Amazing moments in Olympics history (part 2/?)

Steve Bradbury (Australia), 2002, unexpectedly wins the Gold

Steven John Bradbury a four-time Olympian, who won the 1,000 m event at the 2002 Winter Olympics after all of his opponents were involved in a last corner pile-up. He was the first Australian to win a Winter Olympic gold medal and was also part of the short track relay team that won Australia's first Winter Olympic medal, a bronze in 1994.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAADWfJO2qM

Joannie Rochette (Canada), 2010, scores her personal best and receives the bronze medal

Rochette was nominated to represent Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics after winning her 6th straight Canadian National title.

While practicing for the short program, Rochette received tragic news: her mother had died shortly after arriving in Vancouver. Upon hearing the news, NBC speed-skating commentator Dan Jansen sent an e-mail to Rochette and shared his experiences of his sister's death during the Calgary Olympics (Canada's last Olympics before Vancouver).

Rochette chose to continue competing in her mother's honor. She recorded a new personal best in the short program, scoring 71.36 points, the third highest score of the night. Two days later, she held on to her third place position after the long program and won the bronze medal. She became the fifth Canadian to win a medal in ladies' figure skating at the Olympics.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6clt7LiUQ8

Sydney Crosby and the Canadian Olympic Team, 2010, wins the Gold

Sydney Crosby, Canada’s star athlete that had failed to score a point in the two previous games, scored a six-foot shot past goaltender Ryan Miller, at 7:40 of the extra session on their home soil. The victory was the first time a host nation won a men’s hockey gold medal since 1980.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDO5WdO_RoE

Alberto Tomba (Italy), 1988 & 1992, becomes the first Alpine skier to claim Gold in the same event twice

Tomba la Bomba made a sensational Olympic debut at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games, winning both the giant slalom and the slalom. Four years later at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games, he successfully defended his giant slalom title to become the first Alpine skier in Olympic history to win the same event twice. He also claimed silver in the slalom.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_3q0Cj2nkM

Franz Klammer (Austria), 1976, wins the gold

Entering the 1976 Winter Olympics, the 22-year-old Klammer was the favorite to take the gold medal in the downhill at Innsbruck in his native Austria. He was the defending World Cup downhill champion, and had won the three previous downhills in January at Wengen, Morzine, and Kitzbühel, and also won the previous year's race on the same Patscherkofel course. Starting in 15th position, Klammer was the last of the top seeds, and knew that Russi had set a blistering pace and led by over a half-second. Klammer took heavy risks on the treacherous piste, skied on the edge of disaster, and won by 0.33 seconds to the delight of the Austrian fans. A dozen years earlier on the same course in 1964, Egon Zimmermann posted a 2:18.16 to win the gold medal; Klammer's 1:45.73 was more than thirty two seconds faster.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q46vCLkN_T8

Sarah Hughes (USA), 2002, wins the Gold and performs a stunning performance in the long program that blew away the competition

At the 2002 Olympics, Hughes placed fourth in the short program after being penalized for under-rotating her triple flip and lutz. In her long program, she landed seven triple jumps, including a triple toe loop-triple loop and a triple salchow-triple loop combination. She won the long program, as the three contenders ahead of her after the short program all made mistakes in their respective long programs. Figure Skating rules at the time dictated that if someone placed fourth in the short program, but won the free skate, they could not automatically win the event. Michelle Kwan, who was in first place after the short program would have to lose the free program to Hughes and one other skater as well. Hughes won the free skate, with Irina Slutskaya placing second in that portion, ahead of Kwan. Therefore, the final standings were Hughes in first, Slutskaya in second and Kwan in third. She is the only American woman to have won the Olympic title without ever having won either a World or U.S. senior national title.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3-0YoF5Q5c

Silvio Fauner (Italy), 1994, unexpectedly wins the gold

In the final meters of the 40-kilometer cross-country relay -- the most anticipated event in the Games for the host country -- Italy's Silvio Fauner outsprinted Norwegian ski god Bjorn Daehlie for an epic victory.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAJLbDXR4b8

Oksana Baiul (Ukraine), 1994, takes home the gold despite ever building odds

Most of the media attention leading up to the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer was focused on the bitter rivalry between American figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, with Baiul going very much unnoticed. At the end of the short programme at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre the Ukrainian was lying second behind Kerrigan. During training on the eve of the free program, she collided with the German skater Tanja Szewczenko and suffered a gash in her left shin, which required three stitches. The mishap was forgotten when the 16-year-old world champion took to the ice for her free skate routine, lighting up the arena with five perfectly executed triple jumps, performed to the sound of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Scoring especially high marks for artistic impression, with seven of the nine judges placing her first, she took the gold ahead of Kerrigan and China’s Chen Lu. Explaining the secret of her success, she said: “I don’t feel the pressure. I love competition, and I love skating and seeing the crowd’s reaction.”

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS3kBxPAjv8

Jean-Claude Killy (France), 1968, takes home three Gold medals

Killy began by winning gold in the downhill, slashing across the finish line a mere eight hundredths of a second ahead of French teammate Guy Périllat. Then when, for the first time, the giant slalom contest was decided by a combination of two runs rather than a single run, Killy again won gold – by more than two seconds.

In total, he won three golds at that Olympics, in the slalom, giant slalom and downhill.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENDB6RgnqQU

Dan Jansen (USA), 1994, finally wins the Gold

Dan Jansen was a heavy favorite to win gold in the 500 and 1,000-meter speed skating races at the 1988 Games in Calgary. The morning before his first race, the 500-meters, Jansen learned that his sister had died of leukemia. Dedicating the race to her, Jansen crashed on the first turn, just eight seconds into the race. Four days later, he crashed late in the 1,000-meter race that he appeared to be winning.

Jansen finished out of medal contention at the 1992 Games and in the 500-meter at the 1994 Lillehamer Games. He was not expected to do well in the 1,000-meters, the final race of his Olympic career, but he shocked everybody by setting a new world record and winning the gold that had eluded him for six years.

Sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr4i6jRMNjo