[Lee, Bong Ju]

Born in Cheonan, Chungnam, Lee Bong Joo first began running Marathons when he was in the 10th grade at Gwangcheon High School. However, he was not very outstanding until he graduated from high school.
In 1992 he broke the National record in Korea by running a Half Marathon in Tokyo in 1 hour 1 minute and 4 seconds, then in 1993, he won the Seoul International Half Marathon, recording 1 hour 5 minutes and 28 seconds. This is when Korea saw his potential.

Later, he completed a full Marathon at the National Championships in 2 hours 10 minutes and 27 seconds. When he won that Championship, he proved that he could do it even in the full course. Finally, Lee won the Fukuoka International Marathon in 1996 and the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998, bringing happiness and pride to the hearts of many Koreans.

Lee was not very successful in 1999 because he could not find a team. Nevertheless, he did not stop running and eventually achieved 2 hours 7 minutes and 20 seconds, which became the new National record in Korea, at the Tokyo International Marathon in 2000. He was the runner-up in this competition. In 2001, he won the 105th Boston Marathon. He was the second Korean winner in 51 years and brought dreams and hopes to Korea once again.

Everyone in Korea can confidently say that Lee Bong Joo is the Number 1 Marathoner in Korea.

[Hwang, Young Cho]

Hwang Young-Cho was born March 22, 1970 in Samcheok, South Korea. Hwang is one of the premier South Korean Marathon runners. His career in Marathon was sparked after his first win at the 1991 Summer Universiade.

Hwang Young-Cho is remembered for his Gold Medal Marathon victory at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Before the Olympic Games Hwang Young-Cho had only run three previous marathons where

he came in first place for two of them and second in the another. Starting the race in the lead Hwang along with approximately 30 other runners made it to the halfway point. After about 35km into the race the other marathoners began to fall behind with the exception of Koichi Morishita from Japan. These two fought tooth and nail for the entire length of the race, that was until Hwang broke free after 40km into the race and wining the Gold. After Barcelona the great marathoner was forced into early retirement after an injury sustained before the 1996 Olympic Games.

Hwang Young-Cho is to this day one of only two South Korean athletes to win the Marathon at the Olympic Games, the other man was Sohn Kee-Chung (1936 Berlin Olympic Games). There have been Korean Marathoners who have placed at the Olympic Games; such as Lee Bong-Ju who placed second at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and Nam Sung-Yong who won the Bronze at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.

[Yelena Isinbayeva]

Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) is by far the best Women's Pole Vault athletics star, setting the world record in women's pole vault. She is known as the second 'human bird' after Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), the world star in the Men's Pole Vault.

Yelena was initially trained as a gymnastics champion, but she changed her specialty to Pole Vault

when she became too tall. She improved every year and eventually dominated the world of Pole Vault.

Isinbayeva is the most legendary athlete in the history of Pole Vault. She has won major competitions, including the Olympic Games, IAAF World Championships (both indoor and outdoor), and the European Championships, eight times.

In 2009 Yelena Isinbayeva again broke her world record of 5.05m with an astounding jump of 5.06m at the Welttlasse Golden Leauge Meeting in Zurich, Switzerland.

At the Athletics World Indoor Championships, which was held in Donetsk, Ukraine last February, she recorded over 4.95m and broke the record for the Indoor Championships. Isinbayeva has broken 25 World Records.

Isinbayeva's secrets to world-dominating performance in the pole vault are her balanced build and extraordinary jumping capacity. She said, "I think I will achieve 5.15m next time," and is planning to keep competing in the World Championships until the Moscow event in 2013.

[Usain Bolt]

Usain Bolt born in Trelawny, Jamaica on August 21, 1986 and known as "Lightning' Bolt"by media, is the only person to set world records at the 100 meter, 200 meter, and the 4X100 meter relay.

Usain Bolts' talent was noticed early in high school while playing cricket. His coaches urged him to try out for track and field.

2003 showed Usain Bolts' true abilities with a 1st place win in the 200m and his 2nd place victories in the 4x100 and 4x400m relay at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston. 2003 again brought Bolt recognition when he won 1st in the 200m at the 2003 World Youth Championships held in Sherbrooke. In 2004 Bolt was recognized as a professional athlete, but missed his first two seasons because of injuries. During the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics held in Osaka, Japan Bolt again showed his power by winning silver in both the 200m and the 4x100 m relay.

As of 2008 Usain Bolt now holds the World Records for the 100m (9.58), the 200m (19.19) set at the 2009 Berlin IAAF World Championships in Athletics and the 4x100m relay (37.10) set at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

[Dayron Robles]

Dayron Robles, born November 19, 1986 in Guantanamo, Cuba, is one of the young front-runners in global athletics for the 110m Hurdle. Robles' career was set off in 2003 at the World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke where he earned 6th place.

After this event his career began to flourish. Ranking 2nd in the 2004 World Youth Championships, the 2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships, and the 2006 World Indoor Championships Robles became a force to be reckoned with. In 2007 Robles won 1st at the Pan American Games, 4th at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics-Osaka, and 1st in the IAAF World Athletics Final in the 110m Hurdles.

In 2008 Dayron Robles suffered a devastating loss at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia where he had stopped running because he thought that fellow competitor Liu Xiang had a false start, this caused him to loose the heat. Robles made up for this at the 2008 Golden Spike Meet where he won the 110m Hurdles along with a new World Record of 12.87. After this record breaking win Robles advanced to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where rival Liu Xiang was forced out due to tendonitis allowing Robles to win his first Olympic Gold with a time of 12.93s.