These 15 successful Olympians also served in the US armed forces

Wikimedia Commons

Starting this weekend, Olympians will compete in Rio to achieve athletic glory for their respective nations.

Also in attendance will be the numerous US athletes who have served their country in another way — by joining the armed forces.

Here are 15 other American Olympians who also served in the US military across history:

Charley Paddock

Today, Paddock is remembered as the loud, bold American in "Chariots of Fire."

He actually had quite a versatile career, working as a journalist, an actor, and his own publicity manager. He won gold in the 100 meter race and the 100 meter relay in the 1920 Antwerp Games, according to Sports Reference.

After World War I, Paddock joined the personal staff of Major General William Upshur. They were killed together in 1943 in a plane crash in Alaska.

Tommy Hitchcock

Before Hitchcock was killed in a 1944 army plane crash in England, he achieved acclaim in the sport of polo, as Sports Reference reported. He played for the US at the 1924 Summer Olympics, earning a silver medal. During WWI, he had served with French forces and later the US Air Service, having been previously rejected by the American forces for being only 17-years-old.

He was shot down over enemy lines and subsequently moved between hospitals and prison camps. Hitchcock escaped captivity by jumping from a moving train into a river, eventually reaching the Swiss border. When World War II broke out, Hitchcock joined the Army Air Corps, working as the assistant attache to the London Embassy before his death.

Billy Fiske

Fiske didn't actually serve in US forces, but he did fight in World War II. At the age of 16, he drove the inaugural American bobsled team to victory in 1928, becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist at the time, according to Sports Reference.

Fiske became a movie executive and eventually married the Countess of Warwick, Rose Bingham. When World War II broke out, Fiske became the first American to join the Royal Air Force in 1939. A year later, he was shot out of the sky on a return mission. He managed to land his plane safely, only to die from surgical shock hours later, according to the Aspen Times.