Rowing, men's Pair...this is one of the most difficult picks in the whole series, as it's the race where basically almost all the best rowers of all time competed at least once.
after a great internal battle with myself, my memories and my bias, I came up with the decision that I just can't go with any other than Redgrave & Pinsent, despite all the (other) great men who give so much prestige to this boat.
Rowing, men's Lightweight Double Sculls...ironically, this is one of the most successful events ever for Italian Rowing, but we never won gold because we've always found some great duos in front of us.
and despite the Irish guys have been so impressive in the last few years, in this case my pick has to go with 2 real greats of the discipline, Kucharski & Sycz.
Rowing, women's Lightweight Double Sculls...this is not so difficult as the 2 above...here there's a name that stands well above any other, Constanta Burcica, triple Olympic Champion in this race between 1996 and 2004.
therefore my pick has to be Romania.
Canoe Sprint, men's K2 500m...one of the events already relegated only to the history books because of the crazy/disputable/idiotic IOC/ICF administration of the last 15 years (at least).
not to many memories about it, though...therefore I have to go with the long streak of Germany.
Canoe Sprint, women's K2 500m...not so easy, as many great names of the sport had some glorious days on this boat.
but if you have someone named Birgit Fischer, you just can't be denied a place on the Olympus.
therefore, my pick is Germany once again.