The Olympics’ greatest athletes, ever
Source :Charlie Calver28 July 2021
The fastest, strongest, fittest, most dominant athletes to ever compete at the Summer Olympics.
Since Ancient Greece, the greatest athletes in the world have competed every four years to find out who is the best of the best in each sport. Seen as the ultimate achievement in sports, winning a gold medal at the Olympics is a chill-inducing prospect for any competitive athlete. Taking to the podium knowing that you stand at the very top of your field is what all Olympic hopefuls dream of.
But, for some, tasting gold once is simply inadequate—they are motivated to etch their names on the list of all-time greats in their sports. Whether that’s done with world records or medal hauls that would break Zeus’ back, these athletes are after the glory that only comes with the absolute dominance of sport.
Over the 120-plus years since the first modern Olympics in Athens, a few remarkable athletes have been so successful that they won’t ever be forgotten.
Whether it’s due to incredible stories of perseverance, insane records or just sheer greatness, every athlete on this list overcame the odds to achieve their dreams. Hopefully, a few more can be added to this list after Tokyo 2020 wraps up.
All images courtesy of Getty Images.
Michael Phelps
Swimming, U.S.A.
For Phelps, it's all about the total: 28 medals. He is the most decorated Olympian ever and with a whopping 13 individual gold medals, one of the greatest of all time.
Larisa Latynina
Gymnastics, Soviet Union
One of the greatest gymnasts ever, Larisa Latynina held the record for most total Olympic medals for 48 years with 18. She is the only gymnast ever to win nine Olympic titles as well. Unstoppable.
Jesse Owens
Athletics, U.S.A.
Jesse Owens may not have won the most medals, but he won the most important ones. In 1936, as Hitler watched on in Berlin, Owens dominated. He won the 100m and 200m sprints, the long jump, and was on the winning 4x100m relay team.
Owens' medals mean more than just victory, and that is why he is great.
Usain Bolt
Athletics, Jamaica
Bolt is still the fastest man ever. Running a blistering 9.58 seconds in the 100-metres, his record looks set to behold for years. He's an eight-time gold medalist (it would have been nine if his relay teammate, Nesta Carter, didn't dope in 2008), who won every race he ever ran in at the Olympics.
Bolt was a big personality, but he backed it up with greatness and became the best sprinter of all time.
Carl Lewis
Athletics, U.S.A.
Before Bolt, there was Carl Lewis. The speedster won nine gold medals (10 in total) across four Olympic Games.
He went back-to-back in the 100-metre sprint in 1984 and 1988, and won long jump four Olympics in a row, making him the most dominant male track athlete of his time.
Simone Biles
Gymnastics, U.S.A.
Simone Biles may have won most of her awards away from the Olympics, but her sheer dominance at the Rio 2016 games combined with her progression of the sport earn her a spot on this list.
Biles has four gold medals, four moves named after her, and is the undisputed greatest gymnast of all time.
Aleksandr Karelin
Greco-Roman Wrestling, Russia
Aleksandr is the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler ever and the man is an absolute beast. The Russian Bear finished his career with a staggering 887-2 record.
He dominated the 130 kg wrestling event for three Olympics in a row before finally being handed a defeat by Rulon Gardner from the U.S.
Not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley.
Ian Thorpe
Swimming, Australia
Ian Thorpe is one of the greatest swimmers ever. With five gold medals under his belt and a total of eight, he has the most medals ever won by an Australian.
He's also one of the only swimmers to ever win the 400m freestyle in back-to-back Olympics.
Katie Ledecky
Swimming, U.S.A.
Considered by many to be the greatest female swimmer of all time, Katie Ledecky is a legend of the pool. She has won six gold medals and three silvers (and counting), and over her career, she has broken a whopping fourteen world records and still holds three.
At just 24 Ledecky, isn't even close to finished. Although she will have to deal with Ariarne Titmus from now on.
Paavo Nurmi
Athletics, Finland
This tenacious Finn is one of the greatest long-distance runners ever. He won 12 Olympic medals (nine gold, three silver) across 1920, 1924 and 1928.
He also performed a feat worthy of the Greek Gods in 1924 when he won gold in the 1,500m and 5,000m events in the space of an hour and a half.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Athletics, U.S.A.
A remarkable all-around athlete, Jackie Joyner-Kersee dominated the heptathlon—which entails seven track and field events—and the long jump. She won six medals over her career and set the record for the highest score in the heptathlon at 7,291 points.
She is considered the greatest female athlete of all time.
Bob Beamon
Athletics, U.S.A.
Bob Beamon is not on this list for his medal tallies or glory across multiple events. Beamon is on here because of his earth-shattering performance once.
In 1968 Beamon stepped up for the long jump after almost missing the final and obliterated the existing world record by almost 55cm. Afterwards, he almost collapsed from being so shocked by his performance, and so was the world.
Since then, his record has only been beaten once, by Mike Powell in 1991, and no one has come close for a while.
Mark Spitz
Swimming, U.S.A.
Mark Spitz held the record for the most medals won at an Olympics for 16 years thanks to his elite performance in the pool in 1968. That year in Mexico City, he won seven golds, breaking the world record in each race.
It's one of the greatest performances at a single Olympics to this day.
Florence Griffith-Joyner
Athletics, U.S.A.
Florence Griffith-Joyner, or Flo-Jo, still holds the records for the fastest women's 100m (10.49 seconds) and 200m (21.43 seconds) sprints in history.
Flo-Jo did it all in style too. She was famous, not only for her speed, but for her flair. She popularised running with jewellery and her six-inch painted nails are iconic.
Teofilo Stevenson
Boxing, Cuba
We'll never know as he never turned pro, but Stevenson could have been as good a boxer as the great Muhammed Ali. Over 12 years, the Cuban pugilist won gold at every Olympics; a record that is unlikely to be broken.
Nadia Comaneci
Gymnastics, Romania
Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to ever earn a perfect 10... and she did it at 14-years-old. One of the greatest gymnasts ever, Comaneci won nine medals (five golds) before the age of 19.
We knew gymnasts were young, but Comaneci was ridiculous.
Naim Suleymanoglu
Weightlifting, Turkey
Naim Suleymanoglu stood at just 4-foot-10 and in his heyday, he lifted over three times his bodyweight. He won gold at three straight Olympics and broke an insane 46 world records. Beast.
Duke Kahanamoku
Swimming, U.S.A.
Duke Kahanamoku is an interesting one in light of the recent introduction of surfing at the Olympic games. The Big Kahuna was a five-time medallist across three Olympic Games in the pool. But, known as one of the godfathers of surfing, it's interesting to ponder what his legacy would be in an alternate timeline.
With affection,
Ruben
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