I only know four people in the history of American track and field, in chronological order:
1 James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (July 12, 1913 - 1980 March On March 31), he participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Germany (during the Nazi period) and won an impressive 4 Olympic gold medals, namely the men's 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4x100 meters relay. In order to commemorate Owens' contribution to world sports, the American sports organization established the "Jesse Owens Award" in his name, which is selected once a year and awarded to athletes from various countries who have outstanding achievements in track and field sports.
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913–March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay team.
2 Florence Griffith-Joy Florence Griffith-Joyner (December 21, 1959 - September 21, 1998) nicknamed "Flo-Jo". At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Joyner won the 100m, 200m, and 4*100m relay. He won a gold medal and a silver medal in the 4*400m relay, and set a 200m world record with a time of 21.34 seconds. This world record also remains today. In the 100-meter race, he ran a time of 10.49 seconds, which is still a world record today. Griffith was born in Los Angeles and raised in the Jordan Downs public housing complex. During the late 1980s she became a popular figure in international track and field due to her record-setting performances and flashy personal style. She holds the world records in the 100 m and 200 m races. She was the wife of track star Al Joyner and the sister-in-law of runner Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
3 Carl Lewis (July 1, 1961 - ) won 9 gold medals in 5 Olympic Games from 1984 to 1996. In 2000, he was selected by the IAAF as the greatest track and field athlete of the 20th century.
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. Lewis, who currently lives in Los Angeles, is now an actor and has a role in the upcoming, 2010 jewel heist movie '62 pickup starring comedian Eddie Griffin.[1]
Lewis was a dominant sprinter and long jumper who topped the world rankings in the 100 m, 200 m and long jump events frequently from 1981 to the early 1990s, was named Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News in 1982, 1983 and 1984, and set world records in the 100 m, 4 x 100 m and 4 x 200 m relays. His world record in the indoor long jump has stood since 1984. His 65 consecutive victories in the long jump achieved over a span of 10 years is one of the sport's longest undefeated streaks.
His lifetime accomplishments have led to numerous accolades, including being voted "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee and being named "Olympian of the Century" by the American sports magazine Sports Illustrated. He also helped transform track and field from its nominal amateur status to its current professional status, thus enabling athletes to have more lucrative and longer-lasting careers. In 2003 revelations of failed drug tests by Lewis before the
1988 Seoul Olympics put the validity of his achievements into question.
4 Michael Johnson (September 13, 1967 -) holds the record for the men's 400-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay (USA team) world record. Michael Johnson has won 5 Olympic gold medals and 9 World Athletics Championships. He is the only athlete to win two gold medals in the men's 200-meter dash and the men's 400-meter dash in the same Olympics. He is also the only athlete to win the men's 400-meter dash in the same Olympics. The athlete who successfully defended the meter sprint title
Michael Duane Johnson (born September 13, 1967 in Dallas, Texas) is a retired United States sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and was crowned world champion nine times.[1 ] Johnson currently holds the world record in the 400 m and 4 x 400 m relay and formerly held the world record in the 200 m and Indoor 400 m. His 200 m time of 19.32 at the Atlanta Olympics stood as the record for over 12 years .
He is the only athlete in history to win both the 200 m and 400 m events at the same Olympics, a feat he accomplished at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Johnson is also the only man to successfully defend his Olympic title in the 400 m. Aside from his Olympic success, Johnson accumulated nine gold medals at World Championships, which is the most of any athlete in history.[2]
Johnson was noted for his unique running style. His upright stance and very short steps defied the perceived wisdom that a high knee lift was essential for maximum speed.
The greatest and most respected of all: Jesse Owens< /p>
When he was in middle school, he tied the world record in the 100-yard run at a track and field meeting for primary and secondary school students with a time of 9.4 seconds, and a long jump of 7.60 meters. He was admitted to Ohio State University and received a scholarship. At the 1935 National Collegiate Games held in Ann Arbor, he became a sensation in the sports world by breaking four world records five times in 45 minutes and tying a world record. At the same time, his long jump score of 8.13 meters has been maintained for 25 years. The two-hand world record of 10 seconds for the 100 meters set before the Berlin Olympics stood for 21 years.
At the 11th Olympic Games in 1936, he won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4×100m relay in front of 110,000 spectators, tying and breaking Olympic records 12 times, becoming the most glorious figure in this Olympics. figure. However, Owens' miracle made the Nazis in the host country hate him to the core, because the fascist dictator Hitler tried his best to use the Olympics to flaunt the superiority of the German nation. A black athlete stealing the show at the Olympics undoubtedly gave them a blow. Especially in the fierce competition in the long jump competition, after Owens defeated the German player Lang, who was highly vocal about winning the championship, in front of Hitler, Hitler abandoned the grace that he should have as the head of the host country and left the field angrily, avoiding awarding awards and shaking hands to congratulate the champion. ceremony. International Olympic Committee President Baye-Latour criticized that if he cannot treat everyone equally and continues to discriminate against black athletes, he may simply cancel the award ceremony. When Owens answered a reporter's question, he said: "I didn't come to Berlin to shake hands with anyone. I came to win the gold medal. Now I have achieved that goal, and that's enough." Owens not only won the gold medal but also won the gold medal. Morality won. His good sportsmanship and sportsmanship, as well as his friendly nature, have made him an idol worshiped by athletes around the world.
In 1980, the year of his death, he was named among the 20 best athletes in practice by sports reporters from European and American newspapers. In order to commemorate his contribution to world sports, the American sports organization established the "Jesse Owens Award" to be awarded to athletes with outstanding achievements in sports. At the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, people saw Owens' granddaughter Gina Hanfield running into the venue holding a torch, and the whole place was in an uproar. Americans commemorate Owens' heroic spirit in this way, showing that the Olympic spirit will last forever. In June 1999, Owens was named one of the "20 Actual 25 Best Athletes" at the 75th anniversary event of the International Sports Journalists Association. On December 14 of the same year, a selection panel composed of international Olympic movement authorities recommended by the Associated Press selected Owens as one of the 10 best male athletes in the 20th Century Summer Olympics.