The history of the Olympics is rich in important events, in sorrow and joy, in memorable moments but also in tragedies, Here are the 10 starting marks that have remained in history,

1896 Athens Olympics - Marathon run

Historians mention that about 25 athletes participated in the 1896 Olympic Marathon run, All Greek winners of the Panhellenic Games participated in the run as well as a skinny man, named Spyros Louis, with a handlebar mustache, Runners were separated into four rows with a 1.5 meter distance between rows and at 2 p.m. the starting gun signaled the beginning of the run which introduced Spyros Louis to the Pantheon of heroes,

1936 Berlin Olympics - 100 m. run

Jesse Owens or Jason Cleveland Owens, to be precise, was the man who demolished the theory about the superiority of the Arian race, He won the first of a total of four gold medals in those Games in the final of the 100 m. run, timed at 10.3 seconds, A black man left the "superior" white athletes trailing behind and shattered Hitler's theory,

1948 London Olympics - 10,000 m. run

In the legendary Wembley Stadium, everything was ready for the start of the 10,000 m. run. At the starting line were the favorites, Heino, the Finn holder of the world record, and his compatriot Heistrom. Among the rest, Emil Zatopec, an unknown Czech. From the starting shot, Zatopec, was running open-mouthed, shaking his head right and left and moved his arms as if he did not feel them.

1948 London Olympics – 4x100 m. run

When Fanny Blankers Coon participated in the 1936 Olympics for the first time, she was 6th in the high jump. Since then, eight years passed the Dutch athlete got married and had two children, leading everybody to believe that her career as an athlete was over, In London by the moment her turn came to run in the final 4x100 m. run, she had already won three gold medals (l00, 200, 80 m. hurdles). She was the final runner for the Netherlands, and when she took the baton she managed to pass two competing athletes to win her fourth gold medal in those games. Ever since she became known as the "flying housewife".

1960 Rome Olympics - Marathon run

None of the athletes at the marathon run's start line could believe their eyes when they saw Abebe Bikila preparing to run barefoot. 2 hours, 15.16:2 later, the Ethiopian had completely turned this around by being the first to cross the finishing line inside the Olympic Stadium, breaking the world record without even wearing shoes.

1970 Mexico Olympics - 100 m. run

Jimmy Heinz, at the age of 22 went to Mexico to represent the USA in the final 100 m. run. He was one of the favorites and taking advantage of the high altitude, Heinz became the first electronically clocked athlete to break the 10-second barrier. His world record (9.95) was to remain untouched for the next 15 years.

1988 Seoul Olympics - 100 m. run

Right before the start, everybody's eyes were on two athletes: Canadian Ben Johnson, with impressive performance in the preliminaries and Carl Lewis. The odds were divided. Until the gun-shot nobody would have believed the Canadian's easy victory. It took him 9.79 to cross the finishing-line and of course a new world record. A few days later! the news hit the whole world like a bombshell: Ben Johnson had not passed the anti-doping test, and the gold medal went to Carl Lewis with a time of 9.92.

1988 Seoul Olympics - 200 m. run

Many might question Florence Griffith Joyner's performances' especially after her early death, but her 200 m. world record in the Seoul Olympics has gone down in history. From the very start, it was obvious she was running with no opponent, and the clocks went crazy at 21.34, an unbelievable record unlikely to ever be broken.

1996 Atlanta Olympics - 100 m. run

In one of the best 100 m. finals ever, Canadian Donovan Bailey finished first at 9.84, breaking the world record held for two years by American Leroy Barelle. The race, however, was breathtaking and it was not by chance that the two other athletes that stepped onto the pedestal had also achieved times under 9.90, with Franky Fredericks second (9.89) and Ato Bolton third (9.90).

1996 Atlanta Olympics - 200 m. run

Michael Johnson, in the Atlanta final shot off like an arrow in his different style to cross the finishing line first with a time of 19.32: A world record very difficult, to break no matter how hard Frariky Fredericks (19.68 second best athlete of all times) and Ato Bolton (19.80) tried.

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