Photos: 15 Iconic Olympians Who Changed The Game

Jessie Owens Triumphs in 1936 Olympics

The 1936 Berlin Olympic Games had been awarded to Berlin years before the Nazis came to power. By far the most famous athlete in the world was Jesse Owens of America and in front of 100,000 spectators Owens won four gold medals; in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay. During the Games he broke 11 Olympic records and defeated German star Lutz Lang in a very close long jump final. Hitler refused to place the gold medals around Owen's neck at each medal ceremony. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

1972 OLYMPIC USA BASKETBALL GOLD MEDAL STOLEN

The 1972 USA Olympic Men's basketball team lost their very first Olympic Game since Olympic play began in 1936. It was the most controversial moment in Olympic history. In the final game against the Soviet Union and the US trailing, Doug Collins was fouled driving to the basket with three seconds left to play. He sank the first free throw to tie the game and made the second as an inadvertent horn blew. With the US in the lead by one point the Soviets quickly inbounded the ball and with one second to play and the ball at midcourt the referees stopped play again to discuss a bizarre complaint that the Soviets had called a time out before the second free throw. Once the timeout was disallowed, the Soviets were allowed another three seconds and the ball out of bounds again. They threw the ball inbounds and the horn sounded sending the USA team in to jubilation. The referees stopped the celebration and said the horn sounded inadvertently again and awarded the Soviets a third chance to inbound the ball. On the third time, the USA defender was illegally ordered by the referee to move back allowing the Soviets a clear pass down court. The pass to Aleksander Belov was successful and with a fake he laid the ball in uncontested for a one-point victory. At the end of the game one of the referees refused to sign the official scoring sheet in protest and the US team boycotted the medal ceremony and refused to accept their Silver Medal. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Jim McKay Tells the World of the 1972 Olympic Massacre

Jim McKay was an Olympic broadcaster. His journalistic skills were called to action when he delivered the tragic news of the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Broadcasting the details of the hostage situation for over 16 hours, McKay’s somber, yet measured delivery earned him two Emmy Awards for his work at the games, both for sports coverage and for news reporting.
Sportscaster and journalist Jim McKay was the quintessential voice of the Olympics and Wide World of Sports. With his measured delivery, and deep appreciation and knowledge of sports, McKay is considered one of the most important sports broadcasters in the history of television. He was the first sportscaster to be honored with an Emmy Award.
Born James McManus on September 24, 1921, the Philadelphia native attended Loyola College. His first job was as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun followed by television reporting for WMAR-TV in Baltimore. He was discovered there for his skill and on-air likability, and given a national variety show on CBS in 1950. He began covering sports and moved to ABC to host Wide World of Sports. The show’s popularity and opening statement, “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat” became a catch phrase for the dramatics of sport. The popular program ran from
He earned many honors throughout his career including a Peabody Award in 1989, and 13 Emmy Awards. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame as well as the Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. McKay also authored two books based upon his experiences in sports, My Wide World and The Real McKay. He died of natural causes on June 7, 2008. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

WILMA RUDOLF – Fastest Woman Ever

Considered the fastest woman ever, Wilma Rudolf won three Gold Medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In front of 80,000 spectators, and on a blistering 110 degree day, Rudolph won the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds flat. She then won the 200-meter dash in Olympic record time, and was on the winning 400-meter relay team. She was named United Press Athlete of the Year in 1960 and, in 1961, won the James E. Sullivan award for the top amateur athlete in the United States. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

“The Legend” STEVE PREFONTAINE

Steve Prefontaine attended high school in Coos Bay, Oregon, and was considered a mediocre cross-country runner in his Sophomore season. He then met coach and mentor Bernard Emil Weik II and in his Junior and Senior years, he won every meet, including setting the national record for the two-mile race in the Oregon state championships.
Prefontaine enrolled at the University of Oregon to train under legendary coach Bill Bowerman who had founded Blue Ribbon Sports, later known as Nike. Steve won the NCAA men's cross-country championship 3 of his 4 years at Oregon. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

CASSIUS CLAY WINS 1960 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL

Cassius Clay, a shy 18-year-old promising young American boxer from Louisville, Kentucky, stunned the world and won the Olympic Gold Medal in the light-heavyweight class. His furious flurries and fleet-footed elusiveness dominated Polish slugger Zbigniew Pietrzykowski in the Gold Medal match. He was so proud, he didn't take the medal off for two days. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Cassius Clay Celebrates his Gold Medal

Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., grew up in the American South in a time of segregated public facilities. When he was 12 years old, he took up boxing under the tutelage of Louisville policeman Joe Martin and after advancing through the amateur ranks, he won a gold medal in the 175-pound division at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and began a professional career under the guidance of the Louisville Sponsoring Group, a syndicate composed of 11 wealthy white men. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Bob Seagren America’s Star Pole Vaulter

Bob Seagren was one of the top pole vaulters in the world in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. He won the gold medal in pole vaulting in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and won the silver medal in the competition in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He is a member of the Track and Field Hall of Fame. After his athletic days were over, Seagren became an actor and appeared in various television shows, including making guest appearances on Charlie’s Angels and Wonder Woman. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Frank Shorter All-Time Great Long Distance Runner

Frank Shorter is remembered as one of the all-time great long distance runners in U.S. history. He was ranked as the # 1 marathon runner in the world from 1971 to 1973 and remained ranked very highly for several years thereafter. He won the Gold Medal in the Marathon in the 1972 Summer Olympics and won the Silver Medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He remains the only American to medal twice in the Marathon event in Olympic history. Shorter was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Mary Decker’s Fall

Mary Decker was the heavy favorite, and the hometown crowd’s favorite to win the 3,000 - meter final in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Roughly midway through the race, Decker was close to the lead, just behind Great Britian’s Zola Budd who was running barefoot. Their feet somehow got tangled, most reports saying that Decker’s stride had clipped the back of Budd’s foot. The result was Decker falling hard to the ground and she was unable to continue the race. One of the memorable and unfortunate sights from this race was seeing Decker on the ground, crying, as her dream for the gold medal in her home country was ruined. Zola Budd continued in the race, but finished in 7th place. Maricica Puica of Romania won the gold medal. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

PEGGY FLEMING WINS THE GOLD IN 1968

Nineteen year-old Peggy Fleming of the U.S. won the Gold Medal in women’s figure skating. Peggy struggled and by the time she was halfway through her routine, she had faltered a few times. Her coach, Carlo Fassi, had taken to hiding his eyes. Skating toTchaikovsky’s Pathetique, Peggy delivered a graceful performance and won handily with a total score of 1,970.5, an impressive 88.2 points better than her main rival Gabriele Seyfert from East Germany. Fleming is now left shouldering the entire figure skating sport in the U.S.
In 1961, the entire U.S. Figure Skating Team was killed in a plane crash on its way to the Prague World Championships. Peggy Fleming was then eleven years old, and her coach Bill Kipp was one of those killed. Peggy was forced to take it upon herself to create her own style and grace, and she now sits atop the Figure Skating World, a testament to her talent and personal strength. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

“Bullet Bob Hayes”

“Bullet Bob” was one of the fastest men on the planet and won 2 Gold Medals in the 1964 Summer Olympics. He then went on to have a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, mostly with the Cowboys where he was a 3-time Pro Bowl Wide Receiver with 5 seasons of at least 10 touchdowns scored. Hayes is the only person ever to win an Olympic Gold Medal and a Super Bowl. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Eric Heiden Fastest Speed Skater

Eric Heiden won gold medals in all five speed skating competitions at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY -- 500 meters, 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, and 10,000 meters something no one has ever done before or since. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

JIM RYUN – AMERICAN MILER

World class runner Jim Ryun set many American and world records during his legendary track and field career. In 1964, at 17 years of age, Ryun became the first high school runner to break the 4 minute mile. In 1966, at only 19 years of age, Ryun was named the Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Sportsman of the Year” when he set world records for both the half-mile and mile runs. He is the last American to hold the record for the mile run. Jim Ryun represented the United States in three consecutive summer Olympics from 1964 to 1972. Though he never won a gold medal, he did win a silver medal in the 1500 meter run in 1968. Long after his athletic career had ended, Ryun served for 10 years in the United States House of Representatives, as a representative for the 2nd district of his home state of Kansas. Nostalgic America / Getty Images

Babe Didrikson Zaharias: One of the Greatest Athletes of All Time

Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time – male or female.
She was voted the world’s greatest woman athlete of the first half of the 20th Century in a poll conducted by the Associated Press and was six times named Woman Athlete of the Year in 1931, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, and 1954.
She knew little about golf and did not take up the game until after she had gained world fame in track and field and basketball. She also had mastered tennis, played organized baseball and softball and was an expert diver, roller-skater and bowler.
Bobby Jones declared her to be one of the 10 best golfers of all time, male or female. She won 17 amateur tournaments in a row, including the British Amateur, the U.S. Amateur and the All-American. She is known as the player who did more than any other to popularize women’s golf.
Babe was a three-time All-American basketball player – 1930, 1931, and 1932.
In track and field Babe won two gold medals and one silver medal for the U.S. in the 1932 Olympics. Nostalgic America / Getty Images