Great Olympic performances

In 2008, Usain Bolt broke Johnson’s 200 meter Olympic record of 19.32 seconds by two hundredths of a second, then won the 100m dash and the 4x100 relay. (AFP Photo)

Arguably the highlight of the athletics championships at the London Games came from Kenyan runner David Rudisha, who won the 800m with a world record timing of 1:40.91. (Reuters Photo)

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, swimmer Michael Phelps walked away with an astounding six gold and two bronze medals. (AFP Photo)

During the 1996 Atlanta Games, Michael Johnson became the first athlete to win the 200m and 400m gold medals. (AFP Photo)

Eight years on from his inspirational performance in LA, Lewis inspired the US relay team to gold in the 4x400m relay with a record time of 37.40 seconds, which took 16 years to beat. (AFP Photo)

When Imran Sherwani scored Great Britain's third goal to seal gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it was the country's first gold in 80 years. (Getty Images)

American diver Greg Louganis - having won two golds in 1984 and one silver in 1976 - overcame a blow to the head at Seoul 1988 to clinch gold in the three meter springboard competition. (Getty Images)

At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Carl Lewis pulled out all stops in finishing with four gold medals - easily winning the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump. (AFP Photo)

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, 14-year-old Romanian Nadia Comaneci became a global star and crowned a golden era for gymnastics. (AFP Photo)

Diagnosed with polio as a child, American Wilma Rudolph overcame the odds to win a bronze medal at 16 at the 1956 Melbourne Games before winning three gold medals at the Rome Olympics in 1960. (AFP Photo)

At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens, a 22-year-old African-American athlete, won an unprecedented four gold medals. (AFP Photo)

Eric Liddell's win in the 400m in the 1924 Paris Olympics inspired the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire. (Getty Images)

In 1900, Alvin Kraenzlein became the first Olympics competitor to win four gold medals at a single Games and his world record in the 220-yard hurdles was unbroken for more than 25 years. (Getty Images)