#7. Dara Torres

Olympics: 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008.

Event: Swimming.

Achievements: 4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze.

Success Mantra: It is never too late to realize your dreams.

With an Olympic career of astonishing 24 years, Torres had never given up because of her age. After sitting out of the 1996 and 2004 Olympics she came back as the oldest swimmer ever to find a place in the U.S. Olympic team in 2008. In Beijing, her age was 41 years.

#8. Jesse Owens

Olympics: 1936.

Event: Track and Field.

Achievements: 4 gold.

Success Mantra: Never underestimate the underdog.

Owens won four Olympic gold medals in 1936 surprising everyone but more than his feat it was the fact that he thrashed the intentions of Adolf Hitler to use these games to show the superiority of the Aryan race. Owens, son of an African-American sharecropper’s son from Alabama emerged as the top performer of the games.