30 Olympic athletes who dominated their events

4. Paavo Nurmi

Hailing from a modest working-class background in Finland, Paavo Nurmi never looked the part of an Olympic champion. He enjoyed long-distance running as a teenager and dreamt of one day competing on an international level, but no one could have imagined just how successful and dominant he would one day become.

Nurmi made his debut at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games, where he won a silver medal in the 5000 meter race and three gold medals in the 10,000 meter, individual cross country, and team cross country competitions. Three years later, he became the first runner in history to hold the world record in the mile, 5000 meter, and 10,000 meter races all at the same time – a feat that has never been accomplished since.

The “Flying Finn” owned the 1924 Paris Games, taking home gold in all five of his categories and setting a number of new world records along the way. He added an additional three Olympic medals to his chest at the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam (one gold, two silver) before retiring from running in 1934.

All things considered, Nurmi left the sport with 12 Olympic medals, nine of them gold, and a long list of world records that took decades for anyone to break. He famously often ran with a stopwatch in his hand, as in the image above, so he could keep track of his pace and hold himself accountable to his own impossibly-high standards.

Nurmi could have been considered the greatest runner of all time – at least until the fleet-footed Jamaican in the next slide came onto the scene and revolutionized the sport forever.

Next: 3. Usain Bolt