WHO WILL ever forget “Super Saturday” – August 4, 2012 – when Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah triumphed in London’s Olympic Stadium? Could Saturday August 13 this year prove equally successful? Hopefully, all three will be fit and healthy that day to defend their titles – and to add to the expectation and excitement for British fans there is also the prospect of Katarina Johnson-Thompson being Ennis-Hill’s closest rival for the heptathlon gold medal.
On your marks: less than 10% of Olympic title defences have been successful
It’s a pretty rare occurrence for an athlete to win back-to-back Olympic titles. Out of 612 individual events (373 for men, 239 for women) contested between 1948 and 2012 there have been only 58 successful defences; that’s less than 10%.
The number at each Games has varied between one (1968-1972 and 2000-2004) and seven (2008-2012), the overall average is between three and four per Games.
BACK-TO-BACK OLYMPIC WINNERS
1948-1952: 800m: Mal Whitfield USA; 10,000m: Emil Zatopek TCH; Dec: Bob Mathias USA; 10,000m walk: John Mikaelsson SWE
1952-1956: PV: Bob Richards USA; TJ: A F da Silva BRA; SP: Parry O’Brien USA; Women’s 80mH: Shirley de la Hunty AUS
1956-1960: 110mH: Lee Calhoun USA; 400mH: Glenn Davis USA; DT: Al Oerter USA