STAT LINE: 44 MIN, 26-41 FG, 1-2 3PT, 18-25 FT, 71 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST

Highlights of The Admiral’s 71-Point game:

The highest honor Owens received came a full ten years after his death. Congressman Louis Stokes from Cleveland lobbied tirelessly to earn Owens a Congressional Gold Medal. The award was finally given to Owens’s widow by President Bush in 1990. During the ceremony, President Bush called Owens “an Olympic hero and an American hero every day of his life.”

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Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, part of the 1992 ‘Dream Team’ at the Barcelona Olympics.

This celebration of the Games was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. The city was originally slated to host the 1944 event but that was cancelled due to World War II. The Cortina Games were unique in that all of the venues except one were within walking distance of each other.

Thirty-two nations—the largest number of participating Winter Olympic countries to that point—competed in the four disciplines and twenty-four events. The Soviet Union made its Winter Olympics debut and won more medals than any nation. Austrian Toni Sailer became the first person to sweep all three alpine skiing events in a single Olympics. The figure skating competition was held outdoors for the last time at these Games. Logistically, the only problem encountered was a lack of snow at the alpine skiing events. To remedy this, the Italian army transported large amounts of snow to ensure the courses were adequately covered.

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1956 Winter Olympics:

1 — Soviet Union: 7 Gold, 3 Silver, 6 Bronze = 16 Total
2 — Austria: 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze = 11 Total
3 — Finland: 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze = 7 Total
4 — Switzerland: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze = 6 Total
5 — Sweden: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze = 10 Total
6 — United States: 2 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze = 7 Total
7 — Norway: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze = 4 Total
8 — Italy: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 0 Bronze = 3 Total
9 — Germany: 1 Gold, 0 Silver, 1 Bronze = 2 Total
10 — Canada: 0 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze = 3 Total

Dubbed by many as the ‘Leap of the Century’ Beamon’s long jump remained the world record for 22 years, 316 days until it was broken in 1991 by Mike Powell. This is the second longest holding of this record, as Jesse Owens held the record for 25 years, 1935-1960.

video of the jump

Before Muhammad Ali, there was an 18 year old named Cassius Clay (178 lbs) that entered the Light Heavyweight division of the 1960 Rome Olympics. Clay went 5-0 on his way to winning gold.

He received a first round bye, and then went on to win his next fight due to a referee stoppage in the 2nd round. He would then finish off his last three fights with convincing unanimous decisions.

The gold medal fight was against Poland’s Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, who was making a return trip to the Olympics after winning bronze in Melbourne 1956.

Cassius Clay vs Zbigniew Pietrzykowsky: 1960 Olympics Video

Phelps left the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece with six gold and two bronze medals. His eight total medals tied him with Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin for the most medals ever won by a competitor at a single Olympic Games.

Since then, Phelps has become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. In Beijing in 2008, he broke Spitz’s record by winning eight gold medals. After his performance in London in 2012, he now has 22 medals, including 18 gold medals.

Can you say, bling bling!

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)