Name the 5 Olympic moments most remembered in your Country

[Dragon 1,894]

 

 Torvill and Dean - Ice dance gold in Sarajevo

"Super Saturday" 2012 in athletics when Ennis, Rutherford and Farah all won gold

Coe versus Ovett in 1980

The fours rowing in 2000 when Redgrave won his 5th successive gold medal

 

And although it was before i was born but gets repeated on TV regularly

 

 

[Benolympique 2,398]

 

1996 : Laura flessel

[LDOG 2,418]

Most remembered, good question...  

   

1. Winning the gold in football and basketball the same day in Athens ending a 52 year gold medal drought. Undisputed number one in my view, it's remembered almost every year on TV and social media.

  

2. Defeating USA in the same tournament mentioned above.   

  

3. Del Potro's crazy run to the final in 2016 while he had virtually no world ranking.  

  

4. The volleyball medals in 88 and last year. For a week it became the most popular sport. 

  

5. The 1932 marathon win of Juan Carlos Zabala was very popular at the time. Even biopics were made about him. 

[phelps 7,801]

  On 12/4/2022 at 1:09 PM, phelps said:

to answer your pivotal question...

 

it's really difficult to rank all of those sensational successes Italy has had over the past 120 years or so, especially because I normally enjoy sports that here aren't even a niche that most people ignore the existence of.

 

so, I'm going with a fully personal list since my first Olympic memories...

 

 Sarajevo 1984, men's single Luge, Paul Hildgartner's gold medal and the first games of an international Ice Hockey tournament (in particular, Jim Corsi on the italian net stopping the Big Red Machine and the KLM line for more than half a game and all of the amazing Soviet team plays).

 

 Los Angeles 1984, the gold medal won by the tiny wrestler Vincenzo Maenza (greco-roman -48kg), the gold medal won by Alberto Cova (men's 10,000m) and the silver medal won by Sara Simeoni (athletics), the first Olympic chapter of the Abbagnale saga in Rowing and the tragic last meters of the Swiss marathon specialist in the very first women's race over that distance at the Games.

 

 Calgary 1988, well...I don't have great memories about those Games, also because of the very poor coverage they got on our TV.

Except one (actually, 2) unforgettable events: Alberto Tomba's gold medals (men's GS and Slalom, especially this one -the most viewed sport event in the history of the Country outside some football games at the world cup) in Alpine Skiing.

 

 Seoul 1988, actually my most intense memories are about a loss, the boxing scandal when Vincenzo Nardiello was declared a loser against the Korean fighter, the same who then made an even bigger scandal by robbing the gold medal against Roy Jones Jr.

then, the final day, when the poor Vincenzo Parisi won the gold medal in Boxing, followed a few moments later by the amazing Gelindo Bordin in the men's Marathon.

 

more to come (sorry, but now I have to leave )...

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part #2, the Nineties

 

Albertville 1992, the first Games where I became a true addicted to charm of the Olympics
once again, Alberto Tomba above anything else, but also the desperate cry of Debora Compagnoni in the women's GS, when she broke her knee just the day after winning gold in the super-G.
the improbable men's combined event in alpine skiing, but also the birth of the golden age of the Italian Cross-Country Skiing (skipping school to watch Stefania Belmondo winning gold over the 30km...priceless).

Barcelona 1992, one of the most memorable edition of the Olympics with a lot of unforgettable moments.
among them, Montserrat Caballè and (the spirit of) Freddy Mercury at the Opening Ceremony, the long night of Giovanna Trillini, when she won the individual gold medal in women's Foil, the golden hour of Pierpaolo Ferrazzi (men's K1 Canoe Slalom -the sport making its Olympic debut) and of the poor Fabio Casartelli (winner of the gold medal in the Cycling men's Road Race).
finally, the amazing men's Waterpolo final, when Italy beat Spain, refs, spectators, FINA and the King of Spain against all the odds.

Lillehammer 1994, "the" Winter Games. "the" race: men's CC Skiing, the Italian relay outsprinting the entire Norwegina population and causing one of the biggest upsets in the history of that sport, if not of the whole Winter Olympics.
but also our wonderful guys of the Short Track, beating the mighty Koreans in the men's relay and the alpine skiing, with the last medal won by "la Bomba" (the unbelievable comeback from 15th to 2nd in he men's Slalom), the golden GS by Debora Compagnoni and the rise of the new star of our alpine skiing, Isolde Kostner, twice bronze medallist in Super-G and Downhill.
finally, the best Ice Hockey match ever (outside the NHL), the GMM between Sweden and Canada.

Atlanta 1996, lots of memories...my first "night" Games and the fact that I was serving my military service (mandatory in Italy at that time, 12 months of wasted time), from which I don't know yet today how I could find the way to get a full 20 day break to watch the Olympics.
and how to forget Muhammad Alì enlighting the Cauldron? or the terrorist attack at the Olympic Village? (luckily a minor thing compared to 1972).
among the sport events, I remember almost all the Italian medals and many other great competitions...just to name a few, Paola Pezzo winning gold in the first ever Mountain Bike Olympic race, Roberto Di Donna winning gold in the men's Air Pistol (Shooting) only because of Yifu Wang shooting the last shot at the Moon, the medals raining in Track Cycling and Canoeing, especially Antonio Rossi and Josefa Idem winning the men and women's K1 500m one after another.

Nagano 1998, with Italy started their decline in Winter Sports, my best memories are still Hermann Meier literally flying out of the Track in the men's Downhill and then coming back winning the men's Super-G after just 24 hours and Dominik Hasek and his Czech Republic winning in style the gold medal in the very first Olympic tournament played by the NHL players.

 

more to come...

Edited December 4, 2022 by phelps

[rafalgorka 1,634]

@phelps Freddie was dead already in 1992 

Edited December 4, 2022 by rafalgorka

[phelps 7,801]

  On 12/4/2022 at 4:02 PM, rafalgorka said:

@phelps Freddie was dead already in 1992 

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yeah, but his song was the anthem of the Games, he was still living with Mrs. Caballè singing his words and music (mixed with his voice)...

[Vic Liu 1,686]

 

1. Beijing 2008 opening ceremony without any doubt. A historical moment could be written in Chinese textbook. A strong sound telling the world that China has risen.

 

2. Liu Xiang Wins Historic 110m Hurdles Gold - Athens 2004 Olympics. Liu Xiang became a super star in China after Athens and still China's athletics proud.

 

3. Women's Volleyball gold against Russia from 0-2 to 3-2 in Athens.

 

4. Women's Volleyball quarterfinal winning against Brazil 3-2 as the 4th on group stage in Rio 2016.

 

5. China's fist Olympic Gold-Los Angeles 1984. Men's 10m air pistol XU Haifeng. A figure and a moment in our history book.

 

[bestmen 2,831]

 the  Gold of Soltani in boxing 1996

The guy has died in 2002 in mysterious conditions , looks like kidnapping  

[rafalgorka 1,634]

  On 12/4/2022 at 4:30 PM, bestmen said:

 the  Gold of Soltani in boxing 1996

The guy has died in 2002 in mysterious conditions , looks like kidnapping  

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Not Morceli?

[Makedonas 2,197]

These are not necessarily my favourite moments, but what I think were most remembered in my country:

1. Hosting the 2004 Olympics - everything about it!

 

2. Pyrros Dimas winning bronze at home at the 2004 Olympics, after he won gold in 1992, 1996, and 2000. Although he could not win the gold again, this medal had more sentimental value than the golds he won, and also it was the last competition of his career.

 

3. Konstantinos Kenteris gold in the 200m at the 2000 Olympics. This is something everyone remembers.

 

4. Paraskevi Patoulidou gold in 100m hurdles at the 1992 Olympics. First Greek woman to win an Olympic medal, and she became very famous for her slogan "For Greece, dammit!"

 

5. Fani Halkia gold in the 400m hurdles at the 2004 Olympics. Every Greek remembers where they were that night.

 

 

As you can see the sprint/hurdles gold medals got so much more attention than gold medals in sailing, gymnastics, field events, etc.