Entering the 10,000m competition at the 1964 Olympics, American Billy Mills was an unknown. In fact, in the two weeks prior to the race, not one reporter had even asked him a question. All that would change with a single race.

 

On the final lap, world record holder Ron Clarke of Australia held a small lead over Mills and Mohamed Gammoudi of Tunisia. When Mills made his first charge, Clark gave a shove to the American allowing Gammoudi to slip through. Then in the final stretch Mills let loose a sprint that moved him to first and sent the crowd into a frenzy. His winning time was a remarkable 46 seconds faster than his previous best.