Before the 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics, no American had won a gold medal at an Olympic game. That was until Charles Jewtraw came along. The speed skater placed first during the 500-meter speed skating competition. This was a gold medal first for the United States, making it an unforgettable moment in American history.
Charles Jewtraw did not fare as well in his other events. He placed just eighth in the 1500 meter and 13th in the 5000-meter events, but none of that takes away from his win. He did, however, retire after the Olympics and move to New York, becoming a representative for the Spalding Sporting Goods Company.
Muhammed Ali is obviously one of the most memorable names in the world of boxing and arguably one of the greatest of all time if not the greatest. Many don't remember that before he became a legend in the world of boxing, Muhammed Ali was an Olympic competitor.
Muhammed Ali, then Cassius Clay, won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division against a three-time European champion, Zbigniew Pietrzykowski. With huge victory, Cassius Clay (Ali) made a huge name for himself. He would later change his name after converting to Islam.
At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Abebe Bikila impressed people in more ways than one. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the gold medal after running the Olympic marathon for a record time of two hours, fifteen minutes and sixteen seconds. A few other things were special about this win, however.
One thing was that he ran the race barefoot. Apparently, the new shoes he purchased for the event were not comfortable and actually gave him blisters. The second thing was that he was the first African to win a gold medal at the Olympics. So, a pretty impressive win all-around. Lastly, he ran a second marathon at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and won a second gold medal, becoming the very first athlete to defend their marathon title.
In the summer of 1968, two African American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, took the podium. They won gold and bronze medals, respectively. While standing on the podium, they took the opportunity to stand up for the oppressed.
Wearing necklaces designed to represent the unjust lynching of African Americans in the United States, the two men gave the black power salute, creating one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.
Now Caitlyn Jenner, Bruce Jenner at the time, participated in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. After finishing tenth at the Munich Olympics in 1972, nobody expected Bruce Jenner to win big, but she sure did.
After intensive training for four years, Bruce Jenner was at the top of her game. She set a world record at the decathlon, scoring 8,634 points. She won the gold medal and became one of the biggest athletic icons of the 20th century.
At the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci made Olympic history. She was the first gymnast to receive a perfect score at an Olympic game. She earned a gold medal for her performance on the uneven bars.
After that performance, she would earn six more perfect scores of 10 and earn three gold medals. At the following Summer Olympics she earned two more gold medals and two more perfect scores. And those are just her gold medals. Altogether, she earned a total of nine gold medals.
In the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, the United States hockey team gave it their all to defeat the Soviet Union, when the Cold War tensions were highest. Due to Cold War tensions, President Jimmy Carter had decided in favor of a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were held in Moscow.
Referred to as the "Miracle on Ice," the United States beat the Soviets 4-3, who were four-time defending gold medalists. it was the subject of the 2004 film starring Kurt Russell, Miracle.
At the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, gymnast Mary Lou Retton became the first woman outside of Eastern Europe to have won the all-around gold medal. Additionally, she won two silver and two bronze medals.
Mary Lou Retton had been inspired by Nadia Comaneci's performance in 1976. She took up gymnastics in her hometown in Virginia and then moved to Houston, Texas to be trained by two Romanian coaches. Retton continued to compete until 1986 when she retired.
The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics marked the debut of the Jamaican bobsled team. George B. Fitch had first suggested that Jamaica compete at the Winter Olympics. Their first event was a two-man bobsleigh, in which they finished 34th. In Their second run, they got in 22nd place and in the 3rd run, they got 31st place. In the final run, they finished in 30th place.
The story of the first Jamaican bobsleigh was the subject of the 1993 film Cool Runnings. The film is only loosely based on real events, but it is a cult classic sports film. Starring John Candy, it has been aired numerous times on television since its release.
Surya Bonaly participated in the 1988 Olympics in free skating. During her performance, she landed an illegal, albeit, incredibly difficult one-foot backflip. She pulled it off flawlessly, but did she get rewarded? Nah. While it looked absolutely amazing and she was the second skater to ever complete the move, it was deemed illegal.
The judges deducted points from her final score. She didn’t place, but she’ll be forever one of the most talented skaters ever. Is it just me, or should no move be illegal during the Olympics? It's supposed to be about skill, so why punish someone for doing something awesome? That's awfully questionable.
Flo-Jo, formally known as Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner, was a track and field athlete that became known as the fastest woman alive after her performance at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games. She set records in both the 100 m and 200 m that still stand.
Winning a total of three gold medals, Flo-Jo became a popular figure in the athletic world. However, she retired just a year later and mainly suck to endorsement deals, acting, and design. Her life was cut short in 1998, at the age of 38, when she died in her sleep from an epileptic seizure.
In 1994, at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding were two hardworking athletes competing for Olympic gold in figure skating. Prior to their appearance at the event in February, Tonya Harding's ex-husband orchestrated an attack on Kerrigan.
Kerrigan was injured by the attack but made her comeback at the Olympics by taking home the silver medal, while Harding won no medals and was actually banned from the United States Figure Skating Association for her knowledge of the attack prior to its occurrence.
The 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics marked the setting of three new world records by Inge de Brujin. The swimmer from the Netherlands took home three gold medals for the 50m and 100 m freestyles, as well as the 100m butterfly.
Brujin had competed in the Olympics back in 1992 but finished in 8th place in the 100 m freestyle events. She did not compete at all in the 1996 Olympics. All this goes to show is that there's no substitute for experience and that hard work will pay off sooner or later.
Jamaican track runner Usain Bolt became the fastest man alive at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics after breaking the record for the 200 meter dash and the 100 meter dash. He would become a force to be reckoned with in the Olympic world.
Usain Bolt is now an eight-time gold medalist, winning Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles for three consecutive Olympics: 2008, 2012 and 2016. On top of this, he won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals.
Shaun White was already a celebrity in the world of snowboarding, and had been for many years, before participating in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. It was at the halfpipe event that Shaun White, aka "The Flying Tomato" landed the first-ever Double McTwist 1260.
Shaun White had first competed at the Olympics in 2006, where he won gold at the half-pipe event. His 2010 half-pipe win got him his second gold, but at the 2014 Olympics he finished only fourth.
In 2012, Michael Phelps made Olympic history once again. He already had a record-breaking performance in 2008, but in 2012 he took it a step further, having accumulated 19 Olympic gold medals. This made him the most decorated Olympian of all time.
After that Olympics, he would compete in 2016 at the Rio Olympics, where his gold medal count increased to 23 and his total medal count grew to 28 medals. Michael Phelps is a swimming icon and a philanthropist with his own charity organization – a hero in every way.
Oscar Pistorius made headlines by being one of the first amputee sprinters to compete in the Olympic games in 2012. Despite his Olympic achievements, he’s better known for the murder of his girlfriend in 2014. He was originally found guilty and convicted of culpable homicide with a sentence of five years in prison.
After an appeal by state prosecutors, his sentence was upped to murder and six years in prison for firing four bullets through a closed bathroom door, which killed his girlfriend. Pistorius has attempted several appeals, but they've actually led to more jail time. The Supreme Court of Appeal decided that his original term of six years was too short, increasing his sentence to 15 years. Pistorius is eligible for release in 2023.
Just as the Tokyo Olympics were getting started, news broke that Simone Biles – America’s favorite gymnast – would withdraw from the competition. At first, she didn't offer any information other than it being a “medical issue.” Then, she held press conferences to discuss what was really going on and why she had to pull out.
Biles stated that her head wasn’t in it, and she wasn't able to complete vaults she had been able to do prior. It was affecting her score and mental health. Other gymnasts understood, saying there’s a point where your body just refuses to complete the moves. Biles said she would rather pull out than risk severely injuring herself, which would end her career forever.
During one of the most controversial Olympics in history, with the world on the brink of WWII, the 1936 Winter Olympics were held in Germany. And yes, with Adolf Hitler as Chancellor at the time. Most countries were not happy about this, and there were even movements to boycott the Olympics in several countries.
At an Alpine skiing event, German and Austrian competitors had taken the gold and silver medals, while French Alpine skier Émile Allaishad taken the bronze. While the German and Austrian competitors saluted Hitler at the medal ceremony, Émile Allais refused.
After considerable world healing was required, the 1948 London Summer Olympics were the very first Olympics after World War II. It was at that Olympics that America symbolically asserted its dominance over the world, sweeping the podium for the women's springboard diving competition.
The winning of all three medals was a huge achievement for the three American women. They all gave it their best and the results paid off. The three women were Vicki Draves, Zoe Ann Olsen and Patsy Elsener.
