MUHAMMAD ALI

Name: Muhammad Ali

Country: United States

Date of birth: 1942-01-17

Birthplace: Louisville

Height: 188 cm

Weight: 100.0 kg

Categories: light-heavyweight (-81 kg), heavyweight

Olympic Games (1 medal: 1 gold)

Call him arrogant, confident, or simply talented — but Cassius Clay’s achievements can never be forgotten. “I am the greatest,” he often proclaimed, earning him one of many nicknames, the “Louisville lip”.

Realistically though, Clay, the son of a slave to the American ambassador in Russia, was never far from the truth, winning the 1960 Olympic heavyweight gold medal before turning pro and dominating the heavyweight division during two separate eras.

His self-styled attitude was cultivated from an early age and is known worldwide — both in and outside the ring. Since his bike was stolen as a child, Clay displayed his instinct when reporting a theft at the local police station: “When I find the guy who stole my bike I’m going to crush him,” he said.

MATT BIONDI

Name: Matt Biondi

Country: United States

Date of birth: 1965-10-08

Birthplace: Moraga

Height: 201 cm

Weight: 91.0 kg

Discipline: Freestyle, Butterfly

Olympic Games (11 medals - 8 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)

The Californian Matt Biondi arrived at the Seoul Olympic Games with great expectations sitting upon his broad shoulders as the first man to swim the 100m in under 49 seconds (48.95), he looked a decent bet to equal Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals from the Munich Games.

Biondi did win seven medals in the South Korean capital —however not all were gold.

Added to his five gold, he won silver in the 100m butterfly, beaten by one hundredth of a second by Surinam’s Anthony Nesty, and a bronze in the 200m freestyle.

Born in 1965, Biondi’s childhood was spent shared between studies and leisure pursuits — including playing football, the piano, singing in the University choir - reserving what little time was left for the odd game of basketball.

SERGEY BUBKA

Name: Sergey Bubka

Country: Ukraine

Date of birth: 1963-12-04

Birthplace: Vorochilograd (USSR)

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 82.0 kg

Discipline: pole vault

Olympic Games (1 medal: gold)

Sergei Bubka was the undisputed master of the pole vault over a 14—year period when the Ukrainian produced a unique run of results breaking 35 world records, winning an Olympic title and completing 44 jumps at 6m or more. After the world championship was created in 1983 he won it six times in a row.

The only disappointments for the brilliant Ukrainian came at the Olympic Games, where he collected just one gold, this at the Seoul tournament in 1988. Both in Barcelona in 1992 and four years later at Atlanta his poor form and niggling injuries ruined his chances and he took an early exit on both occasions.

The “Tsar”, as he was known, recorded a world record 6.14m leap at altitude in Sestrieres (Italy) on July 31, 1994, crowning a glorious period of pole vaulting of the highest calibre. In ten years of competition (1984-94) the Ukrainian had added a whopping 29 centimetres to the previous world best set by France’s Thierry Vigneron.

LINFORD CHRISTIE

Name: Linford Christie

Country: Great Britain

Date of birth: 1960-04-02

Birthplace: Saint-Andrew (Jamaica)

Height: 189 cm

Weight: 94.0 kg

Discipline: 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay

Olympic Games (3 medals - 1 gold, 2 silver)

Although Linford Christie confounded the critics to take the 100m Olympic title at Barcelona at the age of 32, a doping scandal spoiled the latter part of his career. His early attempts to wrest the sprint initiative away from the powerful US sprinting dynasty were constantly thwarted.

Born in Jamaica, Christie joined the prestigious Thames Valley Harriers athletics club in London and hard training and competition experience eventually paid off.

By his late twenties he had become the fastest man in Europe. The might of the Americans, however, cast a long shadow over Christie’s British and European exploits.

A positive test for the banned stimulant ephedrine which Christie put down to Ginseng tea at the Seoul Games in 1988 was the first hint of controversy, and although he was cleared of any wrongdoing the damage had been done.

STEVEN REDGRAVE

Name: Steven Redgrave

Country: Great Britain

Date of birth: 1962-03-23

Birthplace: Marlow

Height: 193 cm

Weight: 103.0 kg

Discipline: Coxless pairs, Coxed pairs, Coxless fours, Coxed fours

Olympic Games (6 medals - 5 gold, 1 bronze)

Great Britain’s now legendary rower Steve Redgrave pushed his ageing body through more gruelling punishment at the Sydney Olympics as he won his fifth gold medal at consecutive Games — a feat never before achieved in endurance events. After previous victories from Los Angeles (1984) to Sydney 2000, he finally retired from the sport in 2000, and was given a knighthood for his remarkable achievements.

Shy at school, by the time he had exploded onto the Olympic scene in Los Angeles, Redgrave had good reason to hold his head high — winning gold in the coxed four-oar event.

Three other consecutive Olympic golds were later won in the Coxless pairs event, with Andrew Holmes (1988) and Matthew Pinsent (1992 and 1996).

RESULTS

FOOTBALL

Wednesday’s results — Women: Group E — Argentina 1 Canada 2 China 2 Sweden 1 Group F — Germany 0 Brazil 0 North Korea 1 Nigeria 0 Group G — Japan 2 New Zealand 2 Norway 2 US 0