Top 10 Greatest Olympic Moments of All Time

Usain Bolt of Jamaica redefined human sprinting first at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — where he won the 100m in 9.69s despite showboating through the last 20 metres, setting a world record while barely trying — then at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, where he lowered that mark to the current world record of 9.58 seconds. At Beijing 2008, Bolt also set world records in the 200m (19.30s) and 4x100m relay, becoming the first man to break three world records at a single Olympics. His 9.58s Berlin run remains the fastest 100m in human history, a mark that has stood unbroken for over fifteen years and is widely considered the greatest sprint performance ever recorded.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, American swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated athlete in a single Games in Olympic history, winning eight gold medals across eight events — the 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 4x100m medley relay, 4x200m freestyle relay, and 4x100m freestyle relay — breaking the previous single-Games record of seven golds set by Mark Spitz in 1972. Seven of his eight wins were in world record time. His total career haul of 28 Olympic medals (23 gold) across four Games (2000–2016) makes him the most decorated Olympian of all time by a substantial margin.

On 18 July 1976, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0, performing a flawless uneven bars routine at the Montreal Olympics at age 14. The venue's scoreboard was not designed to display a perfect 10 — it showed "1.00" instead, causing momentary confusion in the arena before the crowd erupted. Over the course of the Games, Comaneci earned seven perfect 10s, won three gold medals (all-around, uneven bars, balance beam), and became the face of one of the most iconic moments in sporting history. Her achievement was so transformative that it changed how generations thought about what was achievable in gymnastics.

On 19 July 1996, at the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Summer Olympics, Muhammad Ali emerged as the surprise final torchbearer to light the Olympic cauldron — his hands visibly trembling from Parkinson's disease, but his spirit unbroken. The moment Ali stepped forward, revealed after years of speculation about who would carry the flame, produced one of the most emotional ovations in Olympic history. Ali had won a light-heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics as Cassius Clay and was arguably the most recognisable sports figure on earth. His dignified presence — the Greatest, shaking but unbowed — moved a global television audience of billions to tears and became an enduring image of courage.

On 25 September 2000, Cathy Freeman — the Aboriginal Australian sprinter who had lit the Olympic cauldron at the Sydney opening ceremony just nine days earlier — ran the women's 400m final in 49.11 seconds to win gold in front of 112,524 people at Stadium Australia, the largest crowd ever to watch a track and field event. The weight of a nation's expectation, and of Australia's fraught relationship with its Indigenous history, pressed down on every step of her race. Freeman crossed the line, sat on the track and wept, then wrapped herself in both the Australian flag and the Aboriginal flag — an image that became one of the defining moments in Australian sporting and cultural history.

On 19 September 2000, Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea swam the slowest Olympic 100m freestyle heat in history at the Sydney Games — taking 1 minute 52.72 seconds, nearly twice the world record — and became an unlikely global hero in the process. Moussambani had learned to swim only eight months before the Olympics, in a hotel pool in his country, and had never seen a 50-metre Olympic-sized pool before arriving in Sydney. When his two heat rivals were disqualified for false starts, he faced the lane alone, nearly stopped in the final 15 metres through exhaustion, and the entire stadium — and millions watching on television — roared him home. His story, nicknamed "Eric the Eel" by the world's media, became a symbol of the Olympic spirit at its most generous and inclusive.

On 10 September 1960, Ethiopian soldier Abebe Bikila ran the Rome Olympic marathon barefoot along the Appian Way by torchlight at night and won in a world record time of 2:15:16, becoming the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal. Bikila had been a last-minute addition to the Ethiopian team and had been assigned to run without shoes after his running shoes caused blisters during training. His calm, seemingly effortless stride carried him through the ruins of ancient Rome to the finish line at the Arch of Constantine, and his victory transformed African distance running, inspiring a generation of East African runners who would come to dominate marathon and track events for the following six decades.

On 23 July 1996, American gymnast Kerri Strug limped to the vault runway at the Atlanta Olympics, her left ankle ligaments badly torn after a failed landing on her first attempt, and stuck a near-perfect vault landing to secure the US women's gymnastics team's first-ever Olympic gold medal. The vault, scored 9.712, gave the United States an insurmountable lead over Russia. Strug immediately collapsed on landing and had to be carried to the podium by coach Bela Karolyi. The moment — a nineteen-year-old athlete completing an elite athletic feat on a badly injured ankle for the sake of her team — became one of the most iconic images in American Olympic history, broadcast around the world and replayed for decades.

On 3 August 1992, British sprinter Derek Redmond was running the 400m semi-final at the Barcelona Olympics when, 150 metres from the finish line, his right hamstring snapped with a sound heard in the stands. He fell to the track, then rose and began hobbling towards the line. Suddenly his father Jim Redmond broke through security, ran onto the track, put his arm around his son, and helped him complete the final stretch to the finish line — the crowd of 65,000 rising to its feet and cheering every agonising step. Derek finished outside any official time and received no medal, but the image of a father and son crossing a finish line together — produced the most celebrated moment of human spirit in modern Olympic history.

Usain Bolt of Jamaica redefined human sprinting first at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — where he won the 100m in 9.69s despite showboating through the last 20 metres, setting a world record while barely trying — then at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, where he lowered that mark to the current world record of 9.58 seconds. At Beijing 2008, Bolt also set world records in the 200m (19.30s) and 4x100m relay, becoming the first man to break three world records at a single Olympics. His 9.58s Berlin run remains the fastest 100m in human history, a mark that has stood unbroken for over fifteen years and is widely considered the greatest sprint performance ever recorded.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, American swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated athlete in a single Games in Olympic history, winning eight gold medals across eight events — the 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 4x100m medley relay, 4x200m freestyle relay, and 4x100m freestyle relay — breaking the previous single-Games record of seven golds set by Mark Spitz in 1972. Seven of his eight wins were in world record time. His total career haul of 28 Olympic medals (23 gold) across four Games (2000–2016) makes him the most decorated Olympian of all time by a substantial margin.

On 18 July 1976, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0, performing a flawless uneven bars routine at the Montreal Olympics at age 14. The venue's scoreboard was not designed to display a perfect 10 — it showed "1.00" instead, causing momentary confusion in the arena before the crowd erupted. Over the course of the Games, Comaneci earned seven perfect 10s, won three gold medals (all-around, uneven bars, balance beam), and became the face of one of the most iconic moments in sporting history. Her achievement was so transformative that it changed how generations thought about what was achievable in gymnastics.

On 19 July 1996, at the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Summer Olympics, Muhammad Ali emerged as the surprise final torchbearer to light the Olympic cauldron — his hands visibly trembling from Parkinson's disease, but his spirit unbroken. The moment Ali stepped forward, revealed after years of speculation about who would carry the flame, produced one of the most emotional ovations in Olympic history. Ali had won a light-heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics as Cassius Clay and was arguably the most recognisable sports figure on earth. His dignified presence — the Greatest, shaking but unbowed — moved a global television audience of billions to tears and became an enduring image of courage.

On 25 September 2000, Cathy Freeman — the Aboriginal Australian sprinter who had lit the Olympic cauldron at the Sydney opening ceremony just nine days earlier — ran the women's 400m final in 49.11 seconds to win gold in front of 112,524 people at Stadium Australia, the largest crowd ever to watch a track and field event. The weight of a nation's expectation, and of Australia's fraught relationship with its Indigenous history, pressed down on every step of her race. Freeman crossed the line, sat on the track and wept, then wrapped herself in both the Australian flag and the Aboriginal flag — an image that became one of the defining moments in Australian sporting and cultural history.

On 19 September 2000, Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea swam the slowest Olympic 100m freestyle heat in history at the Sydney Games — taking 1 minute 52.72 seconds, nearly twice the world record — and became an unlikely global hero in the process. Moussambani had learned to swim only eight months before the Olympics, in a hotel pool in his country, and had never seen a 50-metre Olympic-sized pool before arriving in Sydney. When his two heat rivals were disqualified for false starts, he faced the lane alone, nearly stopped in the final 15 metres through exhaustion, and the entire stadium — and millions watching on television — roared him home. His story, nicknamed "Eric the Eel" by the world's media, became a symbol of the Olympic spirit at its most generous and inclusive.

On 10 September 1960, Ethiopian soldier Abebe Bikila ran the Rome Olympic marathon barefoot along the Appian Way by torchlight at night and won in a world record time of 2:15:16, becoming the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal. Bikila had been a last-minute addition to the Ethiopian team and had been assigned to run without shoes after his running shoes caused blisters during training. His calm, seemingly effortless stride carried him through the ruins of ancient Rome to the finish line at the Arch of Constantine, and his victory transformed African distance running, inspiring a generation of East African runners who would come to dominate marathon and track events for the following six decades.

On 23 July 1996, American gymnast Kerri Strug limped to the vault runway at the Atlanta Olympics, her left ankle ligaments badly torn after a failed landing on her first attempt, and stuck a near-perfect vault landing to secure the US women's gymnastics team's first-ever Olympic gold medal. The vault, scored 9.712, gave the United States an insurmountable lead over Russia. Strug immediately collapsed on landing and had to be carried to the podium by coach Bela Karolyi. The moment — a nineteen-year-old athlete completing an elite athletic feat on a badly injured ankle for the sake of her team — became one of the most iconic images in American Olympic history, broadcast around the world and replayed for decades.

On 3 August 1992, British sprinter Derek Redmond was running the 400m semi-final at the Barcelona Olympics when, 150 metres from the finish line, his right hamstring snapped with a sound heard in the stands. He fell to the track, then rose and began hobbling towards the line. Suddenly his father Jim Redmond broke through security, ran onto the track, put his arm around his son, and helped him complete the final stretch to the finish line — the crowd of 65,000 rising to its feet and cheering every agonising step. Derek finished outside any official time and received no medal, but the image of a father and son crossing a finish line together — produced the most celebrated moment of human spirit in modern Olympic history.