Great Olympians

Biographies - BI

Bia - Bid - Big - Bik - Bil - Bin - Bio - Bir

Sergio Bianchetto

B. 1939-02-16, Torre (Padova), Italy
Cycling (2 gold)
1960 1964 HP
Tandem gold gold 16000
Sprint silver 6000
22000

Twice world sprint champion, in 1961 and 1962.

Raoul Bideau

Olympic Competitor nr 624

Mary Bignal

competed in 1964 as

Mary Rand

B 1940-02-10, Great Britain
Track and Field (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
1960 1964 HP
80 m Hurdles fourth - 2400
4 x 100 m final bronze 800
Long Jump 9th gold 9840
Pentathlon silver 6000
19040

She was unlucky at Roma. She missed the bronze medal at the hurdles by 0.1 sec, her team lost the baton in the 4x100 m, in the long jump she jumped 6.33 in qualifying (which would have won silver) but only 6.01 in the final (good for ninth place) - and there was no pentathlon competition yet. At Tokyo, she would make amends.
She would later marry William Toomey, Olympic Decathlon champion at Mexico City. They divorced in 1992 and she re-married again.

Émile Billard

Olympic Competitor nr 1198

John A. Biller

B. 1879-11-14, USA; D;1960-02
Track and Field (1 silver, 1 bronze)
1904 1908 HP
Standing High Jump fourth silver 6300
Standing Long Jump bronze fourth 4680
Discus Throw fifth 1125
12105

(162 HP)

Yuriy Bilonog

B. 1974-03-09, Belopol'ye, Ukraine
Athletics - Shot Put (1 gold)
2000 2004 2008 HP
Shot Put fifth gold sixth 15075
15075

The shot put in 2004 was held at the ancient site of Olympia. Bilonog had two throws of 21.15m before his sixth attempt. Adam Nelson had just one valid throw, of 21.16m. In his sixth throw, Bilonog put 21.16m, so he took the gold medal because of his better second throw.

Abebe Bikila

B. 1932-08-07, Mout, Ethiopia; D. 1973-10-25
Track and Field (2 gold)
1960 1964 1968 HP
Marathon gold gold dnf 19200
19200

In Roma, he astonished the world by winning the Marathon on bare feet, becoming the first black african gold medallist. In Tokyo, no longer bare-footed, he became the first man to win a second Olympic Marathon. This performance came only 35 days after having his appendix removed. (the feat would be copied by Waldemar Cierpinsky)
He competed also at Mexico, but dropped out of the race after 17 km.
In Roma, he made his final push near the oblisk of Axum, an artifact the Italians had plundered from Ethiopia.
In Tokyo, they played the Japanese national anthem is his honour, because the band did not know the Ethiopian one.
A member of Emperor Haile Selassie's bodyguard, he became partially paralised in a motoring accident in 1969 and subsequently took part as an archer in the Paraplegic Games.
He was born on the exact day of the Los Angeles Olympic Marathon.

Edwin "Teddy" Billington

B. 1882-07-14, USA; D. 1966-08
Cycling (1 silver, 3 bronze)
1904 HP
1/4 mile bronze 1920
1/3 mile bronze 1920
1/2 mile silver 3000
1 mile bronze 1920
2 miles fourth 1200
5 miles competed 200
25 miles 8th 192
10352

Léon Binoche

Olympic Competitor nr 1653

Matt Biondi

B. 1965-10-06, USA
Swimming (8 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
1984 1988 1992 HP
50 m Free-style - gold silver 10400
100 m Free-style - gold fifth 7400
200 m Free-style - bronze - 2560
100 m Butterfly - silver - 4000
4 x 100 m Free-style Relay gold gold gold 9600
4 x 200 m Free-style Relay - gold - 1600
4 x 100 m Medley Relay - gold gold
(qual.)		 1664
37224

World Champion at 100 m  free-style in 1986 and '91. His eighth gold medal (his eleventh in total) was given to him by being allowed to swim the final leg in the heats of the 4x100 m Medley in 1992. He did not swim in the final.

Arthur Birkett

Olympic Competitor nr 1415

Biros Peter

Hungary
Waterpolo (3 gold)
2000 2004 2008 HP
Waterpolo gold gold gold 19200
19200

Winner of the Waterpolo at Sydney, Athina and Beijing

Henry Birtles

Olympic Competitor nr 1679

last modified 2002-10-27

This page is part of the site "Full Olympians" by Herman De Wael. See here for a full Introduction.