Jesse Owens fought hard to win a total of four gold medals (100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay) with pure talent and heart, at an era when Nazi Germany asserted to establish their claim to Aryan superiority and African Americans were racially discriminated in the United States.
2. 1992 Barcelona
This is definitely one of the moving scenes in Olympic history. British athlete Derek Redmond won the first round of the 400m race with the fastest time and also easily won the quarterfinals. But in the semifinal, just 150 meters into the race, his right hamstring tore, causing him to fall to the ground. He gathered all the courage to stand up as the stretchers were being carried toward him. In tears and his face grimacing in terrible pain, he was determined to finish the lap and started to hobble down the track. His dad Jim Redmond barged past security to be united with his son, and assisted him until the finish line. And as crossed the finish line, they were given a rousing standing ovation by the 65000-strong crowd.. The fact that injuries had continually weighed down Redmond's career heightened the emotional impact of the situation. He pulled out from the 1988 Olympics because of a hamstring injury and by 1992, had already endured eight surgeries for different injuries including the most recent one on his Achilles tendon a couple of months earlier.
3. 1972 Munich
The 1972 games were stained by what has become known as the Munich Massacre. On September 5th, eight masked Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September organization barged into the quarters of Israeli athletes and coaches in the Olympic village. Two were immediately murdered for resisting while nine were hostaged. They were permitted to depart for an airfield where the nine hostages, five terrorists and a German policeman would perish in a failed rescue attempt. This was a period of history when the Olympic Games became a terrorists' target, setting the massive change for future games, where security would become a major concern.
4. 1988 Seoul
During the preliminary round, the world watched in shock when the American diver Greg Louganis hit his head on the springboard while attempting a reverse 2½ somersault pike. However, after getting temporary stitches, he was able to complete and topped the preliminaries. During the finals, he triumphed with the gold with near perfect scores, becoming the first man to win titles on both the springboard and platform diving events for two straight Olympics Games.
5. 1968 Mexico
On the eve of the long jump event, the 1964 Olympic champion Lynn Davies of Britain remarked that "it only needs Bob Beamon to hit the board once only and we all can go home." The next day, Beamon almost did not qualify for the finals after fouling the first two attempts; and he reduced his speed in order to make the qualifying distance on his third attempt. By the finals, he appeared to launch himself off the ground soaring through the air for like infinity, setting a world record that prevailed for 23 years.
6. 1924 Paris
Known as the "Flying Scotsman," Eric Liddell entered the 100m, 200m and 400m race, but the 100m heat was scheduled on a Sunday. Firm on his Christian convictions, he withdrew himself for the 100m race, his best event, and instead gave a sermon at a nearby Scottish church. On the day of the 400m race, he was given a piece of paper with a biblical quotation written on it, "Those who honor me I will honor" (1 Samuel 2:30). He won the race breaking the existing record with a time of 47.6 seconds. He also earned the 200m bronze.. His Olympic success was memorialized in the Oscar-winning movie "Chariots of Fire."
7. 1996 Atlanta
In1960 Rome Olympics, Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) won the light heavyweight boxing division, and wore the gold medal for two days. But he would afterward cast it into the Ohio River because a "whites-only" restaurant refused him service. Shaking due to Parkinson's syndrome, he lit the Olympic torch that open the 1996 games; and was then awarded a medal by the US basketball team in replacement for his old one. It was an occasion of unbearable poignancy.
8. 2000 Sydney
For the Australians, it was without doubt a disappointing home Olympics, particularly in the pool. Cathy Freeman, the very first Aboriginal athlete, represented Australia's final last chance for glory. Being the 400m race favorite, she did not fall short of their expectations; she won gold and ran her victory lap waving both the Australian and the Aboriginal flags.
9. 1960 Rome
Wilma Rudolph,United States athlete, was the first woman to be awarded three gold medals in track and field in one Olympic Games (100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay). The incredible thing about her accomplishment was the fact that she contracted polio as a child, and only was only able to walk normally at age seven.
10. 1976 Montreal
Nadia Comaneci, a 14-year-old Romanian gymnast, would become the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 on the uneven bars. But the scoreboards, which were equipped only to report a maximum score of 9.9, displayed the perfect score as 1.0. Over the course of the Games, she would receive six more perfect 10s, earning her three golds (the all-around, uneven bars and balance beam).
11. 1948 London
Dutch trackster Fanny Blankers-Koen was predicted to do well in the 1940 Helsinki Games, which did not pushed through owing to World War II outbreak, abruptly disrupting her thriving career. She would make a comeback in the London Olympics a 30-year-old mother and earned four golds (100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay and 80m hurdles). She was dubbed "the Flying Housewife" for her outstanding performance.
12. 1908 London
Dorando Pietri, Italian waiter, trained seriously for the marathon. But during the race, he misjudged his speed and started to suffer the effects of thirst and extreme fatigue with less than two kilometers remaining. He would eventually pass out five times in the stadium before the umpires aided him over the final few meters to finish in first place.. He was subsequently disqualified when the American team complained against the assistance he got. Queen Alexandra would however award him with a gilded silver cup as consolation.
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