to catch the leaders at the 2000m mark. Wide fell behind by 3000m, and Nurmi pulled ahead at 4000m, then held off his teammate for the last 2 laps and won the race by 0.2 seconds.

The cross country race was next, and the temperature that day was over 100 degrees, which caused most of the runners to drop out before the end of the race. Nurmi and Ritola took the lead early, but Ritola could not keep pace, and Nurmi won easily, by almost a minute and a half. He ended up getting the team gold as well, when his other teammate, Heikki Liimatainen, was able to cross the finish line after becoming disoriented near the finish, spending nearly two minutes stumbling toward the line before he finally made it.

His Olympics concluded the next day with the 3000m team race, which was run on the track with the same scoring system as the cross country team event. Nurmi and Ritola finished in the top 2 spots easily, and when their teammate, Elias Katz, finished in 5th, they won the gold medal in a runaway. This was Nurmi's fifth gold medal in Paris, which is still the most ever won by a track athlete in a single Olympics.

Nurmi spent 5 months touring the United States the next year, competing in 55 races in that time, which wore him down, and he slowed his training schedule over the next year. In 1926, he set a new 3000m world record in Sweden, but one of the Swedish runners spent the whole race interfering with his pace, and he vowed to never compete against him again, which came back to bite him later in his career.

He threatened not to compete in the 1928 Olympics, but he and the Finnish Olympic committee were finally able to make peace over his refusal to compete against the Swedish runners in recent years, and he made the team. He started his Olympics that year with the 10000m, his favorite race, and it started with himself, Ritola, and Wide running away from the field, then Wide dropping behind at 8000m. Ritola led the entire race up to 9000m, but then Nurmi pulled ahead of him and held him off down the stretch, winning by 0.6 seconds for his 9th career gold medal.

In the 5000m, the same three runners pulled away from the field again, and again, Wide fell behind late in the race, while the pair of Finns stayed together. This time, Ritola was the one who was able to pull away late, beating Nurmi for the only time in his career, by a margin of 2 seconds, while Nurmi was able to hold off a late charge from Wide to win the silver.

His final event was the steeplechase, which he hadn't run before, and in the heats, he fell on the first water jump, spraining his ankle and hip, but still finished fast enough to make the final. The day after the 5000m final, he ran in the steeplechase final, and after Ritola wore out early and dropped out, it was down to Nurmi and Toivo Loukola of Finland, but Loukola was able to leave Nurmi behind, and Nurmi had to settle for finishing with another silver.

He decided that he would compete in one final Olympics in 1932, planning to compete in just the 10000m and the marathon, but his plans were foiled when he was suspended by the IAAF for competing as a professional, which he hadn't. Finland's Olympic committee investigated and found that the allegations were untrue, and he went to Los Angeles to compete, but the ruling was upheld 3 days before the Olympics started, and he was forced to sit out. It turns out that the IAAF chairman was from Sweden, and that he had forced Germany to lie about making payments to Nurmi for a race in 1931, still holding a grudge from the 1926 incident.

Nurmi continued to run, refusing to turn pro, while he appealed the IAAF decision, but he lost his appeal in 1934, and his ban became permanent, even though it was based on lies. At that point, he retired from competition. He competed in 12 events over 3 Olympic Games, and never finished worse than 2nd place, winning 9 gold medals and 3 silvers in all. His record of 5 track gold medals in a single Olympics still stands, and he is obviously one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #43 - Bob Beamon

Bob Beamon

USA

Athletics

Overall Ranks

#13 among American Olympians

#11 among Track & Field Athletes

#9 among Male American Olympians

#8 among American Track & Field Athletes

#8 among Male Track & Field Athletes

#6 among Male American Track & Field Athletes

Olympic Results

1968

Long Jump - Gold

Total

Events - 1

Gold - 1

Robert Beamon was born on August 29, 1946 in Jamaica, New York, and was orphaned before he was a year old, so he was raised by his grandmother. His talent was discovered by the track coach at his high school, and in his senior year, he set the national high school triple jump record. After his grandmother's death, he started college at UTEP on a track scholarship.

Before the 1968 Olympics, he had beaten the old world record in the long jump, but it didn't count as a world record because of excessive wind, but he was still one of the favorites to win gold in Mexico City, along with world record holder Ralph Boston. In the qualifying round, Boston broke the Olympic record with a jump of 8.27 meters on his first jump. Beamon fouled on his first two attempts, so he decided to jump from farther back on his final attempt to ensure that he would qualify for the final, which he did, with a jump of 8.19 meters.

Beamon was the 4th jumper in the final, and after the first three fouled, Beamon started down the runway without any mark in the sand to aim for. He hit the takeoff board perfectly, and landed at a distance of 8.9 meters, destroying the old world record of 8.35 held by Boston. 8.35 meters is 27'4.75", while 8.9 meters is 29'2.5", meaning that he was the first man to ever jump more than 28 feet or 29 feet, and he also made the biggest change in the world record in history, as nobody before him had ever moved it more than 0.15 meters.

The competition continued, though the winner was already a foregone conclusion. Beamon attempted one more jump, which went 8.04 meters, and nobody else made it any further than 8.19. Beamon passed on his final 4 jumps, since they weren't necessary, and walked away with an easy and amazing gold medal. His world record was not broken until 1991, and it is still the Olympic record and the second-longest jump in history.

He had been kicked off the UTEP track team shortly before the Olympics due to his joining a boycott of BYU due to racist policies then in effect, but he went back to school and earned a degree in sociology. He later went on to coach college track and work as a graphic artist. While his Olympic career consisted of just one event, and many claim that the elevation aided him, he was the only jumper to surpass the world record that day, and he jumped nearly 2 feet farther than anyone else. He is definitely one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Football Predictions - 1 Oct thru 5 Oct

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

Western Kentucky at New Mexico State - Aggies by 5

North Texas at Tulsa - Golden Hurricane by 8

Pittsburgh at Cleveland - Browns by 6.5

Friday

Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech - Hokies by 6

Liberty at Delaware - Flames by 2.5

Penn State at Northwestern - Wildcats by 6.5

Saturday

Memphis at Charlotte - Tigers by 14

(3) Notre Dame at North Carolina - Irish by 9.5

(7) Alabama at (16) Mississippi State - Bulldogs by 0.5

UCF at (20) Houston - Cougars by 11

Boston College at (21) SMU - Mustangs by 19

Middle Tennessee at Kansas - Jayhawks by 6

West Virginia at Iowa State - Cyclones by 7

Stanford at Wake Forest - Demon Deacons by 24.5

Syracuse at UConn - Huskies by 8.5

Michigan at Minnesota - Gophers by 7

Navy at Air Force - Falcons by 9

Michigan State at Wisconsin - Badgers by 11.5

Vanderbilt at (2) Georgia - Bulldogs by 25.5

Western Michigan at Buffalo - Broncos by 9

Toledo at Ball State - Rockets by 2.5

(5) Ohio State at (14) Iowa - Buckeyes by 7

(8) Florida at (25) Missouri - Gators by 0.5

Auburn at (17) Tennessee - Volunteers by 14.5

California at UNLV - Rebels by 7.5

Louisville at NC State - Wolfpack by 5.5

Virginia at Florida State - Seminoles by 1.5

Samford at UAB - Blazers by 15

Wyoming at North Dakota State - Bison by 33.5

Akron at Central Michigan - Chippewas by 11

Eastern Michigan at UMass - Minutemen by 27

Ohio at Kent State - Golden Flashes by 4

Bowling Green at Miami (OH) - Redhawks by 23.5

Old Dominion at Georgia State - Panthers by 22

Marshall at James Madison - Dukes by 30

Maryland at Nebraska - Cornhuskers by 15

UTEP at New Mexico - Lobos by 30

(24) Kentucky at South Carolina - Gamecocks by 7

Purdue at Illinois - Illini by 9.5

Oregon State at Colorado State - Beavers by 1

Texas Southern at FAU - Owls by 24.5

(18) BYU at TCU - Horned Frogs by 2

Arkansas at Texas A&M - Aggies by 12.5

UTSA at Rice - Roadrunners by 2.5

Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina - Chanticleers by 3

UL Monroe at South Alabama - Jaguars by 20

(4) Miami at Clemson - Hurricanes by 0.5

(12) Texas Tech at Colorado - Red Raiders by 6.5

Washington at (18) USC - Trojans by 21

Utah State at (22) Boise State - Broncos by 31

Temple at South Florida - Bulls by 15.5

Army at Louisiana Tech - Bulldogs by 6.5

McNeese at (11) LSU - Tigers by 42

(6) Indiana at Rutgers - Hoosiers by 10.5

Arkansas State at Louisiana - Ragin Cajuns by 12.5

Fresno State at Washington State - Bulldogs by 5

Baylor at Arizona State - Sun Devils by 0.5

Texas State at San Diego State - Aztecs by 3

Cincinnati at Arizona - Wildcats by 10

San Jose State at Hawaii - Spartans by 3

Sunday

Indianapolis vs. Washington - Colts by 1

Arizona at NY Giants - Cardinals by 6

New England at Buffalo - Patriots by 1.5

NY Jets at Chicago - Bears by 24

Jacksonville at Cincinnati - Jaguars by 14

LA Rams at Philadelphia - Rams by 9

Green Bay at Tampa Bay - Buccaneers by 13

Tennessee at Baltimore - Ravens by 21

Dallas at Houston - Cowboys by 6

Miami at Minnesota - Vikings by 15.5

Kansas City at Las Vegas - Chiefs by 1.5

Denver at San Francisco - 49ers by 9

LA Chargers at Seattle - Seahawks by 17

Detroit at Carolina - Panthers by 7.5

Monday

Atlanta at New Orleans - Saints by 12.5

Results

NCAA: 51-20 (.718) 266-65 overall (.804)

Upsets: 8-17 (.320) 15-40 overall (.273)

NFL: 8-8 (.500) 24-24 overall (.500)

Upsets: 1-1 (.500) 1-8 overall (.111)

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #44 - Lyudmila Turishcheva

Lyudmila Turishcheva

USSR

Artistic Gymnastics

Overall Ranks

#10 among Gymnasts

#4 among Female Gymnasts

#4 among Soviet Olympians

#2 among Female Soviet Olympians

Olympic Results

1968

Team - Gold

1972

Individual All-Around - Gold

Team - Gold

Floor Exercise - Silver

Vault - Bronze

1976

Individual All-Around - Bronze

Team - Gold

Floor Exercise - Silver

Vault - Silver

Total

Events - 18

Gold - 4

Silver - 3

Bronze - 2

Lyudmila Ivanovna Turishcheva was born on October 7, 1952 in Grozny, USSR, now part of Russia. She began training in gymnastics at age 13, and by the time she was 16, she made the Soviet Olympic team competing in Mexico City.

At the time, the USSR had won 4 straight team gold medals at the Olympics, and 1968 would be no different, although it was they closest they came to losing during their existence. Czechoslovakia had a very strong team, and had actually beaten the USSR at the last world championships, but the Soviets were able to pull off the victory by 0.65 points, and Turishcheva had her first gold medal.

The individual all-around rankings were determined by each athlete's scores in the team event, and Turishcheva was one of the lowest-scoring members of the Soviet team, and only placed 24th in the all-around, and failed to qualify for any of the event finals, so her first Olympics ended with just a single gold medal.

By 1972, things were very different. Turishcheva had won the all-around world championship when she was 17, and was the overall favorite heading to Munich. She, along with Olga Korbut (#50) and Tamara Lazakovich (#106) led the Soviets to their 6th straight gold medal in the team event, this time defeating East Germany by 3.95 points.

As the highest-scoring member of her team, she qualified for the individual all-around, which was obvious because she was also the top overall qualifier, tied with Karin Janz (#103). Only Lazakovich had a higher score in the final round, but she was too far behind to catch up, and Turishcheva ended up as the individual gold medalist.

She qualified for all 4 individual event finals, and was the top qualifier in the floor exercise, but even after a 9.8 in the final, she was passed by Korbut and dropped down to the silver medal. She was also the top qualifier in the vault, but only scored a 9.6 in the final, which dropped her to bronze medal placement.

She was the #4 qualifier in the uneven bars, and scored a 9.8 in the final, but that wasn't enough to move up, and she stayed in 4th place. She dropped from 4th to 5th in the balance beam after a 9.4 in the final routine. Overall, she won 4 medals, including the biggest one of all, the all-around, but I'm sure she expected a little more.

She repeated as world all-around champion in 1974, and at that point was undefeated in the all-around in the decade. The competition started to get tougher the next year, though, and she only came in 4th in the European championship in 1975, though she was still considered one of the Olympic favorites in 1976 in Montreal.

That year, she helped the Soviets with their 7th team gold medal in a row, this time beating Romania by 3.2 points to come out on top. She was the #2 qualifier in the all-around, behind Nadia Comaneci, but her teammate, Nelli Kim, slipped ahead of her in the final round, dropping Turishcheva down to the bronze medal.

She qualified for 3 of the individual finals, but not the uneven bars. She was again the top qualifier in the floor exercise, but was again the victim of a teammate's great performance in the final, as Kim scored a perfect 10 to leapfrog her, leaving her with the silver in the event once again.

She was the #2 qualifier in the vault, with Kim starting ahead of her, and even a 9.85 in the final wasn't enough, as Kim scored a 9.95 to take another gold, while Turishcheva took another silver. She was the 4th qualifier in the balance beam, but everyone ahead of her was nearly perfect, and she was left without a medal in the event again.

She retired after the 1976 Olympics, and married Soviet sprinter Valery Borzov, who had 5 Olympic medals himself, two of them gold. She spent many years coaching and judging gymnastics, including coaching the Soviet Olympic team for many years. Though her first Olympics only earned her a single team medal, she later won 8 more, including a gold and a bronze in the all-around, making her one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #45 - Don Schollander

Don Schollander

USA

Swimming

Overall Ranks

#14 among American Olympians

#10 among Male American Olympians

#5 among Swimmers

#4 among Male Swimmers

Olympic Results

1964

100m Freestyle - Gold

400m Freestyle - Gold

4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

1968

200m Freestyle - Silver

4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold*

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

4x100m Medley Relay - Gold*

Total

Events - 8

Gold - 7*

Silver - 1

*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.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #46 - Ian Thorpe

Ian Thorpe

Australia

Swimming

Overall Ranks

#6 among Swimmers

#5 among Male Swimmers

#1 among Australian Olympians

Olympic Results

2000

200m Freestyle - Silver

400m Freestyle - Gold

4x100m Freestyle Relay - Gold

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Gold

4x100m Medley Relay - Silver

2004

100m Freestyle - Bronze

200m Freestyle - Gold

400m Freestyle - Gold

4x200m Freestyle Relay - Silver

Total

Events - 10

Gold - 5

Silver - 3

Bronze - 1

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.

Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #47 - Karin Enke-Kania

Karin Enke-Kania

East Germany

Speed Skating

Overall Ranks

#2 among Speed Skaters

#1 among Female Speed Skaters

#1 among East German Olympians

Olympic Results

1980

500m - Gold

1984

500m - Silver

1000m - Gold

1500m - Gold

3000m - Silver

1988

500m - Bronze

1000m - Silver

1500m - Silver

Total

Events - 10

Gold - 3

Silver - 4

Bronze - 1

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.