Top 100 greatest Great Britain Olympians
SUNSPORT’S DAVE BROMAGE takes you through our all-time top 100 British Olympians.
1. STEVE REDGRAVE — Britain’s No 1 Olympian has to be Sir Steve, who took gold in FIVE straight Games from 1984 to 2000 — in the coxed four, the coxless four and three in the coxless pairs.
2. MATTHEW PINSENT — Bagged four rowing gold medals from 1992 to 2004. The first three of those were as one half of the legendary coxless pair with Steve Redgrave but proved he could do it without his famous partner when he took coxless-four gold in Athens.
3. DALEY THOMPSON — Decathlon king Daley took gold in both 1980 and 1984, both with consummate ease.
4. CHRIS HOY — Won golds in Beijing in the keirin, team and individual sprints to add to the 1km time trial he won in Athens in 2004.
5. KELLY HOLMES — Considered by many to be over the hill at 34, made history with the 800m and 1500m double in Athens in 2004.
6. BEN AINSLIE — Picked up a silver in 1996 and gold in 2000 in Laser class. Then became Finn class champ in 2004 and 2008. He was selected on 11 August 2012 to carry the flag for the Great Britain team at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony.
7. BECKY ADLINGTON — The swimming sensation had a lot to live up to in 2012 after winning 400m and 800m freestyle titles in Beijing.
8. JACK BERESFORD — Rower Beresford won medals at five straight Olympics, including gold in Berlin in 1936 when he and double sculls partner
Dick Southwood beat the much-vaunted Germans in front of Adolf Hitler.
9. HENRY TAYLOR — At London in 1908, Taylor took gold in the 400m, the 4x200m and 1500m.
10. SEBASTIAN COE — Beaten into second by rival Steve Ovett in the 800m, his speciality, in 1980. But he hit back to take 1500m gold. Four years later in LA he again took 800m silver and 1500m gold.
11. ALBERT HILL — Beat the British record to win 800m at Antwerp in 1920. Two days later, he cruised to 1500m gold and a silver in 3,000m team
event.
12. TESSA SANDERSON — Javelin legend represented Britain at SIX Olympics. Was the first British black woman to win gold in 1984.
13. MARY RAND — Broke world record to take gold with a leap of 6.76m in 1964. Also picked up a pentathlon silver and sprint relay bronze.
14. REBECCA ROMERO — Claimed individual cycling pursuit gold in ’08, four years after silver with the quadruple sculls rowing team.
15. PAULO RADMILOVIC — Won four golds over 22 years in water polo and swimming from 1908 to 1920.
16. BRADLEY WIGGINS — Earned bronze in the cycling team pursuit in 2000. Four years later, he won gold, silver and bronze in the pursuit, team
pursuit and madison. Retained individual and team pursuit titles.
17. DOUGLAS LOWE — Took gold in the 800m in 1924 and 1928, setting British records each time.
18. ANN PACKER — Packer was second in her favoured 400m at the Tokyo Games in 1964. But she then cancelled a shopping trip to run an
international 800m for the first time and still won gold.
19. DENISE LEWIS — A strong second day in the heptathlon saw her come from third to first at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
20. SALLY GUNNELL — The only way was winning for Essex girl Gunnell as she powered to 400m hurdles gold in Barcelona in 1992.
21. STEVE OVETT — His middle-distance rivalry with Sebastian Coe peaked at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Ovett (far left) started as hot favourite in the 1500m, while Coe was tipped for 800m glory. Instead, Ovett won the 800m, and had to settle for bronze over his favoured distance.
22. HARRY MALLIN — Boxer who kept amateur status throughout his career won middleweight gold in 1920 at Antwerp then retained his title in 1924.
23. LINFORD CHRISTIE — The legendary lunchbox (above) took 100m gold at Barcelona 1992 at the positively ancient age of 32.
24. DAVID HEMERY — David Coleman got so excited by Hemry’s win in the 400m hurdles in Mexico in 1968 that he blurted out: “Who cares who’s third? It doesn’t matter!” That was a shame for GB team-mate John Sherwood, who got the bronze.
25. LUCY MORTON — First British woman to win Olympic swimming gold, in the 200m breaststroke in 1924.
26. ERIC LIDDELL — In 1924, devout Christian Liddell dropped his best event, the 100m, because heats were on a Sunday. He switched to 400m and won in world-record time.
27. HAROLD ABRAHAMS — Immortalised in Chariots of Fire, Abrahams took a shock gold in the 100m in 1924.
28. CHRIS FINNEGAN — Brickie Finnegan took a few big hits on his way to middleweight boxing gold in 1968, including a knockdown by Tanzanian Titus Simba in the first round.
29. REGGIE DOHERTY — Won three Olympic tennis titles — the men’s and mixed doubles at Paris in 1900, and the men’s doubles at London in 1908. He suffered from breathing problems and died in 1910 aged just 38.
30. KATHERINE GRAINGER — The highest person on this list never to win Olympic gold – but that could all change in London. Rower has three silver medals and there are few people more deserving of an Olympic title.
31. DAVID WILKIE — Swimmer Wilkie swept aside claims that he was workshy when he stormed to gold at Montreal in 1976, breaking the world
record in the 200m breaststroke.
32. JONATHAN EDWARDS — Went into the 1996 Games in Atlanta as favourite for the triple jump but was pipped into second by American Kenny Harrison. Four years later, he won gold.
33. STEPH COOK — Put her medical career on hold to win gold in the women’s modern pentathlon in Sydney in 2000.
34. ANITA LONSBROUGH — Aged 19, she broke the world record as she won the 200m breaststroke in 1960. No other British woman won Olympic swimming gold until Rebecca Adlington 48 years later.
35. DON THOMPSON — Race walker who trained in his parents’ steam-filled bathroom. He put his dizziness down to the heat before realising it was carbon monoxide from a paraffin stove. Nicknamed “Little Mouse” by the Italians at the 1960 Rome Games, the 5ft 5in waddler won the 50km race by 17 seconds.
36. MALCOLM COOPER — Only marksman to retain the gold medal in the 50m rifle event, winning in 1984 and 1988.
37. DOROTHY TYLER-ODAM — High-jumper won silver in 1936 in Berlin and again at the 1948 London Games, the only woman to win Olympic athletics medals either side of World War II.
38. IMRAN SHERWANI — Newsagent Sherwani wrote himself into Olympic folklore when he scored two goals in Great Britain’s 3-1 win over Germany in the 1988 hockey final. His clincher prompted commentator Barry Davies to yell: “Where were the Germans? And frankly, who cares?”
39. JAMES De GALE — London boxer DeGale won middleweight gold in Beijing. Nicknamed Chunky, the southpaw beat Cuban Emilio Corra 16-14 in the final.
40. JUDY GRINHAM — Norman Grinham spent the first six years of his daughter’s life fighting in the Second World War, then decided to bond with young Judy by taking her swimming. Smart move. In 1956, Judy, 17, upset the odds by winning gold in the 100m backstroke in Melbourne in a world-record time.
41. RODNEY PATTISSON — Yachtsman Pattisson took gold at both the 1968 and 1972 Games in the Flying Dutchman class. He nearly made it three in 1976 but was pipped into second.
42. CHRISTINE OHURUOGU — the Londoner became Britain’s first female 400m Olympic champion four years ago.
43. ANDY HOLMES — The gutsy rower was part of the coxed fours with Steve Redgrave which won in Los Angeles in 1984. Then he and Redgrave took Seoul by storm to win coxless pairs gold.The duo split and Holmes, who also took coxed-pairs bronze in 1988, retired. He died of Weil’s disease in 2010, aged just 51.
44. HUGH EDWARDS — He won double gold in the coxless pairs and fours in 1932 — despite collapsing during the 1926 Boat Race with a serious heart condition. His skills served him well in the Second World War when he had to
row four miles through a minefield after his plane crashed into the Atlantic.
45. SHIRLEY ROBERTSON — The first British woman to win gold at consecutive Olympics, the sailor cruised to victory in the Europe class in
Sydney, then added more bling by teaming up with the Blondes in the Boat.
46. JOHN JARVIS — Swimming in the Seine in the Paris Games of 1900, the Leicester painter and decorator won the 1,000m freestyle by an astonishing 73 seconds and the 4,000m by more than 10.5 minutes.
47. LAUNCESTON ELLIOT — Our first Olympic champion was a weightlifter. At Athens 1896, Scot Elliot was pipped to gold in the two-handed event because, despite matching Viggo Jensen in lifting 111.5kg, judge Prince
George ruled that the Dane had done so in better style. The 21-year-old Elliot took immediate revenge by winning the one-handed lift by raising
71kg.
48. CHRIS BOARDMAN — The man who kicked off Britain’s golden age of cycling, Boardman monstered Jens Lehmann in the final of the 1992 4km pursuit. He decided not to defend his title in Atlanta but picked up bronze in the 52km time trial instead
49. TERRY SPINKS — Aged just 18, former jockey Spinks took gold in the
flyweight division in Melbourne back in 1956.
50. (see 51) SARAH AYTON & SARAH WEBB — They repeated the feat four years later in Beijing this time with Pippa Wilson.
51. SARAH AYTON & SARAH WEBB — The Blondes in the Boat had the nation wondering how exactly you pronounced the word ‘Yngling’ in 2004 when, along with Shirley Robertson, they took gold in Athens.
52. GEORGE LARNER — Pulled off double-gold at Paris 1908. He led a GB clean sweep in the 10 mile walk, with Ernest Webb in second and Edward Spencer third. Then Larner saw off Webb again in the 3,500m.
53. (See 54) GREG & JOHNNY SEARLE — Four years later, they added a coxless fours bronze.
54. GREG & JOHNNY SEARLE — In the 1992 coxed pairs, the legendary Abbagnale brothers of Italy looked to be cruising to their third straight
Olympic crown. But the brothers stormed home in the final 25 strokes.
55. VICTORIA PENDLETON — Powered to cycling sprint gold in Beijing four years ago.
56. LESLIE LAW — Horseman Law succeeded where Stark failed and picked up equestrian gold in Athens 2004, albeit after a lengthy appeals process. When the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that original winner Bettina Hoy of Germany should have incurred a 12-point penalty.
57. IAN STARK — The Scottish equestrian rider can boast FOUR silver medals but no gold.
58. STANLEY SHOVELLER — Won hockey gold in London 1908 and again 12 years later in Antwerp.
59. CHARLES SIDNEY-SMITH — Keeper of the England water polo team which won three gold medals in 1908, 1912 and 1920.
60. FATIMA WHITBREAD — The fact the javelin ace made it to the Games is a remarkable story. She grew up in children’s homes and was abused by her mother. But her life turned around when she was adopted by Margaret Whitbread and Olympic bronze and silver medals followed in LA and Seoul.
61. ADRIAN MOORHOUSE — A hot tip for breaststroke gold in Los Angeles in 1984, the swimmer could manage only fourth, leaving him gutted.
After the Games, he said: “I was just devastated. I convinced myself that I had no talent and I was never going to win again.”
But luckily, he did not dwell on that and, at Seoul in 1988, he claimed gold in the 100m breaststroke.
62. RICHARD McTAGGART — The Dundee fighter claimed lightweight gold in 1956 and bronze in 1960. Also picked up the Val Barker Trophy in ’56, as the Games’ outstanding boxer.
63. LYNN DAVIES — Lynn ‘The Leap’ took long jump gold in 1964 in Tokyo. The Welshman also competed in the 100m and 4x100m relay. Was flagbearer for Great Britain four years later in Mexico City.
64. CHARLOTTE COOPER — A five-time Wimbledon champ who won the tennis singles and mixed doubles at the 1900 Paris Olympics, whilst wearing an ankle-length dress.
65. STEVE WILLIAMS — Won the men’s coxless four gold at Athens in 2004 and was back in Beijing with Peter Reed, Andrew Triggs Hodge and Tom James to retain the title.
66. DUNCAN GOODHEW — The swimmer won the 100m breaststroke and bronze in the 4x100m medley relay in 1980.
67. SIDNEY SWANN — Cyclist Mark Cavendish may change things this year but, as yet, Swann is the only person from the Isle of Man to get an Olympic gold. He won in the men’s eight in 1912 and then took silver in 1920.
68. MAX WOOSNAM — His 1920 Olympic tennis gold and silver were just two of his achievements. Also won the Wimbledon doubles, scored a snooker 147, hit a century at Lord’s and captained both Manchester City and England at football.
69. CHRIS BRASHER — In 1954, Brasher was pacemaker as Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile. Two years later, he took gold in the 3,000m steeplechase.
70. QUEENIE NEWALL — Sybil ‘Queenie’ Newall was 53 when she triumphed at London 1908 in the archery and remains the oldest woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal.
71. NICOLE COOKE — Welsh cyclist Cooke kicked off Team GB’s gold rush in Beijing when she took first place in the women’s road race.
72. AUDLEY HARRISON — The super-heavyweight won gold in Sydney 12 years ago by beating Kazakhstan star Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov in the final.
73. TIM BRABANTS — Sprint kayaker and doctor has a gold and two bronzes in his three Olympics — and is after yet another medal at London 2012.
74. STEVE BACKLEY — Only GB track-and-field star to win medals at three separate Games, with javelin bronze in 1992 and silver in 1996 and 2000 — behind rival Jan Zelesny each time.
75. AMIR KHAN — GB’s youngest Olympic boxing medallist, winning silver in Athens 2004, aged 17. The lightweight lost to Mario Kindelan in the final but, in his last amateur fight, he avenged this defeat.
76. SHARRON DAVIES — Shazza became a household name in 1976 when, still only 13, she swam at the Montreal Games.
Four years later in Moscow she bagged silver in the 400m medley behind East German drug cheat Petra Schneider.
77. LAURIE DOHERTY — Despite suffering breathing problems, Little Do won the Wimbledon singles title five times. Also took Olympic gold medals in 1900 in both the singles and doubles.
78. SEAN KERLY — A prolific hockey forward, Kerly sealed bronze for GB with the winner against Australia in Los Angeles 1984. He proved to be the Aussies’ nemesis again four years later when he netted a hat-trick in the Seoul semi as GB headed for gold.
79. NEIL ADAMS — Picked up two judo silver medals in 1980 and 1984. The Japanese nicknamed him Happo Bigin, meaning ‘everyone’s friend’.
80. RICHARD MEADE — The first Brit to win individual equestrianism gold, Meade triumphed in 1972 on Laurieston. He also won team gold in the three-day eventing in both 1968 and 1972.
81. FREDERICK HUMPHREYS — A veteran of three Olympics, spanning 12 years because of the First World War. The policeman won two golds and a silver as part of the tug-of-war team. Humphreys also made the quarter-finals of the Greco-Roman wrestling in 1908.
82. JOHN COOPER — Double silver in 1964 in Tokyo in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay. He was killed aged 33 in a Turkish Airlines crash near Paris in 1974.
83. DARREN CAMPBELL — Pipped into second by Greek Konstandinos Kenderis in the 200m at Sydney 2000. Eventually claimed gold in Athens four years later as part of the 4x100m relay team.
84. JASON QUEALLY — Took up cycling aged 25, five years later was Olympic champ in 2000.
85. GAIL EMMS — Blonde added touch of glamour to the British Olympic scene when she partnered Nathan Robertson to badminton silver in Athens in 2004.
86. GILLIAN SHEEN — In 1956 in Melbourne, she became the first and still only Brit to take fencing gold. Won in the foil competition.
87. JACK HATFIELD — Swimmer trained in River Tees, often watched by thousands. In Stockholm 1912, he broke world records in the 400m and 1500m freestyle but was pipped to gold by Canada’s GR Hodgson. Also won relay bronze.
88. CHARLES BENNETT — Britain’s first track and field champion with 1500m gold in 1900. His achievements were largely forgotten for a century until his grandson discovered his grave in Dorset.
89. JOHN PIUS BOLAND — When Irish Nationalist MP Boland visited friend Thrasyvoulos Manos in Athens in 1896, he was not expecting to take part. Manos entered him into the tennis and Boland won, beating Egypt’s Dionysios Kasdaglis. He won the doubles with German Friedrich Traun, too.
90. ALLAN WELLS — Scottish sprinter took advantage of a US boycott to snatch gold in the 100m in Moscow in 1980. Ran the same time, a Brit record 10.25sec, as pre-race favourite Silvio Leonard but pipped the Cuban in a photo finish. In the 200m, Wells just missed out on gold by 0.02sec to
Pietro Mennea. Wells clocked a national record of 20.21sec.
91. KEN MATTHEWS — There was an outcry after his win in the 20km walk in 1964. Matthews was not awarded the MBE, unlike Britain’s other three gold medallists in Tokyo. Justice was finally done in 1978.
92. JOHN GRETTON — Yachtsman Gretton is the only serving MP to win gold. The Honourable Member for Derbyshire South was triumphant in 0.5-1 tonne class and Open class.
93. JASON KENNY — Won gold in the men’s sprint final in Beijing, aged 20, alongside Chris Hoy and Jamie Staff. Then was pipped to gold by Hoy in the individual sprint.
94. TOM THORNYCROFT — In 1908, the Olympics had two motorboat competitions and Isaac Thomas Thornycroft won both.
95. BILL HOSKYNS — One of only two Brits to go to SIX Olympics. Fencer competed between 1956 and 1976 in sabre, foil and epee. After team epee silver in 1960, he was back in ’64 to grab individual silver.
96. DOROTHY HYMAN — Yorkshire lass won silver in the 100m, before bronze in the 200m at Rome 1960. Four years later, she won relay bronze.
97. JACK LONDON — Sprinter won 100m silver in Amsterdam in 1928 and added bronze in the 100m relay.
98. TED RANKEN — The first time London held the Games, in 1908, Thomas
‘Ted’ Ranken grabbed THREE silvers in the shooting events.
99. WALTER TYSALL — First British man to win individual gymnastics medal. In gymnastic heptathlon of 1908, he bagged 312 points for silver.
100. DEREK REDMOND — The record books claim Derek ‘did not finish’ his 400m semi-final in 1992. But, having snapped a hamstring 250m from the end, his brave hop home, aided by dad Jim, had even the toughest of blokes sniffling.