Watch the final of the 200m breaststroke in Helsinki and you cannot fail to notice something remarkable. Not the high quality of the competition, nor the tactical brilliance of Australia’s John Davies. What stands out most is that none of the swimmers are actually doing breaststroke.

For much of Helsinki 1952, middle-distance runner Josy Barthel remained firmly under the radar. His initial successes had come in the military world championships of 1947 and 1948, and he had placed ninth in the 1,500m at the previous Olympic Games in London. So he was hardly a household name.

There are those who are born to their sports, appearing destined for greatness from a young age. For others the road to the top is more circuitous. And then there are those, like the Soviet shotputter Galina Zybina, whose success seems completely astonishing.

The USA’s Mal Whitfield had won the 800m title at London 1948. However, since then, his life had taken a dramatic turn away from sport, as he enlisted to fight in the Korean War.

Controversially added to the team at the last minute, Jesse Owens lined up for the 4x100m relay with a chance to add an incredible fourth gold medal to his collection. Under typically difficult circumstances, what followed was just as typically extraordinary.

After a long and fraught process punctuated by calls for a full boycott, Jesse Owens joined 65 other USA track and field athletes on the boat to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games. Blessed by the ability to focus on what he did best, Owens lined up for his first event, the 100m. What followed was nine days of incomparable Olympic sport.