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The most-decorated track and field athlete, Allyson Felix, once bullied for having skinny legs, now has a record 9 Olympic medals, including 6 gold medals. Named to Time 100 in 2020, she is also part of the board of Right to Play, which caters to children in underdeveloped countries.
Armand Duplantis is a Swedish pole vaulter. He currently holds the world indoor record with a height of 6.18 meters. When he was 15 years old, Duplantis won a gold medal at the 2015 World Youth Championships. He then went on to win a gold medal at the 2018 European Championships and a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships.
The great-grandson of English footballer Jock Rutherford, Greg Rutherford had a brief stint with Aston Villa football club before he focused on athletics. The Milton Keynes athlete won a gold at the 2012 London Olympics, while his 8.29m jump at the 2016 Rio Olympics won him a bronze medal.
Meseret Defar is an Ethiopian athlete who specializes in long-distance running. She is best known for winning a gold medal at the 2004 and 2012 Olympic Games in Athens and London respectively. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, Defar won a silver medal for Ethiopia. She has also won medals at the World Championships, All-Africa Games, and World Indoor Championships.
Indian track and field legend Milkha Singh, also known as "The Flying Sikh,” was orphaned during the Partition of India. The former army man won four Asian Games gold medals. He also competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Summer Olympics, finishing fourth in the 400-meter event in 1960.
Les Mills is a New Zealand retired track and field athlete who represented his country at the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games over a period of two decades; he competed in the discus throw and shot put events. Mills achieved his best result at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games where he won the gold medal in discus throw.
Ethiopian long-distance runner Almaz Ayana is not just an Olympic gold medalist but has also won the World Championship twice. She broke the 10,000m world record at the 2016 Rio Olympics, which was also her first year at the Olympics. She is also a Continental Cup and African Championship winner.
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has won several titles and medals, including 2 European Games silver medals and a Summer Universiade gold medal. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she accused her team officials of forcing her to participate in an event and later took refuge in Poland to avoid action against her.
Michael Christian Martinez is a Filipino figure skater. He achieved popularity when he became the first skater from a tropical country and from Southeast Asia to qualify for the Winter Olympics. At the 2014 Olympics, Martinez became the only sportsperson to represent the Philippines. Michael Christian Martinez is also known for winning a gold medal at the 2015 Asian Trophy.
Edwin Flack was an Australian tennis player and athlete. In 1896, Flack became Australia's first Olympian when he represented the nation in the first modern Olympic Games. He went on to win gold medals in the 800m and 1500m events, becoming the first Australian Olympic champion. In 1985, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Stefanie Reid is a track and field para athlete. She represented Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games, where she won a bronze medal. She then represented Great Britain at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games, winning a silver medal in both the events. Stefanie Reid has also won a gold medal at the 2014 European Championships and 2017 World Championships.
Andre De Grasse is a Canadian track and field athlete best known for winning the gold medal in the men's 200 metres event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. He has won two silver medals and three bronze medals in two Olympic Games so far. In 2022, Andre De Grasse won a gold medal at the World Championships.
Former runner Gabriela Szabo is not just an Olympic gold medalist but also a 3-time World Champion. The Romanian-Hungarian sportsperson also has 4 World Indoor Championship gold medals in her kitty. She made headlines after she collided with Ghanaian long-jumper Kofi Amoah Prah in Stuttgart, while she was leaving the track.
With her 2007 World Youth Championship win, former junior gymnast and sprinter Asha Philip became first British female athlete to earn a global 100m title. A double mini trampoline world junior champion, she also boasts of a drama degree. She has won relay bronze medals in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
A physical therapist, masseur, and sports official, Jock Semple became a global villain of sorts after he attacked marathon runner Kathrine Switzer, attempting to rip off her numbers, at the 1967 Boston Marathon. Semple believed the Marathon specified women weren’t allowed, whereas Switzer claimed the rules mentioned no gender.
Ján Volko is a Slovak sprinter who has won a gold, silver, and bronze medals at the European Indoor Championships. Volko has also won a couple of silver medals at the European Games. Ján Volko's popularity increased in 2020 when he was chosen as the face of a game called Athletics Mania developed by PowerPlay Studio.
Apart from being a qualified doctor, George A. Sheehan has also gained fame as an author of books in running. Though he followed in his father’s footsteps to become a cardiologist, he later followed his early passion of track by writing bestsellers such as Running & Being.
Sven O. Høiby was a Norwegian journalist and hurdler. He represented the sports club from Kristiansand and had completed a 400-meter hurdles event in 58.0 seconds in 1959. Sven O. Høiby is best remembered as the father of Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway. He achieved national prominence after his daughter married Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway.
Three-time Olympian Canadian track and field athlete and bobsledder Phylicia George is also an Olympic bronze medalist in the two-woman bobsleigh category. She was 15 when she began training in hurdles. She competed in track and field at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics.
Jane Saville is an Australian retired athlete best known for her bronze medal-winning performance in the women's 20 kilometers race walk event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Saville has represented Australia at four Olympic Games. She also won three gold medals at 1998, 2002, and 2006 Commonwealth Games. She was the flag bearer for Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Helen Moros was a New Zealand athlete who specialized in long-distance running. She represented her country at the 1990 Commonwealth Games where she placed seventh in the marathon event. She also competed in the Los Angeles and Chicago marathons in 1990, placing third and fourth respectively. Helen Moros died at age 35, having suffered from anorexia since her teenage years.
