Olympic Stories | Inspirational Stories | Greatest Olympians
We've written up 30 of the most inspirational olympic stories for you to read about. This collection of amazing stories in Olympic history really shows us that you can achieve anything you put your mind to. We are positive that you'll find these olympic stories inspiring.
1) The 1972 Summer Olympic Games The 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.
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2) Bonnie Blair - The Winter Olympian of the Century Over 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. |
3) Carl Lewis - Sprinter, Jumper Carl 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. |
4) Dale Begg-Smith - The Olympic hero of Australia |
5) Emil Zatopek - one of the greatest runners of the 20th century Emil 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.
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6) Han Xiaopeng - China's Great Hope |
7) Jesse Owens - Conquering the world though racial and physical obstacles Athletes 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. |
8) Jim Thorpe - Olympic hero and Native American |
9) Karnam Malleswari - Olympic Weightlifting Champion |
10) Mark Spitz, the record holder for 7 gold's |
11) Nadia Elena Comaneci - The Perfect Ten |
12) Paavo Nurmi - King of Runners |
13) Shizuka Arakawa - Graceful Always |
14) Steve Redgrave - Motion in Action |
15) “Miracle on Ice” - a defining moment in Olympic history |
16) Alice Coachman -
First African American Gold Medallist In London in 1948, Alice Coachman became the first African American 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.
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17) Birgit Fischer Schmidt - Supreme Kayaker It 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.
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18) Daley Thompson - Winning the Decathlon  Winning 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.
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19) David Hemery - Athleticism at it's Finest  David 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.
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20) Elisabeta Lipa-Oleniuc - 6 Times Olympian  Not 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.
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21) The First Summer Olympics  After 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.
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22) Hans-Günter Winkler - an Olympic Jockey  Hans-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.
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23) Kelly Holmes - Middle Distance Double Gold Winner Regarded 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.
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24) Teófilo Stevenson - An Olympic Boxing Legend  If 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.
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25) The Southern Hemisphere Games - Melbourne 1956  Australia 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.
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26) The First Post War Olympics - 1948 London  In 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.
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27) The First Ever Winter Olympics  Chamonix 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.
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28) Toni Sailer - Gold Medal after Gold Medal  Toni 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.
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29) Fanny Blankers Koen - Flying Dutchman  Born 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.
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30) Jesus Miguel Rollan - Water Polo Olympian  Jesus 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.
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