Jim Thorpe Wows the World (1912)

Some call Jim Thorpe the best athlete ever thanks to his freakish
talents across multiple sports, including baseball, football, and
basketball. But it was his awe-inspiring feats in the Stockholm Olympics
that earned him a place in the history books. At the conclusion of the
1912 Games, Thorpe walked away with two gold medals in the pentathlon
and decathlon, finishing first in eight of the 15 individual events,
including the long jump, high jump, 200-meter dash, and discus throw—an
unprecedented tally for one athlete. Legend has it that when King Gustav
of Sweden placed the gold around Thorpe’s neck, the American champ’s
gratitude was brief: “Thanks King,” he said. He returned home a star. (

Mark Spitz Makes it Seven (1972)

Before Phelps, there was Spitz, a name synonymous with supremacy
in the swimming pool. Having won just two gold medals in the 1968
Olympics—four shy of his intended six—Spitz arrived in Munich with the
same brash prediction. This time, however, he did himself one better,
winning seven events—the 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle,
200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay, and the
4x100m medley relay—and setting new world records in them all. He was
the first athlete to win so many golds in one Olympic Games. How did he
follow up his achievement? He promptly hung up his suit and retired from
competitive swimming at the ripe old age of 22.

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The Consummate Comaneci (1976)

All athletes strive for perfection, but leave it to a 4’11’’,
86-pound, 14-year-old gymnast from Romania to achieve the first
faultless performance in Olympics gymnastics history. After posting a
perfect 10.0 on the uneven bars—a feat previously thought so
unattainable that scoreboards weren’t equipped to handle it—Nadia
Comaneci proceeded to receive six additional 10s en route to capturing
three golds, one silver, and a bronze. What did you do when you were 14?

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Greg Louganis Toughens Up (1988)

If ever a diver had true grit, its Greg Louganis. On the ninth of
his 11 dives during the 1988 Games’ preliminary springboard
competition, Louganis cracked his head on the board while attempting a
reverse 2 1/2-somersault pike. Thirty-five minutes after crashing into
the water, suffering a concussion, and adding a gnarly two-inch wound in
his scalp, he returned to competition to complete his dives. One day
and five stitches later, he grabbed the gold.
 

The Dream Team Dominates (1992)

Jordan. Johnson. Bird. Barkley. Malone. Pippen. Ewing. The 1992 U.S.
men’s basketball team featured what was arguably the greatest assemblage
of athletic talent in Olympic team history. Thanks to its collective
size and skills, the Dream Team’s success in Barcelona was all but
inevitable. The all-star American squad put up triple-digit scores in
all 7 rounds, sometimes blowing away teams by as much as 60 points. Even
the gold medal match against Croatia, with a final score of 117-85
U.S., was a slaughter. In 2010, 18 years after the Dream Team wreaked
havoc on the shores of Spain, the team was inducted into the Basketball
Hall of Fame, one of only eight squads to ever earn the honor.

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