Once every four years, athletes get a chance to show the world what they are made of. Once every four years, they get to fall flat or rise to Olympic glory and receive a gold medal.

The 2016 Rio Olympics were no different than any other. But what made them special was the fact that they not only had returning legends like Usain Bolt, but also created legends in its two-week process.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky broke not only the Olympic record (OR), but also the world record (WR) in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. Ledecky beat the previous OR of 4:01.45 by almost five seconds with a time of 3:56.46. She also beat her own WR of 3:58.37 with a time of 3:56.46. In addition, Ledecky beat the WR and OR for the women’s 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:04.79 that had a previous time of 8:14.10 (OR) and 8:06.68 (WR).

Simone Manuel also made Olympic history by being the first African-American women to place gold in any swimming event in the history of the Olympic games. She also beat the previous women’s 100-meter freestyle OR of 53.00 with a time 52.70.

Joseph Schooling, from Singapore, beat out Michael Phelps’s previous OR of 50.58 in the men’s 100-meter butterfly with a time of 50.39. Schooling had met Phelps as a child and looked up to him as an idol. Little did he know he would beat out his idol and take the gold for the event.

Swimming wasn’t the only Olympic event that rose the bar for its athletes. Gymnastics, especially for the United States, was able to stick their gymnasts onto the podium for the gold medal.

Simone Biles and Aly Raisman were the leading ladies for the U.S. team. Raisman walked away with a gold medal and two silver medals and Biles with four gold medals and a bronze. The entire team took home a gold for the women’s team all-around.

Track was also able to overcome hurdles and place their athletes on the podium.

Track star, Ashton Eaton of the United States team won the gold for the men’s decathlon. His results in the 100-meter, 10.46; long jump, 7.49-meters; shot put, 14.37 meters; high jump, 2.01 meters; 400-meters, 46.07; 110-meter hurdles, 13.80; discus, 45.49 meters; pole vault, 5.20 meters; javelin, 59.77 meters; and 1,500-meter, 4.23.3, landed him a final score of 8,893. Easton tied the OR set by Roman Šebrle in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

There are dozens of athletes that deserve recognition for their performance in this year’s Olympics, but there are those that were able to rise above the rest and become Olympic legends.