Janet Evans didn’t seem at first like she had a promising future as a distance freestyle swimmer. She is shorter than most of her competitors, and her build wasn’t typical; slight, seemingly less powerful. But even as a teenager she was known to have set age-group records, beating older, taller opponents.
She was known for her unconventional swimming style. Her windmill stroke allowed her to win four Olympic gold medals. Two at the 1988 Olympics, and another pair in 1992. After retiring from her athletic career, she’s become a motivational speaker. She’s married to Bill Wilson, and they have two children together.
Shaun White
If rhythm plays a vital role in becoming a world-class athlete, Shaun White should be a source of his own material as a musician, and it should push him to always be at his best as a professional snowboarder and skateboarder. As an Olympian, Shaun White has won three gold medals; holding the most number by a snowboarder.
He’s won ten Espy Awards and has earned more gold medals in the X-Games than any competitor. Shaun White plays the guitar for Bad Things, an electronic rock band. He also makes appearances in television and films such as Friends with Benefits.
Birgit Fischer
At the age of 18, Birgit Fischer became the youngest Olympic champion kayaker. She competed for twenty years, and throughout this span, she has won eight Olympic gold medals. She participated in eight Olympic games and represented East Germany in several World Championships.
Fischer initially retired after the 1988 and 2000 Olympic Games, but her love for the sport and competition would overcome her decisions on both occasions. She became the oldest Olympian canoeing champion at the age of 42. She displays her works of photography through the Art of the Olympians organization.
Dick Fosbury
It wasn’t enough for Dick Fosbury to learn the basics and a few tricks like a high jumper at the age of 16. The traditional method was too hard for him to master, where a jumper had to cross the bar facing down, called the straddle method. So he experimented with his own, and this would be commonly practiced today, called the Fosbury Flop- running in a curve, rotating the body once over the bar, leaping backward, and landing on one’s shoulders and neck.
He set the high jump record and won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics with his revolutionized style. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993 and became the Blaine County commissioner.
Larisa Latynina
Larisa Latynina has devoted most of her strength and vigor to whittling her skills in gymnastics. Most of her life has been about keeping composure, balancing, and keeping equilibrium while tumbling up in the air. She has won 14 gold medals in the individual all-around, plus four team medals, a medal tally that made her the record holder for most Olympic gold medals for decades until Michael Phelps superseded her.
Even after she retired as a competitor, she dedicated her time coaching young gymnasts of the Soviet Union, guiding them through 1968, 1972, and the 1976 Olympic Games. She retired shortly after her last Olympics in 1977 and retired in Semenovskoye, Russia.