- Michael Johnson
Michael Duane Johnson (born September 13, 1967) is a retired American sprinter who holds world records in the 200 m, 400 m and 4 x 400 m relay (2:54.20, as part of the USA team). He also has run the fastest 300 m ever, an event not recognized by the IAAF. He won five Olympic gold medals and was a world champion nine times. He is the only man to win both the 200 m and 400 m races at the same Olympics, accomplishing the feat at the 1996 Summer Olympics, … - Mike Powell
Michael ("Mike") Anthony Powell is an American Track and Field athlete, and the holder of the long jump world record. Mike Powell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 1991 World Championships in Athletics (Tokyo), he broke Bob Beamon's 23-year-old long jump world record by 5 cm (2 inches), leaping 8.95 m (29 ft 4½ in). The world record still stands. - Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan David Edwards, CBE, (born May 10, 1966 in London, England) is a former British triple jumper and widely regarded as the finest triple jumper of all time. He is an Olympic champion and has held the world record in the event since 1995. He lives with his wife Alison in Gosforth, Tyneside and also has a flat in London. - Donovan Bailey
Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a Canadian former athlete. Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Bailey emigrated from Jamaica to Canada at age 13, and played basketball before his graduation at Queen Elizabeth Park High School in Oakville, Ontario. He began competing as a 100 m sprinter part-time in 1991, but he did not take up the sport seriously until 1994. At that time, he was also a successful stockbroker. The following year saw his international breakthrough. - Bruny Surin
Bruny Surin is a former Canadian athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Surin was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haïti, and moved to Canada with his family in 1975. Surin made his debut at the major international championships at the 1987 Pan-American Games, where he was fifteenth in a long jump. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, Surin was again fifteenth in long jump. - Randy Barnes
Eric Randolph "Randy" Barnes (born June 16, 1966) is an American shot putter who holds outdoor and indoor distance records. He won silver at the 1988 Olympics and gold at the 1996 Olympics. Barnes was born in Charleston, West Virginia and began throwing the shot put in high school. In 1985, he threw an impressive 66 ' 9.5" (20.36 m) with the prep shot of 12 lb (5.44 kg). After graduating from St. Albans High School near Charleston in 1985, … - Allen Johnson
Allen K. Johnson (born March 1, 1971) is a hurdling athlete and won Olympic Gold in the 110 metre high hurdles at the 1996 games in Atlanta, Georgia. Born in Washington, D.C., an all-round athlete Johnson attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and excelled at high jump, long jump and decathlon as well as hurdles. Johnson was troubled by injury in 2000 and it was much to his credit that he made the final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, … - Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American athlete, ranked amongst the all-time greatest heptathletes. She won three gold, one silver and two bronze Olympic medals. Named after Jackie Kennedy, she currently lives in East St. Louis, Illinois. Joyner-Kersee was the first woman to score over 7,000 points in a heptathlon event (during the 1986 Goodwill Games). - Paula Radcliffe
Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE (born December 17, 1973) is a British long-distance runner. She is the current world record holder for the women's marathon, which she set during the 2003 London Marathon, with a time of 2:15.25. This mark is currently the highest scoring performance ever, in terms of IAAF world ranking points, at 1307, higher in value than Florence Griffith-Joyner's 100 and 200m records, Marita Koch's 400m, and Michael Johnson's 400m record. - Robert Korzeniowski
Robert Korzeniowski is a former Polish racewalker. He has won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics and has won three world championships. Korzeniowski is a three-peat winner of the 50 km walk at the Summer Olympics. He won 1996 in Atlanta, 2000 in Sydney, and 2004 in Athens. In addition, he became the first athlete to claim both the long distance and the short distance crown, when he won the 20 km title at the 2000 games. He won world championship titles in 1997, 2001, … - Tim Lobinger
Tim Lobinger (born September 3, 1972 in Rheinbach, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German track and field athlete. His discipline is pole vault and he has been an elite competitor since the 1990s. His best results came in 1997 and 1999 when he jumped over 6.00 meters. His best medals so far have been silver at the 1998 European Athletics Championships and the 2006 European Athletics Championships. - Butch Reynolds
Harry ("Butch") Reynolds (born June 8 1964 in Columbus, Ohio) is a former 400 meters sprinter, representing the United States. On August 17 1988 he set a 400 meters world record with 43.29 seconds, smashing Lee Evans' 20 year old world record by an amazing 0.57 seconds. The record was finally broken by Michael Johnson (43.18) in 1999. He won a silver medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics on the 400 meters and a gold medal on the 4 x 400 m relay. - Stefano Baldini
Stefano Baldini (born May 25, 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is an Italian athlete. His main event is the marathon, for which he won a gold medal in August 29, 2004 at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and two bronze medals in 2001 and 2003, at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics celebrated in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and 2003 World Championships in Athletics at Saint-Denis, France. - Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, born November 22, 1978 in Nigeria and a Portuguese citizen since 2001, is a sprint athlete specializing in 100 m and 200 m, who finished second in the 100 m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, the first medal ever in athletics sprinting events for Portugal. He won 100m and 200m in 2006 at the European Championships in Athletics and became the first athlete to win both 100 and 200m in the same Euros since 1978. - Jon Drummond
Jonathan A. "Jon" Drummond is an American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jon Drummond is known for being among the world’s best starters. In 1991, Drummond won the 200 m at the World University Games. At the 1993 World Championships, Drummond ran the opening leg on the American 4x100 m relay team, which won the gold medal and equalled the world record of 37.40. - Gwen Torrence
Gwen Torrence (born June 12, 1965) was a sprint athlete and an Olympic gold medalist from the United States. She was born in Decatur, Georgia. She attended Columbia High School, then the University of Georgia. Torrence has won medals at nearly every major athletics competition, including the Summer Olympics, Outdoor & Indoor World Championships, Pan American Games, Goodwill Games, and World University Games. - Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton ("Carl") Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is a retired American track and field athlete who 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 currently lives in Los Angeles and is pursuing an acting career. - Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE (born April 19, 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. She won gold medals in the 800 metres and the 1500 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics. - Roger Black
Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a former Olympic athlete and now works as a television presenter and motivational speaker. Born in Portsmouth, England, to David (a doctor) and Thelma, with a twin sister Julia, he attended Portsmouth Grammar School, becoming Head Boy in 1983/4. Roger has a collection of fifteen medals from major senior athletics competitions to add to his two European junior championship gold medals. - Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman OAM (born February 16, 1973) is an Australian athlete who is particularly associated with the 400 m race. As an Aboriginal Australian, she is regarded as a role model for her people, and by many in the non-Aboriginal community as a symbol of national reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. She was born in Mackay, Queensland. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, … - Ashia Hansen
Ashia Hansen (born 5 December 1971 in Evansville, Indiana, USA) is an athlete who is considered Britain's greatest-ever female triple jumper. Although born in the USA, Hansen was adopted at the age of 3 months by a Ghanaian father and a British mother and grew up in the UK after spending a few years in Ghana. Hansen is a member of the Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club in Birmingham, along with other successful British athletes such as Denise Lewis, Kelly Sotherton, … - Vebjørn Rodal
Vebjørn Rodal is a Norwegian former middle distance athlete, his career high point coming when he won the gold medal in the 800 m at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Rodal, born and raised in Berkåk, made his international senior debut in 1992, at the Barcelona Olympics, reaching the semi-finals in his event, the 800 m. Part of a group of successful Norwegian athletes, he won his first international medal only two years later, placing second at the 1994 European Championships. - Heike Drechsler
Heike Gabriela Drechsler nèe Daute (born December 16, 1964 in Gera, then East Germany) is a German track and field athlete. She is one of the most successful female long jumpers of all time and also had several successes in sprint disciplines. She is the only woman who has won two Olympic gold medals in the long jump (1992 and 2000). She also won two World Championships in the long jump (1983 and 1993), … - Aleksander Tammert
Aleksander Tammert is an Estonian discus thrower. He competed at the 2004 Olympics and originally finished fourth, but as gold medal winner Róbert Fazekas was disqualified Tammert got the bronze medal. A month later he placed third at the World Athletics Final. 2005 was not his lucky year, placing fourth at both the World Championships and the World Athletics Final. Countryfellow Gerd Kanter won silver medals at both these events. - Dennis Mitchell
Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is a former American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Born in Havelock, North Carolina, Mitchell placed fourth in 100 m at the 1988 Summer Olympics and missed a probable gold medal in 4x100 m relay race, because the American team was disqualified in the heats, after the pass between Calvin Smith and Lee McNeill was made out of the zone. - Erki Nool
Erki Nool is an Estonian decathlete and politician. He is a winner of the gold medal for Decathlon in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Although Nool did not place first in any individual event, his total score was the highest. Nool won the title after the competition referee decided to over-rule a discus judge who had red-flagged his last and only valid attempt due to alleged step-out. - Nicole Mitchell
Nicole Mitchell (also spelled Nikole, born 5 June 1974) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres. She also competed on the successful Jamaican team in the 4 x 100 metres relay, winning an Olympic bronze medal in 1996. Her personal best time over 100 metres was 11.18 seconds, achieved in July 1993 in Kingston. - Frankie Fredericks
Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born October 2, 1967) is a Namibian former athlete, the first and so far only Olympic medalist of his country. Born in Windhoek, Frankie Fredericks was awarded a scholarship at Brigham Young University in the USA in 1987. In 1991, after his country had become independent of South Africa, Fredericks could participate in international competition. - Kim Collins
Kim Collins (born April 5, 1976) is a sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 m. Collins made his debut at major championship at the 1997 World Championships, where he failed to qualify for the second round in the 100 m. He improved quickly, and at the 2000 Summer Olympics, he became the first athlete from his tiny nation to qualify for an Olympic final, finishing 7th in the 100 m. The next year, … - Glenroy Gilbert
Glenroy John Gilbert (born August 31, 1968 in Port of Spain) is a former Canadian athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Glenroy Gilbert formed along with Robert Esmie, Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey the best 4x100 m relay team in the mid-1990s. Gilbert made his debut at the major international championships at the 1988 Summer Olympics, where he was 21 in the Long Jump. - Tessa Sanderson
Tessa Sanderson CBE (born 14 March 1956) is a former British javelinist and heptathlete. Sanderson was born in St Elizabeth, Jamaica of Ghanaian ancestry, she later emigrated to Wolverhampton, England. She was the UK's leading javelin thrower from the early 1970s, winning silver in the 1978 European championships and gold in the Commonwealth Games twice, but was eclipsed during the 1980s by the up-and-coming Fatima Whitbread. - Tegla Loroupe
Tegla Loroupe (born May 9, 1973 in Kapsait, Kenya) is a long-distance track and road runner, and a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights, and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 20, 25 and 30 kilometres and previously held the world marathon record. She has run farther in one hour than any woman in history. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. She was the first African woman to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won three times. - Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell (born September 12 1973 in Moss Side, Manchester, England) is a retired English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 m and 200 m, as well as the 4 x 100 m relay. - Bob Kennedy
Bob Kennedy (born 18 August 1970) is an American distance runner. Though now retired, he currently holds the American Record in the 5000 meters. At one time, he also held the American Record for 3000 meters (7:30.84) and 2 miles (8:11.59). In 1996, he ran the 5000 meters in 12:58.21, making him the first ever non-African to run the distance in less than thirteen minutes, and he is still one of only three non-Africans to do so. - Svetlana Krivelyova
Svetlana Vladimirovna Krivelyova ("Russian": Светлана Владимировна Кривелёва; born: June 13, 1969 in Bryansk, Russia) is an athlete who specialises in the shot put. In a long and distinguished career Krivelyova's highlights were the Summer Olympics gold medal in 1992 whilst representing the Unified Team where she beat the reigning world champion Huang Zhihong of China and her World Championship victory in 2003. - Catherina McKiernan
Catherina McKiernan Cornafean, County Cavan) is a long-distance runner from Ireland, who competes in the marathon, 10,000 metres and cross country. McKiernan was blighted by injury for a large part of 1999 and 2000 which stalled her progress and forced her to miss the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia but she helped commentate on the Games for Radio Telefís Éireann the state broadcaster for Ireland. - Allison Curbishley
Allison Curbishley (born 3 June 1976) was a British athlete. A play scheme in the summer holiday when she was 10 got Allison interested in sport and although athletics was the sport she eventually chose she also reached county standard in netball and hockey. She graduated from the university of Birmingham with a degree in Sport and Exercise Sciences. As well as competing in the Olympic 400mn final in Sydney in 2000, … - Joaquim Cruz
Joaquim Carvalho Cruz is a former Brazilian athlete, winner of the 800 m at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Cruz was born in Taguatinga, near Brasília, as the son of a steel worker. He began running as a 13-year-old, and soon showed astonishing talent as a junior. At the age of only 15 his personal best over 800 m stood at 1:51 min. After setting a junior world record of 1:44.3 min in 1981, he received a scholarship for the University of Oregon in 1983. - Amy Acuff
Amy Lyn Acuff is an athlete from the United States. An aggressive high jump competitor, Acuff competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics as a member of USA Track and Field and is a three-time Olympian. Her personal best is 2.01 m, which she achieved in Zürich on 2003-08-15. Acuff lives in Austin, Texas, and is an alumna of UCLA. Acuff is distantly related to country musician Roy Acuff (her grandfather’s second cousin). - Sally Gunnell
Sally Jane Janet Gunnell, OBE (born July 29, 1966 in Chigwell, Essex, England) is a former Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles. She has also worked as a television presenter predominantly for the BBC until January 2006. Gunnell started out in athletics with the Essex Ladies club as an accomplished long jumper and pentathlete before turning to the sprints and hurdling and is the only woman to have held the European, World, …
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