Jesse Owens
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Considering the Olympics' global appeal and ancient tradition, it's difficult to imagine how, exactly, the games could take on even more significance. In 1936, the world's eyes turned to Germany—a country bursting with Nazism and on the precipice of playing a central role in World War II—as the Olympic games began in Berlin. With Adolf Hitler espousing the superiority of the Aryan race, Jesse Owens completely and utterly obliterated that notion over the course of just one week; the American runner won gold medals in the 100- and 200- meter dashes, the long jump, and as a member of the 4×100 relay team, doing his country proud and making the führer look like a complete fool.
Ray Ewry
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You know what disease you don’t hear much about anymore? Polio. That's mostly because the first effective vaccine was developed in 1952, and has been widely available ever since. But it wasn't always that way, and Ray Ewry (born in 1873) spent most of his childhood in a wheelchair because of the disease. Instead of becoming paralyzed for life, however, he went in the other direction; he overcame the disease and, between 1900 and 1908, won eight gold medals in track and field. Ewry's eight Olympic golds in individual events was a record that stood for over 100 years.
1980 U.S. Men's Ice Hockey
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Ah, the Miracle on Ice. Somehow it just wouldn't be right to single out any one particular player from this true collective. A team made up entirely of collegiate and amateur players, USA met the highly favored USSR in the semifinals in a game widely expected to be a lopsided Soviet victory. However, with the crowd in Lake Placid firmly behind the swashbuckling, underdog Americans, the home side entered the third period trailing by just one goal. Two tallies in the first 10 minutes of the period gave the Americans a lead they would never relinquish, and as the final seconds ticked off the clock, Al Michaels delivered what remains to this day as perhaps the most iconic call in sports broadcasting history. Of course, there was still one more game to play to lock up the gold medal, and the U.S. coolly dispatched Finland 4-2 to bring home the title.
Michael Phelps
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Winning one gold medal is tough regardless of what sport you play. Getting more than one is almost unheard of. So how exactly do you make sense of Michael Phelps, who over the course of three Olympics has managed to win gold 18 times? There is, quite simply, no Olympian in history with even close to the same credentials as Phelps, who currently holds five world records in multiple swimming events. He owns the record for most gold medals (eight) in a single Olympics, as well as career Olympic medals (22). And he may not be done yet—Phelps has decided to come out of retirement and go for more at the 2016 games in Rio.
Carl Lewis
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It's hard to say which aspect of Carl Lewis' Olympic career is more impressive: his success (nine total gold medals), or his remarkable longevity (he won gold at four different Olympics). Either way, the legendary Lewis is perhaps the most decorated track and field athlete in American history, having set world records in the 100-meter dash, indoor long jump, and 4×100 and 4×200 relays. Incredibly, his final gold medal came at age 35, when he finished first in the long jump for the fourth consecutive Olympics. And while Lewis may not be the greatest singer of all-time, there's no denying his acumen on the track and love of competing for his country.
Jim Thorpe
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One could easily argue that, in the history of American sports, there has never been a more pure athlete than Jim Thorpe. Prior to winning two Olympic gold medals in 1912 for his standout performances in the pentathlon and decathlon, Thorpe was a two-time All-American in football as a running back, defensive back, placekicker, and punter. After his Olympic glory, Thorpe dabbled in Major League Baseball (.252 career average over 289 games), NFL football (he's in the Hall of Fame), and even a little basketball (he was part of a barnstorming team known as the “World Famous Indians”). Basically, there was no sport Thorpe couldn't completely dominate.
Florence Griffith-Joyner
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For female sprinters, there is no higher standard than Florence Griffith-Joyner. At the 1988 games in Seoul, “Flo-Jo” obliterated the world record in the 200-meter dash and easily won another gold in the 100, setting a standard for Olympic sprinting excellence that has yet to be surpassed. Her retirement in 1989 at age 29 stunned the track and field world, which was deprived of the chance to see Flo-Jo attempt to eclipse her own records.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
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When she wasn't playing a lead role on the UCLA women's basketball team, Jackie Joyner-Kersee quickly became an international star in track and field. Before she had even begun her senior year in college, she had won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 1984 Olympics; four years later, she followed that up with gold in the same event, as well as the long jump. Then, just for fun, she won another heptathlon gold in 1992. Joyner-Kersee totaled seven Olympic medals for her career and owns the top six all-time best results in the heptathlon (as well as the second-best ever long jump).
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
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The term “pioneer” is thrown around pretty loosely these days, but Babe Didrikson Zaharias really was a pioneer. In a time where societal roles for women were severely limited (to say the least), Babe was an absolutely transcendent athlete; not only did she win two gold medals and a silver at the 1932 Olympics, but she also won 41 events on the LPGA tour (including 10 majors). Her incredible success inspired multiple generations of female athletes and helped to redefine the way mainstream media covered women's athletics.
Mark Spitz
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While the accomplishments of Mark Spitz have been overshadowed (at least in part) by the success of Michael Phelps, there's one record of his that Phelps—and probably anyone else in history—can’t touch: seven world records in one Olympics. In 1972, Spitz's seven golds all came in world-record performances, and his mark of nine total Olympic gold medals has been surpassed only by Phelps. Perhaps sensing that he wouldn’t ever be able to top that 1972 performance, however, Spitz retired immediately following the games at the tender age of 22. Not a bad way to go out.
Greg Louganis
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While diving may not always get the hype that other sports do, the accomplishments of Greg Louganis are some of the most impressive in American Olympic history. He is the only male in the history of the games to win both events—the 3m springboard and 10m platform—in consecutive Olympics, which he successfully pulled off in 1984 and 1988. He was even a favorite in 1980, but the U.S. boycott prevented him from competing. Making Louganis' accomplishment even more impressive was the fact the he was diagnosed with HIV just six months before the 1988 Olympics and was suffering, at times, from debilitating side effects of AZT during the most critical part of his training.
Mary Lou Retton
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Inspired by Olympians she watched on TV while growing up, Mary Lou Retton quickly took to the sport and shot up the ranks of young American gymnasts. She reached the Olympics with the U.S. in 1984, and, despite battling a knee injury, became the first female gymnast from a non-Eastern European nation to win the all-around gold medal. She also won four additional medals at the same games (two silver and two bronze), propelling herself to national stardom and becoming the first female athlete ever to don the front of a Wheaties box.
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