The Moniker Monument, Athens, Greece by Spiros Louis Stadium. Est. 1976
Today on Costas’ People, we rank the top 100 Olympic nicknames from 1896 to the present day. All of these men, women, and creatures have been features on this blog, and you can click the number in front of each nickname to take you to their story.
-Bob Costas
100. The Loving Tongue (Marco Francesconi)
99. Don’t Call Me Hitler (Dirk Hitler)
98. Guru (Cheech Bitollio)
97. Stanislaw “Stan” Kowalski
96. The Rhythmic Saint (Irina Grigoryev)
95. The Cunt of St. Petersburg (Irina Grigoryev)
94. Guns Gomes (Ricardo Gomes)
93. Two Face (Hans Breckenfort)
92. Willie “Quick Fingers” Bolada
91. Mad Tooth (Dog)
90. The Clown of Torino (Tomassino)
89. Roe V. Wade (Rovie Wade)
88. The Son Murderer (Kim Jae-Hwan)
87. Cheeky Goary (Goary Hemlicher)
86. Skeptical T (Theresa Grentz)
85. The First Sexual American (Roberto Alomar XI)
84. The Nation’s Nephew (Vasyl Arkhypenko)
83. Benjamin Franklin (Horse)
82. Recruitin’ Guss (Guss Strootman)
81. The True Nation’s Nephew (Danny Harris)
80. The Violent Shepherd (Artur Augustin)
79. The Confirmed Lesbian (Rovie Wade)
78. The Flying Infant (Spikka Hapkopen)
77. Triple-Banned Bob Laughlin
76. Asexual Annie (Judge Number Seven)
75. The Hepatitis Kids (East German men’s 4x100 team, 1980)
74. The Bloodtaker (Giancarlo Bonafacio)
73. The Handless Oarsmen (Gaston Petit)
72. The Balloon Whisperer (Arthur Van Der Sneer)
71. The New Braveheart (William Wallace)
70. The Soviet Admiral (Yelena Baranova)
69. “Jimmy Carter”
68. El Pistolero (Horse)
67. The Slovenian Goat (Yasmina Tloka)
66. Ole No Nickname (George Bissessar)
65. The Ugly American (Everett Dirksen, R-Ill)
64. The Great Patriot (Everett Dirksen, R-Ill)
63. The Traitor (Coach Igor Laryanov)
62. The Wanker of Le Rosey (Rupert Vanderbilt)
61. Post-Wave Middle Hitter (Pierre Beauclerc)
60. The Boy from Brazil (Hans Muller Carvalho)
59. Milky (Rinke)
58. The Black Devil (Erich Hartmann)
57. The Mask Maker (Pucino Bitollio)
56. The Nail Killer (Sylvia Goodworth)
55. Bored Rupert (Rupert Vanderbilt)
54. The Unconscious Dutchman (Jonsie Van Der Sleer)
53. Mustard Head (Hans Breckenfort)
52. Hammer Arms (Dirk Muller)
51. The Corn Tar Boys (Luke, Matthew, Paul, and John Carefoot)
50. The Human Leech (Luka Hoivanen)
59. Sleepy Max (Max Schmelling)
58. The Hammer-Head Kraut (Helga Kelmut)
57. The Wooden Stomach (Hideki Atkatsuka)
56. The Niagara Falls Killer (name unknown)
55. El Aire Caliente (Eduardo Dominguez)
54. The Famous Famosa (Alvaro Lopez Famosa)
53. The Famous Famous (Alvaro Lopez Famosa, translated)
52. Johnford “Jack” Smithstone
51. The Witch of the North (Philippia)
50. The Swedish Butterfly (Goary Hemlicher)
49. “Coop” (Cynthia Cooper)
48. Reinhold the Daft (Reinhold the Clown)
47. The Hoplite Hero (Antipodes of Rome)
46. Wicked William (William Wallace)
45. Snappy (Unknown Congolese boxer)
44. Children of the Corn (Abel & Jerusha Hess)
43. The Polish Whore (Slatka)
42. L’Homme Regenere (Pierre Beauclerc)
41. The French Kiss (Guillaume Chevalier)
40. Wordsmith (Pancratius)
39. The Wave Maker (Terrence McCracken)
38. The Golden Czech (Jan Zachara)
37. The Faller of Frisland (Henrika Brinkerhoff)
36. Sizock It To Me! (Zeijko Sizock)
35. Radioactive Ruprinski (Rupert Vanderbilt)
34. Chaz “Wacky Hair” Mumfredo
33. The Angel of Death (Josef Mengele)
32. Horsefucker (Eamon O’Farrell)
31. Rope Eater (Chance Willhelmsen)
30. Chief Daredevil (Henrik Von Thistlebrow)
29. Twerpio (Hans Breckenfort)
28. Death Before Postponement (Dieter Bachmeier)
27. “Mikhail Gorbachev”
26. The Doubting Sultan (Abdulaziz of Turkey)
25. Balloon Killer (Orville and Wilbur Wright)
24. The Crude Custodian (Jurg)
23. Bubble Fists (Oonie Van Der Sleer)
22. Francis the Fat (Francis IV of Habsburg)
21. Happy Jack (Francis IV of Habsburg)
20. The Parthenon Fraud (Kostas Papadoulas)
19. Angry Michael (Mike Bruner)
18. No Relation (Adolph Nobel)
17. Fancy Hans (Hans Breckenfort)
16. The Flying Housewife (Fanny Blankers-Koen)
15. Nephew-Cidal Maniac (Edwin Moses)
14. Corn on the Con (Miguel Angel Davidilla)
13. The Quick Oaf (Patrick Cato)
12. The Flying Househusband (Jikka Hapkopen)
11. The Ghost of Detroit (Thomasina Isaihovich)
10. Skywriter (Johnson “Jack” Smithstone)
9. The Eternal Balloonist (Luukas Jarkinnen)
8. Toothy (Sten Stuvio)
7. The Armless Kayaker (Gaston Petit)
6. Jesus of Horses (Eamon O’Farrell)
5. Satan of Horses (Juan Pelota Guzman)
4. The Most Honorable Man (Kim Jae-Hwan)
3. The Hammer of Guatemala (Annika Morales)
2. The Most Tragic Man (Kim Jae-Hwan)
1. The Mozart of the Motorway (Teddy Bonafacio)
