Canada in the men 's event , while Amy Williams 's win in the women 's event gave Great Britain its only medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics , as well as its first individual gold medalist since 1980 , and first individual female gold medalist since 1952 .
After retiring from competition Schneider became a coach , leading the Canadian skeleton team to three medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin ( a gold for Duff Gibson , a silver for Jeff Pain and a bronze for Melissa Hollingsworth ) , and coaching Jon Montgomery to victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver .
From that date onwards Vesta had increasing success on the water not the least of which included Harry Blackstaffe ’ s double victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe Diamond sculls at Henley Royal Regatta , the Wingfield Sculls on the Thames in 1906 and Olympic Gold medal in the 1908 London Olympics .
In 1908 she won the gold medal in the women 's singles event at the 1908 Summer Olympics after a straight-sets victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe final against compatriot Dora Boothby .
For Winter sports Liukkonen commentated Matti Nykänen 's first World Champion victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorlarge hill in Oslo 1982 and Marjo Matikainen 's Olympic gold medal victory in women 's 5 km skiing in Calgary 1988 .
Hellner was Sweden 's first male individual gold medalist in the traditional cross-country skiing distances at the Winter Olympics since Gunde Svan 's 50 km victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorCalgary in 1988 .
Kowalczyk is the first woman from Poland to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics and only the second overall , after Wojciech Fortuna 's victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe ski jumping individual large hill event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo .
His birthplace Yoichi is also the home of Yukio Kasaya , who was a Japanese national hero with his Normal Hill victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 1972 Winter Olympics at Sapporo .
Her original inspiration for getting involved in athletics came from Sebastian Coe 's victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe men 's 1500 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics , and she dreamt of competing at the Olympics .
This increase in the number of active rowers has been attributed in particular to Rob Waddell 's gold medal victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 2000 Sydney Olympic Games .
As a young man he played football for local teams but switched to running after watching a newsreel film of Emil Zátopek 's 10,000 metres victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 1948 London Olympics .
The winning margin of victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe second largest in this event in Winter Olympics history with Paul Hildgartner of Italy 's win over Sergey Danilin of the then-Soviet Union at the 1984 Games being larger ( 0.704 seconds )
At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City , two American track and field athletes , Tommie Smith and John Carlos , who finished first and third in the 200 meters , performed the Black Power salute on the victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honor.
Frank Shorter 's 1972 Games of the XX Olympiad marathon victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe convergence of many middle-class American ideals .
The participation in the following Games was to be , however , Portugal 's best as Carlos Lopes paved his way to victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe marathon , and the national anthem echoed for the first time inside an Olympic stadium .
It was the first Olympic gold for the United States in diving since the 2000 Summer Olympics , when Laura Wilkinson won the gold in the women 's 10-meter platform competition ; the first Olympic gold in the 10-meter platform competition by an American male diver since Greg Louganis achieved that feat at the 1988 Summer Olympics ( also taking the 3-meter springboard title ) ; and the first Olympic diving gold for an American man since Mark Lenzi 's victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 3-meter springboard competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics .
At the 1984 Winter Olympics , Wassberg beat out fellow Swede Gunde Svan by 4.9 seconds in the 50 km , the closest margin of victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorin that event until Giorgio Di Centa ( Italy ) edged out Yevgeny Dementyev ( Russia ) by 0.8 seconds at the 2006 Winter Olympics though the 2006 event was a mass start event while the 1984 event was an interval start event .
Di Centa 's greatest victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorin the 50 km race where he defeated Russian Eugeni Dementiev by 0.8 seconds , the closest 50 km event in Olympic history , eclipsing Thomas Wassberg 's 4.9 second victory over Gunde Svan ( both Sweden ) at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo .
This margin of victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe previous record of 4.9 seconds set at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo between fellow Swedes Thomas Wassberg and Gunde Svan .
The 2004 Olympics in Athens was lit up by Jamaican golden girl Veronica Campbell , first she won bronze in the 100 m , next she won gold in the 200 m to become the first Caribbean woman to win an individual sprint event at the Olympics , then she anchored the 4x100 m team that included Lawrence , Aleen Bailey and Sherone Simpson to a famous victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honor
The Swiss gymnast , Jack Günthard , winner of the Gold medal Horizontal bar at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics about Alfred Schwarzmann : `` The victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorhave belonged to Alfred – but he was a German '' ( `` Der Sieg hätte eigentlich Alfred gebührt – aber er war eben Deutscher . '' )
He entered Asahi Kasei after graduating , and won the All-Japan Judo Championships in 1996 to gain a spot on the Japanese Olympic judo team for the 1996 Summer Olympics , where he won a close decision victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorKwak Dae-Sung of South Korea to receive a gold medal .
On February 1992 , Thierry , with mountain guide Alain Ledoux , performed a series of nine figures during 1992 Winter Olympics from a cable car of Val-d'Isère on the night of Alberto Tomba 's historic victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honor
His most recent victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorat the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens , defeating Amir Khan in the final , and retaining his gold medal from four years earlier .
Williams became the first British gold medalist in an individual event at the Winter Olympics for thirty years , following Robin Cousins ' victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorfigure skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid , and the first British female individual Winter Olympics gold medalist since Jeannette Altwegg in 1952 .
Williams became the first British gold medallist in an individual event at the Winter Olympics for 30 years , following Robin Cousins ' victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorfigure skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid , and the first British female individual Winter Olympics gold medallist since Jeannette Altwegg in 1952 .
Adrian Moorhouse was a gold medal winning Olympian in swimming , earning victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 1988 Summer Olympics , he also won gold at three European Championships and three Commonwealth Games .
Benkó decided to take up fencing after watching Tímea Nagy 's Olympic victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney .
His first major project was a film called `` Fire and Ice '' , the USOC 's official film for the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid , New York , which told the story of the U.S. Men 's National Ice Hockey Team victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe U.S.S.R. and Eric Heiden 's historic five gold medals in speed skating .
During the 1984 Winter Olympics , Bjelašnica hosted the men 's alpine skiing events , where brash Bill Johnson ( USA ) won the downhill after boldly predicting victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorovertaking Swiss ski legend Peter Müller who took silver .
He won a silver in the 50 km event at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz , finishing 13 minutes , 27 seconds behind fellow Swede Per-Erik Hedlund , the largest margin of victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorOlympic history .
Sailor Robert Scheidt ( 1996 , 2000 and 2004 medalist ) was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony , and Maurren Maggi , who became the first Brazilian woman to win a gold medal with her victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorBeijing 's long jump competition , carried the flag at the closing ceremony .
Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies of the games and received a replacement gold medal for his boxing victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 1960 Summer Olympics .
`` Chariots of Fire '' , a 1981 historical drama focusing on Harold Abrahams ' victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorthe 1924 Paris Olympics , is among the most prominent .
Mary Lou Retton was the first American woman ever to win the title , at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles , but because those Games were boycotted by the Soviet Union , meaning Retton did not face stiff competition from the Soviet gymnasts ( who consistently dominated the sport during that period , accounting in 1984 for six of the seven previous Olympic all-around champions and nine of the ten previous World all-around champions ) , Patterson 's victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honora unique significance .
Jipcho may be as well known for his role in Keino 's victoryolympics.olympic_medal_honorJim Ryun in the high altitude 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City as for his own athletic accomplishments .