From Ray Ewry and Gert Fredriksson to Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, we pay homage to ten of the greatest athletes to have competed at the Olympic Games.
Selecting just ten of the multitude of Olympians is no mean feat so we are likely to have missed some of your facourites.
Who do you think should have made the list and who do you rate as the greatest sportsmen and women to have taken part at the Olympics throughout history?
1 / 10
Gert Fredriksson - No-one has dominated men’s canoeing like the Swede, who won six golds across four Games.
2 / 10
Larisa Latynina - Russian gymnast won 18 of 19 medals she competed for – the only blemish 4th in 1956 balance beam.
3 / 10
Usain Bolt - Four golds and an 86 per cent winning percentage. Jamaican is a cocksure yet likeable character.
4 / 10
Paavo Nurmi - Finnish runner was first man to win five golds at a Games. Famously ran with a stopwatch in hand.
5 / 10
Aladar Gerevich - Hungarian won six straight team sabre fencing golds. Could have been eight if not for World War II.
6 / 10
Steve Redgrave - Appeared in five straight Olympics and won five straight golds in rowing between 1984 and 2000.
7 / 10
Birgit Fischer - Amassed eight golds and 12 medals in total across six different events. Won medals aged 18 and 42.
8 / 10
Carl Lewis - Most decorated Olympian ever. 22 medals and 18 gold. Enough said. Hoping to add to his tally in Rio.
9 / 10
Michael Phelps - Lewis was unbeaten in the long jump for 10 years and set records from 100m to 4x100m. Won four golds.
10 / 10
Ray Ewry - Failed to lose in four Games in now defunct standing high jump. Twice won three golds in a day.
