ST. LOUIS — We've been doing some serious all-time ranking at 5 On Your Side while the COVID-19 pandemic has most of the sports world on pause.
This week, sports director Frank Cusumano rolls out his list of the top 10 Olympic athletes from St. Louis.
These are the best of the best. Some of the greatest Olympic athletes in American history have come from our town. But who cracks the top 10?
Do you agree? Let us know.
10: Lori Chalupny and Becky Sauerbrunn
A dual soccer entry to start things off.
Chalupny got her gold medal in Beijing in 2008, and Sauerbrunn won hers in London in 2012.
9: Al Trost
We keep the soccer theme rolling with Al Trost.
Trost was a star at SLU and chose not to turn pro in 1970 so he could play in the 1972 Olympics. He played in eight games and scored two goals.
He's in the hall of fame for a reason.
8: Ken Flach
The late Kirkwood native is one of the greatest tennis players to ever come from St. Louis.
He teamed with Robert Seguso as one of the most dominant doubles pairs ever.
He won the gold medal in Seoul in 1988.
7: Jo Jo White
The pride of McKinley and Vashon is the most decorated basketball player to ever come from St. Louis.
He helped the United States to the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, going undefeated.
6: Dan Carroll
He's a member of the National Speed Skating Hall of Fame.
Carroll held nearly every American record during his career. He competed in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics.
5: Leon and Michael Spinks
A tandem of brothers unlike any other.
The 1976 Olympics in Montreal was their coming out party.
Leon won the gold in the light-heavyweight division. Michael won gold in the middleweight division.
4: Al Joyner
For a while, he was more famous for being Jackie Joyner-Kersee's brother and Florence Griffith-Joyner's husband. But make no mistake, he was a star in his own right.
In 1984 at the Summer Games in Los Angeles he became the first African American in 80 years to win a golf medal in the triple jump.
3: Dawn Harper-Nelson
She won the gold in 2008 in Beijing in the 100 meter hurdles and won the silver in 2012 in London.
She's the first American to ever win a gold in the 100 in an Olympics and still medal in the following Olympics.
2: Tom Jager
Hear of him? You should have.
The pride of Collinsville is one of the most decorated swimmers in recent memory.
He won five gold medals in the 4 x 100 meter relays and a silver and bronze in the 50 meter freestyle. Quite the Olympic career.
1: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
She's not just one of the greatest female athletes in American history. She's one of the greatest athletes in American history. Period.
JJK has three golds, two silvers and two bronze medals over a 12-year Olympic career in the heptathlon and long jump.
A legend on the track and in her community.
