Jesse Owens

The American sprinter may not stand out on his medal tally but there is a lot more to his achievement. Jesse Owens was on a record-breaking spree at the 1935 Big ten track meet shattering three world records in a gap of an hour, the milestone that has never been achieved to date and is famously known as the greatest 45 minutes in sports history.

Jesse Owens went on to win 4 Olympic gold medals at the track and field events held the very next year in Germany. His achievements still stand tall because of the politics that were clouded around the American sprinter and he played a crucial role in defying Adolf Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. Hence, to imagine what Jesse Owens has achieved, he is one of the greatest Olympians in the world.