Paula Radcliffe - Athens 2004Great Britain's Radcliffe, one of the strong favourites for gold in the marathon, quite literally performed meltdown after her attempts to catch runaway leader Mizuki Noguchi of Japan failed.
On the hottest day of the month and with four miles to go, Radcliffe dropped out, slumping on the kerb.
Many tearful interviews followed while debate raged over whether it was the conditions or an inability to cope with the intense pressure that had prompted Radcliffe's collapse.