Sprinter Evelyn Ashford is a five-time Olympian who became the first woman to run 100 meters in under 11 seconds and the oldest American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field in 1992.
1957-
Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake holds the world record for the 4-by-100-meter relay. In 2012, he won a silver medal in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races, losing to rival and fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt in both events.
1989-
Usain Bolt became the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100-meter and 200-meter races in world record times in 2008. Four years later, at the London Olympics, he became the first man to win gold medals in both the 100 and 200 at consecutive Olympic Games and the first man in history to set three world records in a single Olympic Games competition.
1986-
Veronica Campbell-Brown is the youngest Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal. At the 2012 Olympic Games, she became a six-time Olympic medalist.
1982-
Willie Davenport was an Olympic athlete and medal winner and one of only a few Americans to compete in both the Summer and Winter games.
1943-2002
American track athlete Gail Devers overcame Graves disease, a thyroid disorder, to win Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996.
1966-
At the Summer Games in London, Ashton Eaton—the youngest to member of the U.S. decathlon team that year, at age 24—took home the decathlon gold medal.
1988-
British track and field star Jessica Ennis won a gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
1986-
1947-
Barney Ewell was one of the leading sprinters of the 1940s, and won three medals at the 1948 Olympics.
1918-1996
Allyson Felix is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she won two gold medals, in the women's 200 and the 4-by-100-meter relay.
1985-
Sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the first Jamaican woman to win the 100-meter Olympic gold medal in 2008. She won her second straight 100-meter Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
1986-
Justin Gatlin sprinted to fame by setting a world record in the 100-meter race. Months later, he tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended. Gatlin is slated to make a comeback at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
1982-
Tyson Gay is a track and field athlete who specializes in sprinting. He placed fourth in the men's 100 at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, following a hamstring injury.
1982-
Quarterback Robert Griffin III won the 2011 Heisman Trophy before emerging as a dynamic playmaker for the NFL's Washington Redskins.
1990-
1942-2002
1976-
One of the most beloved athletes of the 1970s, track athlete Bruce Jenner won a gold medal and set a world record in the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Since then, he's appeared on the popular reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
1949-
1967-
Rafer Johnson is an American athlete who won a gold medal in the decathlon in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
1935-
Track star Lolo Jones has won both USA and World championships in hurdle events, and is a member of the 2012 Olympic team.
1982-
1975-
Olympic gold medalist Florence Joyner brought style to track and field with form-fitting bodysuits, six-inch fingernails and amazing speed. She still holds the world records in the 100- and 200-meter events.
1959-1998
One of the greatest athletes of all time, track and field star Jackie Joyner-Kersee has won three Olympic gold medals, as well as one silver and two bronze.
1962-
1940-
1961-
British runner Eric Lidell won a gold medal in the 1924 Olympic Games. The movie Chariots of Fire (1981) tells the story of his triumph.
1902-1945
Arthur Leslie Lydiard is a former marathon runner from from New Zealand and a coach of Olympic gold medalists. He popularized jogging in the 1960s.
1917-
1955-
American track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. His long jump world record stood for 25 years.
1913-1980
1945-
Oscar Pistorius, the "Blade Runner," is a South African sprint runner who became the first amputee to compete in the Olympics in 2012. In 2013, Pistorius admitted to shooting and killing his girlfriend, South African model Reeva Steenkamp.
1986-
Steve Prefontaine is best known as the runner who once held the U.S. record in every long-distance event. He died in a car crash in 1974 at age 24.
1951-1975
British athlete Paula Radcliffe is one of the elite runners competing today, having set and broken her own record in the women's marathon.
1973-
American track star Sanya Richards-Ross won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, as part of the U.S. 400-meter relay team, and went on to win gold in the women's 400 meters in 2012.
1985-
In 1960, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
1940-1994
African-American track and field star Tommie Smith broke both the Olympic and world records and won the 200-meter race in the 1968 Olympics.
1944-
Jim Thorpe was a Native American professional football and baseball player, known for his all-around athleticism. He was a gold-medal runner at the 1912 Olympics.
1888-1953
Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1914–1956) was named "Woman Athlete of the Half Century" in 1950 for her skills in basketball, track & field, and golf.
1911-1956