NFT: Olympics Flashbacks - Two of my favorite childhood moments

as soon as I saw the thread title

at 1936 Olympics - special moment
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Olympic moment?


everything else is a distant 2nd.

in 2000 is probably the most notable one that I witnessed. Kerri Strugg clinching Gold on one leg was great too.

with a freakin broken neck!

In comment 15313200 pjcas18 said:

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Olympic moment? everything else is a distant 2nd.

I said fave childhood memory, and there's also a reason I said that the 80 winter Olympics were my fave ever...care to guess why? ;>)

1964 10k.

1976. He was on the edge of crashing so many times. Just a balls out run with gold on the line.

In comment 15313207 UConn4523 said:

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in 2000 is probably the most notable one that I witnessed. Kerri Strugg clinching Gold on one leg was great too.

Those were probably my top 2 as well. I also have vivid memories of the Zola Budd/Mary Decker-Slaney incident and always fell on the side of Budd.

a side note, the fall of boxing is most noticeable during the Olympics. It used to be a marquee event

when I was a kid. I think they were still in Athens. But as an adult, the hockey team, for sure. Also Picabo Street. Bill Johnson coming from nowhere to win the downhill. Eric Heiden and Appolo Ohno skating. Torville and Dean. Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps. And sadly, I will never forget Jim Ryun losing in the mile.

In comment 15313235 Big Al said:

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1964 10k.

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who I think was one of the first Americans to win the decathalon gold after a long gap.

Also recall Waddle and his hat (mostly his hat and the funny way he walked). And Frank Shorter (but with no idea why). Dick Fosbury and Olga Korbut. And, The long jump by Bob Beamon.

But I was sad to see Karelin lose. The guy was a comicbook villain- a figure of legendary proportions. It kind of reminded me of a Batman movie, where you are much more invested in the villains' stories and backgrounds and outrageous lifestyles than the actual story arc. He was real-life Ivan Drago.
When he lost, your favorite Olympic movie had come to an end.

Usain Bolt reminds me of Karelin. He just seems so much better at what he does than everybody else... he is literally a foot taller than the rest of the competition.

on Ice, one of my favorite Olympic moments (not a childhood moment) is during the 2012 London Olympics when a reporter from Television Espanola was interviewing Usain Bolt and while the reporter was interviewing him they began to play the US National Anthem in an award ceremony and Bolt stopped the interview and faced the ceremony and politely waited for the anthem to end and then went back to the interview.

it didn't even have to be USA, but it was and I loved that moment that an athlete would have the awareness and respect to honor others and their country.

my favorite Olympic moment was anything involving Dominique Moceanu. Smoke.

I remember that, was very nice to see him do that.

I know people poo-poo the olympics every time they come around but having even 1 moment like that every 2 years is worth it as a sports fan. I get much of the olympics can be over produced and campy, but that's not on the athletes, they show up and put everything they have on the line and give us moments like these that we will probably always remember.

I always thought that Kerri Strug moment was big time. Torn ligaments in her ankle (i think?) and she nails a vault landing to bring home gold for the US Womens team in 1996.

in the US every event? I remember being at a bar (mixed age clientele type)like 15 years ago chanting USA with everyone involved after Phelps did his thing and I’m having a hard time seeing anything like that happening today. Isn’t one of our gymnasts just cleaning up records?

Tokyo 1964 10K

thrilling upset
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In comment 15313440 Zeke's Alibi said:

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in the US every event? I remember being at a bar (mixed age clientele type)like 15 years ago chanting USA with everyone involved after Phelps did his thing and I’m having a hard time seeing anything like that happening today. Isn’t one of our gymnasts just cleaning up records?

That's the sign of the times. Insert sports in general, movies, even concerts to a degree. People just don't have the attention span anymore. Oversaturation is also an issue. I talk often about the mysticism of sports being virtually gone - its a big reason why I don't want the Giants on a Hard Knocks, for example. I enjoy not knowing things and waiting for it to happen.

In comment 15313445 UConn4523 said:

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In comment 15313440 Zeke's Alibi said: Quote: in the US every event? I remember being at a bar (mixed age clientele type)like 15 years ago chanting USA with everyone involved after Phelps did his thing and I’m having a hard time seeing anything like that happening today. Isn’t one of our gymnasts just cleaning up records? That's the sign of the times. Insert sports in general, movies, even concerts to a degree. People just don't have the attention span anymore. Oversaturation is also an issue. I talk often about the mysticism of sports being virtually gone - its a big reason why I don't want the Giants on a Hard Knocks, for example. I enjoy not knowing things and waiting for it to happen.

I agree. I remember as a kid getting smuggled into a bar to watch the Larry Holmes/ Gerry Cooney fight. I remember the early days of the sunday Ticket where we'd go to sports bars and lineup by Noon to get a seat when the doors opened. Streaming and the attention span/oversaturation has made sports more accessible at home.

I mean yesterday, I was flipping between the Olympics and the Yankees game and the the Olympics and the Gold Cup match. It's just the way it is now.

in 1976 is way up there for me. Racing for host Austria, and trailing headed into his final run, his run was an epic Olympic moment.

to really remember. I just recall Leonard and Jenner all over TV after.

Same really goes for 1980

But 84, I remember Lewis and Edwin Moses. Both would have dominated in a full Olympics. Same for Louganis. But, was it 88 or 92 when he hit his head on the board only to come back to win. That was I credible.

Next buffet moment was Retton'a vault. Thay was bigger than Strug's for me.

Two other memories were csgony of defeat" moments. One was Decker-Slaney and Budd colliding and the other was a runner, I think Bruce Reynolds, pulling a hamstring and his father breaking the rules to go to help him cross the finish line. It didn't count officially, but that was an outstanding moment.

Another that just popped in my head was Jansen finally winning in speed skating after falling in each race the prior Olympics

great team.

I thought the best thing was Jenner winning the decathlon. In a million years I'd never have imagined the present outcome.

Like most major sporting events, the sporting aspect of the Olympics has been ruined by he money grab aspect.

In comment 15313200 pjcas18 said:

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Olympic moment? everything else is a distant 2nd.

agree

I read somewhere that he didn't get faster at the end, he was just able to maintain the same speed while the others got tired. Not sure if that is true or not.

Also the Klammer downhill run was something.

Obviously the 1980 hockey team is #1

then. There was no internet, and there was a Cold War. We never saw the teams or players from the communist countries. So the Russian Ice Hockey team, the Russian weightlifter Alekseyev, and the Cuban heavyweight boxer Teófilo Stevenson were just rumors and myths. We just saw them during the Olympics every 4 years

after he won the decathlon.

And Bob Beamon's long jump because we both went to Jamaica High School, although we were a year or two apart.

In comment 15313333 Big Al said:

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In comment 15313235 Big Al said: Quote: 1964 10k. Link - ( New Window )

Thanks for posting that. Talk about a terrific final kick. Like he was shot out of cannon. Awesome.

1972 loss to USSR in Gold Medal Basketball game. We had not lost a hoops game in decades, and had won this game before the refs awarded the Ruskies another possession after time had expired. I cried.

Keri Strug in the 1996 Olympics. All the pressure on her, faults on her first vault and injuries herself. Comes back the second and hit's it on one leg. Has to be carried off by her trainer, but gets just enough for the gold.
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