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The 15 Greatest Sporting Moments of the 20th Century

By YPB Team

Fifteen afternoons and evenings people still describe by where they were watching. A few changed a record; a couple changed a sport.

  1. The Miracle on Ice — ranked #11
    The Miracle on Ice
    A US college hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
  2. The Rumble in the Jungle — ranked #22
    The Rumble in the Jungle
    Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in Kinshasa in October 1974 to regain the heavyweight title.
  3. Jesse Owens in Berlin — ranked #33
    Jesse Owens in Berlin
    Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 100m, 200m, long jump and relay.
  4. Jackie Robinson's debut — ranked #44
    Jackie Robinson's debut
    Robinson broke Major League Baseball's colour line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in April 1947.
  5. The four-minute mile — ranked #55
    The four-minute mile
    Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3:59.4 at Oxford in 1954, breaking a barrier thought impossible.
  6. Bob Beamon's long jump — ranked #66
    Bob Beamon's long jump
    Beamon jumped 8.90m in Mexico City in 1968, beating the world record by more than half a metre.
  7. Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 — ranked #77
    Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10
    The 14-year-old Romanian scored gymnastics' first perfect 10 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
  8. The Hand of God — ranked #88
    The Hand of God
    Diego Maradona punched the ball past England's goalkeeper at the 1986 World Cup and the goal stood.
  9. Michael Jordan's Last Shot — ranked #99
    Michael Jordan's Last Shot
    Jordan's jumper with 5.2 seconds left won the Bulls the 1998 NBA Finals in Utah.
  10. Hank Aaron's 715th home run — ranked #1010
    Hank Aaron's 715th home run
    Aaron passed Babe Ruth's career home-run record in Atlanta in April 1974.
  11. Secretariat's Belmont Stakes — ranked #1111
    Secretariat's Belmont Stakes
    Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont by 31 lengths to complete the Triple Crown.
  12. Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points — ranked #1212
    Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points
    Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1962.
  13. The Immaculate Reception — ranked #1313
    The Immaculate Reception
    Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and ran it in for the Steelers in the 1972 NFL playoffs.
  14. Kerri Strug's vault — ranked #1414
    Kerri Strug's vault
    Strug landed a vault on an injured ankle to seal US gymnastics team gold in Atlanta in 1996.
  15. Torvill and Dean's Bolero — ranked #1515
    Torvill and Dean's Bolero
    The British pair took perfect artistic scores for their ice dance at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics.

#usa310#sports648#legends375#all-time318

Comments

Kinshasa staged it at four in the morning so American television could show it in prime time, and a reported billion people watched Foreman fall: https://youpick.best/articles/muhammad-ali-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·Aug 21·

Horses are gone from this ballot. A Belmont runaway now has to argue with the Miracle on Ice: https://youpick.best/articles/secretariat-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·Aug 25·
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