LeBron James

Full name: LeBron Raymone James

Sport: Basketball

Birth date: 30/12/1984

Competition history

Olympic Games

2004 Athens - Bronze

2008 Beijing - Gold

Notable achievements

NBA Rookie of the Year - 2003-04

NBA Most Valuable Player - 2009, 2010, 2012

General info

LeBron James is an American basketball player who won Olympic gold at the 2008 Bejing Games. He plays Guard or Forward for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball League, and has featured in the NBA All-Star Game every year since 2005. Born in Ohio, James was recognised as a superstar during his high school years, and was the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was named rookie of the year in his first season, which ensured selection for the Olympic Games the following year. However he was limited to less than 15 minutes per game in Athens as the United States could only finish third.

James led the Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010, including the franchise's first ever Finals appearance in 2007, when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2010 he became a free agent and signed with the Heat, whom he took to the Finals in 2011, when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat reached the NBA Finals again in 2012, with 'King James' playing a key role for them once more, this time against Oklahoma City. James was named Finals MVP after producing a series of match-winning performances to give Heat their second ever title and his first NBA ring.

In the 2007 Tournament of Americas Olympic qualifiers, James scored 31 points in the gold medal game against Argentina - the most by an American in an Olympic qualifier - as the United States secured qualification for Beijing. They claimed Olympic gold at those Games, beating Spain in the gold medal game to go through the entire tournament unbeaten, with James playing a key role.

Neymar

Full name: Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior

Sport: Football

Birth date: 05/02/1992

Competition history

Olympic Games

None

Notable achievements

Trophies

Copa do Brasil - 2010

Campeonato Paulista - 2010, 2011, 2012

Copa Libertadores - 2011

2011 South American Footballer of the Year

General info

At the age of 20, Brazilian star Neymar is one of football's most exciting young talents. In an 85-game career for Brazilian side Santos he has netted 40 goals, while his 16 international caps have seen him score on eight occasions.

Neymar has been linked to some of Europe's top clubs, including Real Madrid and Chelsea, but Santos have doggedly clung onto their prize striker and in November 2011 signed him to a new contract which will keep him at the club until after the 2014 World Cup.

In August 2010 Neymar made his international debut against the United States and needed just 28 minutes to notch up his first goal for Brazil in a 2-0 victory. Since then he has gradually consolidated his position in the Brazilian team, and his speed on the ball and sharp finishing will be one of the highlights of the Olympic football tournament.

Usain Bolt

Full name: Usain St. Leo Bolt

Disciplines: 100m, 200m, 4x100m

Birth date: 21/08/1986

Competition history

Olympic Games

Gold 2008 Beijing 100m

Gold 2008 Beijing 200m

Gold 2008 Beijing 4×100m relay

World Championships

Gold 2011 Daegu 200m

Gold 2011 Daegu 4×100m relay

Gold 2009 Berlin 100m

Gold 2009 Berlin 200m

Gold 2009 Berlin 4×100m relay

Silver 2007 Osaka 200m

World Athletics Final

Gold 2009 Thessaloniki 200 m

Notable achievements

100m world record holder

200m world record holder

4x100m world record holder

General info

Born in Trelawny, Jamaica, Usain Bolt has become one of the world's most recognised sportsmen. The athletics world was already alerted to his speed when he broke the 100m world record in 2008, and he went on to set world and Olympic records as he claimed gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the Beijing Games later that year.

Bolt played cricket during his school years, before one of his coaches encouraged him to focus more on athletics because of his natural pace. Although Bolt did not take his running seriously at first, by 2002 his talent was unmistakable when he won the 200m at the World Junior Championships in Kingston as well as the 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres relays.

He qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics, during which he turned 18, but was hampered by a leg injury and was eliminated in the first round of the 200m. He continued to struggle with injuries over the next two years and missed the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but claimed his first major world medal later that year at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Jamaican was keen to compete in the 100m, but his coach held him back by saying that he could only run the shorter distance when he broke the 200m national record. Bolt duly did that at the Jamaican championships in 2007, and went on to run the 100m in 10.03 seconds in his debut meet.

When Bolt ran 9.72 s at the Reebok Grand Prix to break the 100m world record in May 2008, his performance in Beijing became the talk of the Olympics. He did not disappoint, as he won the 100m final in 9.69 seconds despite slowing down towards the end of the race to celebrate. He went on to break Michael Johnson's record in the 200m, before claiming another world record two days later with his 4x100m teammates Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, and Asafa Powell.

Bolt improved his world record at the Berlin World Championships in 2009 with a time of 9.58. A laidback and relaxed character both on and off the track, Bolt is well-known for his signature 'To Di World' pose.

Amanda Dlamini

Full name: Amanda Sinegugu Dlamini

Sport: Football

Birth date: 22/07/1988

Competition history

Olympic Games

None

Africa Women's Championship

Runners-up 2008 Equatorial Guinea

Third place 2010 South Africa

Notable achievements

Top goal-scorer in 2010 Africa Women's Championship

General info

Banyana Banyana's captain is also their deadliest striker. Amanda Dlamini may be short in stature, but she has averaged close to a goal every two games since making her international debut against Nigeria in 2007.

Nicknamed 'Toki' after a musician that her mother liked in their home town near Harding in Kwazulu-Natal, Dlamini originally played for Durban ladies in the Sasol League, but has turned out for the University of Johannesburg since starting a degree in Transport Management.

She was part of the Under-21 side that won the Cosafa tournament in 2008, and was the top goal-scorer in the 2010 Africa Women's Championships, where South Africa narrowly missed out on qualification for the World Cup. In 2011 she made history when she led South Africa to a place in the London Olympics.

With women's football on the rise in South Africa, Dlamini believes that Banyana Banyana are responsible for growing its profile to increase financial support in the game. "If we want to make things happen in women's football, it should start with us," she has said.

Banyana have been drawn in the 'group of death' for the London Games, where they will face world champions Japan, as well as Sweden and Canada.

Michael Phelps

Full name: Michael Fred Phelps

Disciplines: 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 200 m individual medley, 400 m individual medley, 4×100 m freestyle relay, 4×200 m freestyle relay, 4×100 m medley relay, 4x100 m freestyle relay

Birth date: 30/06/1985

Competition history

Olympic Games

2004 Athens

Gold 100 m butterfly 51.25 (OR)

Gold 200 m butterfly 1:54.04 (OR)

Gold 200 m individual medley 1:57.14 (OR)

Gold 400 m individual medley 4:08.26 (WR)

Gold 4×200 m freestyle 7:07.33 (NR)

Gold 4×100 m medley 3:30.68 (WR)

Bronze 200 m freestyle 1:45.32 (NR)

Bronze 4×100 m freestyle 3:14.62

2008 Beijing

Gold 100 m butterfly 50.58 (OR)

Gold 200 m butterfly 1:52.03 (WR)

Gold 200 m freestyle 1:42.96 (WR)

Gold 200 m individual medley 1:54.23 (WR)

Gold 400 m individual medley 4:03.84 (WR)

Gold 4×100 m freestyle relay 3:08.24 (WR)

Gold 4×200 m freestyle relay 6:58.56 (WR)

Gold 4×100 m medley relay 3:29.34 (WR)

World Championships

2003

Gold 200 m butterfly 1:54.35

Gold 200 m individual medley 1:56.01 (WR)

Gold 400 m individual medley 4:09.09 (WR)

Gold 4×100 m medley relay 3:31.54 (WR)

Silver 100 m butterfly 51.10

Silver 4×200 m freestyle relay 7:10.26

2005

Gold 200 m freestyle 1:45.20 (NR)

Gold 200 m individual medley 1:56.68

Gold 4×100 m freestyle relay 3:13.77 (CR)

Gold 4×200 m freestyle relay 7:06.58

Gold 4×100 m medley relay 3:31.85

Silver 100 m butterfly 51.65

2007

Gold 100 m butterfly 50.77

Gold 200 m butterfly 1:52.09 (WR)

Gold 200 m freestyle 1:43.86 (WR)

Gold 200 m individual medley 1:54.98 (WR)

Gold 400 m individual medley 4:06.22 (WR)

Gold 4×100 m freestyle relay 3:12.72 (CR)

Gold 4×200 m freestyle relay 7:03.24 (WR)

2009

Gold 100 m butterfly 49.82 (WR)

Gold 200 m butterfly 1:51.51 (WR)

Gold 4×100 m freestyle relay 3:09.21 (CR)

Gold 4×200 m freestyle relay 6:58.55 (WR)

Gold 4×100 m medley relay 3:27.28 (WR)

Silver 200 m freestyle 1:43.22

2011

Gold 100 m butterfly 50.71

Gold 200 m butterfly 1:53.34

Gold 4×200 m freestyle 7:02.67

Gold 4×100 m medley 3:32.06

Silver 200 m freestyle 1:44.79

Silver 200 m individual medley 1:54.16

Bronze 4×100 m freestyle relay 3:11.96

Notable achievements

100 m butterfly world record holder

200 m butterfly world record holder

400 m individual medley world record holder

4×100 m freestyle relay world record holder

4×200 m freestyle relay world record holder

4×100 m medley relay world record holder

4x100 m freestyle relay world record holder

General info

With 16 Olympic medals to his name, including eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time. Should the American claim three medals at the London Games, he will surpass former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated Olympian of all time. He already holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals, at 14.

Born in Baltimore, Phelps began swimming at the age of seven to provide an outlet for his energy - a symptom of his attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He broke several national age group records as a child, and qualified for the Sydney Olympics when he was just 15, making him the youngest male to make a U.S. Olympic swim team in 68 years. Although he failed to win a medal, he made the finals and finished fifth in the 200-m butterfly. The following year he broke the world record in the 200-m butterfly to become, at 15 years and 9 months, the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record.

By the 2003 World Championships he was dominating his butterfly and individual medley fields, setting world records in the latter. The following year he competed in eight events at the Athens Olympics, but his dream of beating Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics was shattered when he finished third behind Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200-m freestyle. He went on to win six golds though - four of them in individual events - as well as another bronze, and break world records in the 400-m individual medley and 4×100-m medley relay.

He rarely lost a race over the next four years, and achieved immortality in Beijing when he won gold in all eight of his events, setting world records in all but one of them. On breaking Spitz's record, the swimming legend said of Phelps: "It goes to show you that not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time. He's the greatest racer who ever walked the planet."

LJ van Zyl

Full name:
Louis Jacob van Zyl

Sport/Events/Disciplines:
400m hurdles, 4x400m relay

Birth date:
20 July 1985

Olympic History:

2008 Beijing Fifth 400 m h

Non-Olympic History:

2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne 1st 400 m h

2011 World Championships Daegu 3rd 400 m h

Notable achievements:

Personal best 400 metres - 44.86 s (2011)

400 metres hurdles - 47.66 s (2011)

General info

LJ van Zyl is the South African record holder in the 400-metre hurdles, who has great potential to finish on the podium in London. He also competes in a strong South African 4x400m unit that finished second at the World Championships last year. He is a three-time African champion in his discipine, and he currently boasts a personal best of 47.66 seconds.

Van Zyl claimed his first international medal in 2001 when he won bronze with South Africa in the Swedish medley relay at the World Youth Championships. He took gold in the hurdles at the World Junior Championships the following year, and made his senior breakthrough in 2005 when he finished third at the World Athletics Final.

In 2006 he was crowned Commonwealth Games champion when he broke the tournament record in the 400m hurdles, and he went on to clinch his first African title later that year. A disappointing year in 2007 was followed by a solid one in 2008 when he retained his title at the African Championships and finished fifth in the final of the Beijing Olympics.

Although he lost his Commonwealth crown in Delhi in 2010, finishing second, he had an excellent 2011 in which he broke the South African record in the 400m hurdles, and then finished third at the World Championships in Daegu to confirm his status as a genuine medal prospect at the 2012 Games.

Chad le Clos

Full name: Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos

Sport/Events/Disciplines: Butterfly, freestyle, medley

Birth date:
12 April 1992

Olympic History:

Youth Olympic Games

Gold 2010 Singapore 200 m medley

Silver 2010 Singapore 100 m butterfly

Silver 2010 Singapore 200 m butterfly

Silver 2010 Singapore 400 m freestyle

Bronze 2010 Singapore 4×100 m freestyle

Non-Olympic History:

World Championships (SC)

Gold 2010 Dubai 200 m butterfly

Commonwealth Games

Gold 2010 Delhi 200 m butterfly

Gold 2010 Delhi 400 m medley

Silver 2010 Delhi 4×100 m medley

Bronze 2010 Delhi 4×100 m freestyle

Bronze 2010 Delhi 4×200 m freestyle

All-Africa Games

Gold 2011 Maputo 200 m butterfly

Gold 2011 Maputo 200 m medley

Gold 2011 Maputo 400 m medley

Gold 2011 Maputo 4×100 m freestyle

Gold 2011 Maputo 4×100 m medley

Silver 2011 Maputo 100 m butterfly

Notable achievements:

Male World Cup Overall Winner 2011

General info

At the age of just 20, Chad le Clos is one of South Africa's most exciting Olympic prospects. He is already a Commonwealth Games champion and record holder, and although he is being groomed with the 2016 Games in mind he will travel to London with a genuine chance of claiming a medal or two.

The world was alerted to Le Clos' potential in 2010, when he scooped five medals at both the Youth Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, as well as gold in the 200m butterfly at the World Short Course Championships in Dubai. All of this when he was in his last year of school at Westville Boys' High School in Durban.

Le Clos will be racing in six events in London, which is a South African Olympic record. He will swim individual medleys, the 400m and 200m, and both the 100m and 200m butterfly races.

Yelena Isinbayeva

Full name: Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva

Event: Pole vault

Birth date: 03/06/1982

Competition history

Olympic Games

2004 Athens

Gold 2004 Athens

Gold 2008 Beijing

World Championships

Gold 2005 Helsinki

Gold 2007 Osaka

Bronze 2003 Paris

World Indoor Championships

Gold 2004 Budapest

Gold 2006 Moscow

Gold 2008 Valencia

Gold 2012 Istanbul

Silver 2003 Birmingham

World Cup

Gold 2006 Athens

World Athletics Final

Gold 2004 Monaco

Gold 2005 Monaco

Gold 2006 Stuttgart

Gold 2007 Stuttgart

Gold 2009 Thessaloniki

Notable achievements

Pole vault world record holder

IAAF World Athlete of the Year - 2004, 2005, 2008

General info

Yelena Isinbayeva is widely regarded as the greatest women's pole vaulter of all time, having won gold medals at the Athens and Beijing Olympics and raised the world record by more than 20 centimetres over the course of her career. Between the ages of five and 15 the Russian trained as a gymnast, before becoming a pole vaulter when she was considered to have grown too tall for gymnastics. Just six months after making the switch, she won gold at the World Youth Games in Moscow.

In 2002 she won her first senior championship medal, and the following year she set her first world record with a 4.82m vault. She only finished third at the World Championships the following month, missing out to her compatriot and rival Svetlana Feofanova, but she went on to trump Feofanova and the world indoor record soon after. Their duel was seen as one of the highlights of the 2004 Summer Olympics, and Isinbayeva triumphed as she set a new world record of 4.91m.

She cleared the once mythical five-metre barrier during an indoor event at Crystal Palace in 2005 as her dominance over women's pole vaulting became total, leading her to win a second IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in as many years. She won gold in every major event leading up to the next Olympics, continually raising the world record in both outdoor and indoor, making her an obvious favourite for the Beijing Games. Isinbayeva needed just two vaults to prolong her Olympic title reign, and she finished the competition with 5.05m, a world record at the time, her 24th world record.

After struggling in 2009 and 2010 she elected to take a break from athletics, and when she returned in 2011 she could only finish sixth at the World Championships in Daegu, but her excellent technique and impressive record make her a genuine contender in London.

Rafael Nadal

Full name: Rafael Nadal Parera

Sport: Tennis

Birth date: 03/06/1986

Competition history

Olympic Games

Beijing 2008 - Gold

Notable achievements

Grand Slam singles titles

Australian Open - 2009

French Open - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

Wimbledon - 2008, 2010

US Open - 2010

General info

Rafael Nadal is the reigning Olympic champion in the men's singles event, who has won 10 Grand Slam titles. The Spaniard has dedicated himself to the sport since the age of 12, when he won the Spanish and European tennis titles and decided to put tennis ahead of football. His uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player himself, introduced Rafa to the sport at the age of three and encouraged him to play left-handed for a natural advantage, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands. Nadal turned professional at the age of 15, beat Roger Federer at the first attempt two years later, and at 19 he won the French Open the first time he played it - a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years.

That was in 2005, and he went on to win the next three French Opens, but it was not until 2008 that he won his first Grand Slam on a surface other than clay. That year he beat Federer in one of the greatest Wimbledon finals of all time, winning the fifth set 9-7 after an epic match that was often disrupted by rain. After Wimbledon Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches, and went on to claim Olympic gold after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and Chile's Fernando González. That made him the first male player ranked in the top five to win the gold medal.

He has won a further four Grand Slams since then, including three in 2010, and has twice been ranked number one in the world (both of those periods were almost a year long).

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi

Full name: Mbulaeni Tongai Mulaudzi

Sport/Events/Disciplines: Track and Field, 800m

Birth date: 8 September 1980

Olympic History:

Silver 2004 Athens 800m

2008 Beijing 800m

Non-Olympic History:

World Championships

Gold 2009 Berlin 800 m

2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, England 1st 1:46.32

Personal Bests:

800 metres - 1:42.86 (2009)

1500 metres - 3:38.55 (2008)

General info

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi is an 800-metre specialist who became South Africa's first black athlete to be ranked number one in the world. His finest moment to date came in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, when he carried the South African flag in the opening ceremony before claiming a silver medal.

Born in Limpopo Province, Mulaudzi's first international accolade was a silver medal at the 2000 African Championships. He qualified for his first global final the following year, finishing sixth at the 2001 World Championships. In 2002 he became the Commonwealth Games champion with a time of 1:46.32 in Manchester, and he followed that performance with a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships.

Victory at the at the World Indoor Championships in 2004 was the perfect preparation for the Olympics, where his 1:44.61 was only bettered by Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy in the final. He won silver at the 2006 and 2008 World Indoor Championships, but suffered disappointment at the Beijing Games when he failed to make the final.

However he tasted glory again in 2009 when he qualified for his fourth consecutive World Athletics Championships final, and went on to be crowned world champion. Achilles and hamstring problems prevented him from defending his title in Daegu in 2011.

Olympics: August 10

All of the African athletes in action on Friday, August 10.

Angola:

Nelson Henriques - Canoe Sprint, Men's Canoe Single (C1) 200m Heats.

Cote d'Ivoire:

Ruth Gbagbi - Taekwondo, Women's -67kg Preliminary Round.

Egypt:

Seham Elsawalhy, Abdelrahman Ahmed - Taekwondo, Women's -67kg Preliminary Round and Men's -80kg Preliminary Round.

Mostafa Mansour - Canoe Sprint, Men's Kayak Single (K1) 200m Heats.

Yasmine Mohmed Rostom - Gymnastics - Rhythmic, Gymnastics - Individual All-Around Qualification Rotation 3.

Mazen Metwaly - Swimming, Men's 10km Marathon.

Ibrahim Farag Abdelhakim Mohamed - Wrestling, Men's 55kg Freestyle Qualifications.

Synchronised swimming, Women's Teams Final Free Routine.

Ethiopia:

Gelete Burka, Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar, Abeba Aregawi - Athletics, Women's 5000m Final.

Guinea-Bissau:

Augusto Midana - Wrestling, Men's 74kg Freestyle Qualifications.

Kenya:

Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot, Viola Jelagat Kibiwot, Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego, Hellen Onsando Obiri - Athletics, Women's 5000m Final.

Morocco:

Issam Chernoubi - Taekwondo, Men's -80kg Preliminary Round.

Namibia:

Naatele Sem Shilimela - Wrestling, Men's 55kg Freestyle 1/8 Finals.

Nigeria:

Athletics, Women's 4 x 400m Relay Round 1.

Senegal:

Ndiatte Gueye - Canoe Sprint, Men's Canoe Single (C1) 200m Heats.

South Africa:

Tiffany Kruger - Canoe Sprint, Women's Kayak Single (K1) 200m Heats.

Hercules Prinsloo - Swimming, Men's 10km Marathon.

Athletics, Men's 4 x 400m Relay Final.

Tunisia:

Mohamed Ali Mrabet - Canoe Sprint, Men's Kayak Single (K1) 200m Heats.

Khaled Houcine - Canoe Sprint, Men's Canoe Single (C1) 200m Heats.

Afef Ben Ismail - Canoe Sprint, Women's Kayak Single (K1) 200m Heats.

Oussama Mellouli - Swimming, Men's 10km Marathon.

Bilel Ouechtati - Wrestling, Men's 74kg Freestyle 1/8 Finals.

Felix runs sixth fastest 200m time

Allyson Felix blew away the rest of the field at the US Olympic trials in the 200m on Saturday night with a personal best of 21.69.

Felix's 200m time in Eugene, Oregon was the sixth fastest of all time and the fastest in 14 years, well clear of second-placed Carmelita Jeter, who had a time of 22.11, and Sanya Richards-Ross in third with a 22.22.

"I'm so happy to be on this team. It's been an emotional couple of weeks," said Felix, who is certainly London-bound, after the race.

With the 200m over, Felix will now focus on how to resolve the third-place tie that happened in the 100m when she tied with Jeneba Tarmoh.

The U.S. Track and Field was forced to create a policy in how to handle the dead heat.

"That's my teammate, Jeneba, and I love her, and we'll deal with it after this. We're going to discuss it and see what happens," Felix said.

Felix and Tarmoh have been given the option of a run-off or a coin flip. If either woman asks for a run-off, they will run on Sunday. Tarmoh said she hasn't discussed the options with Felix, her training partner.

"As of now, me and Allyson have not even talked about breaking the tie. We'll talk about that tonight or tomorrow," Tarmoh said.

World records at 2012 Olympics

ARCHERY

Republic of Korea's Im Dong-hyun, Kim Bubmin and Oh Jin-hyek win the men's team archery with a total score of 2,087. The score is a new world record, beating the previous best by 18 points.

ROWING

New Zealand Hamish Bond and Eric Murray set a new world record in the men's pair rowing on day one at the Olympics. The Kiwi duo's time of 6.08.50 shaved off six seconds of James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent previous mark.

SWIMMING:

The USA's Dana Vollmer won the Olympic Games 100m Butterfly title in a new world record of 55.98.

South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh took gold in the men's 100m breaststroke in a world record time of 58.46 seconds.

WEIGHTLIFTING:

Kim Un Guk of the DPR Korea takes gold in the men's 62kg Weightlifting competition with a total of 327kg.

Kazakhstan's Zulfiya Chinshanlo won weightlifting gold in the women's 53kg category with a world record 131kg in the clean and jerk.

Olympic history

While the origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery, the most popular myth identifies Heracles, the son of Zeus, as being responsible for calling the Games 'Olympics', and for establishing the custom of holding them every four years. However the first recorded Games took place in 776 BC, and saw a naked runner, Coroebus, become the first Olympic champion in history.

The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events. After an initial period of success, the Olympics declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece, until they were eventually abolished in 393 AD by the Roman emperor Theodosius I because of their pagan influence.

Greek interest in reviving the Games flared up in the early 1800s, but it was the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin who was responsible for creating the global event that we know today. Coubertin was interested in the way that "organised sport can create moral and social strength", and was inspired to set up the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The first Games held under the auspices of the IOC was hosted in the Panathenaic stadium in Athens in 1896, and had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The 1900 Games were held in Paris and saw the inclusion of women for the first time.

The Olympics grew in popularity over the following decade, but would be suspended during the first and second World Wars. Prior to World War II, Jesse Owens, a black American, won four gold medals in track and field at the 1936 Games in front of Adolf Hitler in Berlin, creating one of the most iconic images in Olympics history.

After World War II, Sir Ludwig Guttmann began organising a 'Parallel' Games as he tried to promote the rehabilitation of soldiers. This would officially be recognised as the Paralympics from the 1960 Games in Rome.

The 1970s saw the Olympics become used as a political tool. The 1972 Games in Munich became a tragedy when Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Olympic team members from Israel, and four years later about 30 African nations boycotted the Games in protest against a New Zealand rugby tour of apartheid South Africa. To protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, more than 60 countries, led by the United States, withdrew from the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. The Soviet Union then withdrew from the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The centennial Olympic Games opened in Atlanta, Georgia, with more than 10,000 athletes from a record 197 nations in attendance. The cycle of the Modern Games would be completed eight years later when the Olympics returned to Athens for the 28th Olympiad.