Olympic Stories | Inspirational Stories | Greatest Olympians

The 1972 Summer Olympic GamesThe 1972 Summer Olympic Games were introduced with pomp and circumstance as is common for such affairs. They were preceded by the running, carrying and passing of the Olympic Torch by selected runners from around the world. The torch lighting ceremony is in itself always a spectacular event. The opening of the games was quite spectacular

Bonnie Blair - The Winter Olympian of the CenturyOver the last century there have been many women who have changed the course of history, both in sports as well as other arenas. These kinds of strides have always symbolized a great step forward for women, keep in mind that back then they did not have the rights that they do now. Bonnie Blair proved that women could indeed run fast like men and she eventually joined the ranks of Wilma Rudolph in the speed hall of fame.

Carl Lewis - Sprinter, JumperCarl Lewis is one of the greatest athletes in the world. He is known for his world records in running as well as his records in the long jump. Carl Lewis was born in Birmingham though he was actually brought up in Willingboro, New Jersey. Carl Lewis started participating in long jump events when he was just 13 years old. Carl also started to perform in sprinting events at a young age as he had the capability of high sprinting speeds

Dale Begg-Smith - The Olympic hero of AustraliaDale Begg-Smith is the Olympic hero of Australia in recent days even though he happens to be Canadian. His nickname is the Iceman and his golden moment was when he won the gold medal in skiing at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. His initial footing phase in Australia was quite difficult. In his early years he worked at skiing just so that he could qualify to represent Australia

Emil Zatopek - one of the greatest runners of the 20th centuryEmil Zatopek was known to be one of the greatest runners of the 20th century. Emil became recognized by all and famous when he won the 5000m, 10000m and the marathon at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki . He was known all over the world as “The Locomotive” or the “Bouncing Czech. ” He dominated the long distance races from 1948 to 1954 when he won a total of 38 consecutive 10000m races including 11 races in 1949 alone

“Miracle on Ice” - a defining moment in Olympic historyThe nineteen seventies are finally over. Disco is dead. America is in the throes of economic and sociopolitical recovery and confusion. The Winter Olympics in Lake Placid , New York , USA were just beginning. American Hockey was the last place anybody was looking to find a dream come true, much less experience the thrill of “The Miracle on Ice.”

Jesse Owens - Conquering the world though racial and physical obstaclesAthletes have taken great strides all throughout this century but few can compare to those of Jesse Owens. He beat all of the odds and even went against what Hitler had in mind by taking part in the Olympics in 1936. This was a tough man who knew what he wanted to accomplish and set out to do just that

Jim Thorpe - Olympic hero and Native AmericanIn the colorful history of Olympics, there have been heroes who have made history and who have embodied legends. There have been so many different glorious personalities that it is hard to choose who is the most legendary or remarkable of them all. But when we think of a great hero who struggled against circumstances and made a big splash, the name Jim Thorpe usually comes to mind among those familiar with Olympic history

Karnam Malleswari - Olympic Weightlifting ChampionKarnam Malleswari is an Olympic weightlifting champion, who proved herself as much better than the rest in her career and is considered to be exceptional in her talents. She had her greatest moment in the Olympic spotlight when she became the first woman to win an Olympic medal in this sport

Mark Spitz, the record holder for 7 gold'sWe all had our heroes when we were growing up. Heroes we read about in great epic novels. The stories always dealt with great figures and heroes who did great things against a fearsome foe. Whether they rescued the princess, killed a dragon or rescued a kingdom from its state of misery. We knew that these were only stories though, and the moment we closed our books they were gone again, back into the realms of dreams

Nadia Elena Comaneci - The Perfect TenA perfect ten: Everybody has heard the phrase. Usually it refers to something that an individual would regard as ideal under any circumstances. The perfect score, the perfect setting, the perfect presentation … everything about a perfect ten would be … just that … perfect. There is one moment in Olympic sports history that many will always remember as “The” perfect ten

Paavo Nurmi - King of RunnersPaavo Nurmi is known to be the on of the greatest runners that the world has ever seen. He is rightly known as the “King of Runners” and also known as the “Flying Finn.” He became the pride of his country Finland . Paavo Nurmi has always had a burning desire to run for his country and win as many events as he could. He always worked hard to fulfil the high standards that he had set for himself

Shizuka Arakawa - Graceful AlwaysShizuka Arakawa, a Japanese woman, won the gold medal for figure skating in the 2006 Olympic Games held in Italy . She is a Japanese women's figure skating champion. What marked this skater and her achievement as a remarkable moment was the fact that she was the first Asian women to win the gold medal in this category

Steve Redgrave - Motion in ActionSometimes it is not any one individual feat that defines someone’s “greatness” as much as it is the culmination of the many accomplishments they have made as a whole. Sir Stephen Geoffrey Redgrave is one such example that exemplifies this very scenario. Stephen Redgrave (Now known as Sir Stephen Redgrave after receiving the prestigious Knighthood during the 2001 New Year’s Honors List) was born on March 23rd of 1962 in Marlow, England

Han Xiaopeng - China's Great HopeIn the Olympic Games held in Turin , China topped the skier category. It was due largely, to the efforts of Chinese skier Han Xiaopeng. It was an historical event as China had never gone into the finals before in any of the previous Olympics. This made it a remarkable moment not only for Han but also for his entire country by entering the finals and winning the gold in this category for the first time in Olympic history

Alice Coachman - First African American Woman Gold MedallistIn London in 1948, Alice Coachman became the first African American woman to win a gold medal, when she won the high jump competition. She was also the only female American athlete to win a medal of any kind at these Olympics. A fine sprinter as well as a superb high jumper, there's little doubt she would have won more medals had the 1940 and 1944 games taken place

Birgit Fischer Schmidt - Supreme KayakerIt takes a very special kind of temperament to be an Olympic winner. Harder still to do it four times over. There’s an elite group of four to repeat this feat, one of them being Birgit Fischer Schmidt, the German kayaker. She was born in 1962 on the 25th of February, at a place called Brandenburg, (then) East Germany

Daley Thompson - Winning the DecathlonWinning the decathlon at the Olympic Games is often considered synonymous with conferring the coveted title of ‘World's Greatest Athlete’ on a person and winning this title more than once has caused many to regard Daley Thomson to be the world’s greatest all-rounder in the field of athletics

David Hemery - Athleticism at it's FinestDavid Hemery catapulted to fame when he won the 400 meter hurdles at the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City . This was no ordinary accolade since he had created a brilliant new world record, with the margin of victory being the largest since 1924; that too by a thrilling one second win over silver-medalist Gerhard Hennige from Germany

Elisabeta Lipa-Oleniuc - 6 Times OlympianNot just anyone can win an Olympic medal never mind win medals in six different Olympiads. Four people have achieved this amazing feat in Olympic history. Although some of them have appeared in the so-called lesser profile Olympic sports, it does not detract from their incredible sporting achievements. Elisabeta Lipa-Oleniuc, from Rome, is one of these elite four

The First Summer OlympicsAfter a hiatus of hundreds of years, the Olympics returned to Athens in 1896. There had not been a sporting event specifically called the Olympics since they had been banned in 393 as part of the early Christian Church’s attempts to destroy paganism. The games were called the ‘I Olympiad’, and held as a two-day-event in the middle of June

Hans-Günter Winkler - an Olympic JockeyHans-Günter Winkler was born to a man in West Germany , who was a riding instructor to jockeys. This being the case, it was only natural for him to become a jockey himself, and one of the leading ones of our time at that. With obvious family support and a great trainer for a father, Hans had the opportunity of a lifetime, being accustomed to horses and to jockey training from an early age

Kelly Holmes - Middle Distance Double Gold WinnerRegarded by many to be the best female middle-distance runner to ever come from Great Britain , Kelly Holmes has been at the forefront of British Athletics since the early 1990's. She was a consistent top class performer in the Grand Prix circuit, won European and Commonwealth Championship medals

Teófilo Stevenson - An Olympic Boxing LegendIf there was one competitor who upheld the original ideals of the Olympics then it was probably Teófilo Stevenson. Despite being offered enormous sums of money (including a reputed offer from Don King of $5m dollars) to turn professional, Stevenson resisted the temptation and remained an amateur for the whole of his boxing career

The Southern Hemisphere Games - Melbourne 1956Australia held it's first ever Olympic games in Melbourne in 1956. It had been some thirty years previously that Australia had first lobbied to hold the games. They had hoped to stage the 1936 Olympics, but these were given to Germany and held in Berlin instead

The First Post War Olympics - 1948 LondonIn the aftermath of World War II The IOC decided that the games would be a focal point of bringing nations together again. As London had been selected to host the cancelled 1944 games, it was decided to offer them the games.

Jesus Miguel Rollan - Water Polo OlympianJesus Miguel Rollan Prada was the world famous goalkeeper for the Spanish national water polo teams during the 1990’s. A game with it’s origins in African rites of passage rituals, and originally known as ‘water rugby’, it is somewhat similar to ice hockey in the attitude and competitiveness of the players

The First Ever Winter OlympicsChamonix is a village of around 10,000 inhabitants that nestles at the foot of Mont Blanc in France . Known for having some of the best ski runs in the world, it is also one of the oldest known winter sports resorts. Proficient Skiers, snowboarders, extreme sports enthusiasts and mountaineers, flock to this small resort from all over the world, to sample its unique and sometimes extreme challenges

Toni Sailer - Gold Medal after Gold MedalToni Sailer is a former Austrian skier, who was the first to win gold medals in all three Alpine skiing events namely Downhill, Slalom and Giant Slalom at the Winter Olympics in 1956 held at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. He became the fifth athlete ever to have won three old medals at the same Winter Olympic Games

Fanny Blankers Koen - Flying DutchmanBorn in Holland in 1918 Francina Elsje Koen, is viewed by many experts as the greatest all-round track and field female athlete who ever lived. She was held in such high regard by her peers that she was awarded female athlete of the twentieth century in 1999 by the IAAF