picture by ibtimes.com
Racing Against History
By KEVIN QUEALY and GRAHAM ROBERTS – NY Times
Based on the athletes’ average speeds, if every Olympic medalist ever raced each other, France’s Alain Bernard (from the 2008 Games) would win, with a wide distribution of Olympians behind him, including Wednesday’s winner, Nathan Adrian. Below, where each swimmer would be when Bernard finishes his race.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/01/sports/olympics/racing-against-history.html
Notable winners of the 100-meter freestyle
Hungarian Olympic CommitteeAlfréd Hajós
Hungary
Hungary’s first Olympic gold medalist, Hajós swam in 55-degree open water, in the Bay of Zea outside Piraeus, Greece. He also won the 1,200-meter swim.
| 1896, Athens | 1:22.2 | OR |
I.O.C.Johnny Weissmuller
United States
The first swimmer to break a minute in the Olympics. Later went on to play Tarzan in “Tarzan the Ape Man,” which made him internationally famous.
| 1924, Paris | 59.0 | OR |
| 1928, Amsterdam | 58.6 | OR |
Associated PressMark Spitz
United States
Won seven gold medals in the 1972 Games in Munich; nearly withdrew from the 100-meter event because he wasn’t sure if he would win. (He did, setting a world record.)
| 1968, Mexico City | 53.0 | |
| 1972, Munich | 51.22 | WR |
Lyndon Mechielsen/Associated PressAlexander Popov
Russia
One of only three athletes with three medals in this event; the first person in 68 years to win back-to-back golds after Weismuller did it in 1928.
| 1992, Barcelona | 49.02 | |
| 1996, Atlanta | 48.74 | |
| 2000, Sydney | 48.69 |
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