Name the 5 Olympic moments most remembered in your Country

[mpjmcevoy 362]

5 hours ago, Epic Failure said:

some strong choices.

 

Others I'd consider -

 

• The Mens Hockey Gold in 88 - at least partly because of Barry Davies's commentary
• Derek Redmond in 92 - memorable for the emotion, not the sporting success obviously
• Redgrave/Pinsent in 96 - an Olympics that was a nadir for British Olympics generally, so this was the sole really bright spot. But it maintained our record of a gold at every Summer Games
• Kelly Holmes doing the double in Athens
• Andy Murray in 2012
• The entire opening ceremony. Utterly bonkers and utterly brilliant

That 'gold every games' record is impressive, but it's on the shoogliest of pegs re: 1904. The single gold, won by a man who refused British money and a British uniform, insisted he represented only Ireland, and tried to tear down the Union Flag! Still, adds to the gaiety of Olympic history.

 

my own fives change daily but:

 

Ireland:

 

Katie Taylor 2012

Michael Carruth+Wayne McCullough

O'Donavons' silver (I know the gold was four years later, and better, but that first rowing medal said we'd arrived)

Pat O'Callaghan's hammer, the first

Ronnie Delaney

 

A certain ginger swimmer who rattled when shook has been expunged from memory.

 

Great Britain (entirely personal)

 

Redgrave's 5th

Murray 2012

Super Saturday

Coe v Ovett

Men's 4 x 100 gold - a team of 'failures' who became champions

 

honourable mention for Whitlock 2 gold in 2 hours, Kelly Holmes, Men's Hockey, Women's Hockey and Brad Wiggins TT

[Olympicsnell 300]

Two of my personal top five will be the same nationally i suspect, 

Super Saturday At 2012

Redgrave's 5th At 2000

My other personal 3 to round out the 5 would be 

Chris Boardman individual pursuit 1992 (first games i watched)
Men's 4x100 2004
Mo's double (but rio 2016 as i was at both) (humble brag)

 

[mpjmcevoy 362]

29 minutes ago, Olympicsnell said:

Two of my personal top five will be the same nationally i suspect, 

Super Saturday At 2012

Redgrave's 5th At 2000

My other personal 3 to round out the 5 would be 

Chris Boardman individual pursuit 1992 (first games i watched)
Men's 4x100 2004
Mo's double (but rio 2016 as i was at both) (humble brag)

 

I suspect the 4 x 100 guys will be a secret fave of more than you'd think - the story was just so good, Had a mini "miracle on ice"/Hogan's Heroes vibe to it .

 

It should have been impossible. It was impossible. They did it anyway. THAT'S the Olympics!

[mpjmcevoy 362]

And FWIW, my honest personal favourite 5 Global moments

 

Mattheus Steiner 2012 - lifting the weight of the world from his shoulders for one night.

Anna Kiesenhofer 2024 - the Greatest Trick the cyclist ever pulled was convincing the peloton she didn't exist.

Kohei Uchimura - Because sometimes it's just perfect.

Michael Phelps 8 in Beijing - Greatness in real time

Kathy Freeman - Dreamtime to Dreamland.

[Triplecast 156]

I see no one from US has responded to this.  I've tried to come up with a list of most significant/infamous US moments across Olympic history, not my 5 moments. 

 

1.  Jesse Owens 4 gold medals in 1936.

2.  1980 US Ice Hockey team (although I personally believe the 1960 ice hockey team was a greater sports accomplishment).  

3.  1972 US Basketball team.  

4.  1994 Womens figures skating.

5.  Frank Shorter 1972 Marathon (because it really triggered the running revolution in the US).

 

[Epic Failure 355]

8 hours ago, mpjmcevoy said:

That 'gold every games' record is impressive, but it's on the shoogliest of pegs re: 1904. The single gold, won by a man who refused British money and a British uniform, insisted he represented only Ireland, and tried to tear down the Union Flag! Still, adds to the gaiety of Olympic history.

 

Gotta love technicalities... Next you'll be telling me that our 1936 ice hockey gold doesn't really count because the team was basically Canadian.

[mpjmcevoy 362]

2 minutes ago, Epic Failure said:

Gotta love technicalities... Next you'll be telling me that our 1936 ice hockey gold doesn't really count because the team was basically Canadian.

🍁🍁🍁

[Epic Failure 355]

1 hour ago, Triplecast said:

I see no one from US has responded to this.  I've tried to come up with a list of most significant/infamous US moments across Olympic history, not my 5 moments. 

 

1.  Jesse Owens 4 gold medals in 1936.

2.  1980 US Ice Hockey team (although I personally believe the 1960 ice hockey team was a greater sports accomplishment).  

3.  1972 US Basketball team.  

4.  1994 Womens figures skating.

5.  Frank Shorter 1972 Marathon (because it really triggered the running revolution in the US).

 

If we're talking about the most remembered, the Dream Team has to be up there, surely?

 

The 4x100m freestyle battle with the French has gone down in history amongst US swimming circles from what I've seen, as a race, although Spitz and Phelps's total hauls obviously outshine it.

[RussB 189]

For the Brits I’d have to agree with my other commentators on:

- redgrave’s 5th “‘the Italians are coming!”

- men’s 4x 100m - I’m not sure I’ve ever been more pumped watching the Olympics 🤣

- also like the Redmond inclusion for what the spirit of the games is all about 

 

id like to throw in a nomination for Jason Kenny in the Kierin Tokyo 2021 - the end of his career, hadn’t really shown any form in the individual sprint and looked like a rather meek goodbye - then in the final against an odds on fav in Harry L, he drifts off the front and isn’t immediately closed down and goes full gas 3 laps out to win by half the straight. Beautiful chaos.

I’d also mention Adlington’ 400m free Beijing 2008 when she came from nowhere to win. The US comms didn’t even mention her name until the last 10 metres! GB took 2 medals home from that race with Jo Jackson getting bronze which was a shock.

[mpjmcevoy 362]

34 minutes ago, RussB said:

For the Brits I’d have to agree with my other commentators on:

- redgrave’s 5th “‘the Italians are coming!”

- men’s 4x 100m - I’m not sure I’ve ever been more pumped watching the Olympics 🤣

- also like the Redmond inclusion for what the spirit of the games is all about 

 

id like to throw in a nomination for Jason Kenny in the Kierin Tokyo 2021 - the end of his career, hadn’t really shown any form in the individual sprint and looked like a rather meek goodbye - then in the final against an odds on fav in Harry L, he drifts off the front and isn’t immediately closed down and goes full gas 3 laps out to win by half the straight. Beautiful chaos.

I’d also mention Adlington’ 400m free Beijing 2008 when she came from nowhere to win. The US comms didn’t even mention her name until the last 10 metres! GB took 2 medals home from that race with Jo Jackson getting bronze which was a shock.

The Kenny gold was great fun, and also a powerful lesson that sometimes wit can beat power and speed. If you watch closely you notice that Glaetzer on second wheel is clearly as nervous as hell, no doubt worrying about Harrie. He's super twitchy. But its all very good us noticing it - what's important is that Kenny noticed it, in race, and there comes a point, about a lap before the derny leaves where Kenny starts throwing looks back at Glaetzer quite rhythmically - and EVERY time he does, Glaetzer reflexively looks back at Harrie et al. now he has the fish on the line, Kenny keeps baiting poor Matthew, and literally when the derny pulls off, throws a final long look back at the precise second he puts down a smidge of power (Kenny is known for being able to speed up while looking back)- and Glaetzer can't help himself, and looks back just at the point Kenny jumps - it's a millisecond, but its enough for Kenny to get a maybe 10 metres - at that point for a brief second the whole group is looking at Glaetzer as second wheel, and he's kind of looking at them, and they all just too slowly realise "F*** me, Kenny's off!!" - meanwhile Kenny is absolutely all over the track banks trying to get speed before they realise.

 

They never get near him again. It as a thing of beauty.