Stripped of his Olympic titles and not named sole champion until 2022, Jim Thorpe is one of 20 athletes, past and present, whom the AW team believes are too often overlooked.

Jim Thorpe

The first native American to win Olympic gold for the United States, he finished on the top of the podium in the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Games in Stockholm. However, he was stripped of his titles due to having played two seasons of semi-professional baseball before the Games, breaking the amateurism rules of the time. In 1983, the IOC restored his medals posthumously, acknowledging the challenge to his wins was filed well past the official 30-day deadline. Initially listed as a co-champion, in 2022 Thorpe was officially named as the sole winner. 

Dorothy Hyman

For a time, the Briton was the world’s best female sprinter. In 1963 she went unbeaten and topped the world list at 100m with two legal marks of 11.3, equalling the European record. At  200m she broke the European record with 23.2. Neither time was bettered by a British athlete for ten years. At the 1960 Olympics she won 100m silver and 200m bronze and, in 1962, was European 100m champion and Commonwealth champion over 100 and 220 yards.

Ken Matthews

Britain’s Olympic 20km race walking champion, who broke the Games record on his way to victory in 1:29:34 in 1964, was the only one of his nation’s four gold medallists not to be awarded an MBE soon after the event. The 1962 European champion belatedly received the honour in 1977.

Wyomia Tyus

Very few people have won two successive 100m Olympic titles. Just six, in fact. Carl Lewis did it, as did Gail Devers, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson-Herah. All are household names but the first to do it, Wyomia Tyus, was not given the same acclaim. Having won Olympic 100m gold in 1964, she did so again in 1968. She set a world record 11.08 at the Games in Mexico City, running in dark shorts instead of the team-issued white to show her support for human rights. She also won 4x100m relay gold.

Meg Ritchie

The two-time Olympic finalist (ninth in 1980 and fifth in 1984) was the Commonwealth discus champion in 1982 and her personal best of 67.48m has stood as the British record since 1981.

Joyce Smith

A pioneering runner, the Briton broke the 3000m world record in 1971 and also won the International Cross Country title in 1972 – the year before it became the World Cross Country Championships – as well as competing in the 1500m at the Munich Olympics. But her biggest successes came in the marathon. She was the first British woman in history to break the 2:30 barrier, winning the first London marathon in 2:29:57 in 1981. She improved that time to 2:29:43 in winning again the following year. 

Smith also won the first two Tokyo international women’s marathons and competed in the first ever women’s Olympic marathon, in 1984, at the age of 46, finishing 11th.

Kathy Cook

Considering she gathered 15 medals from major championships, at a time when doping was rife across her events, this most versatile of British sprinters arguably does not always get the credit she deserves. Her national records from 100m, 200, 300m and 400m were all long-standing and, while she was never an individual champion on the world stage (she won 400m Olympic bronze in 1984 and 200m world bronze in 1983), was a true force to be reckoned with.

Shirley Strong

So many of the British team from the 1984 Olympics remain in the public consciousness but the 100m hurdles silver medallist from LA is often overlooked. As Commonwealth silver medallist in 1978, she upgraded that to gold in 1982 before then reaching the Olympic podium two years later. 

Dave Lewis

The Briton is best remembered for his indoor 3000m battles with Seb Coe during the winter of 1986 that ended in a 1-1 draw. Their first clash came at the UK Championships at Cosford when Lewis, who had established himself as Britain’s No.1 cross country runner, out-kicked the Olympic 1500m champion. Coe would have his revenge six weeks later. Lewis competed in seven World Cross events in total and eventually moved to the marathon, running 2:13:49 in New York.

Tony Jarrett

A Commonwealth champion whose run of 13.00 in 1993 still stands as the English 110m hurdles record and who possesses a raft of major medals. However, many more of them would have been gold but for the fact that his career coincided with that of Colin Jackson. 

Frankie Fredericks

The Namibian was a permanent fixture in global sprint finals and did win the world 200m title both indoors and out, but he was runner-up at three world championships and also possesses four Olympics silver medals from Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.

Kirani James

The owner of gold, silver and bronze 400m medals at the Olympics and world championships was, at one stage, the reigning champion in both (in 2011 and 2012) and also won Commonwealth gold in 2014. At the age of 34, the Grenadian was still competing this year but, as ever, quietly going about his impressive business.

Christophe Lemaitre

The Frenchman was the first white athlete to officially break the 10-second barrier for 100m. He completed the European 100m/200m sprint double in 2010 and could also boast individual 200m bronze medals from both the Olympics (2016) and world championships (2011). 

Matthew Centrowitz

The American’s landmark performance came in winning 1500m gold at the Rio Olympics – the first American man to do so since 1908 – yet it is often dismissed by critics due it coming after a slow, tactical battle rather than a speedy shoot out. A man of strong opinions, he was also the world indoor champion in 2016, as well as winning world silver in 2013 and bronze in 2019. Though he was never personally implicated in any wrongdoing or failed tests, he was also part of the now defunct Nike Oregon Project, led by disgraced coach Alberto Salazaar. Centrowitz left the group in 2018. 

Marcin Lewandowski

The closest the four-time Olympian came to a global title was a 1500m silver medal at the 2018 world indoor championships, and bronze at the outdoor world championships in 2019. But he was a major contender across 800m and 1500m, winning European gold at the shorter distance in 2010. He also has European indoor titles in both events. 

Sandra Elkasević (née Perković)

The most decorated female discus in history is a two-time Olympic champion, two-time world champion and seven-time European champion. Her first European gold came in 2010 and she was still on the top step of the continental podium in 2024. 

Miltiadis Tentoglou

The Greek has won every long jump honour available to him, yet still he is a driving force in the event. Two Olympic gold medals, one world title outdoors, two outdoors and a total of seven European golds (three indoors, four outdoors) are in his trophy cabinet and just this year he equalled the national record with 8.66m.

Anita Wlodarczyk

Her world record is now over 10 years old, she has won three Olympic gold medals, four world titles and is four-time European champion. The Pole is widely considered to be the greatest women’s hammer thrower of all-time yet is one of those field eventers who would have been lauded even more if their achievements had come in another discipline.

Sam Kendricks

The American looked to be taking a firm hold of the men’s pole vault and seemed to be the natural successor to Renaud Lavillenie, winning world titles in 2017 and 2019. That was until a certain Mondo Duplantis turned up. Yet still, at the age of 34, he is to be found competing for his event’s biggest honours. 

Klaudia Kazimierska

The Pole has had a breakthrough year and, though her biggest achievements didn’t come until the second half of the summer, have been received with minimal fanfare. She finished second behind Georgia Hunter Bell at the European Championships but turned the tables in the Diamond League final and also the Ultimate Championship.

Over to you

Who is your most underrated athlete of all-time? Let us know your thoughts at [email protected]