• August 26 down the years

The mystery gold medallist

Sean Long became a record breaker on this day © Getty Images

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1900
The youngest gold medallist in Olympic history? No-one knows. It's likely that no-one will ever know. When François Brandt and Roelof Klein were well beaten in their heat of the coxed pairs, they realised it was because the French crews were using little schoolboys as coxes. So the Dutch ditched Herman Brockmann and employed the services of a young French boy, who was too light (just over five stone) to push the rudder under the water, so they had to add a weight to it. Worried about the French rowing a team race against them, Brandt and Klein set off quickly and held on to win by only a couple of feet. Their young French assistant hung around to have his picture taken with the two winners, then disappeared into the depths of Paris. Despite decades of research, his identity - and therefore his age - has never been established. He may have been the youngest Olympic medallist, let alone gold medallist, younger than even the 10-year-old Greek gymnast from 1896 (April 9).

2006
The first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy three times. Scrum-half Sean Long was named man of the match in the Challenge Cup final after his St Helens team scored seven tries in hammering Huddersfield Giants 42-12. Long was also Lance Todd winner in 2001 and 2004. Some consolation for Huddersfield's Robbie Paul was his fifth try in Challenge Cup finals. He'd also scored three for the losing side ten years earlier (April 27).

Four athletics world records - two that still stand. And two that don't.

In 1999, Michael Johnson did what he'd been threatening to do for years. In Seville, his eye-popping 43.18 seconds for the 400 metres broke the nine-year-old record set by Harry 'Butch' Reynolds, who failed a drug test.

In Brussels in 2005, Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia ran the 10,000 metres in an equally jaw-dropping 26 minutes 17.53, knocking nearly three seconds off his own world best.

In 1981, Steve Ovett continued passing the parcel with Seb Coe, who'd run a mile in 3 minutes 48.53 the week before. Today Ovett knocked 0.13 off that time in Koblenz. Coe put an end to the to-and-fro two days later.

1977 saw the first two-metre high jump by a woman. Olympic champion Rosi Ackermann of East Germany jumped exactly that height in East Berlin. It was her seventh and last world record in the event.

1960
The most controversial finish to any Olympic swimming race. In the final of the men's 100 metres freestyle, Lance Larson of the USA clearly touched first, inflicting a second successive silver medal on Australia's John Devitt. But then the waters began to muddy. Even though electronic times confirmed Larson as the winner, three of the six judges thought otherwise - and Devitt was given the gold medal by the chief judge, Hans Runströmer of Germany, who had no right to make the decision but simply changed Larson's time to the same as Devitt's! Years of protest couldn't persuade anyone to right the obvious wrong. Larson consoled himself with gold in the medley relay.

1973
British cycling ace Hugh Porter retained his world title in the individual pursuit. The final was re-run when René Pijnen fell during the race. Second time round, the Dutchman made his usual fast start and led for 11 of the 17 laps, but Porter reeled him in and won by nine seconds. The margin would have been narrower if Pijnen hadn't hurt his knee in the fall (he had to be helped onto the podium) but there's not much doubt Porter would have won anyway. He was also champion at the event in 1968 and 1970. Despite the efforts of other top British riders like Chris Boardman, Graeme Obree, and Bradley Wiggins, Porter's still the only man to win it four times. He married Olympic champion Anita Lonsbrough (born August 10 1941).

Another cyclist became only the second competitor to die during an Olympic Games. The team time trial on the road was staged in 34°C heat (higher in the open sun), and Denmark's Knut Enemark fractured his skull after collapsing from a combination of heatstroke and the stimulant he'd taken before the race. He was the first Olympic competitor to die since 1912 (July 14)

2004
At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Italy won the men's water polo title in a thriller against Spain (August 9). Today their women also won gold by beating their hosts in a seesaw - only more so. They'd thumped Greece 7-2 in their group match, but today the lead went back and forth until the scores were level at 7-7. In extra time, Kyriaki Liosi scored her fifth goal of the game to help Greece lead 9-7, but Italy equalised with only nine seconds left, and Melania Grego scored the only goal in added extra extra time to win it 10-9.

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