Hicham El Guerrouj

Hicham El Guerrouj learned the hard way that championship racing is about position: he fell in the 1996 Olympic 1500 m final and was outkicked in 2000. He then won four consecutive world titles, set the 1500 m and mile world records that still stand, and at the 2004 Athens Olympics finally won the 1500 m and then the 5000 m, the first man since Paavo Nurmi in 1924 to do that double.