New Delhi: Thousands descend on the Olympics every four years chasing their sporting life’s dream, but only a small minority head back home, emotions ranging from thrilled, happy to satisfied reflected on the colour of the medal. For the others, it can be an adventure or heartbreak in keeping with their goal and expectations.

Towering above this sizeable group are those rare champions who have been serial Olympic champions – Michael Phelps has won an Olympic record haul of 23 gold across four Olympics from 2004 to 2016 to be crowned the greatest Olympic athlete -- returning to the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza again and again to stand on the top podium. These biggest icons of modern Olympics are the gold standard to even remember every Games by, even their eventual fall or farewell moments in its history.

Hungarian sabre fencer Aron Szilagyi is the latest great Olympian whose ceaseless winning run came to a halt at the Paris Games. His gold medals at 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2021 Tokyo had made him the only male fencer to become a three-time champion. His ambition to become the only fencer to win a fourth gold ended in the first round at the hands of unfancied Canadian Fares Arfa.

“I’m in a bit of shock right now, so I’m no even disappointed or angry at myself yet,” Szilagyi said soon after the loss. “It happened so fast, and I’ve never thought that my individual competition here in Paris would be so short.”

This screeching halt to a run of 15 wins in an esoteric sport may not grab headlines, but the aftershocks of some other end-of-reign losses in the Olympics did, although more to cherish the awe-inspiring careers.

Some ‘Bear’ run

Aleksandr Karelin, considered the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler who represented Soviet Union and Russia, is among the biggest names. The man dubbed the ‘Russian Bear’ and ‘Russian King Kong’ won gold in the top weight division of 130kg at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Games.

Reigning in one of the most demanding athletics pursuits from 1986 to 2000, Karelin accumulated a mind-boggling 887 wins, and only two defeats, and the first at international level is among the most spoken off Olympic moments.

The man who never lost a world championships bout, had gone unbeaten for 13 years, and six years without as much as conceding a point to his opponent, faced off against American Rulon Gardner in the gold medal match at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Gardner’s 1-0 upset of the ‘Bear’ is regarded as one of the great upsets in sports history with the point awarded to the US wrestler also debated. It also sent Karelin into retirement and politics.

The ring master

Cuban heavyweight boxer Teofilo Stevenson was seen as an embodiment of the amateur spirit that Olympics upheld till the last two decades of the previous century as well as a shining example of the Fidel Castro era.

Stevenson won heavyweight gold at 1972 Munich, 1976 Montreal and 1980 Moscow, becoming the first to win three titles in one weight division. The flag-bearer of the golden age of Cuban amateur boxing is only one of three boxers to achieve the triple success – Hungary’s Laszlo Papp and fellow Cuban Felix Savon are the others. He also has the distinction as one of only two to win three amateur world titles.

The golden rower

Briton Steve Redgrave is the most successful male rower in Olympic history. He won five consecutive gold medals, at 1984 Los Angeles, 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney. Two of the victories were in the coxless fours event and the other three in coxless pairs.

His gold medal in the coxless pairs with Matthew Pinset at Atlanta had relief and ecstacy etched on it – it was Britain’s only gold at the Games. After that exertion, Redgrave said: “If anybody sees me go anywhere near a boat, they have my permission to shoot me.”

No one could fault him though when he returned four years later in Sydney at 38 and signed off, this time for good, with a fifth gold.

Athletics has produced a huge share of serial champions. Al Oerter, the American discus throw legend, won gold at four Olympics – 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico. Heading into the Tokyo Games, Oerter, grappling with a neck problem, tore cartilage in the ribcage too. No problem – he won with an Olympic record and then said: “These are the Olympics. You die for them.”

While Carl Lewis went unbeaten in an Olympic long jump competition, winning four successive titles – 1984 to 1996 – Finland’s Lasse Viren, like Mo Farah later, won the 5,000m-10,000m double in two successive Olympics.

In team competitions, India’s six consecutive hockey gold – from 1928 to 1956 – and eight in all (besides a silver and 3 bronze medals) stand out. The South Korean women’s archery team though are on a level of their own – they clinched a 10th gold medal in a row on Sunday.

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