for over a century we’ve been watching
these athletes inspire us and take our
breath away
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
inspirational moments from the Olympics
before we begin we publish new videos
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content for this list we’re looking at
the most uplifting Olympic moments that
have the world watching with awe and
admiration number 10 Nadia Comaneci the
perfect 10
the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics born
in Romania Nadia Comaneci rose to fame
as not only one of the best gymnasts in
Olympic history she also became one of
the most recognizable athletes of the
last five decades making her Olympic
debut in 1976 at the Montreal Summer
Olympics at the astonishingly young age
of 14 she became the first gymnast to
ever receive a perfect score of 10 she
even earned 7 perfect tens in total at
the games securing her spot in history
with a total of 9 gold medals komen edge
Volta gymnastics onto the map as a
competitive sport she will forever be
the youngest athlete to ever compete and
hit these records since the age
requirements have since been revised
number 9 Derrick Redmon’s perseverance
the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics gold
medallist and record-breaking British
athlete Derek Redmond has had many
career highlights however at the 400
meter semi-final in 1992 in Barcelona
Redmon’s Lux seemed to have run out
tearing his hamstring Redman knew that
he would not win the race however the
world watched in astonishment as he
continued to limped towards the finish
line with his father running over to a
system he finally reached the end and
although he was disqualified his Olympic
spirit garnered him a standing ovation
and worldwide praised for his fighting
spirit number 8 Kerri Strug and the
Magnificent Seven the 1996 Atlanta
Summer Olympics the 1996 US women’s
gymnastics team known to the world as
the Magnificent Seven won the first-ever
gold medal for the women’s team
competition at the
two games although things were looking
fantastic at first for the Magnificent
Seven competing in their home country
their performance on the vault against
Russia seemed lackluster with Kerri
Strug injuring her ankle
unfortunately strug needed to give them
one last shot at the vault even with her
injury the world was watching closely
and did not expect miracles
however strug landed magnificently
winning the u.s. the gold medal before
collapsing to the floor in pain
number seven fourth time’s the charm for
Dan Jannsen the 1994 Lillehammer Winter
Olympics top speed skater Dan Jannsen
seemed to have a curse following him
during his decade-long career at the
Winter Olympics the American athlete at
his first shot in Sarajevo in 1984 left
with no medals in Calgary four years
later
Jensen competed and finished medalists
even after learning of his sister’s
passing from leukemia that same
afternoon although a favorite to win
Janssen lost for a third time at the
Albertville Games deciding to give it
one last shot he finally took home his
first and only gold medal a decade later
at the Lillehammer Games in 1994 in the
1000 meter event number six Usain Bolt
all the records the 2008 Beijing Summer
Olympics thanks to his performance at
the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Usain lightning-bolt has become a living
legend in the sporting world the eight
time Olympic gold medallist became the
face of the Games and the Jamaican
runner has broken record after record
after record considered by many to be
the greatest sprinter of all time bolt
is the only athlete to have won gold for
the 100 meters 200 meters and the 400
meter relay at three consecutive games
although the 2008 400-meter relay gold
was eventually taken away from the
Jamaican relay team for reasons
unrelated to bolt number five the Korean
unification flag the 2000 Sydney Summer
Olympics the Olympics are at their best
meant to be a sign of unification and
peace a symbolic competition allowing
countries and cultures to put
differences and struggles aside to
compete as fellow athletes at the
opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney
games dubbed the games of the new
millennium the world was astounded to
see North Korean and South Korean
athletes entering together under a new
unification flag this was due to the new
sunshine policy from 1998 strengthening
the political contact between the two
states the flag was flown again in the
2004 Games and in January of 2018 it was
announced that once again North and
South Korean athletes would march under
a single flag number for Miracle on Ice
the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics
known as one of the most iconic moments
in US sports history this underdog story
wowed and inspired millions of people
around the world and even led to a
Hollywood film the Big Red Machine the
world-renowned Soviet hockey team and
the overwhelming favorite to win went up
against the very young US team in the
first round at the 1980 Lake Placid
Winter Games not expected to even make a
dent the US team ended up miraculously
winning and continued their magic by
later winning gold against Finland
number three black power the 1968 Mexico
City Summer Olympics the 1968 Mexico
City Games the first to ever be hosted
in a spanish-speaking country gave the
world a truly iconic moment in sports
history having just won the gold and
bronze medals for the 200 meter race
Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos
took to the podium in bare feet
representing black poverty and gave the
world the Black Power salute during the
national anthem
despite this powerful moment for civil
rights advocacy that was praised by many
they were nevertheless immediately
banned from the Olympic Village and
suspended from the US team number two
the Jamaican bobsled team
the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics the
1988 Calgary Games which gave us the
inspiring failures of British ski jumper
Eddie the Eagle were also famous for the
debut of the Jamaican national bobsled
team everyone wondered the same thing
why does Jamaica have a bobsled team how
did this happen had they ever seen any
snow well it turned out that their
determination despite a lack of
experience made them underdogs
superstars and also led to a Hollywood
movie other teams gave them guidance and
let them use their more modern and
prefer
bobsleds although never coming close to
winning they competed hard and continued
to compete to this very day before we
unveil our number one pick here are some
number one Jesse Owens sticks it to the
Nazis the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics
American track and field gold medalist
Jesse Owens was not just a star athlete
he was an American and particularly
African American hero at the height of
Hitler’s power Germany hosted the Summer
Olympics in an attempt to show off their
erstwhile Third Reich Owens didn’t let
prejudice and racial animus stand in his
way of competing and representing the
u.s. he spectacularly won four gold
medals and put the lie to Nazi ideology
on the world stage transcending even his mighty sporting accomplishments