Six sensational Olympians through the yearsPublished28 July 2016Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Abebe Bikila did in 1960 what no-one else ever has - he won the Olympic marathon in Rome, barefoot! He couldn't find any trainers that fit him. He broke away from the rest of the athletes at Rome's Obelisk of Axum, which was originally from his country of Ethiopia. He won by 200 metres.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, American sprinter Jesse Owens was is an Olympic hero ... He won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games, making him one the best remembered athletes in Olympic history. What made his win so much more important was that he won in Berlin during a time when Germany was under Nazi rule.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The queen of the 1976 Olympic Games, gymnast Nadia Comaneci, was awarded the first perfect 10. She achieved the perfect score on the uneven bars but she didn't stop there! She went on to record the perfect 10 six more times, becoming the youngest all-around Olympic gold medallist.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Cathy Freeman from Australia delivered to intense home pressure at the 2000 Sydney Games. She won the 400m final whilst wearing this now famous running suit! Cathy became the first Aboriginal athlete to win gold in athletics.Image source, Tom PenningtonImage caption, Michael Phelps is currently the most decorated Olympian - he's got a massive 22 medals, 18 of them gold. He started swimming at the age of seven to give him an outlet for his energy. When he was 15, he went to the 2000 Olympics, becoming the youngest swimmer to make the US national team in nearly 70 years.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The Bolt that is Usain is currently the most decorated sprinter of all time. The Jamaican athlete made history at the 2008 Olympics when he won three golds and set three world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.More on this storyRio Olympics 2016: In numbersPublished27 July 2016Athletes to watch out for at Rio 2016Published5 August 2016Olympic and Paralympic Games' mascotsPublished18 September 2019