Just wondering what some people thought were some of the greatest moments in Olympic history...

Personally, I can still remember watching Keri Strugg do the vault for the US team at Atlanta '96...and win the gold medal.

I remember as a little kid watching Mary Lou Retton and the crowd cheering and holding up "10, 10, 10, 10" in Los Angeles. I remember being in love with her as well.

Greg Louganis hitting his head and then coming back and winning the competition.

I remember being disgusted from the Olympics in Seoul when the American boxer got completely cheated.

Strange memory: Elizabeth Manley from Canada having a great skate and winning the silver medal in Calgary.

Mary Decker getting clipped in a run by Zola Budd, who happened to run barefoot.

Dan Jansen falling in his Olympic races after his sister dies of cancer.

Dan Jansen carrying his daughter around the Oval after winning his medal.


I LOVE the Olympics. I sometimes take vacation time off work to watch the events. Its amazing how the memories keep in my head. I don't know what it is about the Olympics... I am amazed by every opening ceremony and cry at every closing ceremony.

The 1980 US Olympic hockey team's wins over the Soviet Union and then Finland (the game many people seem to forget) to win the gold medal, of course.

I have two from Summer Games and one from the Winter Olympics. I was in Montreal in 1976 to see Edwin Moses win the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles, running a perfect race. It was beautiful to watch! Lasse Viren's golden double (in the 5000 and 10000) at those same games was also smashing to see. My Winter Games memory is of the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Games in Calgary. Thrilled to have seen those live. My favorite competition memories are Torvill & Dean at Sarajevo (1984) and the hockey games mentioned by Joe in Philly.

~Adam

FloJo winning the 100M & 200M titles

Gabriella Anderson from Switzerland finishing the Marathon staggering across the finish line & collapsing. ('84 in LA)

Seeing Marla Runyan (legally blind runner) win her heat in the 1500M, and make it to the Finals in Sydney

I would have to say all of Matt Biondi and Janet Evan's swimming races at the 88 Seoul, and 92 Barcelona games.

Tonya Harding, crying & trying to lace her gilded skates during her Olympic Bow. Classic! :cool:

Joan Benoit, winning & racing into the LA Coliseum, for the first Olympic Womens Marathon. (I was there in person).

Unknown Egyptian woman, diving in the 1984 Olympic games. It seemed she only had a year or so of formal training. And her dives had little difficulty. But her heart was big, so the gallery roared for all of her dives. wink

I love the Olympics as well. Here are some of my favorites: Nadia scoring a perfect 10.00 (from what I remember, I was still pretty young!); Florence Griffith-Joyner winning the 100 meters with a big grin on her face; Greg Louganis coming back to win golds on the springboard and platform diving competitions; the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the women's gymnastics all-around final, Soviet gymnast Elena Shoushanova vaulting past Daniela Silivas of Romania to win the gold by the smallest margin of victory; Ben (I forgot his last name, the Canadian sprinter) beating Carl Lewis for the gold in the 100 meters, only to have it taken away two days later when he tested positive for steroids; the 1992 mens basketball games with Jordan, Johnson, and Bird; Boitano beating Orser in the mens final; Yamaguchi beating Ito in the womens final; the 1984 US mens gymnastic team beating China for the team gold; and Mary Lou vaulting to a 10.00! There are a lot more but I can't think of them right now! Can't wait for Greece!

Anyone who was alive, conscious and older than 10 in 1980 has to remember the hockey team - and it wasn't just the thrill of the victories, over both USSR and Finland, but the moments afer the gold medal victory that stick in my mind - the team going nuts, Jim Craig searching for his widowed father in the stands with the American flag draped around his shoulders - Eurozione inviting the whole team up on that little tiny platform to celabrate with him - Absolutely amazing!

The other moment that can bring a tear to my eye that others haven't mentioned is the opening of the 96 games in Atlanta, when Muhammad Ali was revealed to be the torch lighter - he looked both so frail and so strong at the same time that it was unforgettable (although the archer lighting the flame in 92 was pretty cool).

No doubt for me it was hunky Eric Heiden winning all five races he entered (500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m) in 1980.

(he was living in Madison around that time, and training in Milwaukee, so I saw him in person a bunch of times -- you should have seen the thighs on that boy -- supposedly he had a 32" waist and 27" thighs! other measurements I don't know wink )

Dan Jansen's heartbreaks and successes -- after dominating the sport for years, and racing in three olympics, he didn't win the gold until his absolute final attempt.

[ July 29, 2003, 10:17 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

No question in my mind, it was the USA's gold medal hockey game, as cpt pointed out, I will never forget this series of events for as long as I live.

Great thread that you started, metro....the Olympic moment that immediately pops into my mind first is always the 1980 Miracle On Ice team -- CptDoom's post describes a few of the scenes that made it so incredibly memorable and moving (even though I was just a teen in high school at the time I still vividly remember so much about those games, including the opener when the U.S. scored in the final minute to tie Sweden)....in fact, I would go so far as to say that the 1980 Gold Medal team was not only the greatest Olympic moment but one of the greatest SPORTS moments of the past century....geez, I wish the USOC would go back to using amateurs in hockey and basketball, especially -- it was those young, inexperienced, exuberant underdogs who didn't have a prayer of defeating the mighty Russians that made the achievement even more special.

The other Olympic moments that have stayed with me the most are Dan Jansen's quest for a gold in speed skating (his falls were so heartbreaking, particularly in light of the family tragedy that he was going through) and the U.S. mens gymnasts team with Bart Conner and Mitch Gaylord winning the gold in '84.

[ July 29, 2003, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Paul Wylie's 1992 performance at Albertville. After years of under-achieving, Wylie captured the silver medal and a lot of hearts. I can still clearly picture him skating to the empowering score from Henry V.

[ July 31, 2003, 02:51 AM: Message edited by: robdun ]

What about the questionable decisions that favoured the US in
the 1984 games? In several events, boxing among others, such
calls helped the US win gold medals. Without them, the US
would not have set a record 82 gold medals in one olympic games,
beating the USSR's record of 80 set in 1980.

\"I'm not saying the fix was in...\" - Alan Eagelson


That result was part of Canada's ignominuous honour of being
the only nation *not* to win a gold medal in an olympics on
its home soil.

On a positive note, how can anyone forget the tie for gold in
the bobsled at Lillehammer between Canada and Italy? After
four runs, and measured to 1/100th of a second, they had the
exact same time. (Oh yeah - NBC, instead of showing it live
at 1:00AM, showed it on tape delay at 1:00AM the NEXT DAY, 24
hours after it happened.)

One more strange one: after the 2000 and 2002 olympic games,
the number of Americans screaming at NBC and trying all sorts
of means to get CBC's live and less navel-gazing coverage.


And Decker whining and crying instead of getting up. Let's
admit it, folks, she wasn't injured. She was as bad as those
who complain about the 1972 basketball game. It's over, deal
with it.

I will always remember Donovan Bailey and the Canadian 4X100m
relay team winning in Atlanta. Not just for winning in front
of the world and silencing the crowd, but for what happened
afterward:

The reporters for NBC *physically* pushed Canadian reporters
out of the way to interview Bailey. Being Canadian, Bailey
ignored NBC and spoke to the CBC first.


Bob Dog

People have made a lot of memorable moments. I love them.

I hope NBC really works on their Olympic coverage- it has been SO poor the last few Olympics.

Lots of great moments listed thus far. Since I'm a huge gymnastics fan, my favorite Olympic moment was when Trent Dimas won the gold on the high bar at the '92 Olympics. The US men were having a rough competition up to that point. Then, in the last event final, Trent absolutely rocked his set and stuck his triple back dismount cold. After saluting the judges, he jumped off of the podium into the arms of his coach, and I was just awestruck. I remember going to practice the next day completely jazzed about his gold medal.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's Kurt Browning's technical program in Lillehammer. He was the 4-time World Champion and a huge favorite for the Gold medal in Figure Skating. After falling on the triple flip and singling the axel, he went to the Kiss & Cry and looked completely miserable. When he put his head in his hands, sobbed for a minute and said, "I need a hug," ... I've never felt so badly for an athlete.

Nick

There have been soooo many wonderful Olympic memories and some tragic ones, too.

Remember the Games in Munich when the Israeli athletes were killed and Jim McKay did the coverage? Awful stuff.

And the first time the Americans did NOT win the gold medal, after losing to the CCCP team..Dreadful finish to the game, complete with botched calls and then the incredible disbelief that followed....oh, and the non acceptance of the Silver medal.

1980 is my fodest memory though. Miracle on Ice and yep, I cried when we beat the Soviet team, cried when we beat Finland and hell, I cry every time I watch the old clips of the game when we beat the Russians. You can imagine, too that I am teary-eyed now! LOL, what a sap....

What, no Peggy Fleming memories? Kids!

Tops! "Miracle on Ice"....first Hockey game I (or anyone else in my family) ever saw, and yes I cried. Our whole family was glued to the TV set, even though we had no clue what the rules of the game were, being from small town west Texas. It was a surreal experience for us.

I guess what I remember most about the Olympics (during my childhood) is that it was THE event that our whole family always watched together. We only had one TV, so during the Olympics there was peace and harmony in our house because it was the only time we ALL agreed on what to watch.

Peggy who? LOL wink

How about Dorothy Hamil and the "Hamil Camel"?

Exactly the point I made earlier. 1972 is over, no amount of
complaining will change that.

You don't hear Canadians moaning on and on for years about the
boxing judges in Los Angeles, Liz Manley's silver in Calgary,
the fix in 2002's figure skating (everybody noticed, not just
Canadians) and the screwup in counting for (it's not really a
sport) synchronized swimming in 1988. (1984? 1992?)

Actually, maybe it's because Canadians *didn't* whine incessantly
about the last two that they were later overturned. Maybe if
people would let '72 rest, the IOC might change their decision.


Bob Dog

What about Dick Button and his spins?? (LOL- yes I am a closet lover of figure skating at the Olympics!)

Here is to having Michelle Kwan in 2006 in Italy!!!

Being the swimfan that I am, I would have to say the 1976 Olympics produced one of my favorate moments.

Set up: Women's Swimming. East German Dominance (steroids) vs. America's women swimmers (no steroids). American women were shut out from collecting any gold.

MOMENT: 4 x 100 Free Relay. Favorites GDR vs. USA. GOLD for USA! Shirley Babashoff practically swam right atta the pool!

Moral: Good wins over evil! :cool:

[ August 03, 2003, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: ironjohn8 ]

Speaking of swimming, my lust for Mark Spitz is quite memorable.

Bruce Jenner...mmmmmmm...another good memory!

Mark Spitz- I know it is his real name, but it sounds like a porn star's name. LOL

Some of my favorite Olympic moments are the stories behind how some of the athletes make it to the Olympics. I remember in Albertville or Lillehammer that there was a story about some of the skiiers who actually had to sneak out of the country from the civil war going on in the former Yugoslavia in order to even get to compete. To me, that is what the Olympics are about- getting the chance to compete and represent your country.

The terrible thing is that with NBC covering the Olympics, we will never get beyond the color US Olympians paint their toenails.

Without question, Canada's gold medal in hockey just last year at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I'm surprised none of you Americans share the same sentiment

Probably -- 'cause we had already won like, what, two of 'em, already!

Does anyone remember Franz Klammer in 1976 Winter Olympics in the downhill? That was the first time I was into the Olympics, and his sking, basically trying to win so hard he was falling on every turn, captured me. It was a skiing performance I have not seen equalled.

And what about the Italians vs. the Norwegians in the team cross-country relay in Lillehammer? That was so incredible, the place was nuts, and then the Italian guy edged out the Norwegian by a 1/2 ski at the end, and dead silence.

The Canadian relay team winning the 4x100m relay in Atlanta in '96 (again, probably not a fave among our American outsporters).

Good memory, bballrob....that's one of my earliest Olympic memories too....I remember I was in middle school then and was home sick and still recall how excited the ABC announcers were at describing Franz Klammer's run -- I can still see him in his yellow "uniform" literally flying down the mountain and nearly losing his balance about a half-dozen times.

Nothing will probably ever top the "Miracle on Ice" hockey team but, for someone who usually doesn't follow skiing that closely, Klammer's downrill race for the Gold medal is still one of the most memorable Olympic moments, even over 25 years later.

*Groan*

Be glad you're nowhere nearby so I can thwack you upside the head.

Blame Canada. That's all I have to say.

Favorite serious moments:

* Greg Louganis coming back from hitting his head on the platform to win the gold
* Dan Jansen getting a gold medal in his last Olympic race
* Kerri Strug going from little girl to lionness in one hobbled run in gymnastics

In the retrospect file, even though I was too young to remember the game:

* 1980 Miracle on Ice. That's all I have to say. May the dear Lord rest Herb Brooks' soul.

In the "less serious" vein, how about a pic of Tom Dolan in Sports Illustrated diving into the pool. The picture shows a little bit of crack. I was so delighted!

Mark Spitz's victories made me become a swimmer and diver, and yes, I was mesmerized by him as well. Never has the Olympics had a greater competitor.

Any of the 4-man/woman relays: the drama, build-up, suspense, teamwork, anticipation. There's nothing like it. Doesn't matter whether it's running, skating or swimming.

Hey guys...

Great thread and some great memories! Two of my faves are both Canadian moments.

1992 Barcelona Games - 100 m backstroke. Mark Tewksbury's come from behind win. I've had the opportunity to since hear him speak of this victory...an incredible story!

2000 Sydney Games - Simon Whitfield's victory in the inaugural Olympic Triathlon. What made it even sweeter was that I had (I thought) snuck out of a business meeting on Friday night to watch the end of the event on the large screen television in the hotel bar. After the victory, I took a quick moment to enjoy it all and then 'snuck' back into the meeting. The moment I took my seat, the Chair of the meeting asked if he had won. Busted. But - at least I got to say yes!

Have a good one guys.

Bill

Marc, I was going to defend you because we are good friends. But I agree with DC Bucky and Destiny Rules; you really asked for that. I guess, then, I would have to say my favorite (not favo U rite) Olympic moment was in 1988 seeing Canadian Ben Johnson having the gold medal taken away from him for cheating (and rightfully awarded to American Carl Lewis).

[ August 24, 2003, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: Cattledog ]

--
Cattledog,

You have just proven that patriotism is thicker than friendship, to paraphrase an old expression. Everyone (at least us Revisionists) knows by now that the whole Ben Johnson thing was a conspiracy by corrupt US Olympic officials to discredit Canada so that an American could take all the glory, as usual, even if you and DC Bucky and Destiny Rules choose not to believe that I recall something about Carl Lewis's steroid-laced urine sample being secretly switched with poor Ben's innocent golden pee (alas, the only gold Ben would see). Of course, the truth was covered up by the US media. Canadians never cheat, remember that!

Ben has kept a low profile the last few years. But I remember a minor controversy in the 90s when he was supposedly assisting the son of Libyan dictator Khadafi with his track and field training.


Ironboy,

Mark Tewksbury is my favourite (please note proper spelling, Cattledog ) Canadian Olympic athlete, and not only because of his aquatic talents. Well known here in Calgary (his hometown), and openly gay too! I think he does a lot of 'motivational' speaking now, and he used to be semi-regular on the CTV morning news. I admired Tewksbury's blunt assessment of the IOC as an old boys' club under the reign of Juan Antonio Samaranch, and he correctly stated that the awarding of the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing was a 'pre-determined outcome' because that's what old Juan had decreed. The other candidate cities had no chance whatsoever. OK, enough ranting by me!

Maybe it is just my knee-jerk reaction to the ultra-patriotic coverage by NBC, focusing mostly on athletes from the US, but I tend to try to be neutral on the US athletes and root for athletes from the underdog countries. I have done this since the USSR crumbled, I always cheered against the Soviet bloc athletes because I felt that they had an unfair advantage of state sponsorship, basically pro athletes competing against amateurs. Now the US has the money and training facilities, so our athletes have a natural advantage. I think it is great when athletes from other countries win. And it is soooo important to small countries to have some sport in which they excel. Look at the Kenyans and other African nations with long distance track events, the Austrians with downhill skiing, the Norwegians with cross-country, and the Brazilians with soccer. OK, and the Canadians in hockey and that most exciting of sports, Curling. The east asian countries excel in sports that we rarely get to see with our olympic coverage, like ping-pong and badmitten. I know that we will never get to see these on NBC's olympic coverage because viewership would plummet, so when you see something like Cathy Freeman's victory in Sydney, the whole country coming together behind her, even though she was an Aborigine, it adds extra excitement to me.

But I have to admit that I am pleased that NBC covers so much men's swimming and diving and gymnastics. wink

Actually, I do, too. I was just trying to give Marc a little hell. In fact, the USA basketball team, for example, nauseates me. I am more interested in the game for the bronze. When I saw the way our sprinter athletes carried on Sydney, I was embarrassed for the USA. I would rather see stories and events including different athletes from different countries. Some of us actually find events (in which the US has never won) such as the Nordic Combined quite deserving of more than little taped snippets throughout the evening coverage with Bob Costas.

One sport I wish I'd see more coverage of is team handball. From the descriptions, it sounds like it is/could be a very exciting sport, but I've yet to see a match/game.

Adding on to the more obvious ones, how about the little conspiracy from the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City? The pair ice skating (I don't know what it's called) contraversy. I don't know a thing about ice skating, but the one couple (like I remember their names) was excellent.

In the 96 games, it was an embarrassment to see the U.S. men's relay team act as they did.

Anyone who thinks that American coverage of the Olympics is partisan has clearly never witnessed Canadian coverage. Having grown up in northern North Dakota I've had many opportunities to view Olympic coverage on CBC and CTV. While I enjoy the fact that they (CBC/CTV) spend more time showing the competition and less time on special features about the athletes(NBC,have we had enough of that of what?),their balatant cheering for canadaian althletes is far worse than anything I've ever heard from an american announcer. I'm sure our Canadian members will disagree with me but I stand behind this one.

Great topic!
No question the game against the Russians in 1980 and then the win over the Finns. (already said)

Ok, so I might be showing some favoritism here, but in 1984 in Los Angeles the USA field hockey team came out of the stands to have a strokeoff against the Aussies to determine the winner of the bronze. The Americans won (to this date our only Olympic medal in field hockey).
In 1996 Barb Marois slammed home a penalty corner as time expired to defeat the eventual silver medalist Korea (then #3 in the world).

Strange memory--being "trapped" inside the Village the night of the bomb in Atlanta, and not knowing what was going on for three hours. All we were told was that we could not leave the compound until it was determined that it was safe. US Marshalls were then omnipresent on the buses anytime we went to unsecure places. Of course, there were lots of very positive memories from the Atlanta Games as well (trading gear, making friends from other countries, etc) but that night was a very strange one!

Other great memories:
Steffi's gold medal match in 1988 in Seoul,
the US Women's Hockey gold medal win over the Canadians (televised at 3 am, I was screaming so loudly the police came to ask me to be quiet!),
the US Men's football win over Japan in PKs after they forced OT with a PK in the 90th minute,
Dutch captain Stephan Veen's stroke to the upper 90 to clinch the 2000 title,
the US Women advancing to medal round in 2000 with a 3-2 win over Korea in volleyball

and disappointing memory: the US Women's Soccer loss to Norway in extra time in 2000.

Originally posted by mplsboy: I'm not sure about the cheering being 'far worse', but to a point I agree with you. Canadians are sometimes quick to criticize Americans for what is perceived as zealous, in-your-face, patriotism and then turn around and do it themselves (and not just in the realm of sports; I can think of a recent example but won't get into that here). However, in the Olympics, I think Americans (or citizens of any country for that matter) can be excused for demonstrating national pride when their athletes win medals. It's just that it happens much less frequently up here!

And don't forget CBC and CTV are catering to the home market, just like the US networks are to Americans, so it's to be expected that broadcasters are going to suck up to their viewers by glorifying the accomplishments of their country's athletes. No doubt the Greek media will do the same in Athens next year, although they may be a little hard-pressed, because off the top of my head I can't name a single Greek athlete.

Although I have a certain degree of national pride, personally I've never been one to wrap myself in the flag and I don't feel the need to wear a maple leaf pin when I travel outside Canada (which I'll be doing in a few days). The only reason many Canadians wear such items anyway is so they won't be 'mistaken' for Americans, as if that is something to be avoided at all costs.

Canadian announcers may cheer more obviously for the Canadian winners, but I don't think the Canadian stations focus exclusively on Canadian athletes to the same degree. This may be simply due to the fact that often there aren't any Canadians among the medal contenders, but it's also because the Canadian stations typically show more of the competition and less fluff, so you get to see more of all the athletes, Canadian and otherwise. Also, I haven't seen Canadian broadcaster's neglect to mention who won the silver and bronze medals when a Canadian won the gold. I have seen American announcers do that.

This has been a great thread, and an instructive one as well, in the sense that it reflects how much the television and other media coverage colors our views and (long-term) memories.

I vaguely remember the black-and-white TV images from Grenoble (Peggy Fleming) ann Mexico City (Beamon's leap and also the black power salute). But it was Munich that really seared itself into my memory. Sadly, the most vivid memory is of those terrible hours as Jim McKay and Chris Shenkel reported on the terrorist situation - the images of the masked gunmen on the balcony, and the blond woman who acted as the "go-between", but worst was the momentary ray of hope when McKay came on to report that the athletes were safe - only to have to come back a few minutes later to tell us that "the report was mistaken - they're all gone" (it gets to me even typing this 30 years later).

Also from Munich, watching Frank Shorter enter the Olympic Stadium, an unexpected leader in the marathon, and seing his creatfallen, confused face as he saw another runner ahead of him (it was an impostor who jumped out of the stands).

And also Olga Korbut - one night, she fell off the unevene bars and was devastated, then came back the next night and nailed her event.

More gymnastics: Nadia in Montreal - she did her floor exercise, then there was this delay - longer, longer, then the revolving scoreboard started to turn and it said 1.00 - McKay and the commentator were totally confused then it dawned on all of us that it was an unprecedented 10.00, and that the scoreboard was not capable of displaying a 2-digit number because no one had forseen the need.

I guess I'm alone in not considering the Lake Placid hockey win as an especially memorable moment. I grew up in Phoenix and frankly didn't care much for the game. OF course, during the Olympics you watch stuff you normally don't, but the coverage leading up to the semis had been so jingoistic that I tuned out.

I went to the LA Olympics, but I only paid attention to those events where the boycott didn't come into play (like swimming, where the competition against the clock made the events mean something, unlike the depleted ranks of other sports like gymnastcs). I had tickets to the men's all-around at Pauley Pavillion and traded them for a swimming heat with Steve Lundquist).

LGator,

A true Gator must include that chestful of gold medals that Tracy Caulkins won at the 84 Games!

I was interning with the UF Sports Information Department in the Fall of 84 (in those dark days just before the first probation) and had the pleasure of working on the photo shoot of the swimming/diving media guide that featured all of the Gator swimmers' medals. Tracy brought hers by the office and let us SID serfs handle them. I'll never forget how heavy that medal was, or how gracious Tracy was.

In all kinds of weather...

GatorJ