Being a Korean, it was real cool seeing the North Koreans and South Koreans walk in together under a "unification flag" in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Apparently they're talking about a unified Korean team in 2008 as well: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/25/1077676839267.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true
When the Soviet Union boycotted the 84 olympics so I kept winning free krusty burgers to make ends meet. ooo ooo I know, When Goofy was trying to pole vault and then he got his suspenders caught on the end of the pole and he vaulted his dumb ass like 50 feet in the air and then he landed 2 feet from the mat into a huge pile of dirt. MAN that was some cool ****.
Ditto... Kerri Strug's vault on one leg to win the overall team gold over Russia is far and away my favorite sports moment ever. Moceanu was something else too... pity she went downhill so fast.
Ditto. Although DTII was good too. My most memorable though has to be either Kerri Strug or Greg Louganis.
His name is Derek Redmond, it was the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and that is far and away my favourite moment from the Olympics, although Ali in 1996 was cool. Those images just perfectly embodied the Olympic spirit for me.
I'm a huge Olympic fanatic! From watching Mark Spitz and Olga Korbut in 1972 to Rulon Gardner defeat the great Russian wrestler in 2000, every moment is my favorite. I was a hurdler and a high jumper in high school, so I grew up watching Renaldo Nehemiah and Edwin Moses and Dwight Stones. But I remember Spitz, Bruce Jenner, Al Oerter (bonus points if you remember his event), Mary Lou Retton, Charles Johnson, Zola Budd and Mary Decker (more bonus points), Carl Lewis, Roy Jones getting cheated of his medal, the Dream Team, Michael Johnson, Marion Jones...the list goes on and on. I cannot pick one favorite.
Personally, it'd have to be me attending a medal ceremony in 1996. There's nothing like watching the American flag raised and the national anthem being played in honor of one of our athletes. Seeing Michael Johnson run (Go Bear!) in 1996 was pretty freaking cool too.
That's true and she was touted as being the next great thing. Doesn't she live in Houston? What is she up to now since splitting from her parents?
Don't forget Ben Johnson. "WHYYYYYYY? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?" -- Nancy Kerrigan (not at Oly's but close enough)
They lived in Spring. They built a huge Gymnastics facility over on Louetta close to Klein. Didn't stay open too long though. Last I saw it, the weeds had taken over.
Was that Kerri Strug vault on the broken leg that won the gold an Olympic moment or was that a different competition? I would have to say that one...it had me even tearing up a bit (although I dig gymnastics more than anything else in the Olympics so I am a bit biased).
Not sure, and I'll look it up, but I think she had to complete the vault. Not necessarily a good vault, but a completed vault nonetheless. Edit: delivered the most dramatic moment of the 1996 Summer Olympics when she completed a vault (9.712) after spraining her ankle; the second vault assured the first all-around gold medal for a US Women's gymnastics team after poor vaulting by her teammates had put the medal in doubt; a poor performance by the Russian team on the beam had clinched the gold medal for the US but Strug was unaware when she made the second vault. "Kerri listen to me. You can do it," said USA coach Bela Karolyi as Kerri Strug readied for her second and final vault during the team competition at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Heading into their final event, the vault, the U.S. had a lead over Russia and it looked liked the U.S. had its first gold in the team combined exercises all sewn up. That is until teammate Dominique Moceanu fell down on both her vaults and Strug's first attempt also ended in a fall. Serious doubt crept into the thoughts of 32,000 spectators and Karolyi let her know that she needed to land her second and final vault in order to seal it. The only problem, aside from the avalanche of pressure on the 18-year-old, was that Strug had felt a pop in her ankle on her first vault and could barely walk, let alone sprint down the runway and fling herself up and over the horse to land with great purpose onto only one good leg. Somehow Strug gritted her teeth, thinking that the team's gold medals all depended on this final vault (in actuality they didn't, but no one knew that at the time), and got the job done with a solid landing before collapsing in pain onto her hands and knees. The bear-like Karolyi scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the award ceremony to collect her gold medal and the rousing ovation from the packed house. Strug, with two torn ligaments in her ankle from her courageous effort, was left unable to compete in any individual events.
