OT: Favorite Olympic Memories

Submitted by You Only Live Thrice on

Hey Sports Fans,

 

Opening ceremonies will be happening tonight in S. Korea (happening live at 6AMEST tomorrow morning) and I am so excited about this.  

 

I just want to hear your guys' favorite Olympic memories -- either summer or winter athletic or not.

 

The one that takes the cake for me is Muhammad Ali lighting the torch in Atlanta.  I was an undergrad at the university and remember sitting with my roommates watching that.  Great moment in history.  

ijohnb

February 8th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^

got old when they started doing it every time, but the first original Dream Team will always be my lasting image of the Olympics.  It was stunning to see how much better that team was than anybody else in the world.  The "awe" of how the fans and even the other teams looked at those guys was very memorable.  Getting the opportunity to watch Magic Johnson play competitively again, seeing guys like Jordan and Bird play together.  The Dream Team was a really cool American moment.

MGoGrendel

February 8th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^

What a drunk fest!  One of my buddies passed out in the hallway.  Some guys took green magic marker and colored his face. He woke up and thought he was poisened.

In reply to by ijohnb

MGoStretch

February 8th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^

You actually neglected to mention a bunch of them. For example, you didn't even mention the EPIC stadion race of 776 BC when Koroibos (who was just a lowly cook) came out of nowhere to win the gold.

DoubleB

February 8th, 2018 at 4:50 PM ^

Either in person or on TV. The hockey arena sat less than 8000 and the game wasn't live here or the USSR. Only in Canada. It was also an odd start time (5 PM EST I think) due to the format of the tournament--better than todays for what it's worth.

NittanyFan

February 8th, 2018 at 6:07 PM ^

I'm pretty sure FIFA locks in World Cup game times - e.g., C1 vs. C3 WILL be at 2 PM in Sochi, regardless of whether the draw means that game is Germany vs. England or Peru vs. Iraq.

Funny thing - per a book on the event, the International Ice Hockey Federation said they would move the game time, if ABC ponied up $125,000.  They were trying to bribe them - now that DOES sound like something FIFA would do!

Pages 46-48:

https://books.google.com/books?id=jO8f1pOTtz8C&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=boys…

MGoStretch

February 8th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^

To this day, I'm not sure I've ever watched an atheltic event live that rivals that closing leg.  The athletic feat alone made it awesome, but to have all the added pressure of Phelp's gold chase, and the French talking about "smashing" the Americans.  The fact that the Frenchman who got reeled in on the final leg was the one doing the most talking leading into the showdown was just the cherry on top.

https://youtu.be/sxy920Nd7yY

stephenrjking

February 8th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^

That was the only bad part about that competition; the hockey itself was incredible. Every team loaded with talent, every game a brilliant exercise in flowing hockey. I was entranced for two weeks. Still remember people checking the score of the US-Russia game compulsively at Yost while watching a Michigan hockey game.

For the gold medal game, I called all of my Canadian relatives (my Dad was from Toronto, and chose to root for Canada in that game, the only significant event we ever didn't share a rooting interest) and negotiated that if the US won, they would all call me and sing our national anthem to me; and that if Canada won, I would call each of them and do likewise.

I sang a lot of O Canada that afternoon. But it was an awesome tournament. 

Maize N' Ute

February 8th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^

I loved the moment Michael Johnson broke the world record.  That was an amazing experience.  Also, Phelps winning that super close race to win gold.  That was soooo epic!

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 8th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^

I'm not usually one to root for the championship hogs, but I really enjoyed watching and rooting for Michael Phelps's chase for eight gold medals in 2008.  Especially Jason Lezak's come-from-behind anchor leg in the 4x100 against the world-record holder in the 100 free.  I love watching the relays and that may have been the best of all time.

L'Carpetron Do…

February 8th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^

I'm obsessed with swimming and gymnastics every Olympics (partly because they're two sports that I could never ever do even though I'm decently athletic) and I want USA swimmers to win every damn race they're in. That relay when USA beat the French by a literal hair is one of the most amazing sports moments ever, so proud of those dudes. I also love the bicycle road race - NBC's coverage of it is amazing and the racers compete so hard and its an amazing way to see the host city and surrounding countryside. I also wish I could be a luger.

Also:

Any and all gold medals won by the USA in Atlanta '96.

Beijing Opening Ceremonies

London Opening Ceremonies when Daniel Craig raced the torch in through a canal on a goddamn speedboat as James Bond

Barcelona '92 when an archer dude lit the torch by shooting a flaming arrow into it

Lillehammer '94 when a ski jumper dude lit the torch via ski jump

Anytime an athlete from the USA (or small country) cries with pride and joy after winning (or even losing) a medal.

'92 Dream Team

Now I'm gonna cry

 

 

1VaBlue1

February 8th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^

Watching a bunch of collegiate hockey players beat a quasi-professional Red Army team.  The same Red Army team that beat the crap out of the NHL on its tour the previous year.  The same Red Army team that won world championships at a dizzying rate.  The same Red Army team that had a handful of hockey Hall of Fame players on it.

That was one awesome hockey game, and I still haven't heard anything like Al Micheals' call...

I went to my 8th grade bball game after it finished.  When I told my friend that we won, he ran around the court and told the teachers at the scorers table during the middle of the girls game (JV, girls, then varsity played on Friday nights).  At the next whistle the final score was announced, and a (litteral) 5-minute standing-O commenced.  The game against Finland was anti-climatic...