Each month, the European Olympic Academies selects an important, inspiring figure who embodies the Olympic values. Find our past portraits below and on Facebook.
At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Maier suffered a near fatal crash in which he partially landed on his head. Despite the dramatic nature of the crash, Maier made an incredible return to competition just three days later and won 2 gold medals at the Nagano games…
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During an illustrious career for over two decades, Mentel-Spee won three Paralympic gold medals and 5 World Championship gold medals in para snowboarding events. The Dutch athlete had been due to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games before undergoing a leg amputation to treat bone cancer in 2001…
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Emil Zátopek is widely recognised as one of the greatest runners in Olympic history. He is best known for winning three gold medals at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 and for pioneering gruelling interval training methods…
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The Soviet Ukrainian Maria Gorokhovskaya represented the first USSR gymnastics team to ever compete at the Olympics and also became the first female athlete to be awarded 7 medals at a single Olympics at Helsinki in 1952…
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Sebastian Coe is one of the most decorated and acclaimed athletes in Olympic history. The British middle-distance runner won four Olympic medals, including back-to-back 1,500m gold in Moscow and LA in the 1980s, plus two Olympic silver medals…
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