High among top improbable feats in track and field, up near the border of impossible, is a combination of gold medals many elite sprinters wouldn’t dare attempt. On the surface, it sounds simple. Win gold in the 100 meters. Then win gold in the 200 meters.
And yet, only nine men have completed The Double in the history of the Olympics. More than half won completed their double by 1936—and eight of nine did so before by the turn of this century. Usain Bolt doubled at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. (On the women’s side, seven competitors in Olympic history have completed doubles. Only one female sprinter has doubled this century—Elaine Thompson-Herah, who did it twice in 2012 and ‘16.
