Post by sk8er on Dec 20, 2009 20:40:14 GMT -5
Posted: Friday December 18, 2009 11:29AM; Updated: Friday December 18, 2009 12:37PM
PRINT EMAIL Buzz up! FACEBOOK DIGG TWITTER RSS SHARE
2000s: Top Olympians
By Brian Cazeneuve
Men
1 Michael Phelps
An easy choice for No. 1, the American swimmer debuted at the 2000 Sydney Games in the 200 fly as a 15-year-old, then amassed a record 14 gold medals over the next two Olympics, five more than anyone else in history. He won eight gold medals and set seven world records in Beijing in 2008.
2 Usain Bolt
Granted, he competed only in the Beijing Games, but the records Bolt set in the 100 meters (9.69, showboating at the end) and 200 meters (19.30) redefined our impressions of speed and the boundaries of the modern sprinter. (He lowered both marks at the 2009 world championships.) Bolt also won a third gold in China, anchoring Jamaica's 4x100 relay team to a world-record 37.10 seconds.
3 Kenenisa Bekele
Following in a tradition of great Ethiopian distance runners, Bekele won four Olympic medals during the decade, winning silver in the 5,000 and gold in the 10,000 in Athens and then sweeping both races in Beijing four years later. In 1985, his fiancée, Alem Techale, died of a heart attack while on a training run with him and Bekele dedicated the races in China to her.
4 Andre Lange
Lange drove three German bobsleds to gold medals during the decade: the two-man sled in 2006 and the four-man sled in both Salt Lake and Turin. At the Olympics and world championships, Lange has been on the podium at least once during all 10 years of the decade.
5 Ole Einar Bjørndalen
The greatest biathlete in history won four gold medals in Salt Lake City, in sprint, pursuit, individual and relay events. The Norwegian won two silvers and a bronze in Turin, extending his career total to nine Olympic medals, with more to come in February in Vancouver, where he will be 36.
6 Steven Lopez
After winning gold as a lightweight in taekwondo at the Sydney Games, Lopez returned to win gold and bronze at the next two Olympics as a welterweight. The American is the most decorated athlete in the history of the sport, having won gold medals in each odd-numbered year of the decade at the world championships, the only person to win five world taekwondo titles.
7 Alexei Nemov
The Russian won six medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, including two golds, to duplicate his haul four years earlier in Atlanta. In Sydney, he captured the all-around crown, certifying him as the most accomplished gymnast of his generation. He was also known for the sportsmanship he showed after receiving a low score for a sensational high-bar routine at the 2004 Athens Games. That controversy -- and not the celebrated Paul Hamm controversy -- led to an overhaul of the scoring system.
8 Armin Zöggeler
In his third and fourth Olympics, in Salt Lake City and Turin, the police officer/luger from Merano, Italy, won gold medals in men's singles to go with the bronze and silver he won in the 1990s. From 1994 through 2006, Zoggeler won a medal at the world championships or Olympics every year.
9 Ian Thorpe
The Thorpedo was the swimming star of the Sydney Olympics, where he collected three gold medals and two silvers in front of a home crowd when he was only 17. Four years later he returned to win gold in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events at the Athens Games, extending his medal total to nine, including five golds for the decade.
10 Apolo Ohno
Ohno not only won five medals -- two golds, a silver and two bronzes -- at the last two Olympics, but he also popularized the sport of short-track speedskating. He skated with daring passes and sported a goatee that started a fashion craze among fans at short-track events.
Read more: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/12/top.olympians/index.html?xid=cnnbin#ixzz0aHcOJ3pF
Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription
PRINT EMAIL Buzz up! FACEBOOK DIGG TWITTER RSS SHARE
2000s: Top Olympians
By Brian Cazeneuve
Men
1 Michael Phelps
An easy choice for No. 1, the American swimmer debuted at the 2000 Sydney Games in the 200 fly as a 15-year-old, then amassed a record 14 gold medals over the next two Olympics, five more than anyone else in history. He won eight gold medals and set seven world records in Beijing in 2008.
2 Usain Bolt
Granted, he competed only in the Beijing Games, but the records Bolt set in the 100 meters (9.69, showboating at the end) and 200 meters (19.30) redefined our impressions of speed and the boundaries of the modern sprinter. (He lowered both marks at the 2009 world championships.) Bolt also won a third gold in China, anchoring Jamaica's 4x100 relay team to a world-record 37.10 seconds.
3 Kenenisa Bekele
Following in a tradition of great Ethiopian distance runners, Bekele won four Olympic medals during the decade, winning silver in the 5,000 and gold in the 10,000 in Athens and then sweeping both races in Beijing four years later. In 1985, his fiancée, Alem Techale, died of a heart attack while on a training run with him and Bekele dedicated the races in China to her.
4 Andre Lange
Lange drove three German bobsleds to gold medals during the decade: the two-man sled in 2006 and the four-man sled in both Salt Lake and Turin. At the Olympics and world championships, Lange has been on the podium at least once during all 10 years of the decade.
5 Ole Einar Bjørndalen
The greatest biathlete in history won four gold medals in Salt Lake City, in sprint, pursuit, individual and relay events. The Norwegian won two silvers and a bronze in Turin, extending his career total to nine Olympic medals, with more to come in February in Vancouver, where he will be 36.
6 Steven Lopez
After winning gold as a lightweight in taekwondo at the Sydney Games, Lopez returned to win gold and bronze at the next two Olympics as a welterweight. The American is the most decorated athlete in the history of the sport, having won gold medals in each odd-numbered year of the decade at the world championships, the only person to win five world taekwondo titles.
7 Alexei Nemov
The Russian won six medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, including two golds, to duplicate his haul four years earlier in Atlanta. In Sydney, he captured the all-around crown, certifying him as the most accomplished gymnast of his generation. He was also known for the sportsmanship he showed after receiving a low score for a sensational high-bar routine at the 2004 Athens Games. That controversy -- and not the celebrated Paul Hamm controversy -- led to an overhaul of the scoring system.
8 Armin Zöggeler
In his third and fourth Olympics, in Salt Lake City and Turin, the police officer/luger from Merano, Italy, won gold medals in men's singles to go with the bronze and silver he won in the 1990s. From 1994 through 2006, Zoggeler won a medal at the world championships or Olympics every year.
9 Ian Thorpe
The Thorpedo was the swimming star of the Sydney Olympics, where he collected three gold medals and two silvers in front of a home crowd when he was only 17. Four years later he returned to win gold in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events at the Athens Games, extending his medal total to nine, including five golds for the decade.
10 Apolo Ohno
Ohno not only won five medals -- two golds, a silver and two bronzes -- at the last two Olympics, but he also popularized the sport of short-track speedskating. He skated with daring passes and sported a goatee that started a fashion craze among fans at short-track events.
Read more: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/12/top.olympians/index.html?xid=cnnbin#ixzz0aHcOJ3pF
Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription