30 Olympic athletes who dominated their events

3. Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt is the physical embodiment of dominance. When your last name is “Bolt,” it stands to reason you should probably be able to move pretty fast. Thankfully for Usain and for his home nation of Jamaica, he has lived up to his surname – and then some.

Labelled the fastest person of all time (with records and statistics to prove it), Usain Bolt is the first man told both the 100 meter and 200 meter sprint world records at the same time. He also owns the world record for the 4 x 100 meter relay race.

Simply put, Bolt doesn’t know how to lose. He won gold medals in all three of his events at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, then won golds in those same three categories at the 2012 London Summer Games, despite being four years older of course. He is also an 11-time World Champion and remains the runaway leader in a number of short-distance records, many of which might never be broken.

In 2012, the Associated Press commented that Bolt had “almost single-handedly… helped track transform itself from a dying sport to one with a singular, smiling, worldwide star.” Besides becoming the highest paid track and field athlete of all time, Bolt has also been dubbed the world’s most marketable athlete. And it’s all a result of his superhuman speed and unparalleled Olympic accomplishments.

Next: 2. Larisa Latynina