1.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
2.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
3.
Olympic Stadium (Athens)
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The Olympic Stadium of Athens Spyros Louis is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. It is named after the first modern Olympic marathon race winner in 1896, the stadium hosts one of the biggest sport clubs in Greece, AEK Athens. Located in the area of Marousi in Athens, the stadium was designed in 1979. It was completed in time to host the 1982 European Championships in Athletics and it was inaugurated by the President of Greece, at the time Konstantinos Karamanlis, on 8 September 1982. It was extensively renovated in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics, including a roof designed by Santiago Calatrava, the roof was added atop the sidelines and completed just in time for the opening of the Games. The two giant arcs have a span of 304m and a maximum height of 72m. Also, it has a weight of 19,000 tons with 5,000 polycarbonate panels. The west arc was assembled 72m from its position and the east 65m - both later slid into place. The roof is designed to withstand winds up to 120 km/h, the stadium was then officially re-opened on 30 July 2004. It hosted the events and the football final at the 2004 Summer Olympics. It also hosted the ceremony on 13 August 2004. The turf system consists of grass in modular containers which incorporate irrigation. The Olympic Stadium has been used as home ground in various times by the three big clubs of Athens, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. The stadium played host to Amnesty Internationals Human Rights Now, benefit Concert on 3 October 1988. The show was headlined by Sting and Peter Gabriel and also featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tracy Chapman, Youssou NDour, and George Dalaras. Madonna performed before a crowd of 75,637 at the stadium on 27 September 2008. U2 performed in front of a crowd of 82,662 during their 360° Tour on 3 September 2010, pyx Lax performed also in front of a crowd of about 80,000, during their reunion tour on 13 July 2011. It was the highest attended Greek-band-concert, Bon Jovi performed during their Bon Jovi Live Tour on 20 July 2011
4.
1995 World Championships in Athletics
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The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations and this competition saw the women run the 5000 m event at the World Championships for the first time. The race replaced the 3000 m event which had run at all previous World Championships. This fate Sweden shares only with Canada and South Korea
5.
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
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The IAAF World Championships, commonly referred to as the World Championships in Athletics, is a biennial athletics event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally held every four years, first in 1983, the current two-year cycle began in 1991, the idea of having an Athletics World Championships was around well before the competitions first event in 1983. In 1913, the IAAF decided that the Olympic Games would serve as the World Championships for athletics and this was considered suitable for over 50 years until in the late 1960s the desire of many IAAF members to have their own World Championships began to grow. In 1976 at the IAAF Council Meeting in Puerto Rico an Athletics World Championships separate from the Olympic Games was approved, two IAAF world championship events preceded the inaugural edition of the World Championships in Athletics in 1983. Four years later, the 1980 World Championships contained only two newly approved womens events, neither of which featured on the programme for the 1980 Summer Olympics, over the years the competition has grown in size. In 1983 an estimated 1,300 athletes from 154 countries participated, by the 2003 competition, in Paris, it had grown to 1,907 athletes from 203 countries with coverage being transmitted to 179 different countries. There has also been a change in composition over the years, with new events, all for women. By 2005, the differences were mens competition in the 50 km walk. The following list shows when new events were added for the first time,1987, womens 10,000 m and 10 km walk were added. 1993, womens triple jump was added,1995, womens 5000 m was added, replacing the 3000 m race. 1999, womens pole vault and hammer were added and the womens 20 km walk replaced the 10 km walk,2005, womens 3000 m steeplechase was added. Updated after 2015 Championships Note, Germany refers both to the former West Germany and the unified Federal Republic of Germany, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 8th IAAF World Championships held in Edmonton in 2001 were broadcast live to over 200 countries. The event included the mens marathon, and featured a thousand voice choir, men There are fifteen athletes who have won at least six medals. Women There are thirteen athletes who have won at least six medals, There are eighteen athletes that competed in at least eight editions
6.
International Association of Athletics Federations
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The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded on 17 July 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation by representatives from 17 national athletics federations at the organizations first congress in Stockholm, since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco. Beginning in 1982, the IAAF passed several amendments to its rules to allow athletes to receive compensation for participating in international competitions. However, the organization retained the word amateur in its name until its 2001 congress, the IAAFs president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom. He was elected at the 2015 congress before the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, the process to found the IAAF was started at a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on July 17,1912 soon after the completion of the 1912 Summer Olympics in that city. The congress that started on August 20,1913 in Berlin is when the foundation of the IAAF was formally completed, in 2015, a whistleblower leaked IAAFs blood test records from major competitions. After reviewing the results, Robin Parisotto, a scientist and leading anti-doping expert, said, so many athletes appear to have doped with impunity, and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen. Craig Reedie, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said his organisation was very disturbed by these new allegations, which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide, and that its independent commission will investigate the claims. On 1 November 2015, former IAAF president Lamine Diack was arrested in France and is under investigation on suspicion of corruption, Diack allegedly accepted $1.2 million from the Russian athletics federation to cover up the positive doping tests of at least six Russian athletes in 2011. The report continued that the IAAF allowed the conduct to occur and must accept its responsibility and that corruption was embedded in the organization. In January 2016, as a result of the scandal and WADAs report. The BBC reported that as a result the IAAF would lose $33 million worth of revenue, the 11-year sponsorship deal with Adidas was due to run until 2019. World-record holding sprinter, Michael Johnson, described the scandal as more serious than that faced by FIFA, in February,2016, Nestle announced that it was ending its IAAF sponsorship. In June 2016, following a meeting of the IAAFs ruling council, in Ferbuary 2017, All-Russia Athletic Federation disqualified by decision of the IAAF Council for 8 years for the creation of a doping system. Since the establishment of the IAAF, it has had six presidents, The IAAF has a total of 215 member federations divided into 6 area associations
7.
Lausanne
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Lausanne is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and the capital and biggest city of the canton of Vaud. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva and it faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura Mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 kilometres northeast of Geneva, Lausanne has a population of 146,372, making it the fourth largest city in Switzerland, with the entire agglomeration area having 420,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area of Lausanne-Geneva was over 1.2 million inhabitants in 2000, Lausanne is a focus of international sport, hosting the International Olympic Committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and some 55 international sport associations. It lies in a noted wine-growing region, the city has a 28-station metro system, making it the smallest city in the world to have a rapid transit system. Lausanne will host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, by the 2nd century AD it was known as vikanor Lousonnensium and in 280 as lacu Lausonio. By 400 it was civitas Lausanna and in 990 it was mentioned as Losanna, after the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current centre, a hilly site that is easier to defend. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy, then it came under Bern from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Lausanne became a place of refuge for French Huguenots. In 1729 a seminary was opened by Antoine Court and Benjamin Duplan, by 1750 ninety pastors had been sent back to France to work clandestinely, this number would rise to four hundred. Official persecution ended in 1787, a faculty of Protestant theology was established at Montauban in 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, the citys status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, in 1964 the city hosted the Swiss National Exhibition, displaying its newly found confidence to host major international events. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the district of Renens. The city has served as a refuge for European artists, while under the care of a psychiatrist at Lausanne, T. S. Eliot composed most of his 1922 poem The Wasteland. Hemingway also visited from Paris with his wife during the 1920s, in fact, many creative people - such as Edward Gibbon, an historian, and Romantic era poets Shelley and Byron - have sojourned, lived, and worked in Lausanne or nearby. The city has been quiet, but in the late 1960s. Later demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices, the most important geographical feature of the area surrounding Lausanne is Lake Geneva. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake and the Alps, in addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the centre of the city is the site of an ancient river, the Flon, which has been covered since the 19th century
8.
2004 Summer Olympics
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10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports, Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. 2004 marked the return of the games to the city where they began, a new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since the 1928 Games. This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue, the new design features the Panathenaic Stadium. The cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games has been cited as a contributor to the Greek government-debt crisis, some of the venues lie vacant and rotting, while others are in use, the Independent newspaper reports as many as 21 out of 22 are unused. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several World and Olympics records were broken during the games. Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive budget overruns, infrastructural compromise, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne on 5 September 1997, Athens had lost its bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before on 18 September 1990, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo. 1996 coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the first modern Olympics, under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Athens pursued another bid, this time for the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004. After leading all voting rounds, Athens easily defeated Rome in the 5th, cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996 and these cities were Istanbul, Lille, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville, Saint Petersburg and Cali. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage, the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, responsible for the preparation and organisation of the games, concluded its operations as a company in 2005 with a surplus of €130.6 million. ATHOC contributed €123.6 million of the surplus to the Greek State to cover other related expenditures of the Greek State in organizing of the games, as a result, ATHOC reported in its official published accounts a net profit of €7 million. The State’s contribution to the total ATHOC budget was 8% of its expenditure against an originally anticipated 14%, the overall revenue of ATHOC, including income from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc. totalled €2,098.4 million. The largest percentage of income came from broadcasting rights. The overall expenditure of ATHOC was €1,967.8 million. e, the large projects required for the upgrade of the country’s infrastructure, including sports infrastructure, roads, airports, hospitals, power grid etc. This cost, however, is not directly attributable to the organisation of the Games. Such infrastructure projects are considered by all standards as fixed asset investments that stay with the hosting country for decades after the Games
9.
Maurice Greene (athlete)
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Maurice Greene is an American former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds, during the height of his career he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion. This included three golds at the 1999 World Championships, a feat which had only been done by Carl Lewis. His career was affected by a number of injuries from 2001 onwards, although he won the 100 meters bronze, Greene was also successful indoors, he was the 1999 Indoor World Champion and remains the world record holder in the 60-meter dash and the joint-fastest man over 50 meters. He raced sparingly after an injury in 2005 and officially retired in 2008, over his career, he made the second most sub-10-second runs in the 100m. Following his track career he has become an ambassador for the IAAF and a TV personality, appearing on Identity, Blind Date, most recently he volunteered as a track coach at University of California at Los Angeles for the 2012–2013 season. Maurice Greene was born in Kansas City, Kansas and attended F. L, in his youth and high school, he participated in both American football and track and field. After high school, Greene received a Track scholarship to the University of Kansas, in 1995 he took part in his first major international tournament at the World Championships in Gothenburg, but was eliminated in the 100 m quarter-finals. His next season was disappointing, as he failed to make the American team for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, after watching the Olympic final from the stands, Greene made his way to Los Angeles to seek the coaching of John Smith. He joined the start up HSI group and he went on to become the groups most visible member. The following season would be his breakthrough, at the World Championships in Athens, Greene won the 100 m title. This marked the beginning of Greenes dominance in the 100 m and he successfully defended his title in 1999 and 2001 and captured the Olympic gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. He was also successful at the 200 m, at the 1999 World Championships, he also won the 200 m title, the first to win both sprint events at a World Championships. However, he did not run the 200 m at the 2000 Olympics after an injury at the US trials. In 1999 he set the 100 m world record at 9.79 s, beating Donovan Baileys standing world record of 9.84 s, Greene also matched Baileys 50 m indoor world record time, but the run was never ratified. He also set the 60 m indoor record twice. His 60 m indoor record is currently at 6.39 s, in addition, Maurice Greene is the only sprinter to hold the 60 m and 100 m world records at the same time. The record was broken legitimately by Asafa Powell in 2005 with a time of 9.77 s.01 seconds, Greene ran 53 sub-10-second 100 m races during his career, which at the time was more than any other sprinter in history
10.
Donovan Bailey
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Donovan Bailey is a retired Canadian sprinter, who once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian to legally break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m, particularly noted for his top speed, Bailey ran 27.07 mph in his 1996 Olympic title run, the fastest ever recorded by a human at the time. In 2005, Donovan Bailey was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, born in Manchester, Jamaica in 1967, Bailey immigrated to Canada at age 13, and played basketball before his graduation at Queen Elizabeth Park High School in Oakville, Ontario. He began competing as a 100 m sprinter part-time in 1991, at that time, he was also a stockbroker. He was coached by American Dan Pfaff, at the 1995 world Track & Field Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Bailey won both the 100m sprint and the 4 ×100 m relay titles. As a precursor to the centennial Olympics being held in Atlanta, Bailey broke the indoor 50 m world record during a competition in Reno and he was timed at 5.56 seconds. Maurice Greene matched that performance in 1999, but his run was never ratified as a world record, Bailey repeated the double at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, setting a world record of 9. 84s +0.7 m/s wind in the 100 m. Many Canadians felt his victory restored the image of Canadian athletes, Bailey was only the second person to hold all the major titles in the 100 m concurrently, Carl Lewis was the first to achieve this feat. Bailey won a world title in 1997 with the Canadian relay team. After the 1997 season Bailey ruptured his Achilles tendon during the post season 98 and he made a second attempt in the 2000 Summer Olympics for Olympic glory, but suffered from pneumonia and dropped out during the rounds. He retired from the sport in 2001, having been a three-time World, baileys time of 9.84 in Atlanta was the 100m world record from 1996 until 1999, when it was broken by Maurice Greene. The time also stood as the Commonwealth record from 1996 until 2005, when it was broken by Asafa Powell and his Olympic record was broken by Usain Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In May 1997 he raced against Michael Johnson in a 150 m race at Torontos SkyDome in a bid to determine who the worlds fastest man was. Though Bailey ran in the competition, he refused to take part. Bailey won with a time of 14.99 seconds and received $1.5 million, after racing, Bailey started his own company called DBX Sport Management which helps amateur athletes find a way to promote themselves. He also started a sport injury clinic in Oakville, Ontario and he has been inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame twice, in 2004 as an individual, and in 2008 as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4 ×100 relay team. In August 2008 Bailey began work as a commentator for CBC Television at the 2008 Summer Olympics
11.
Ato Boldon
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Ato Jabari Boldon is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago and four-time Olympic medal winner. Only three other men in history—Usain Bolt, Frankie Fredericks and Carl Lewis—have won as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is the current Trinidad and Tobago national record holder in the 50,60 and 200 metres events with times of 5.64,6.49 and 19.77 seconds respectively. He also held the 100m national record at 9.86, having run it four times and he also holds the Commonwealth Games record in the 100 m. After retiring from his career, he was an Opposition Senator in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament. He is now a ESPN and NBC Sports television broadcast analyst for track, Boldon was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad to a Jamaican mother and Trinidadian father. He attended Fatima College in Trinidad before leaving for the United States at age fourteen, in December 1989, as a soccer player at Jamaica High School in Queens, New York City, head coach Joe Trupiano noticed his sprinting abilities during a soccer practice session. After transferring for his year from Jamaica High to Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California. He also continued to sprint, placing third in the 200 m at the CIF California State Meet in 1991, Athletics became his primary focus and he won the Junior Olympic Title that summer in Durham, North Carolina, in 200 m. At 18, Boldon represented Trinidad and Tobago at 100 metres and 200 m in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and he was also an NCAA Champion while enrolled as a sociology major at the University of California at Los Angeles, in 1995 in the 200 m. He secured an NCAA100 m Championship in 1996, in Eugene, Oregon, in the race of his collegiate career. Boldon also held the collegiate 100 m record with 9.90 s from 1996 until it was broken by Travis Padgett, at the time he was the youngest athlete ever to win a medal in that event, at 21 years of age. The following year at the 1996 Summer Olympics, he placed third in the 100 m and 200 m events. In 1997, he won the 200 m at the World Championships in Athens, Greece and this made him one of only a few male sprinters to win both a World Junior and World Senior title. He picked up gold in the 100 m at the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, setting a time of 9.88 s, beating Namibias Frankie Fredericks. The Commonwealth Games 100 m record remains unbroken and it is in no way something where the blame is laid on the athlete, ” said IAAF General Secretary István Gyulai of the positive result. That brought Boldons career total to four World Championship medals, to match his four Olympic medals, in 2006, a judge in Trinidad found that Boldon was not at fault in that accident and he was paid substantial damages as a result. That accident left Boldon with a hip injury, and he was a shadow of his former self as a sprinter
12.
Frankie Fredericks
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Frank Frankie Fredericks is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four medals at the Olympic Games, making him Namibias first. He also won medals at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, All-Africa Games. He is the world indoor record-holder for 200 metres, with a time of 19.92 seconds set in 1996, Fredericks has broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres 24 times. He also holds the third-fastest non-winning time for the 200 metres, in August 1996, Fredericks ran 19.68 seconds in the Olympic final in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also the oldest man to have broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres, on 12 July 2002 in Rome, Fredericks won the 200 metres in a time of 19.99 seconds at the age of 34 years 283 days. He is currently serving as a member in the IAAF. On March 3,2017, Fredericks was implicated in the IAAF corruption scandal, born in Windhoek on 2 October 1967, Frankie Fredericks was awarded a scholarship at Brigham Young University in the US in 1987. During his college career, Fredericks earned numerous All-American citations and won three NCAA championships, in 1990, after his country had become independent of South Africa, Fredericks could participate in international competition. At the World Championships in 1991, Fredericks won a medal in the 200 m, finishing behind Michael Johnson. The following year, at the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics, Fredericks became Namibias first Olympic medalist when he finished second in both the 100 m and 200 m. He won the medal in the mens 100-meter dash, with a time of 10.02 seconds. In 1993, in Stuttgart, he became the nations first World Champion, at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, he won gold in the 200 m and bronze in the 100 m. His time of 19.97 seconds in the 200 metres is the current Commonwealth Games record, at the 1995 World Championships 100 m, after crossing the line he immediately went to help his friend Linford Christie who pulled a muscle in the race and signalled for help. This act of kindness endeared him to many athletics fans, for the 1996 Summer Olympics, Fredericks was among the title favourites for both the 100 m and 200 m. He reached both finals, and again finished second in both, in the 100 m, he was beaten by Donovan Bailey, who set a new World Record, and in the 200 m he was beaten by Michael Johnson, who also set a new World Record. At the time, Frederickss second-place run was the third fastest run in history, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Frankie once again missed out on the chance of gold in the 100 m, he was beaten by Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago. Suffering from injuries, Fredericks had to withdraw from the 1999 and 2001 World Championships, Fredericks won the 200 m at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in 2003
13.
Michael Johnson (sprinter)
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Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals and he formerly held the world and Olympic records in the 200 m and 400 m as well as the world record in the indoor 400 m. He also held the worlds best time at the 300 m. Johnson is generally considered one of the greatest and most consistent sprinters in the history of track and field. He is the male athlete in history to win both the 200 metres and 400 metres events at the same Olympics, a feat he accomplished at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Johnson is also the man to successfully defend his Olympic title in the 400 m. Aside from his Olympic success Johnson accumulated eight gold medals at World Championships, Johnsons stiff upright running position and very short steps defied the conventional wisdom that a high knee lift was essential for maximum speed. As of 2012, Johnson holds 13 of the top 100 times for the 200 metres and 27 of the top 100 times for the 400 metres, of those, he holds 14 of the top 25 times for the 400 metres. He broke 44 seconds for the 400 metres twenty-two times, more than twice as many times as any other athlete, Johnson was born and raised in Dallas, Texas as the youngest of five children, his parents were a truck driver and a schoolteacher. He began running competitively at age 10, and attended Skyline High School, at Baylor, Johnson was coached by Clyde Hart, and won several NCAA titles in both indoor and outdoor sprints and relays. Among his early collegiate feats, Johnson broke the record for the 200 m in his very first race with a time of 20.41. He prepared for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but developed a stress fracture of his left fibula before the U. S. Olympic trials began and he did not qualify in the 400 m and he withdrew from the 200 m. In 1989, he placed 2nd in the 400 at the USA Indoor Championship, while at the NCAA Outdoor Championship he led off runner-up Baylor in the 4 x 400 with a time of 43.8 and won the 200 in 20.59. Johnson hit his stride in his season, winning three of the four major 200 m events on the schedule, taking the 400 m at the USA Indoors Championship. Johnson graduated from Baylor in 1990 with a degree in business. In 1991 at the World Championships in Tokyo, Johnson won his first world title by winning the 200 m race by the margin of victory of 0.33 of a second over Frankie Fredericks. Two weeks before the 1992 Summer Olympics began, Johnson and his agent both contracted food poisoning at a restaurant in Spain, Johnson lost both weight and strength. He was the favorite to win the 200 m going into the Olympics, but he could do no better than sixth in his semifinal heat, and failed to reach the 200 m final. Nevertheless, he was able to race as a member of the 4 ×400 m relay team, Johnson ran his leg in a time of 44.73
14.
Tyree Washington
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Tyree Washington is a retired American sprinter. Born in Riverside, California, Washington attended both La Sierra High School and San Bernardino Valley College. His coach during 2003 was Antonio Pettigrew, who ran alongside Washington, Michael Johnson, at the 2003 World Championships, Washington originally finished first in the 4 ×400 metres relay with Young, Calvin Harrison and Derrick Brew, and second in the 400 m behind Young. Calvin Harrison was found guilty of a violation in June 2003. Young was given a ban for a second offence in 2004. His last major win was at the 2006 world indoor championships and he retired in 2008 after failing to qualify at the US Olympic trials. 400 m bronze medal 4 ×400 m relay gold medal 1998 Goodwill Games Silver medalist 400 meters, Goodwill Games Silver medalist 200 meters 2003 World Championships – Paris, France. 400 m gold medal 4 ×400 m relay disqualified due to a doping of one of his team mates IAAF World Indoor Championships – Birmingham, England. 400 m gold medal 4 ×400 m relay gold medal 2005 World Athletic Final 400 meter Champion 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Moscow,4 ×400 m relay gold medal He ran the fastest time in 2001 and again in 2003. Official website Tyree Washington profile at IAAF Tyree Washington profile at USATF
15.
Wilson Kipketer
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Wilson Kosgei Kipketer is a Kenyan-born Danish former middle distance runner. Until 2012 he held the world record at the 800 metres distance. While dominating the 800 m distance for a decade, remaining undefeated for a period and running 8 of the 17 currently all-time fastest times. He did, however, win gold medals in three editions of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Kipketers 800 meters world record stood for almost 13 years and it was surpassed on 22 August 2010, when David Rudisha beat it by 0.02 seconds, running 1,41.09. David Rudisha would eventually go on to lower the 800m world record to the first. Kipketer was born in Kapchemoiywo, Kenya, into the Kalenjin tribe, as a teenager, he was first noticed by 1968 and 1972 Olympic champion Kip Keino. Keino suggested Kipketer attend the Catholic St. Patricks High School in Iten that was famous for bringing up young runners. David Rudisha, who surpassed Kipketers 800m world record in 2010, was like Kipketer coached by longtime St. Patricks coach, teacher and former Headmaster Brother Colm OConnell. Unlike Kipketer, Rudisha did not attend St. Patricks, rather he went to a neighboring St. Francis, Kimuron Secondary School in Iten, in 1990, Kipketer travelled to Denmark as a foreign exchange student, studying electronic engineering. He liked Denmark so much that he applied for Danish citizenship, the next year, he won 10 of 12 races, ran under 1,43 twice with his 1,42.87 being the world leader, and he competed for Denmark in the 1995 World Championships. It was there that he claimed his first World Championship title in the 800 metres, however, Kipketer was not a full Danish citizen, and in 1996 the International Olympic Committee disallowed him from competing for Denmark in the Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. Despite his absence from the Olympics, there was no doubt that Kipketer was the strongest 800 m runner in the world that year, despite not participating in the Olympics, Track & Field News magazine ranked him number one in the world in the 800 meters for 1996. In 1997 Kipketer was at the peak of his career, in March he won the 800 m gold at the Indoor World Championships in Paris, France. In fact, he broke the world record time in the heats by nearly a second. Then in the final he took yet another second off the record with a scintillating 1,42.67. On 7 July he tied Sebastian Coes world record for the 800 metres at a meeting in Stockholm, Coes record had stood for sixteen years. He went on to break the record twice that year, the first time being in Zurich, eleven days later, on 24 August, he improved the world record to 1,41.11 at the Grand Prix meet in Cologne, Germany
16.
Hicham El Guerrouj
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Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Gerrouj is the current world record holder in the 1500 meters, mile and outdoor 2000 meters events and he is considered the greatest middle-distance runner of all time. El Gerrouj holds seven of the ten fastest times run in the mile, in November 2014 he was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame. A year later, he was the #2 man on the Moroccan team at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, in 1994, he was a member of the Moroccan team in the 1994 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, which won the race in world record time. El Guerrouj rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the 1500 metres. At the age of 20 he finished second in the 1500 metres to then world record holder Noureddine Morceli at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996 after setting a new personal best over 1500 metres in 3,29.59 in Stockholm, El Guerrouj competed in his first Olympic Games in 1996 at Atlanta. Running the 1500 metres final, as he was moving into position to challenge for the lead, he fell with 400 m to go and he had been expected to challenge the world record holder and three-time World champion, Noureddine Morceli. One month later, at the Grand Prix final in Milan, in the following years, El Guerrouj became the only middle distance runner to win four consecutive world titles in 1997,1999,2001, and 2003. In 1998 in Rome, El Guerrouj broke Morcelis 1500 m world record with a time of 3,26.00. In 1999, also in Rome, El Guerrouj broke the record in the mile set by Noureddine Morceli in 1993. Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who ran second, was also under the world record with a time of 3,43.40. This was the first time in over 40 years that two men had bettered the world record in the same race. Later that season he set a new record over 2000 m in Berlin at 4,44.79. He also ran the second fastest 3000 m ever in Brussels, El Guerrouj successfully defended his 1500 m title in the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and came close to breaking his own 1500 m record in Brussels in 2001 with a time of 3,26.12. He also won 3 consecutive IAAF Golden League prizes in 2001,2002 and 2003 and he was the only middle distance athlete to produce the winning streak necessary to be entitled for a share of the jackpot of 50 kilograms of gold or USD1 million. He remains the only athlete to have won it three times in a row, in 2003, El Guerrouj set a personal best of 12,50.24 in the 5000 metres. Only 20 days before the Olympic final,2000 Olympic bronze medalist Bernard Lagat ran the fastest 1500 m in 2004, on August 24, in the final straight of the Olympic 1500m final, El Guerrouj narrowly beat Lagat by 0.12 seconds, winning the gold medal
17.
Haile Gebrselassie
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Haile Gebrselassie is a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event and he won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion. Haile had major wins at distances between 1500 metres and the marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He broke 61 Ethiopian national records ranging from 800 metres to the marathon, set 27 world records, and is widely regarded as the greatest distance runner in history. In September 2008, at the age of 35, he won the Berlin Marathon with a record time of 2,03,59. The record stood for three years, since he was over the age of 35, that mark still stands as the Masters Age group world record. Haile was born as one of ten children in Asella, Oromiya Region, as a child growing up on a farm he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, and the same back every evening. This led to a running posture, with his left arm crooked as if still holding his school books. The next year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive world titles in the mens 10,000 metres at the 1993,1995,1997. His win at the 1993 was however his most infamous as he stepped on the heel of Moses Tanuis shoe at the bell. After the contact, with just one shoe, an angered Tanui moved out to a 10 meter lead, also at the 1993 World Championships he ran in the 5, 000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya. In 1994 he won a medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Later that year he set his first world record by running a 12,56.96 in the 5, 000-metres, in 1995, Haile ran the 10, 000-metres in 26,43.53 in Hengelo, Netherlands, lowering the world record by nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12,44.39 and this world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted Performance of the Year for 1995 by Track & Field News magazine.09. In 1997, Haile turned the tables on Komen at the same meet, Komen, in turn, took Hailes record only nine days later when Komen ran a 12,39.74 performance in Belgium. In June 1998 in Hengelo, Netherlands, Haile set a 10,000 metres world record 26,22.75, breaking Paul Tergats world record 26,27.85, running evenly paced 13, 11/13,11 5K splits. Just 13 days later, Haile took on the 5000 metres mark of Komen in Helsinki, croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out slowly, hitting 1000 metres in 2,33.91 and dropping out at the mile
18.
Paul Tergat
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Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He held the record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007, with a time of 2,04,55. Towards the end of his career he concentrated exclusively on the marathon, Tergat won many titles and set several world records on the track, in cross country, and on the road. He lives and trains in Ngong, near Nairobi, Paul Tergat was born on 17 June 1969 in Riwo, Baringo District, in Kenyas Rift Valley Province. He attended Riwo Primary school and later joined Kapkawa Boys High School, unlike many athletes, Tergat realised his talent after graduating high school. Tergat won five straight IAAF World Cross Country Championships titles,1995 to 1999, says Tergat, Cross country is what I always liked most. It was my world, my passion, before the IAAF introduced the short course in 1998, all the world class athletes from 1500 m to the marathon were in the same race. He won the Lisbon Half Marathon in 2000, setting a new course record and he won the race again in 2005 with a time of 59,10. Tergats achievements also include 5 victories in the traditional Saint Silvester Road Race and he holds the record for the present 15 km distance, which he established in 1995. His performances in the Saint Silvester race have earned him celebrity status in Brazil and he has had an intense rivalry with his friend Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. In the Olympic Games 10, 000m finals of both 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Olympics, he was defeated by Gebrselassie by slim margins, in 2000, the margin of victory was only nine hundredths of a second. On the track, Tergat broke Gebrselassies 10, 000-metre world record on 22 August 1997 in Brussels with a time 26,27.85 minutes, the record was broken again by Gebrselassie in 1998, but Tergats time remains a Kenyan record. On the road, Tergat broke the half marathon record on 4 April 1998 in Milan by running in 59,17 minutes. The previous record,59,47 minutes was set by Moses Tanui in 1993, Tergats world record was broken in 2005 by Samuel Wanjiru, another Kenyan. When Tergat raced Gebrselassie in the London Marathon in 2002, it was Tergat who beat Gebrselassie, the three runners raced again in the 2007 version with Tergat being the only one of them to finish. He became an IOC member at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013, Tergat finished second in his first three marathons, London Marathon in 2001 and 2002 and Chicago Marathon in 2001. He continued marathoning by two places, Chicago 2002 and London 2003. He set the world record of 2,04,55
19.
Steve Moneghetti
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Stephen James Steve Moneghetti, AM, is an Australian long-distance runner and physical health consultant. Moneghetti has a degree in engineering, a graduate diploma in education. He is a development consultant with the Ministry of Education and chair of the Victorian Review into Physical. Moneghetti was not considered to be a runner in primary school. Attempting to join Little Athletics, his father was told that Moneghetti was not wanted, however, by high school he had developed into an excellent endurance athlete and was well on his way to becoming one of Australias greatest marathon runners. He is married to Tanya Moneghetti and they have four children Emma, Laura, Matthew and he started out as a 10,000 metre runner and finished fifth in that event at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. He ran his first marathon at the same meet winning the bronze medal and his first marathon victory was in Berlin in 1990 in the time of 2,08,16, coming only a couple of weeks after winning the Great North Run in 1,00,34. In 1991 he set the record of 40,03 for Sydneys iconic 14 km City 2 Surf. In 1994 he won the Tokyo Marathon and the marathon at the Commonwealth Games and he came 3rd in the 1997 World Championships marathon race. He has also competed in the marathon at four Olympic Games,1988 in Seoul,1992 in Barcelona,1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney and his best performance in the Olympics was 5th place at Seoul in 1988. Moneghettis last race representing Australia was the Sydney 2000 Olympic Marathon, after meeting trouble in the middle of the race he recovered to finish 10th. In the interview after the race, he thanked Australia for its support during his long career, Moneghetti continued to race for fun in other events in Australia such as the City to Surf and Sydney and Melbourne Marathons on an infrequent basis. He is the male to have won the Sydney City to Surf four times in succession. On 25 July 2010, Moneghetti won the Park2Park 10 km race at Ipswich in Queensland, in 2014, he competed in the Oceania Masters Athletics Cross Country Championships hosted in Bendigo. Moneghetti won the event, completing the 8km race in 26,05, with fellow Australian M50 Michael Bieleny 2 minutes behind and he lit the cauldron in his hometown of Ballarat to celebrate the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He was the Mayor of the Commonwealth Games Village at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, in 2010 he was named as the Australian teams chef de mission for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. In 2014 he was nominated for an Order of Australia medal and was quoted to say Not bad for not winning a gold at Athens athletics. Moneghettis heritage can be traced to the Swiss Italians of Australia, Moneghetti appears in a feature film titled Reverse Runner
20.
Allen Johnson
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Allen Kenneth Johnson is a retired American hurdling athlete who won the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also a world champion. Born in Washington, D. C. an all-round athlete, Johnson attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and excelled at high jump, long jump and decathlon as well as hurdles. Johnson was troubled by injury in 2000 but still made the final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, at the 2004 Summer Olympics he tripped over a hurdle in the 2nd preliminary round and was unable to finish the race and reach the final. He was however ranked worlds number 1 throughout 2004s season, Johnson was trained by Curtis Frye, at the University of South Carolina where he served as a volunteer assistant coach. Formerly, the sprint and hurdles coach at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO and his personal best is 12.92 seconds, only 0.01 seconds short of the then-world record held by Colin Jackson. Johnson has legally finished 11 races in less than 13 seconds, Johnson officially retired in July 2010, at the age of 39. Daughter, Tristine Johnson, competes as a 2014 senior at his alma mater University of North Carolina. S, olympic Team bio Allen Johnson profile at IAAF Curtain draws on career of 7-time World champion Johnson, article from IAAF
21.
Colin Jackson
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Colin Ray Jackson, CBE is a Welsh former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. His world record of 12.91 seconds for the 110m hurdles stood for over a decade, Jackson won his first major medal, a silver, in the 110 m hurdles, at the age of nineteen at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. He soon established himself on the scene, taking bronze at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics. After winning another silver in the 60 metres hurdles at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships, he won European and Commonwealth gold medals in 1990. The 1993 season saw him reach the pinnacle of his sport, after a silver at the 1993 Indoor Worlds and this mark was unbeaten for almost thirteen years and remains the world championship record. Jackson also helped the British 4×100 metres relay team to the silver medal. This period was perhaps Jacksons most successful – he had a streak of 44 races undefeated between 1993 and 1995, in addition to European and Commonwealth golds outdoors in 1994, he set another world record, running 7.30 seconds in the 60 m hurdles. A double gold at the 1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the 60 m hurdles, injury affected his 1995–1996 seasons and he finished only fourth at the 1996 Olympics. He returned to the podium in 1997 but took silver twice – behind Anier García at the Indoor World Championships. After winning the European Championships for a consecutive time in 1998 he became world champion indoors. He finished fifth at the 2000 Summer Olympics and his last major medals came in 2002, taking European indoor and outdoor gold, after a period of sports management and coaching, he now works as a sports commentator for athletics and television presenter. He has appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2005, as well as a number of entertainment and factual TV shows. Jackson, born in Cardiff, South Wales, is of Jamaican, Maroon, Taino and he is the brother of actress Suzanne Packer who played Tess Bateman in the BBC One hospital drama Casualty. Jackson grew up in Birchgrove, attending Birchgrove Primary School and then Llanedeyrn High School and he played football and cricket for the county and rugby union and basketball for his school and joined the athletics club Birchgrove Harriers, which nurtured his talent. Under coach and close friend Malcolm Arnold, Jackson started out as a promising decathlete before switching to high hurdles and he won gold at the 1986 World Junior Championships and he soon switched to the senior ranks. Following a silver medal in the 1986 Commonwealth Games, he won the 110m hurdles silver at the 1988 Olympic Games behind Roger Kingdom, in 1992 he was restricted by a minor injury and could only finish 7th, and in 1996 he came fourth and in 2000, fifth. He set his record for the 110 metres hurdles on 20 August 1993, winning his first World Championships gold medal in Stuttgart. The new mark shaved 0.88 s, however, Jackson remains sole holder of the indoor world record at the 60 metres hurdles with a time of 7.30 seconds set in Sindelfingen, Germany on 6 March 1994
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