All-time greats in the history of the Olympic Games

Nadia Elena Comaneci
Nadia Elena Comaneci is a winner of five Olympic gold medals, and the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. Comaneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around title at the Olympics. She is also the youngest-ever Olympic gymnastics all-around champion.




Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz gave swimming an unparalleled and unforgettable memory in Munich. A total of seven gold medals, and as many world records, were won by the determined Californian during the Games of 1972, adding to what he described as his "disappointing" haul of five medals in 1968.




Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis won 10 Olympic medals including 9 golds, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were golds, in a career that spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired. He was voted "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee and was also named "Olympian of the Century" by Sports Illustrated. He also helped transform track and field from its nominal amateur status to its current professional status.




Paavo Nurmi
If long distance running was in need of a role model, one would have to look no further than Paavo Nurmi. The legendary Finn smashed an incredible 22 world records, winning nine Olympic golds on the way. Nurmi won a total of 12 Olympic medals across three Games --- 1920, 1924 and 1928.




Jesse Owens
The German head of state had done everything in its power to leave a taste of Nazi propaganda in the mouths of all the competing nations at the 1936 Olympic Games. Jesse Owens, born the son of a slave in 1913 in segregated Alabama, however, left his own mark by winning four gold medals which would turn Adolf Hitler's theory of racial supremacy on its head.




Dawn Fraser
Whether it was due to a modest background, or a refusal to give up swimming even when banned in the early stages of her career, Dawn Fraser's determination led her to battle adversity and ultimately conquer the sprint events at three consecutive Olympic Games -- 1956, 1960 and 1964. Three Olympic gold titles in 1956, 1960 and 1964 in the 100m freestyle eventually brought the daughter of a Sydney docker justified success. She won a total of eight Olympic medals.




Bob Beamon
Robert "Bob" Beamon leapt to world prominence with a stunning long-jump gold in the 1968 Mexico Games. A virtual flight of 8.90m also broke the Olympic and world records, earning the American a deserved place in athletics history. Beamon's mark was not bettered until the 1991 Tokyo world championships when his compatriot Mike Powell jumped 8.95m.




Fanny Blankers-Koen
Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She accomplished this as a mother of two, during a time when many disregarded women's athletics. Her background and performances earned her the nickname "the Flying Housewife."




Michael Johnson
At the Atlanta Games of 1996 Michael Johnson not only became the first athlete to take Olympic golds in both the 200m and 400m, but shattered the 200m world record with an eye-opening time of 19.32sec. In all, he won five gold medals across three Olympic Games.




Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis can simply be described as the total diver. At age 16, he took part in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he placed second in the tower event. in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Louganis won gold medals in both the springboard and tower diving events. He repeated his 1984 feat in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, although not without drama. Louganis suffered an injury, hitting his head on the diving board during the preliminary rounds while performing a reverse 2 1/2 pike; he completed the preliminaries, despite a concussion, then went on to repeat the dive during the finals, with nearly perfect scores, earning him the gold medal.




Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those two different events. "Sports Illustrated" magazine voted her the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century.




Steve Redgrave
Great Britain's now legendary rower Steve Redgrave pushed his ageing body through more gruelling punishment at the Sydney Olympics as he won his fifth gold medal at consecutive Games - a feat never before achieved in endurance events. After previous victories from Los Angeles (1984) to Sydney 2000, he finally retired from the sport in 2000, and was given a knighthood for his remarkable achievements.




Kristin Otto
East Germany's Olympic swimming champion Kristin Otto is truly unique for the display of talent in three separate styles -- freestyle, backstroke and butterfly -- which brought her six gold medals during the Seoul Games of 1988.




Abebe Bikila
With his win in the marathon in the 1960 Rome Olympics, Abebe Bikila became the first black African Olympic champion. Bikila, who ran the marathon barefoot in Rome ntered Olympic history with a world best time of 2:15:16.2. Bikila also won the gold in the 1964 Games in Tokyo -- this time he ran with shoes and once again set a new world best time of 2:12:11.2.




Olga Korbut
Olga Korbut is a Belarusian, Soviet-born gymnast who won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympics, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the USSR team. At the 1972 Munich Olympics, she became the first person to do a backward somersault on the balance beam in competition. She was also the first to do a standing backward somersault on bars, and a back somersault to swingdown (Korbut Flip) on beam.

British paddler snatches gold in men's kayak single (K1) 1,000m

British paddler Tim Brabants snatched the gold medal in the men's kayak single (K1) 1,000m at the Beijing Olympics held in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Friday with a result of three minutes and 26.323 seconds.

This is Britain's first Olympic gold medal in flatwater canoe/kayak races. It has only two bronze medals up to now.

The runner-up was Norway's Eirik Veraas Larsen with a result of 3:27.342, followed by Australia's Ken Wallace with a result of 3:27.485.

Tim took the lead in the whole race and he did not slow down in the final sprint. He won the heat race on Monday within three minutes and 27.828 seconds, having secured a final berth.

"It's the strongest race today. I gave my best shot. I'd like to win tomorrow. I am feeling strong for tomorrow. I will see what happens, maybe London as well," Tim told reporters in the mixed zone.

Germany won women's kayak four (K4) 500m gold

Fanny Fischer, Nicole Reinhardt, Katrin Wagner-Augustin, Conny Wassmuth of Germany compete in the Kayak four (K4) 500m women final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Canoe/Kayak Flatwater event in Beijing


Defending champion Germany won the gold medal in the women's kayak four (K4) 500m at the Beijing Olympics with a result of one minute and 32.231 seconds here Friday.

The German paddlers took the lead at first and maintained the advantage till the end of the race. They were followed by Hungary with a result of 1:32.971 and Australia with a result of 1:34.704.

Germany is one of the two powerhouses in flatwater races. The other is Hungary.

"I wear a gold necklace with a Chinese dragon on it. I think it can bring good luck to me. I am very happy with my result. I come for the gold medal and I feel super," German paddler Katrin Wagner-Augustin told Xinhua in the mixed zone.

Hungary wins Olympic gold in men's canoe single 1,000m

Attila Sandor Vajda of Hungary crosses the finish line in the Canoe single (C1) 1000m men final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Canoe/Kayak Flatwater event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Attlia Sandor Vajda clinched the gold medal in this event with a time of 3:50.467. (Xinhua/Jiang Enyu)

Attila Sandor Vajda of Hungary came from behind to win the gold medal in the Olympic canoe flatwater men's single (C1) 1,000 meters in the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Friday.

Vajda won comfortably in 3 minutes, 50.467 seconds, earning Hungary's first gold medal at the Beijing Games.

Defending Olympic champion David Cal of Spain took silver in 3:52.751 and Thomas Hall of Canada, who won two pre-Games World Cups, took bronze in 3:53.653.

The 25-year-old Hungarian, bronze medalist in Athens and reigning world champion, was in sixth place by the 500 meters. But a late charge made him lead at the 750 meters and he held on the lead across the finish line.

German paddlers claim title in men's kayak double (K2) 1,000m

Martin Hollstein (R) and Andreas Ihle of Germany celebrate after winning the Kayak double (K2) 1000m men final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Canoe/Kayak Flatwater event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. The German pair clinched the gold medal in this event with a time of 3:11.809. (Xinhua/Jiang Enyu)


German paddlers claimed the men's kayak double (K2) 1,000m title at the Beijing Olympics in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Friday.

They finished the race with a winning result of three minutes and 11.809 seconds, followed by paddlers from Denmark ( 3:13.580) and Italy (3:14.750).

The German crew finished the race the sixth at Athens four years ago. The world best time for the event is 3:09.190, created by Italian paddlers at Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

"Combination between us is quite good today. It's a hard race from the beginning to the end. I think at least six boats have the ability to win. But luckily, we were the first to hit the finish line," German paddler Andreas Ihle told Xinhua in the mixed zone.

His partner also said that the race was great.

Belarus comes from behind to win Olympic gold in canoe double 1000m

Andrei Bahdanovich and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich of Belarus compete in the Canoe double (C2) 1000m men final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Canoe/Kayak Flatwater event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. The pair of Belarus clinched the gold medal in this event with a time of 3:36.365. (Xinhua/Jiang Enyu)


Belarus came from behind to win the men's canoe double 1,000 meters race at the Olympic Games in the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Friday.

Andrei and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich upset defending Olympic champion Germany to win a thrilling race in 3 minutes and 36.365 seconds, 0.223 seconds ahead of Christian Gille and Thomasz Wylenzek.

The Germans, who took world titles in 2005 and 2007, led all the way but were surpassed by Belarus brothers in the last meters.

Gyorgy Kozmann and Tomas Kiss of Hungary took bronze in 3:40.258. Chinese crew of Chen Zhongyun and Zhang Zhiwu came in fifth place.

"We felt good and were prepared for the race. We were not afraid of Germany going ahead at the beginning. We were planning to get ahead at the end," Andrei Bahdanovich said in excitement.

"We were physically fit in this final and now we have made our goal come true."

Germany's Gille cited illness as the reason for their losing to Belarus. "I think we can be happy with the silver. I was ill yesterday and it was questionable if I could start today," he said.

"Due to my illness we weren't able to finish the race to our true potential."

A bronze was a huge surprise for Hungary's Kozmann. He paired with new partner Tamas Kiss after his former crew member Gyorgy Kolonics died during the Games build-up in mid July. The 30-year-old teamed with Kolonics to win the bronze in the C2 1,000 meters in Athens.

Men's Kayak Single (K1) 500m : semifinals

Ken Wallace of Australia ranked third in the first semifinal.
The Men's Kayak Single (K1) 500m semifinals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games took place in the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park in Beijing, China, August 21, 2008.
Anders Gustafsson of Sweden ranked second in the second semifinal.




Stjepan Janic of Croatia ranked first in the third semifinal. (Photo credit: Jiang Enyu/Xinhua)

Golds fire Britain up medal table

Britain's sailors, rowers and cyclists won four more gold medals on Sunday to match the team's Saturday surge and reach third in the Olympic medal table.

There were sailing golds for Yngling trio Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson, and Ben Ainslie in the Finn.

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter took GB's first lightweight rowing gold, and Rebecca Romero won cycling's pursuit.

Fellow cyclist Wendy Houvenaghel and two rowing crews claimed silver medals, while gymnast Louis Smith won bronze.

After four golds on both Saturday and Sunday, Team GB's total of 11 golds for the Games moved them above Australia and Germany in the medal table.

British Olympians have won 25 medals in all, including six silver and eight bronze.

With seven days of action still remaining, Team GB have already matched their gold medal tally from Sydney in 2000, where they won 28 medals overall, and exceeded the nine golds from the last Games in Athens, where they finished with an overall haul of 30.

Britain have not claimed more than 11 golds in an Olympics since 1920. If they earn 16 golds or more by the end of the Games, it will mark their best performance in a century.

Canada wins Men's Eight Rowing gold

Members of the Canadian team row. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

The Canadian crew in the Men's Eight Rowing led all the way crossing the finish line first in 5 minutes 23.89 seconds here on Sunday.

Defending champion the United States won the bronze medal with 5:25.34. The British boat won the silver medal by finishing the race in 5:25.11.