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Did anyone watch that 4 X100 Freestyle Relay? That was best relay race ever. 3 teams beat the World record. USA and France destroyed the world record. USA came from behind to beat the French with the swimming of team caption Jason Lezak. Well worth staying up for and watching. Here is a like to a video of the race for those that missed it.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player ... eload=true

And the French guy that did all the trash talking was the dude who blew it on the anchor leg. EPIC FAILURE. Phelps with his 2nd gold with 6 more races to go.
By far the most exciting moment of these games so far.

This race was just amazing, and what a finish by Lezak!!!!! Holy cow!!!!!

"anything is posssibbbbbblllllllllle!"

As an equal opportunity lover of pretty much any sport, the Olympics are like Christmas to me. Thought it would be pretty cool to have a thread for people to share their favourite or most memorable Olympic moments.

The first one I thought of was Derek Redmond back in 1992. He was Britain's top 400m runner at the time, but his career had been constantly interrupted by injuries. In Barcelona, he won his heat and his QF, and started strong in the SF before he tore his hamstring about 150m in. But instead of waiting to be helped off the track, he got back to his feet and continued to hobble around the track. His father eluded security to get onto the track and help his son to the finish line.

Watching Redmond, in tears, complete the race on one leg, whilst 60,000+ stood and applauded, was an image that summed up to me what the Olympics is all about, just as much as the people who win gold and break the records.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zi0_LjHHN4

When it comes to other memories, Michael Johnson's dominance in 1996 was phenomenal, the original Dream Team in 92 was what got me hooked on basketball, and Michael Phelp's dominance in Athens was incredible.

What are other people's Olympic memories?

I know this just happened, so I'm wondering if it qualifies for great Olympic moments, but last night's 4x100 men's relay was unreal. I was watching the race and I had pretty much given up hope and was literally in the process of turning around and going to the kitchen when the one commentator said "...but Lezak is closing a little bit on Bernard! Can the veteran chase him down??" And I immediately shot around and ran to the TV and was screaming and pumping my fist in an otherwise empty room. And seeing Phelps go nuts after the win was a great moment. I will never forget that race.

that was insane the announcers were like "theres is no way he can beat france now" I was standing yelling jumping it was so exciting to see them shut the french up after all that we are gonna shut the americans out crap Lezak said

I am not a big swimming fan by any means but that 4 x 100 last night was insane. I thought it was over for sure and to see the way Phelps and his teammates reacted was priceless. It was very entertaining and I am getting hooked on watching the swimming events now. That was great and it shut the French up lol.

Here's the video for those who missed it:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share. ... b_hl_l0194

I've watched it five times. I just can't get enough. The commentators are going nuts. You can hear them clapping and high-fiving after Lezak touched first. I get goosebumps every time I watch this thing. Unbelievable.

Bigmagicfan82 wrote:Did anyone watch that 4 X100 Freestyle Relay? That was best relay race ever. 3 teams beat the World record. USA and France destroyed the world record. USA came from behind to beat the French with the swimming of team caption Jason Lezak. Well worth staying up for and watching. Here is a like to a video of the race for those that missed it.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player ... eload=true

Amazing Race, it was actually, 5 teams that beat the record, It's the first time i have gotten excited about a sport (in the olympics) other than Basketball.

i was PUMPED just because we won by what, 0.06 seconds? the comeback was AMAZING

It was rediculous.

Gerhalt11 wrote:I know this just happened, so I'm wondering if it qualifies for great Olympic moments, but last night's 4x100 men's relay was unreal. I was watching the race and I had pretty much given up hope and was literally in the process of turning around and going to the kitchen when the one commentator said "...but Lezak is closing a little bit on Bernard! Can the veteran chase him down??" And I immediately shot around and ran to the TV and was screaming and pumping my fist in an otherwise empty room. And seeing Phelps go nuts after the win was a great moment. I will never forget that race.

That race was insane. I was jumping up down screaming and my friend was texting me say "are you wathing this". That was one of the best Olympic moments. That race alone has made me determined to go to the 2012 Olympics. I went to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. It was a lot of fun. Some other great moments in Olympic history were:

back in 96 when the Magnificent 7 won the gold in Women Gymnastics (hey I had a crush on Dominique Daws)

96 Micheal Johnson with the gold sneakers

2000 Marion Jones winning 5 gold medals. ( i know she was doped up but it was still a great moment at the time)

92 the original dream team

that comeback was AMAZING

Stars and stripes baby...

USA We're #1 always.

Merged, 1 Olympic thread ahould be enough here I think.

Anyone wanting a more in depth discussion on the Olympics can check out Real GM's new Olympic forum:
viewforum.php?f=335

Bigmagicfan82 wrote:92 the original dream team

Greatest team ever assembled. Any sport, any time period. End of discussion.

Voula Patoulidou winning Greece's first track gold since 1912 in the women's 100 meter hurdles at Barcelona '92 is still probably our country's best Olympic moment. It is know as the Gail Devers fall.
Voula when she crossed the line thought that she had finished 3rd, by the reaction in the video, you can see how surprised she was when she realized she got gold instead of bronze:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw6UqwEBBB0
It's one of the most dramatic track finishes in Olympic history.
Voula would also have a unforgettable line after her victory: "GIA TIN ELLADA GAMOTO" ('For Greece, damn it!').

Pyrros Dimas. Men's 85kg. One of the greatest weightlifters in Olympic history went in to Barcelona and stole the show by grabbing gold. He'd also win golds in '96 and 2000. Had he not been recovering from a few surgeries he would have won gold in Athens '04 as well, but he settled for bronze still and retired. The man is a god in Greece and will forever be a legend.
'92 victory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHqo0dLz4V8

Broke his weight class world record here in '96:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOWcrqOSevs
Longer version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0RErF1kOQE

Sydney 2000, won gold on his last attempt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9_lyzFya68

His failed '04 gold medal attempt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc5q5OAK6Ns
He would get 15-minute standing ovation from the crowd even with him in the locker room.

dwights a perfectionist..6-6

Also Kerri Strug vaulting on a sprained ankle to win Gold for the American women in gymnastics was a fantastic moment, although it turns out she actually didn't need to to do it:

Wikipedia wrote:Strug under-rotated the landing of her first attempt, causing her to fall and damage her ankle. Despite this, the attempt was awarded 9.162 points. Retrospectively, this score, alone, was enough to clinch victory for the American women. In the moment, with the Russian team's program uncompleted, the American coaches were unable to compute "quickly enough" whether a second vault was necessary.

Indeed there was significant confusion over what precisely was needed for the Americans to secure gold. NBC Olympic gymnastics sports commentator, John Tesh, indicated to the American television audience, prior to Strug's first vault, that "if Kerry Strug can score a 9.493 or better, then she will win the team gold for the USA". Thus, the 9.137 she scored for her first vault was, according to Tesh's math, insufficient. Bela Karolyi believed the number to be about a 9.6.

Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable moment when she nailed that vault on a bum foot.