It has been said that the Olympics are about many things: teamwork, determination, courage, but one thing cannot be denied: at the center of it all is competition and rivalry. Even from the same team, there are rivals. In the end, each athlete only seeks one thing: to be the best.
And when the best matches the best, sparks are likely to fly and the world will watch with bated breath.
Here, we’ve compiled five of the biggest Olympic rivalries the world has ever seen.
1. Allyson Felix (United States) vs. Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica), 200 meters. The Felix-Campbell-Brown rivalry is one of the most celebrated rivalries in women’s athletics, and at the London 2012 Olympics we will be delighted to see it again.
Felix, of course, is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and a three-time world champion. Campbell-Brown, on the other hand, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a two-time world runner-up behind Felix.
At the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, these two women won all the gold medals in the 200-meter events. The way they will play against each other and everyone else this year will certainly be something worth watching.
2. Usain Bolt (Jamaica) vs. Tyson Gay (United States), 100 meters. Usain Bolt holds the world records for 100 meters and 200 meters. Tyson Gay is the only person to beat Bolt in a final since Bolt set his current records.
Bolt claims his 2011 loss to Gay was due to a back injury. He says Gay deserved that win, but is confident in this year.
Will Bolt get his crown back from Gay or will Gay claim ownership? We will soon know.
3. Seb Coe (Great Britain) vs. Steve Ovett (Great Britain), middle distance race. Great rivalries have certainly been made and seen in the field of racing, but none of them have been as well known and celebrated as the one between Seb Coe and fellow Brit Steve Ovett.
The two met for the first time on the track in 1978. It was a race won by German Olaf Beyer. Ovett was in second place and Coe in third.
At the 1980 Olympics, they finally went head-to-head, with the world mile record exchanging hands between the two three times in a span of ten days.
A poignant account of their rivalry has been documented in a book, The Perfect Distance, by Pat Butcher. The BBC is also making a film on the same subject.
4. Michael Phelps (United States) vs. Ryan Lochte (United States), swimming. Here’s another contender for the greatest rivalries in Olympic history and interestingly enough, it’s again between two men from the same team, this time it’s Team USA.
Michael Phelps is the only person in world history to have won eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games, earning him the title of “Greatest Swimmer of All Time.”
Ryan Lochte is the person who, in 2009, broke Phelps’ record in the 200 meters and broke it again in 2011.
So at the London 2012 Olympics, we will see a competition between the best swimmer in the world and the man who has beaten him in recent years. Interesting? We think so.
5. Anna Meares (Australia) vs. Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain), track cycling. They are the fastest female track cyclists in the world, and their battle is far from new, or friendly. It started about five years ago when, as Pendleton recounts, Meares deliberately hit her in a race. The Briton never forgave the Australian, sparking a rivalry whose antipathy extended beyond the track.
In a newspaper interview, Pendleton called Meares “a very strong and determined cyclist” but added: “I am fairer, better.”
He is the hometown hero against his greatest enemy. It should be an exciting showdown.
