World's Top 2008 Olympic Contenders

The following athletes were the world's top gold medal contenders going into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

1. Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt entered the 2008 Olympics as the new world record-holder at 100 meters. He left the Games with more records, and three gold medals.

2. Veronica Campbell-Brown

Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown hoped to defend her 200-meter Olympic title in Beijing. She succeeded.

3. Liu Xiang

China’s Liu Xiang hoped that home track advantage would help him win in Beijing, but he never got the chance, staggering off the track with a foot injury.

4. Dayron Robles

The highly anticipated battle between Robles and Liu Xiang didn't happen in Beijing, thanks to Liu's injury. But Robles' gold-medal performance was still impressive.

5. Pamela Jelimo

A change of events earlier in 2008 brought an amazing change to rising star Pamela Jelimo’s meteoric career. At 19, she raced to Olympic gold in Beijing.

6. Meseret Defar

In 2004, Meseret Defar was a surprise gold medalist at Athens. In Beijing, she had to settle for bronze in the 5000.

7. Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele faced star-studded fields in his second attempt to win Olympic gold medals in both the 5000 and 10,000 at Beijing.

8. Tirunesh Dibaba

The only runner, male or female, to win both the 5000 and 10,000 at the same World Championship meet, Tirunesh Dibaba added a pair of Olympic golds to her medals collection in 2008.

9. Haile Gebrselassie

After seeming to set his sights on the 2008 Olympic marathon – and setting a world marathon record along way, in 2007 – Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie reversed course and ran in the 10,000 meters at Beijing because he was concerned about the city's air pollution. 

10. Ezekiel Kemboi

The 2004 Olympic steeplechase champion hoped for a repeat in 2008, but had to be content when a different Kenyan runner earned the gold medal in Beijing.