Your Favorite Olympic Moments

[NearPup 4,172]

• Sydney 2000: Simon Whitfield winning the men's triathlon
• Salt Lake City 2002: Steven Bradbury doing a Bradbury
• Athens 2004: Hicham El Guerrouj winning the men's 5000m
• Turin 2006: Tanja Frieden winning the women's snowboardcross
• Beijing 2008: Eric Lamaze winning the individual show jumping
• Vancouver 2010: Jon Montgomery winning the men's skeleton
• London 2012: McKayla Maroney's perfect vault in the women's gymnastics team event
• Sochi 2014: The women's ice hockey finals
• Rio 2016: Penny Oleksiak and Simone Manuel winning the women's 100m freestyle
• Pyeongchang 2018: Ester Ledecká winning the women's Super-G

[rafalgorka 1,821]

@Wumo my most memorable bitter-sweet Dannish olympic moment? Obviously men's Handball semi in Rio. Last second Daszek 's goal sending this to overtime. And Karol Bielecki' s tears when the overtime is over.

 

And speaking of athletics - Wilson Kipketer shaking head with disbelief right after 800 final in Sydney 

[Jinzha 703]

This looks like a thread where I get to feel young...

 

Sydney 2000 - I was a bit too young to remember these games, but here's an anecdote I've shared before. Pieter van den Hoogenband grew up just a couple streets behind my parents, so I do recall the ceremony we had in town when he returned. I got an autograph and touched his medals as a 5 year old!

 

Athens 2004 - Van den Hoogenband again, obviously!

 

Turin 2006 - I mostly recall the impressive showing of a young Ireen Wust.

 

Beijing 2008 - the Dutch gold in women's water polo was big news here, just like the 4x100 freestyle women. The story of Maarten van der Weijden, who won gold in open water swimming after winning the battle against cancer. All in all, these were very memorable games.

 

Vancouver 2010 - this memory is more vivid than any other... sitting in the living room with the whole family when Sven Kramer makes a wrong switch and gets dqed. Sad times. There was also the only Dutch medal in a snow event by Nicolien Sauerbrei.

 

London 2012 - Probably the first Games I started following really closely. Epke Zonderland's gold on the horizontal bar stands out far and above, but also Ranomi Kromowidjojo winning the 50m and 100m freestyle.

 

Sochi 2014 - Sven Kramer still not winning the Olympic 10.000m stands out sorely again, though the entire speed skating was dominated by the Dutch more than ever.

 

Rio 2016 - By now it's so recent that it's hard to pick a specific memory. For some reason the lost bronze medal matches of the Handball and Volleyball women come to mind. And the horrible Annemiek van Vleuten crash. But also various international athletes standing out, like Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, Neymar Jr, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles. Too many to mention really.

 

PyeongChang 2018 - Again it's hard to choose with the Games being so recent, but Ireen Wust's 1500m and Kjeld Nuis's double come to mind. And Esmee Visser seemingly coming out of nowhere to win gold on the 5000m. Also the first big victory of Suzanne Schulting, let's hope she starts an era like Wust did in Turin 06

[Vektor 3,326]

Athens 2004 - Tímea Nagy wins her second gold medal in Women's épée. First Hungarian gold I have ever watched live. I was really young, but I remember being extremely stressed out as we had Nagy in one SF, and Mincza-Nébald (the other Hungarian fencer) in the other SF, both against French fencers, and both semi-finals ended with 15-14 (sadly Mincza-Nébald lost and got a 4th place). Honorable mention to the men's water polo final, which I couldn't watch live, where Hungary managed to win despite Serbia and Montenegro controlling most of the match and having a 3-0 lead early on.

 

Turin 2006 - Antoine Dénériaz takes the gold in Men's Downhill as the thirtieth racer by a huge margin. 

 

Beijing 2008 - Kozmann and Kiss finishes 3rd in Men's C2 1000m one month after Kozmann's former partner, György Kolonics, suddenly passed away. 

 

Vancouver 2010 - Petra Majdic (duh), that bronze medal is legendary

 

London 2012 - Iceland has a 1 goal lead 14 seconds before the end of QF against Hungary in men's handball and has the opportunity to seal it with a penalty. Fazekas (Hungarian goalkeeper) saves the penalty, and with a quick turnover Hungary equalizes the match in a couple of seconds.

 

Sochi 2014 - Tie for the gold in Women's downhill

 

Rio 2016 - Emese Szász turning the match around from 7-11 against two-time World Champion Rossella Flamingo in the final of Women's épée and winning the gold. (too bad that we experienced the opposite of that in men's épée a couple of days later )

 

PyeongChang 2018 - first ever Hungarian gold at the Winter Olympics (duh)

[Olympian1010 8,297]

Yep, definitely going to have to show my age here. I’ll write first about memories from Games I watched, and then about moments I’ve seen from other Games.

 

Torino 2006 - I was five. I vaguely remember watching snowboarding (I think it was Parallel GS) with mom. I can remember anything besides that. I just know I watched some events on a weekend afternoon with my mother.

 

Beijing 2008 - Remember watching the opening ceremony. I remember watching coverage of Phelps swimming pursuits. I remember sitting on the floor of my living room watching Bolt win his first gold medal.

 

Vancouver 2010 - These Olympics were in the same time zone as me. Unfortunately, I missed quite a bit because of school. I do remember racing home to watch the cross country sprint finals though. I also remember watching Vonn’s golden performance.

 

London 2012 - Again, who doesn’t remember the opening ceremony. I actually strangely don’t remember a lot from these Games. I vaguely remember watching some track cycling with my dad, but that’s it. I know I followed the Games just as I would now, but for reason I just don’t have a lot of memories. 
 

Sochi 2014 - The opening ceremony is unfortunately memorable for the epic mishap with the rings. I actually enjoyed the ceremony besides. I remember the Russian teams entry into the stadium with that rap song. Torch lighting was pretty cool too. These Games are tainted too much by the Russian doping scandal for me to view warmly. I remember watching tons of cross country skiing and biathlon. The surprise silver medal for Andrew Weibrecht in Alpine Skiing was a good moment. I vividly remember watching the debut of slopestyle, as well as, many of the other freestyle events.

 

Rio 2016 - Another opening ceremony that won my heart over. I remember watching Fiji (who I had already been cheering for on the 7s tour for 2 years) progress towards the finals in men’s 7s. Unfortunately, I had fricken cross country practice, so I missed the final! I do remember being out in the middle of the desert running, while desperately checking my phone to see how Fiji was doing. I remember being elated with their victory. Another great memory was watching WVN win the 400m and break the world record with my dad (an athletics junkie). Having some connections to Casey Eichfield I also followed his progress in the C1. That was a fantastic competition. Really grew to love Judo at these Olympics. I’m pretty sure I watched every session of that. Of course I watched all my other favorites too: Sailing, Shooting, Track Cycling, Canoe Sprint, etc. Great memories from Rio.

 

Pyeongchang 2018 - First Olympics where I watched every event. Ester Ledecka’s coronation as snow queen of course tops my list. Caldwell/Diggins gold in the team sprint was a special moment for many Americans. In fact, I really enjoyed the cross country skiing at these Games. Biathlon was good as always. I remember Sweden being surprisingly good. I was a little disappointed with short track since  and  failed to win medals. As a roller speed skater, Pedro Causil’s 4th in the 1,000m was memorable. The same goes for Erin Jackson’s surprise qualification for games. These were a solid Games in my opinion. 
 

Other moments -

Basically any of the marathons from 1896-1908.

 

Squaw Valley 1960 - Not really a memorable Games, just love area. I have skated on the Olympic Ice Rink though, and I do remember that.

 

Barcelona 1992 - Cauldron lighting (I mean come on, who doesn’t love that). 
 

Atlanta 1996 - Keri Shrug’s inspiring vault. Mohammad Ali fighting Parkinson’s to light the cauldron.

 

Park City 2002 - Don’t know much about the Games, but I’ve been to most of the venues. I really like the Park City area as well.

 

Athens 2004 - Opening Ceremony really began to set the standards for modern major multi sport games ceremonies.

[rafalgorka 1,821]

Wow. 

 

Am I the only one searching YouTube frantically right now trying to find video of some things you mentioned here? ? 

 

e.g. Ariana Fontana? Wowow. How could I have missed this one watching those Games in real time? 

[Gianlu33 6,007]

1 hour ago, rafalgorka said:

@phelps I wish you health!!! All the best wishes for you!!! Where can I see this Abbagnale race video with this commentary?

 

@CCB man, you've seen a lot... :-) Lucky you! My favourite olympic Dutch moment? Probably VDH winning 200 free in Athens. The race. 

 

@intoronto that 's great you were in PyeongChang. But please don' t tell me you've seen Kasai or Ester Ledecka SuperG there, because I will be so jealous :-) 

 

@Gianlu33 "seeing live" - So you were there, too? Wow. 

 

@bmo all the best for you, too! And thank you for your idea for nice discussion - what would you see today in Tokyo??!! it's not that I don't like US sportsmen and sportswomen. I just love these moments when David beats Goliat :-) My favourite American olympic moment - Vince Carter megadunk in Sydney. 

 

 

I mean watch on TV and not some videos on YouTube years later

 

[Vektor 3,326]

41 minutes ago, Vektor said:

Athens 2004 - Tímea Nagy wins her second gold medal in Women's épée. First Hungarian gold I have ever watched live. I was really young, but I remember being extremely stressed out as we had Nagy in one SF, and Mincza-Nébald (the other Hungarian fencer) in the other SF, both against French fencers, and both semi-finals ended with 15-14 (sadly Mincza-Nébald lost and got a 4th place). Honorable mention to the men's water polo final, which I couldn't watch live, where Hungary managed to win despite Serbia and Montenegro controlling most of the match and having a 3-0 lead early on.

 

Turin 2006 - Antoine Dénériaz takes the gold in Men's Downhill as the thirtieth racer by a huge margin. 

 

Beijing 2008 - Kozmann and Kiss finishes 3rd in Men's C2 1000m one month after Kozmann's former partner, György Kolonics, suddenly passed away. 

 

Vancouver 2010 - Petra Majdic (duh), that bronze medal is legendary

 

London 2012 - Iceland has a 1 goal lead 14 seconds before the end of QF against Hungary in men's handball and has the opportunity to seal it with a penalty. Fazekas (Hungarian goalkeeper) saves the penalty, and with a quick turnover Hungary equalizes the match in a couple of seconds.

 

Sochi 2014 - Tie for the gold in Women's downhill

 

Rio 2016 - Emese Szász turning the match around from 7-11 against two-time World Champion Rossella Flamingo in the final of Women's épée and winning the gold. (too bad that we experienced the opposite of that in men's épée a couple of days later )

 

PyeongChang 2018 - first ever Hungarian gold at the Winter Olympics (duh)

 

 

Speaking of YT, here are the videos:

 

Athhens 2004 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IygEgGkuY9Y

Turing 2006 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFVf3FHUwOs

Beijing 2008 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9LIVvOI-r0

Vancouver 2010 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFInpfcb8b0

London 2012 - https://youtu.be/HSvFiJK1PaY?t=187

Sochi 2014 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAHmZxySlDo

Rio 2016 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6LLsyodTQo

PyeongChang 2018 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F2J2GEy6Es

 

[Monzanator 5,111]

Calgary 1988 - figure skating but that was still communist TV, blah.

 

Seoul 1988 - Waldemar Legien wins gold in judo.

 

Albertville 1992 - Patrick Ortlieb wins men's  downhill.

 

Barcelona 1992 - Men's modern pentathon gold for Skrzypaszek (with horse jumping as the last event) and Korzeniowski getting pulled at the stadium gate while walking 2nd. Internationally Kevin Young blasts the 400m hurdles WR. Bubka bombs out with no height.

 

Lillehammer 1994 - Silvio Fauner vs Bjoern Daehlie in the men's cross country relay.

 

Atlanta 1996 - Polish judo & wrestling. Michael Johnson's 200m WR.

 

Nagano 1998 -  Horrible weather at Nozawa Onsen biathlon venue (still Dafovska, Fillipova and Anna Stera). Men's hockey tournament with NHL players.

 

Sydney 2000 - Men's 800m final, Angelo Taylor wins 400m hurdles from lane 1. Robert Korzeniowski sweeps the walking double (one after Segura DQ during the post-race interview).

 

Salt Lake City 2002 - Yeah, I watched the Bradbury fiasco live as well but I remember Jeremy Wotherspoon's stumble in the 500m speed skating more.

 

Athens 2004 - Borzhakovskiy's last-to-first works once, Jedrzejczak vs Thomas in the 200m butterfly. Robert Krawczyk loses a place in judo final 8 seconds from the end.

 

Torino 2006 - Evelyne Leu wins the women's aerials. Tomasz Sikora wins silver in mass start. Giorgio Rocca bombs out in slalom.

 

Beijing 2008 - Majewski wins gold in shot put. Katie Hoff completely bombs in the pool as Rice wins three golds IIRC.

 

Vancouver 2010 - Kowalczyk beats Bjoergen in the 30km finish.

 

London 2012 - Majewski & Zielinski wins two golds for Poland in a space of 20 minutes IIRC. Meilutyte wins gold.

 

Sochi 2014 - Mikaela Shiffrin wins slalom. Brodka beats Verweij by 0,007 in the 1500m speed skating.

 

Rio de Janeiro 2016 - Puig vs Kerber tennis final. Swimming was a full of surprises for me but maybe I lost track of some of these new names there.

 

Pyeongchang 2018 - Yes, have to go with women's Super-G and Ester Ledecka.

 

 

[NearPup 4,172]

1 hour ago, Jinzha said:

PyeongChang 2018 - Again it's hard to choose with the Games being so recent, but Ireen Wust's 1500m and Kjeld Nuis's double come to mind. And Esmee Visser seemingly coming out of nowhere to win gold on the 5000m. Also the first big victory of Suzanne Schulting, let's hope she starts an era like Wust did in Turin 06

Don't forget Sven Kramer failing to win the 10000m again :D