RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
This isn't a definitive list but the opinion of two time British table tennis player Matthew Syed. I thought it might spark up some debate and ask people to consider maybe their top 10 moments either witnessed or from a historical perspective. I reckon he has picked a bloody good list, don't agree with them all, have to make allowances for some British performances and his top 10 is close to mine and his # 1 is the same as mine. Top effort by Syed 
Oh and most of the picks have links to the original article in The Times that have been scanned in.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4316031.ece
Top 50 greatest Olympic Games moments
Matthew Syed, a former international table tennis player who represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games, chooses his most memorable moments.
I have interpreted my brief widely in attempting to come up with the 50 most memorable moments in Olympic history. There is inevitably a personal, and therefore, British dimension to the list, but I have endeavoured to be as objective as possible. It is not just a list of the most stirring and rousing moments – or the most brilliant – but also includes instances that have broken into our consciousness for other reasons, whether tragic, comic or epic. Doubtless Beijing will burn many more images on our collective retina, but in the meantime, here is my list of the greatest moments of the last 112 years. Click on the links to read the original Times reports.
50. Athens 2004. Jan-Ove Waldner won gold in the 1992 men’s table tennis in one of the most riveting displays of virtuosity in the history of the sport. It would have made it into the top ten had I not feared allegations of bias.
49. London 1908. Wyndham Halswell from Scotland won the 400 metres as the sole runner. In the "proper" final two days earlier it was deemed that two Americans had conspired to block him from passing. Officials declared the race void and ordered a re-run, but all the other competitors refused to race against him.
48. Mexico 1968. Britain's hearts were dashed as favourite Lillian Board, who was tipped to win the 400m, saw Colette Besson of France come past her with five metres to go. It became a precious memory as Board died tragically of cancer at 22.
47. Montreal 1976. Russian fencer Boris Onischenko was disqualified after using a circuit breaker to score points in the epee without touching his opponent. Some suggest he had been using the technology for six years.
46. St Louis 1904. US gymnast George Eyser won two golds, a silver and a bronze with a wooden leg.
45. Rome 1960. Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals in 1960 - the 100m, 200m and relay. Remarkable considering she had polio as a child and only learned to walk normally at the age of 7.
44. Rome 1960. Sisters Tamara and Irina Press won five golds and one silver in Rome in 1960. They also set 26 world records in shot put, discus and pentathlon - but mysteriously disappeared from international competition when genetic testing was instituted.
43. Berlin 1936. Born in Poland in 1911, Stanislawa Walasiewica went to America with her family at the age of 2 and changed her name to Stella Walsh. She chose to run for Poland as she worked for the Polish consulate in New York. She won the women's 100m in a world record time of 11.9s in 1936. In 1980 she was caught in the crossfire of a botched robbery; the autopsy revealed she had ambiguous genitalia and could not easily be identified as either biologically male or female.
42. London 1908. Italian waiter Dorando Pietri became one of the world's most famous marathon runners after collapsing five times in the stadium before being helped over the final few yards to win - but the result was disqualified. Later, he was awarded a special gold cup by Queen Alexandra as consolation.
41. Barcelona 1992. Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo spectacularly lit the Olympic flame by firing a burning arrow towards the cauldron in an unforgettable coup de theatre. He later complained to a Spanish newspaper that he had been shabbily treated and had received no official accreditation or tickets to see any of the events, not even the archery.
40. Rome 1960. Ethiopian Abebe Bikila became the first runner representing an African nation to win a gold in the marathon at the Games, something he did barefoot. It was only the third time he had run the distance and he set a world record in the process. He repeated the performance in Tokyo four years later.
39. Sydney 2000. Eric "The Eel" Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea set the slowest time ever for the 100m freestyle. At one stage it looked like Moussambani, who had only learned to swim in January that year - was drowning not swimming but the crowds roared him home in 1 minute 52 seconds. We like losers - but only if they are spectacular losers.
38. Barcelona 1992. With restrictions on professionals lifted, the US sent their dream basketball team, which blew away all opposition.
37. Los Angeles 1932. American Mildred "Babe" Didrikson - still believed by some to be the world's greatest sportswoman - won six of eight events in the pre-Olympic trials and set three world records. In the Olympics she was only allowed to compete in three events, winning two golds (javelin and hurdles) and a silver in the high jump because it was decided that she had an illegal style. Later she became a golfer, winning many big titles.
36. Tokyo 1960. Ann Packer won the 800m final at the Tokyo Olympics to the strains of an impassioned David Coleman in the commentary box. Women had come a long way from the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 when six of the nine runners in the 800m collapsed and two were stretchered off. The event was deemed unsuitable for women and banned until 1960.
35. Mexico 1968. Dick Fosbury changed the high jump forever with his revolutionary flop. He won gold - and many of us schoolboys who tried to emulate him ended up with bruised backs.
34. Athens 1896. Greeks had expected to win lots of medals but none came until the marathon (which back then was conducted over 40km). Of the 17 runners, 14 of them were Greek. Part time water seller and shepherd, Spyridon Louis, overtook a Frenchman and an Australian to win and was accompanied over the line by Princes Constantine and George who subsequently gave him a farm. Legend says that he stopped at a restaurant half way through the race to down an alcoholic beverage and told everyone he would win.
33. Athens 2004. Michael Phelps took six gold medals, just one short of Mark Spitz, with a majestic performance.
32. Montreal 1976. 14-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored perfect "10s" in the uneven bars, the balance beam and the all round competition. Some scoreboards were not equipped and recorded her marks as "1.00."
31. Los Angeles 1984. Daley Thompson had already won the decathlon four years earlier in Moscow where he broke the world record. His huge rival in 1984 was Jurgen Hingsen, who had twice beaten Thompson's world record and was the current holder with 8,798 points. But Thompson stood triumphant after a supreme all-round performance. He won with a score of 8,797 with Hingsen on 8,673.
30. Athens 2004. Kelly Holmes's gob-smacked face after winning gold in the 800m is one of the most enduring images of the last Games. After threatening to do something special for 10-12 years and plagued by injuries, at the age of 34 she did what nobody believed possible by also going on to win the 1,500m at the same Games.
29. Atlanta 1996. The Games were marred by a bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park which killed two and injured 111 others. Eric Robert Rudolph is currently serving a life sentence in Florence, Colorado.
28. Sydney 2000. Steve Redgrave's win in the men's coxless four made it five gold’s at five consecutive Olympics over 20 years – the only Briton to achieve this feat. But Redgrave cannot, on statistical grounds, claim to be the most enduring Olympian: Birgit Fischer (a German kayaker) won eight gold medals over six Olympic Games.
27. Montreal 1976. Alberto Juantarina of Cuba, nicknamed "White Lightning", became the only man to win gold in both the 400m and 800m. He later served as Vice Minister of Sports for Cuba.
26. Moscow 1980. "Yifter the Shifter" was so named because of his abrupt, exceptional change in speed while executing his kick to win the 5,000m and 10,000m (he ran the last 200m of 5,000m in 27.2 seconds and 26.8 seconds in 1,0000m). He refused to be drawn on his age - reported to be anything between 33 and 42 - telling the world: "Men may steal my chickens. Men may steal my sheep. But no man can steal my age."
25. Stockholm 1912. Jim Thorpe – part native American and considered the greatest all round athlete in first half of the 20th century - was awarded gold for the decathlon and pentathlon by the King of Sweden who told him "you are the greatest athlete in the world," to which Thorpe replied "thanks king". He was later forced to return his medals due to playing baseball in a minor professional league match. He tried for years to be reinstated but Olympic president Avery Brundage (whom Thorpe had easily beaten in Stockholm) refused to give way. However, 71 years later and 30 years after Thorpe's death in 1982, the IOC lifted its ban and returned Thorpe's name to the record books and the replica medals were given to his family.
24. Mexico 1968. Nothing prepared the nation for David Hemery's astonishing world record run in the 400m hurdles. He had been studying at Boston University, analysing US rivals and racing them whenever possible. He knew he was in his best ever form but did not show himself in any of the heats. He decimated the field.
23. Los Angeles 1984. In the 3,000m final, the favourite, Mary Decker, of America, set off at a fast pace with the barefooted South African Zola Budd, Britain's Wendy Sly and Romania's Maricica Puica in a tight group behind. At 1,600m Budd took the lead but off the bend she collided with Decker who was trying to come up on the inside, sending Decker sprawling onto the field and out of the race. Decker was helped off the track in tears and Budd finished seventh. Fevered debate centred on whether the controversial Budd had broken the rules by cutting inside without establishing a clear lead.
22. London 1948. World War II interrupted Fanny Blankers-Koen’s career, but she came back as a 30-year-old mother to win four gold medals in 1948.
21. Rome 1960. Cassius Clay won gold in the light heavyweight class and was so made up he wore the medal for two days. But he later threw it into the Ohio River after being refused service at a white's only restaurant. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta he was awarded a replacement by the US basketball team.
20. Munich 1972. Russian gymnast Olga Korbut captured the public's imagination with her acrobatic floor exercises and spectacular beam routines. She won three golds and a silver, smiling and dancing her way into the hearts of the world, in the process subverting the stereotype of the East European automaton.
19. London 1952. Emil Zatopek took over from Paavo Nurmi as the king of distance running, winning the marathon just days after triumphing in the 5,000m and 10,000m. It is hard to see his feat being equalled.
18. Barcelona 1992. Britain's Derek Redmond tore his right hamstring in the semi-final of the 400m and fell to the ground. When he saw the stretcher-bearers running towards him he began to hobble on one leg down his lane, at which point his father elbowed past officials to assist him to the finishing line. It won a rousing ovation from the 65,000 crowd. The poignancy was heightened by the fact that Redmond's career had been frustrated by injury - he was forced to withdraw from the 1988 games and by 1992 he had undergone five operations, including one on his Achilles tendon less than four months previously.
17. Munich 1972. The US basketball team had been unbeaten in 63 Olympic matches going into the final with Russia at the height of the Cold War. With three seconds remaining, Russia led 49-48 when a foul was awarded to the US. The first two shots were nailed, but a horn was blown during the second shot. The third shot failed and the Americans started to celebrate their win, 50-49. But then an official said he had whistled for play to stop after hearing the earlier horn and the Russians said that they had requested a timeout before the shots were attempted. The referee ordered the clock to be reset to 3 seconds to replay the inbound. Russia failed to score. But then officials said that the clock was still in the process of being reset when the referee put the ball in play. The Secretary General of FIBA (International Basketball Federation) stepped in and ordered the clock to be reset to 3 seconds and the inbound replayed. The Russians scored and were crowned champions. The Americans refused, unsurprisingly, to turn up to the medal ceremony. The silver medals still sit unclaimed in a vault of IOC headquarters and some members of the American team have it written into their wills that no member of their families may claim the medals after their death.
16. Seoul 1988. The world winced when Greg Louganis, the US diver, hit his head on the board on his ninth preliminary springboard dive, while attempting a 2½ somersault pike. He received temporary stitches before completing his tenth dive which gained him the highest score in the preliminaries. The next day he won gold. Later, in 1995, it was revealed that Louganis had been HIV positive at the time of the accident and had not informed the doctor treating him. The doctor subsequently tested negative for HIV.
15. Athens 2004. In one of the most stunning meltdowns in sporting history, Paula Radcliffe collapsed in the marathon four miles from home. She had missed out on medals in the previous Olympics in Sydney and looked in fine form coming into the race, albeit under a huge burden of expectation, much of it self-imposed. It was the hottest day of the month and the humidity was at its highest for six weeks. Debate continues as to whether she was beaten by conditions or gave up at not being able to make up ground on Japan's Mizuki Noguchi who had pulled away from her at the 16-mile stage. Noguchi went on to win and attributed it to drinking the stomach juices of giant killer hornets which she says gave her performance an extra buzz.
14. Sydney 2000. Cathy Freeman, the first aboriginal athlete to compete for Australia, won gold in the 400m and ignited a nation. Up to then it had been a disappointing home Olympics for the Australians, especially in the pool, and Freeman represented a last chance of glory. She ran her victory lap carrying both Aborigine and Australian flags.
[Great moment but Syed has made some errors. Freeman wasn't the first aboriginal to compete for Australia and I'm sure there has been other aboriginal track and field athletes if that's what he means. Nor was she the first to win Gold. However she was the first to win an individual gold.
Also it hadn't been a "disapointing Olympics up to then, especially in the pool." As I said in my reply to The Times ," The AOC predicted 20 swimming medals 6 to 8 golds, we won 18 medals, 5 golds. Thorpe's 200m, Klim's 100m Fly and O'Neil's 200m B'Fly silvers were a bit of a disapointment, but O'Neil's 200m Free gold was a surprise. The AOC predicted 60 medals we won 58, 15 to 20 golds, we won 16. Feeeman's gold was no. 13th. Hardly a disappointment up to then.]
13. Atlanta 1996. Quivering under the affliction of Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali lit the torch at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games: it was a moment of almost unbearable poignancy.
12. Atlanta 1996. Michael Johnson became the first man to win both the 200m and 400m, but it was his stunning performance in the former event that shocked spectators. The time of 19.32s took a chunk out of the existing world record. It seemed even more apt that Johnson's unusual style - all legs and straight back - evoked memories of Jesse Owens.
11. Munich 1972. Mark Spitz, the United States swimmer with the big moustache, promised before the games that he would win seven golds. He did not disappoint, taking seven world records into the bargain.
10. Los Angeles 1984. Carl Lewis matched Jesse Owens by winning four golds, in the 100m, 200m, long jump and sprint relay. A stunning performance by one of the most successful Olympians, it was clouded only when allegations emerged that Lewis may have tested positive for banned substances before the 1988 Olympics along with other members of the American team.
9. Paris 1924. Another epic British rivalry pitted Harold Abrahams (a Jew) against Eric Liddell (a Christian), a confrontation chronicled in the wonderful film Chariots of Fire. Liddell was selected for the 100m, 200m and 400m but with the 100m heat scheduled for a Sunday he declined to race and instead preached a sermon in a Scottish church in the French capital. He went on to win bronze in the 200m and gold in the 400m. Liddell later became a missionary in China and died in a Japanese internment camp in February 1945. Abrahams won the 100m - the first European to do so for 36 years - and went on to become a prominent official in sport and an admired BBC commentator.
8. Moscow 1980. Sebastian Coe gained sweet revenge in the 1,500m for what happened in the 800m (see No 7). Jurgen Straub of East Germany pulled away off the final bend, but Coe moved through the gears and eased away to win, with Steve Ovett finishing third. Coe collapsed on the track in tears and pulled away from Ovett's outstretched hand of congratulations to run a victory lap. He won the 1,500m again four years later but failed once more in the 800m, losing to Brazil's Joaquim Cruz.
7. Moscow 1980. Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe formed one of sport’s most captivating rivalries. Ovett, talented and taciturn, was the underdog in the 800m. Coe, the silky smooth world record holder, was favoured by most of his countrymen. In the event Coe made a series of tactical blunders and was too far adrift when Ovett kicked for home. It took an extraordinary effort for Coe to take silver.
6. Paris 1924. Paavo Nurmi is amongst the most remarkable of all Olympians and his performance in 1924 continues to defy belief. The Finn not only won gold in the 1,500m but went on to triumph in the 5,000m with less than 90 minutes between events. He also set new world records in both races. Nurmi also competed in 1920 and 1928.
5. Mexico 1968. There have been protests in the Olympics ever since Ralph Rose, the US flag bearer, refused to lower the flag in the 1908 Games held in London due to English occupation of Ireland. But when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists and bowed their heads during the medal ceremony in protest against racism in US, the images stuck. The protest met with outrage and both men were suspended from the national team and banned from the Olympic village. But it was a milestone in America's civil rights movement and both athletes were honoured in 1998 on the 30th anniversary of their protest.
4. Munich 1972. One day in September, eight Palestinian terrorists broke into Israeli athletes' dormitories in the Olympic village. Two were killed instantly and nine taken hostage. Later they were allowed to go to the airport where nine hostages, five terrorists and a policeman died during a bungled rescue attempt. It marked the moment when the Olympics became a target for international terrorism and set the stage for the Games of today, patrolled by armed guards and encircled by all the apparatus of the police state.
3. Mexico 1968. On the eve of his defence of his long jump title, Lynn Davies from Wales said: “it only needs Bob Beamon to hit the board right once and we can all go home." In the event Beamon nearly failed to qualify for the final after two no jumps: he had to reduce his run up speed in his third attempt to make the qualifying distance. But in the final he launched into orbit, hanging in thin air for what seemed like an eternity, thus setting a new world record that would stand for 23 years. As a side note, it is worth remembering that, a few months before the Games, Beamon was suspended from his university team for refusing to compete against a college with “racist policies”.
2. Berlin 1936. African American Jesse Owens won four Olympic gold medals in the Games staged in the German capital as Hitler intensified his preparations for war. Many have claimed that Owens’s success debunked Nazi claims of Aryan superiority but the truth is rather more complex. Nazi intellectuals responded to the setback with the assertion that because black people have abnormally large “animal” heel bones, the Americans had cheated by selecting a black man. Owens himself later noted that his victory did little to advance the cause of African Americans in the US. The legend that Hitler refused to shake his hand is fiction. He had actually been told by the IOC President that it was not the convention.
1. Seoul 1988. Vivid and unforgettable, Ben Johnson astounded the world when he stormed to gold in the 100m in Seoul, leaving Carl Lewis and the laws of aerodynamics in his wake. Johnson shattered the world record with a time of 9.79 seconds and would have gone ever faster had he not commenced his finger-aloft celebration five yards from the line. Two days later he tested positive for steroids. I leave it to Simon Barnes to capture the moral and human ambiguity encapsulated in that extraordinary performance: “There is a part of us that still revels in the fastest men, in these superhuman champions, in these figures of blinding speed and overreaching ambition. We don’t approve of drugs, we don’t approve of cheating, but all the same, we respond to the speed, the ambition, the absolute earth-shattering glory of being the fastest man in the world.”
Oh and most of the picks have links to the original article in The Times that have been scanned in.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4316031.ece
Top 50 greatest Olympic Games moments
Matthew Syed, a former international table tennis player who represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games, chooses his most memorable moments.
I have interpreted my brief widely in attempting to come up with the 50 most memorable moments in Olympic history. There is inevitably a personal, and therefore, British dimension to the list, but I have endeavoured to be as objective as possible. It is not just a list of the most stirring and rousing moments – or the most brilliant – but also includes instances that have broken into our consciousness for other reasons, whether tragic, comic or epic. Doubtless Beijing will burn many more images on our collective retina, but in the meantime, here is my list of the greatest moments of the last 112 years. Click on the links to read the original Times reports.
50. Athens 2004. Jan-Ove Waldner won gold in the 1992 men’s table tennis in one of the most riveting displays of virtuosity in the history of the sport. It would have made it into the top ten had I not feared allegations of bias.
49. London 1908. Wyndham Halswell from Scotland won the 400 metres as the sole runner. In the "proper" final two days earlier it was deemed that two Americans had conspired to block him from passing. Officials declared the race void and ordered a re-run, but all the other competitors refused to race against him.
48. Mexico 1968. Britain's hearts were dashed as favourite Lillian Board, who was tipped to win the 400m, saw Colette Besson of France come past her with five metres to go. It became a precious memory as Board died tragically of cancer at 22.
47. Montreal 1976. Russian fencer Boris Onischenko was disqualified after using a circuit breaker to score points in the epee without touching his opponent. Some suggest he had been using the technology for six years.
46. St Louis 1904. US gymnast George Eyser won two golds, a silver and a bronze with a wooden leg.
45. Rome 1960. Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals in 1960 - the 100m, 200m and relay. Remarkable considering she had polio as a child and only learned to walk normally at the age of 7.
44. Rome 1960. Sisters Tamara and Irina Press won five golds and one silver in Rome in 1960. They also set 26 world records in shot put, discus and pentathlon - but mysteriously disappeared from international competition when genetic testing was instituted.
43. Berlin 1936. Born in Poland in 1911, Stanislawa Walasiewica went to America with her family at the age of 2 and changed her name to Stella Walsh. She chose to run for Poland as she worked for the Polish consulate in New York. She won the women's 100m in a world record time of 11.9s in 1936. In 1980 she was caught in the crossfire of a botched robbery; the autopsy revealed she had ambiguous genitalia and could not easily be identified as either biologically male or female.
42. London 1908. Italian waiter Dorando Pietri became one of the world's most famous marathon runners after collapsing five times in the stadium before being helped over the final few yards to win - but the result was disqualified. Later, he was awarded a special gold cup by Queen Alexandra as consolation.
41. Barcelona 1992. Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo spectacularly lit the Olympic flame by firing a burning arrow towards the cauldron in an unforgettable coup de theatre. He later complained to a Spanish newspaper that he had been shabbily treated and had received no official accreditation or tickets to see any of the events, not even the archery.
40. Rome 1960. Ethiopian Abebe Bikila became the first runner representing an African nation to win a gold in the marathon at the Games, something he did barefoot. It was only the third time he had run the distance and he set a world record in the process. He repeated the performance in Tokyo four years later.
39. Sydney 2000. Eric "The Eel" Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea set the slowest time ever for the 100m freestyle. At one stage it looked like Moussambani, who had only learned to swim in January that year - was drowning not swimming but the crowds roared him home in 1 minute 52 seconds. We like losers - but only if they are spectacular losers.
38. Barcelona 1992. With restrictions on professionals lifted, the US sent their dream basketball team, which blew away all opposition.
37. Los Angeles 1932. American Mildred "Babe" Didrikson - still believed by some to be the world's greatest sportswoman - won six of eight events in the pre-Olympic trials and set three world records. In the Olympics she was only allowed to compete in three events, winning two golds (javelin and hurdles) and a silver in the high jump because it was decided that she had an illegal style. Later she became a golfer, winning many big titles.
36. Tokyo 1960. Ann Packer won the 800m final at the Tokyo Olympics to the strains of an impassioned David Coleman in the commentary box. Women had come a long way from the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 when six of the nine runners in the 800m collapsed and two were stretchered off. The event was deemed unsuitable for women and banned until 1960.
35. Mexico 1968. Dick Fosbury changed the high jump forever with his revolutionary flop. He won gold - and many of us schoolboys who tried to emulate him ended up with bruised backs.
34. Athens 1896. Greeks had expected to win lots of medals but none came until the marathon (which back then was conducted over 40km). Of the 17 runners, 14 of them were Greek. Part time water seller and shepherd, Spyridon Louis, overtook a Frenchman and an Australian to win and was accompanied over the line by Princes Constantine and George who subsequently gave him a farm. Legend says that he stopped at a restaurant half way through the race to down an alcoholic beverage and told everyone he would win.
33. Athens 2004. Michael Phelps took six gold medals, just one short of Mark Spitz, with a majestic performance.
32. Montreal 1976. 14-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored perfect "10s" in the uneven bars, the balance beam and the all round competition. Some scoreboards were not equipped and recorded her marks as "1.00."
31. Los Angeles 1984. Daley Thompson had already won the decathlon four years earlier in Moscow where he broke the world record. His huge rival in 1984 was Jurgen Hingsen, who had twice beaten Thompson's world record and was the current holder with 8,798 points. But Thompson stood triumphant after a supreme all-round performance. He won with a score of 8,797 with Hingsen on 8,673.
30. Athens 2004. Kelly Holmes's gob-smacked face after winning gold in the 800m is one of the most enduring images of the last Games. After threatening to do something special for 10-12 years and plagued by injuries, at the age of 34 she did what nobody believed possible by also going on to win the 1,500m at the same Games.
29. Atlanta 1996. The Games were marred by a bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park which killed two and injured 111 others. Eric Robert Rudolph is currently serving a life sentence in Florence, Colorado.
28. Sydney 2000. Steve Redgrave's win in the men's coxless four made it five gold’s at five consecutive Olympics over 20 years – the only Briton to achieve this feat. But Redgrave cannot, on statistical grounds, claim to be the most enduring Olympian: Birgit Fischer (a German kayaker) won eight gold medals over six Olympic Games.
27. Montreal 1976. Alberto Juantarina of Cuba, nicknamed "White Lightning", became the only man to win gold in both the 400m and 800m. He later served as Vice Minister of Sports for Cuba.
26. Moscow 1980. "Yifter the Shifter" was so named because of his abrupt, exceptional change in speed while executing his kick to win the 5,000m and 10,000m (he ran the last 200m of 5,000m in 27.2 seconds and 26.8 seconds in 1,0000m). He refused to be drawn on his age - reported to be anything between 33 and 42 - telling the world: "Men may steal my chickens. Men may steal my sheep. But no man can steal my age."
25. Stockholm 1912. Jim Thorpe – part native American and considered the greatest all round athlete in first half of the 20th century - was awarded gold for the decathlon and pentathlon by the King of Sweden who told him "you are the greatest athlete in the world," to which Thorpe replied "thanks king". He was later forced to return his medals due to playing baseball in a minor professional league match. He tried for years to be reinstated but Olympic president Avery Brundage (whom Thorpe had easily beaten in Stockholm) refused to give way. However, 71 years later and 30 years after Thorpe's death in 1982, the IOC lifted its ban and returned Thorpe's name to the record books and the replica medals were given to his family.
24. Mexico 1968. Nothing prepared the nation for David Hemery's astonishing world record run in the 400m hurdles. He had been studying at Boston University, analysing US rivals and racing them whenever possible. He knew he was in his best ever form but did not show himself in any of the heats. He decimated the field.
23. Los Angeles 1984. In the 3,000m final, the favourite, Mary Decker, of America, set off at a fast pace with the barefooted South African Zola Budd, Britain's Wendy Sly and Romania's Maricica Puica in a tight group behind. At 1,600m Budd took the lead but off the bend she collided with Decker who was trying to come up on the inside, sending Decker sprawling onto the field and out of the race. Decker was helped off the track in tears and Budd finished seventh. Fevered debate centred on whether the controversial Budd had broken the rules by cutting inside without establishing a clear lead.
22. London 1948. World War II interrupted Fanny Blankers-Koen’s career, but she came back as a 30-year-old mother to win four gold medals in 1948.
21. Rome 1960. Cassius Clay won gold in the light heavyweight class and was so made up he wore the medal for two days. But he later threw it into the Ohio River after being refused service at a white's only restaurant. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta he was awarded a replacement by the US basketball team.
20. Munich 1972. Russian gymnast Olga Korbut captured the public's imagination with her acrobatic floor exercises and spectacular beam routines. She won three golds and a silver, smiling and dancing her way into the hearts of the world, in the process subverting the stereotype of the East European automaton.
19. London 1952. Emil Zatopek took over from Paavo Nurmi as the king of distance running, winning the marathon just days after triumphing in the 5,000m and 10,000m. It is hard to see his feat being equalled.
18. Barcelona 1992. Britain's Derek Redmond tore his right hamstring in the semi-final of the 400m and fell to the ground. When he saw the stretcher-bearers running towards him he began to hobble on one leg down his lane, at which point his father elbowed past officials to assist him to the finishing line. It won a rousing ovation from the 65,000 crowd. The poignancy was heightened by the fact that Redmond's career had been frustrated by injury - he was forced to withdraw from the 1988 games and by 1992 he had undergone five operations, including one on his Achilles tendon less than four months previously.
17. Munich 1972. The US basketball team had been unbeaten in 63 Olympic matches going into the final with Russia at the height of the Cold War. With three seconds remaining, Russia led 49-48 when a foul was awarded to the US. The first two shots were nailed, but a horn was blown during the second shot. The third shot failed and the Americans started to celebrate their win, 50-49. But then an official said he had whistled for play to stop after hearing the earlier horn and the Russians said that they had requested a timeout before the shots were attempted. The referee ordered the clock to be reset to 3 seconds to replay the inbound. Russia failed to score. But then officials said that the clock was still in the process of being reset when the referee put the ball in play. The Secretary General of FIBA (International Basketball Federation) stepped in and ordered the clock to be reset to 3 seconds and the inbound replayed. The Russians scored and were crowned champions. The Americans refused, unsurprisingly, to turn up to the medal ceremony. The silver medals still sit unclaimed in a vault of IOC headquarters and some members of the American team have it written into their wills that no member of their families may claim the medals after their death.
16. Seoul 1988. The world winced when Greg Louganis, the US diver, hit his head on the board on his ninth preliminary springboard dive, while attempting a 2½ somersault pike. He received temporary stitches before completing his tenth dive which gained him the highest score in the preliminaries. The next day he won gold. Later, in 1995, it was revealed that Louganis had been HIV positive at the time of the accident and had not informed the doctor treating him. The doctor subsequently tested negative for HIV.
15. Athens 2004. In one of the most stunning meltdowns in sporting history, Paula Radcliffe collapsed in the marathon four miles from home. She had missed out on medals in the previous Olympics in Sydney and looked in fine form coming into the race, albeit under a huge burden of expectation, much of it self-imposed. It was the hottest day of the month and the humidity was at its highest for six weeks. Debate continues as to whether she was beaten by conditions or gave up at not being able to make up ground on Japan's Mizuki Noguchi who had pulled away from her at the 16-mile stage. Noguchi went on to win and attributed it to drinking the stomach juices of giant killer hornets which she says gave her performance an extra buzz.
14. Sydney 2000. Cathy Freeman, the first aboriginal athlete to compete for Australia, won gold in the 400m and ignited a nation. Up to then it had been a disappointing home Olympics for the Australians, especially in the pool, and Freeman represented a last chance of glory. She ran her victory lap carrying both Aborigine and Australian flags.
[Great moment but Syed has made some errors. Freeman wasn't the first aboriginal to compete for Australia and I'm sure there has been other aboriginal track and field athletes if that's what he means. Nor was she the first to win Gold. However she was the first to win an individual gold.
Also it hadn't been a "disapointing Olympics up to then, especially in the pool." As I said in my reply to The Times ," The AOC predicted 20 swimming medals 6 to 8 golds, we won 18 medals, 5 golds. Thorpe's 200m, Klim's 100m Fly and O'Neil's 200m B'Fly silvers were a bit of a disapointment, but O'Neil's 200m Free gold was a surprise. The AOC predicted 60 medals we won 58, 15 to 20 golds, we won 16. Feeeman's gold was no. 13th. Hardly a disappointment up to then.]
13. Atlanta 1996. Quivering under the affliction of Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali lit the torch at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games: it was a moment of almost unbearable poignancy.
12. Atlanta 1996. Michael Johnson became the first man to win both the 200m and 400m, but it was his stunning performance in the former event that shocked spectators. The time of 19.32s took a chunk out of the existing world record. It seemed even more apt that Johnson's unusual style - all legs and straight back - evoked memories of Jesse Owens.
11. Munich 1972. Mark Spitz, the United States swimmer with the big moustache, promised before the games that he would win seven golds. He did not disappoint, taking seven world records into the bargain.
10. Los Angeles 1984. Carl Lewis matched Jesse Owens by winning four golds, in the 100m, 200m, long jump and sprint relay. A stunning performance by one of the most successful Olympians, it was clouded only when allegations emerged that Lewis may have tested positive for banned substances before the 1988 Olympics along with other members of the American team.
9. Paris 1924. Another epic British rivalry pitted Harold Abrahams (a Jew) against Eric Liddell (a Christian), a confrontation chronicled in the wonderful film Chariots of Fire. Liddell was selected for the 100m, 200m and 400m but with the 100m heat scheduled for a Sunday he declined to race and instead preached a sermon in a Scottish church in the French capital. He went on to win bronze in the 200m and gold in the 400m. Liddell later became a missionary in China and died in a Japanese internment camp in February 1945. Abrahams won the 100m - the first European to do so for 36 years - and went on to become a prominent official in sport and an admired BBC commentator.
8. Moscow 1980. Sebastian Coe gained sweet revenge in the 1,500m for what happened in the 800m (see No 7). Jurgen Straub of East Germany pulled away off the final bend, but Coe moved through the gears and eased away to win, with Steve Ovett finishing third. Coe collapsed on the track in tears and pulled away from Ovett's outstretched hand of congratulations to run a victory lap. He won the 1,500m again four years later but failed once more in the 800m, losing to Brazil's Joaquim Cruz.
7. Moscow 1980. Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe formed one of sport’s most captivating rivalries. Ovett, talented and taciturn, was the underdog in the 800m. Coe, the silky smooth world record holder, was favoured by most of his countrymen. In the event Coe made a series of tactical blunders and was too far adrift when Ovett kicked for home. It took an extraordinary effort for Coe to take silver.
6. Paris 1924. Paavo Nurmi is amongst the most remarkable of all Olympians and his performance in 1924 continues to defy belief. The Finn not only won gold in the 1,500m but went on to triumph in the 5,000m with less than 90 minutes between events. He also set new world records in both races. Nurmi also competed in 1920 and 1928.
5. Mexico 1968. There have been protests in the Olympics ever since Ralph Rose, the US flag bearer, refused to lower the flag in the 1908 Games held in London due to English occupation of Ireland. But when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists and bowed their heads during the medal ceremony in protest against racism in US, the images stuck. The protest met with outrage and both men were suspended from the national team and banned from the Olympic village. But it was a milestone in America's civil rights movement and both athletes were honoured in 1998 on the 30th anniversary of their protest.
4. Munich 1972. One day in September, eight Palestinian terrorists broke into Israeli athletes' dormitories in the Olympic village. Two were killed instantly and nine taken hostage. Later they were allowed to go to the airport where nine hostages, five terrorists and a policeman died during a bungled rescue attempt. It marked the moment when the Olympics became a target for international terrorism and set the stage for the Games of today, patrolled by armed guards and encircled by all the apparatus of the police state.
3. Mexico 1968. On the eve of his defence of his long jump title, Lynn Davies from Wales said: “it only needs Bob Beamon to hit the board right once and we can all go home." In the event Beamon nearly failed to qualify for the final after two no jumps: he had to reduce his run up speed in his third attempt to make the qualifying distance. But in the final he launched into orbit, hanging in thin air for what seemed like an eternity, thus setting a new world record that would stand for 23 years. As a side note, it is worth remembering that, a few months before the Games, Beamon was suspended from his university team for refusing to compete against a college with “racist policies”.
2. Berlin 1936. African American Jesse Owens won four Olympic gold medals in the Games staged in the German capital as Hitler intensified his preparations for war. Many have claimed that Owens’s success debunked Nazi claims of Aryan superiority but the truth is rather more complex. Nazi intellectuals responded to the setback with the assertion that because black people have abnormally large “animal” heel bones, the Americans had cheated by selecting a black man. Owens himself later noted that his victory did little to advance the cause of African Americans in the US. The legend that Hitler refused to shake his hand is fiction. He had actually been told by the IOC President that it was not the convention.
1. Seoul 1988. Vivid and unforgettable, Ben Johnson astounded the world when he stormed to gold in the 100m in Seoul, leaving Carl Lewis and the laws of aerodynamics in his wake. Johnson shattered the world record with a time of 9.79 seconds and would have gone ever faster had he not commenced his finger-aloft celebration five yards from the line. Two days later he tested positive for steroids. I leave it to Simon Barnes to capture the moral and human ambiguity encapsulated in that extraordinary performance: “There is a part of us that still revels in the fastest men, in these superhuman champions, in these figures of blinding speed and overreaching ambition. We don’t approve of drugs, we don’t approve of cheating, but all the same, we respond to the speed, the ambition, the absolute earth-shattering glory of being the fastest man in the world.”
