5 Favorite Olympic Moments

You don’t have to love athletics to get excited about the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In fact, every couple of years when the Olympics come around, nearly everyone becomes a sports fan.

Do you remember when Kerri Strug stuck the landing on the final vault in 1996, securing the gold medal for the USA gymnastics team? What about the time when Michael Phelps set a world record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympic games? Every time these great moments cross our screens, it’s hard not to get excited about the wide world of sports.

So, in honor of the 2016 Olympics, let’s take a look at 5 historic moments in Olympic history.

1. Mary Lou Retton Wins Gold
   She was the first American—male or female—to win a gold medal in gymnastics. And she was just 16 years old when she did it. Oh yeah, and she got perfect 10s in the vault. It’s a pretty great thing to accomplish before you even get your driver’s license.
2. Jesse Owens Wins Despite Hate
   Not only was Jesse Owens competing in a time when the color of his skin meant he was offered few opportunities for greatness, he competed in Berlin in 1936. Hitler’s Germany assumed Owens wouldn’t be as good of an athlete because he was an African-American. Owens proved them all wrong when he won four gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters, long jump and 4x100 relay.
3. Nadia Comaneci’s Perfect 10
   This tiny Romanian gymnast not only won three gold medals in the 1976 Olympics, she was the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 in an Olympic event.
4. Jamaican Bobsled Team
   You might have seen the movie “Cool Runnings,” and found it to be a heartwarming story. However, the movie is based on the true story of Jamaica’s first ever appearance in the 1988 Calgary winter games. They didn’t medal, but they did win big in the world’s heart.
5. The Fastest Woman in the World
   Wilma Rudolph had polio as a child and wore a leg brace. But this childhood obstacle didn’t stop her from running in the 1960 Olympics, where she won and set a new record in the women’s 100m sprint, won and set a new Olympic record in the 200m sprint, and won and set yet another record in the 4x100m relay. She was the first American woman to win 3 gold medals and achieved global recognition as the “fastest woman in the world.”

We’re sure new moments will take our collective breath away for this summer’s games. Make sure to gather up your friends or family, offer a few snacks and wait to see what these great athletes have in store for you this year.

What are your favorite Olympic moments? Tell us in the comments or share on our Facebook page or Twitter.