America Flips for Shawn Johnson
The gymnast was the first Summer Olympics athlete to win Dancing With the Stars.
Kerri Strug Vaults Into Stardom
Sure, she helped the U.S. women's gymnastic team secure the gold in 1996, but being carried to the podium by coach Béla Károlyi ensured that she'd be carried all over the place for months, as she was in this SportsCenter commercial.
Dan O'Brien Shows Off His Discus Muscles
Dan vs. Dave may have flopped, but Versace was perfectly happy to bring the studly athlete aboard after his 1996 decathlon win.
The Thwack Heard Round the World
What else do you remember from the 1994 Winter Olympics besides Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding? Or better yet, what did the tabloids, Saturday Night Live and late-night monologists remember? Somehow Lifetime missed making a biopic, but the 1994 Law & Order episode "Doubles" combined aspects of the Monica Seles stabbing with the rivalry-fueled attack on Kerrigan. The Lillehammer silver medalist quietly retired, but Harding continued to haunt us with a sex tape and celebrity boxing.
Michael Johnson's Golden Glow
The American sprinter flew down the track with the greatest of ease—thanks, Nike would have us believe, to his shiny shoes.
Eddie Tolan Sprints to Vaudeville
Nicknamed "the Midnight Express," the Denver-born track star won gold in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes in 1932 before joining forces with tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson—who, fittingly, was also a world record holder in the arcane art of running backwards—in vaudeville.
Blowing Smoke
Now here's something you don't see anymore—Olympic speed-skaters stumping for cigarettes, as two-time gold medalist Irving Warren Jaffee did for Camels in 1934.
Bob Mathias Goes from The Troubleshooters to Troubleshooter
The decathlon winner in 1948 and 1952 moved on to acting in B-movies and then entered politics, serving four two-year terms on behalf of California in the U.S. House of Representatives.
License to Run, but Not to Be in Spartacus
Rafer Johnson had to turn down pal Kurt Douglas' offer to be in the Oscar-winning film in 1960 so as to keep his amateur status ahead of the Olympics—but at least the eventual License to Kill actor won the decathlon in Rome!
Wilma Rudolph's Made-for-TV Story
Having survived a number of childhood ailments, including a bout with polio that required her to wear a brace on her left foot for years, the Tennessee-born sprinter was dubbed "the Tornado" after winning three gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. A guy named Denzel Washington played her husband in the 1977 TV movie Wilma, starring Shirley Jo Finney as the onetime fastest woman in the world.
Dan vs. Dave vs. Dang It!
Reebok seemingly had a fine idea, building a massive campaign around U.S. decathlon hopefuls Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson ahead of the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona. Too bad Johnson only won a bronze and O'Brien didn't even make the podium.
Ryan Lochte Flexes His High-Fashion Muscles
Michael Phelps' potential foil in the pool in 2012 isn't just a pretty face—though Vogue probably wasn't too concerned about what else he was when they sandwiched him between fellow Olympic champs Hope Solo and Serena Williams. (For the record, however, he has three gold medals earned in Athens and Beijing.)